We study a novel two–sided Stefan problem – motivated by the study of certain 2D interfaces – in which boundaries at both sides of the sample encroach into the bulk with rate equal to the boundary value of the gradient. Here the density is in [0, 1] and takes the two extreme values at the two free boundaries. It is noted that the problem is borderline ill–posed: densities in excess of unity liable to cause catastrophic behavior. We provide a general proof of existence and uniqueness for these systems under the condition that the initial data is in [0, 1] and with some mild conditions near the boundaries. Applications to 2D shapes are provided, in particular motion by weighted mean curvature for the relevant interfaces is established.


Retired circuit court judge Thomas Hornsby, J.D., takes the unusual step of training a critical eye on the decisionmaking processes and outcomes used by his fellow jurists in adjudicating cases involving domestic violence. Rather than claim flawlessness in his own rulings, Judge Hornsby begins by citing a case that revealed to him his own biases, misunderstandings, and misperceptions about batterers and their victims. He then goes on to illuminate the pertinent factors that lead so many judges to make decisions resulting in potentially disastrous outcomes. Judge Hornsby goes on to outline typical fact patterns found in custody cases involving DV. Finally, he offers numerous well-founded recommendations for improving the ethical practices and the accuracy of decision-making by judges and other legal officials. Keywords: Illinois v. Machen; Best Interests Standard; Presumption of Detriment; Child's Preference Language: en


Background: The clinical utility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal screening appears promising for antimicrobial stewardship programs. However, a paucity of data remains on the diagnostic performance of culture-based MRSA screen in the intensive care unit (ICU) for pneumonia and bacteremia. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the predictive value of culture-based MRSA nasal screening for pneumonia and bacteremia in ICU and general ward patients. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective study was conducted over a 23-month period. Adult patients with MRSA nasal screening ≤48 hours of collecting a respiratory and/or blood culture with concurrent initiation of anti-MRSA therapy were included. The primary endpoint was to compare the negative predictive value (NPV) associated with culture-based MRSA nasal screening between ICU and general ward patients with suspected pneumonia. Results: A total of 5106 patients representing the ICU (n = 2515) and general ward (n = 2591) were evaluated. The NPV of the MRSA nares for suspected pneumonia was not significantly different between ICU and general ward patient populations (98.3% and 97.6%, respectively; P = 0.41). The MRSA nares screening tool also had a high NPV for suspected bacteremia in ICU (99.8%) and general ward groups (99.7%) (P = 0.56). The overall positive MRSA nares rates in the ICU and general ward patient populations were 9.1% and 8.2%, respectively (P = 0.283). Moreover, MRSA-positive respiratory and blood cultures among ICU patients were 5.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Conclusion and Relevance: Our findings support the routine use of MRSA nasal screening using the culture-based method in ICU patients with pneumonia. Further research on the clinical performance for MRSA bacteremia in the ICU is warranted.


Introduction: Massive endoprostheses are widely employed in limb salvage surgery for malignant bone tumours. Whilst joint preservation rather than replacement is usually attempted, cases arise where there is insufficient bone following tumour resection to allow adequate fixation of a joint sparing prosthesis.

Method: We report a series of four patients (aged 4–12), in which irradiated autologous bone was combined with distal femoral replacement in order to preserve the native hip joint.

Results: There were three cases of Osteosarcoma and one Ewing's sarcoma. After a mean follow-up of 53.5 months (range 9–168), all four patients are alive without evidence of local recurrence or metastases. One implant was revised after 14 years following fracture of the extending component of the growing endoprosthesis. There were no cases of loosening or peri-prosthetic fracture.

Discussion: This is the first report of a new technique utilising irradiated autologous proximal femoral bone combined with distal femoral replacement in skeletally immature patients.


The decision of the European Commission to block the merger between Volvo and Scania in the late 90's became the starting point to the debate of the possible discriminating effects of the European merger regulation. Especially since the Commission a few years earlier had approved of the merger between Mercedes-Benz and Kassbohrer on the German bus market, where the conditions for competition had been similar to those at hand in the Swedish case. The issue that was and still is in focus is whether the European merger regulation is more difficult to pass for large companies situated on a smaller domestic market than is the case for their competitors of corresponding size but situated on a larger domestic market.This thesis aims at examining what the judgement of the geographical relevant market means for the application of the Merger act. This is being done from two perspectives. Firstly how the geographical criterion affects large merging companies situated on a relatively small domestic market and secondly how it affects a member state like Sweden, which is so dependent on its large companies. The purpose of this thesis also opens for a discussion of how rigid the merger control can be in an open market economy.The company perspective of the purpose is being pursued in two studies of the merger cases Volvo-Scania and Mercedes-Benz/Kassbohrer, being four national champs with differing size of domestic markets. The member state angle considers the smaller state dependence on its large companies and if that dependence itself creates a disadvantage in a merger case. The end of the purpose opens for a common discussion of the legitimacy of merger control in an open market economy. After analysing these aspects the thesis concludes that the geographical criterion makes it impossible for large companies with a relatively small domestic market to merge when a market bears the stamp of brand loyalty. Considering the small member state the conclusion is that the European merger control offers both pros and cons for consumers and that smaller states would be better off with a more producer-oriented merger law. The ending conclusion questions the Merger act as an intervening tool because of its arbitrary aspect depending on which composition the Commission has when a merger is announced.


BACKGROUND
Feedback, of various forms, is effective at improving performance of medical procedures in simulated and clinical settings. Our objectives were to compare the effects of two forms of feedback on i) novice learning of in-plane technique for ultrasound-guided interventional procedures and ii) to evaluate novice retention of skill 24 hours after a standard learning session.

METHODS
Performance data were collected from 30 novices. All participants received training in the form of a standard training video. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups: Group C (Control) received no feedback; Group KR (Knowledge of Result) received feedback at the end of each series of tasks in the form of predefined performance intervals; and Group KP (Knowledge of Procedure) received feedback in the form of augmented error feedback. Each participant completed the series of tasks five times, using a standardized phantom model. Participants attempted to perform the same tasks 24 hours later using the same phantom. This performance was videotaped and assessed by two blinded assessors for predefined time and errors.

RESULTS
All groups demonstrated significant learning effect in terms of imaging, needling and performance time. Error reduction was significant over time intervals measured and also in-between groups with significant difference between Control : KP (P<0.001) and KR: KP (P=0.001) but not between Control and KR groups. Marked and similar levels of skill attrition were identified in all three groups 24 hours after the learning phase

CONCLUSION
When feedback was based on KP, novices acquired pre-defined skills more quickly and made fewer errors during the learning phase (compared with controls). When feedback content was based on KR novices acquired pre-defined skills more quickly but made similar numbers of errors during the learning phase (compared with controls). In conclusion, these findings should inform development of training and assessment programs for peripheral nerve blockade.


Tooth and pulp chamber automatic segmentation with Artificial intelligence network and morphometry method in Cone-beam CT. Int. J. Morphol., 40(2) :407-413, 2022. SUMMARY: This study aims to extract teeth and alveolar bone structures in CBCT images automatically, which is a key step in CBCT image analysis in the field of stomatology. In this study, semantic segmentation was used for automatic segmentation. Five marked classes of CBCT images were input for U-net neural network training. Tooth hard tissue (including enamel, dentin, and cementum), dental pulp cavity, cortical bone, cancellous bone, and other tissues were marked manually in each class. The output data were from different regions of interest. The network configuration and training parameters were optimized and adjusted according to the prediction effect. This method can be used to segment teeth and peripheral bone structures using CBCT. The time of the automatic segmentation process for each CBCT was less than 13 min. The Dice of the evaluation reference image was 98 %. The U-net model combined with the watershed method can effectively segment the teeth, pulp cavity, and cortical bone in CBCT images. It can provide morphological information for clinical treatment.


•Coccidioides species, the cause of coccidioidomycosis, are endemic to the desert soils of the southwestern United States as well as northern Mexico and limited areas of Central and South America. The organisms can become airborne with disruption of the soil, either through natural causes or activities of humans or animals. Nearly all Coccidioides infections are acquired through the inhalation of airborne arthroconidia (spores).


The different management regimes on grassland soils were examined to determine the possibilities for improved and/or changed land management of grasslands in Flanders (Belgium), with respect to article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol. Grassland soils were sampled for soil organic carbon (SOC) and for bulk density.

For all grasslands under agricultural use, grazing and mowing + grazing led to higher SOC stocks compared with mowing, and grazing had higher SOC stocks compared with mowing + grazing. Overall, 15.1 ± 4.9 kg OC m–2 for the clayey texture, 9.8 ± 3.0 kg OC m–2 for the silty texture, and 11.8 ± 3.8 kg OC m–2 for the sandy texture were found for grassland under agricultural use to a depth of 60 cm. For seminatural grasslands, different results were found. For both the clayey and silty texture, mowing and mowing + grazing led to higher SOC stocks compared with grazing. The clayey texture had a mean stock of 15.1 ± 6.6, the silty texture of 10.9 ± 3.0, and the sandy texture of 12.1 ± 3.9 kg OC m–2 (0–60 cm). Lower bulk densities were found under grazed agricultural grassland compared with mown grassland but for seminatural grassland, no clear trends for the bulk density were found. The best management option for maintaining or enhancing SOC stocks in agricultural grassland soils may be permanent grazed grassland. For seminatural grassland, no clear conclusions could be made. The water status of the sampled mown fields was influencing the results for the clayey texture.

Overall, the mean SOC stock was decreasing in the order clay > sand > silt. The higher mean SOC concentrations found for the sandy texture, compared to the finer silty texture, may be explained by the historical land use of these soils.


Relationships between bright secondary sexual coloration and behavior were studied in female Holbrookia propinqua, which develop striking orange and yellow colors during the breeding season. In tethered introduction studies, brightly colored females performed aggressive courtship rejection behaviors toward conspecific males; plainly colored females were not aggressive toward males, but attempted to avoid them. Responses of females of the two color patterns toward conspecific females of both color phases were not detectably different. Experimental introductions of lizards with coloration modified by paint showed that females of both color patterns recognize any other lizard bearing the bright female colors as female, regardless of actual sex. Both the orange and yellow components were shown to contribute to sex recognition. The yellow component alone allowed accurate sex identification, but only half the females responded to males painted with only the orange female component as if they were females. Because females did not behave differently toward other females on the basis of coloration, the hypothesis that bright coloration evolved as an adaptive signal between females is rejected. The dark ventrolateral stripes of male and plainly colored females did not appear to affect intraspecific social responses by females.


Frogs and toads are incredible reservoirs of biologically active peptides. Amphibians secrete host defense peptides from their skin as part of their innate immune response. This ancient response acts to protect the amphibians against microbes. The quantity and scope of these secreted peptides dwarfs mammalian analogues, accounting for a substantial portion of all known host defense peptides. The non-invasive and non-harmful methods for frog peptide collection, in tandem with the abundance and breadth of these peptides, makes them excellent choices for novel peptide drug therapies. Studies have shown that these peptides can effectively neutralize enveloped viruses, mycobacteria, gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, fungi, and even cancerous or transformed cells. Because of the nature of antimicrobial peptides, often targeting the most critical, conserved aspects of a micro-organism, they may prove a vital alternative to conventional drugs plagued by pathogen resistance. Given this untapped potential for anti-viral therapies, we assessed novel host defense peptides from the skin of the Indian fungoid frog, Hylarana malabarica. During our analysis, we isolated several peptides from H. malabarica that show anti-viral activity against human influenza viruses. Our studies indicate that peptides from H. malabarica demonstrate anti-influenza activity in vitro, and also show potential as an anti-viral therapy in vivo.


Background The present study is aimed to develop a nutritional model for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in children and its effectiveness in patients admitted to Mofid children's hospital.Materials and MethodsThis study was conducted as an interventional controlled clinical effectiveness trial with control group. The study population included children aged more than 1 year and under 10 years old who were admitted to the Mofid Children's Hospital in 2013-2014.ResultsIn our study, boys and girls accounted for 50% and 50% of 300 children with malnutrition who were hospitalized for various reasons. All three groups were homogenous in terms of growth index,. After the use of the F100 solution, the growth index was improved and malnutrition severity, moderate malnutrition and mild malnutrition were improved by about 78%, 64% and 32%, respectively. In the nutrition counseling group, which had food orders and calorie intake, malnutrition severity was improved about 11%, 39% still had severe malnutrition and 60% had moderate malnutrition. There was a statistically significant relationship between the consumption of F100 solution and improvement of growth indices and serum albumin levels.ConclusionChildren who are admitted to hospital for various reasons should be evaluated in terms of growth index so that their malnutrition is not exacerbated in the hospital. The use of the F100 solution that can easily be provided by families is an acceptable and accessible supplement for malnourished and underage children.


In this article we study the mean return times to a given set for suspension flows. In the discrete time setting, this corresponds to the classical version of Kac's lemma \cite{K} that the mean of the first return time to a set with respect to the normalized probability measure is one. In the case of suspension flows we provide formulas to compute the mean return time. In particular, this varies linearly with continuous reparametrizatons of the flow and takes into account the mean escaping time from the original set.


The SDSS III APOGEE survey recently identified two new σ Ori E type candidates, HD 345439 and HD 23478, which are a rare subset of rapidly rotating massive stars whose large (kGauss) magnetic fields confine circumstellar material around these systems. Our analysis of multi-epoch photometric observations of HD 345439 from the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope, Wide Angle Search for Planets, and ASAS surveys reveals the presence of a ∼0.7701 day period in each data set, suggesting the system is among the faster known σ Ori E analogs. We also see clear evidence that the strength of Hα, H i Brackett series lines, and He i lines also vary on a ∼0.7701 day period from our analysis of multi-epoch, multi-wavelength spectroscopic monitoring of the system from the APO 3.5 m telescope. We trace the evolution of select emission line profiles in the system, and observe coherent line profile variability in both optical and infrared H i lines, as expected for rigidly rotating magnetosphere stars. We also analyze the evolution of the H i Br-11 line strength and line profile in multi-epoch observations of HD 23478 from the SDSS-III APOGEE instrument. The observed periodic behavior is consistent with that recently reported by Sikora and collaborators in optical spectra.


A variant of the h-index introduced in Garcia-Perez (2009), called the iterated h-index, is studied to evaluate the productivity of scholars. It consists of successive applications of the h-index so as to obtain a vector of h-indices. In particular, the iterated h-index fixes a drawback of the h-index since it allows for (lexicographic) comparisons of scholars with the same h-index. Two types or results are presented. Firstly, we provide an axiomatic characterization of the iterated h-index, which rests on a new axiom of consistency and extensions of axioms in the literature to a richer framework. Secondly, we apply the h-index and iterated h-index to offer alternative sport rankings in tennis, football and basketball. These applications clearly demonstrate that the iterated h-index is much more appropriate than the classical h-index.


Statins are widely used to lower plasma concentrations of lipids, e.g. cholesterol. One of the main effects of statin treatment is inhibition of hydroxymethyl glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase. The role of fluvastatin, a frequently used statin, was examined in potential modulation of tyrosinase (key enzyme of melanogenesis) synthesis. Levels of tyrosinase mRNA induced by UVB irradiation of B16F10 melanoma cell line were measured by real time PCR. Fluvastatin increases tyrosinase mRNA production induced by UVB irradiation in B16F10 melanoma cell line. Fluvastatin treatment may potentially influence melanin synthesis and protection against UV irradiation.


Abstract 1738 Poster Board I-764 Background Nutlin 3a binds to murine double minute 2 (MDM2) a negative regulator of p53 and potently increases p53 protein levels by inhibiting MDM2 mediated ubiquitilation. Our group has shown activity of Nutlin 3a in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and an intact p53 pathway appeared to be necessary for this activity (Blood. 2005;106:3150-9). The lysine residues on p53 that are ubiquitilated by MDM2 are also sites for acetylation, a process that stabilizes p53 for efficient transcription of p53 target proteins. SAHA is a wide spectrum Histone de-acetylase inhibitor (HDACi) and is known to induce acetylation of non-histone proteins. We postulated that the combination of Nutlin 3a and SAHA will lead to increased acetylation of p53, enhanced transcription of pro-apoptotic targets of p53 and synergistic activity in AML. As Nutlin 3a has been reported to disrupt interaction of MDM2 with other p53 family members notably p73 (Oncogene. 2008;27:997-1003) and HDACi can induce pro-apoptotic p73 (Oncogene. 2004;23:4807-17), we further postulated that the combination may be effective in AML cells with defective p53 pathway. Methods and Results In this study we investigated the effects of Nutlin 3a/SAHA combination on AML cell lines. OCI-AML-3 (p53 wild-type) cells were pre-treated with Nutlin 3a for 6 hrs and treated with Nutlin 3a+SAHA for a further 48 hrs. SAHA and Nutlin 3a induced apoptosis synergistically even in low drug concentrations (2.5 μM Nutlin 3a and 0.5 μM SAHA). In OCI-AML-3 cells, combination treatment resulted in increased protein levels of p53, increased p53 acetylation at Lys373/Lys382and induction of pro-apoptotic p53 transcriptional target protein, Noxa.. Interestingly, synergistic apoptosis induction with Nutlin 3a+SAHA was seen in p53 null (HL-60) and mutant (NB4 and OCI-AML-2) cells after 72 hrs. In HL-60 cells, treatment with Nutlin 3a+SAHA, resulted in increase in protein levels of p73. Noxa is also a transcriptional target of p73 and the treatment with Nutlin 3a+SAHA combination upregulated protein levels of Noxa in HL60 cells. Experiments with "knock-down" of p73 and Noxa and combination of Nutlin 3a with other HDACi are in progress. Though SAHA is known to be active against cancer cell lines with P-glycoprotein (Pgp) expression, we plan to exclude the possibility of modulation of P-gp by Nutlin 3a contributing to this synergy. Co-culture with normal bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) confers chemo-resistance to leukemia cells. Treatment with the combination of Nutlin 3a and SAHA for 72 hrs effectively induced apoptosis in OCI-AML-3 cells co-cultured with MSCs. Conclusion The combination of MDM2 inhibitor, Nutlin 3a and HDACi, SAHA show promising synergistic activity against AML cells irrespective of their p53 status and can potentially overcome the resistance mediated by the "microenvironment". Disclosures Off Label Use: This is an in vitro study of SAHA (FDA approved) and the investigative agent Nutlin. No clinical data included..


Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) is capable of infecting a wide range of human cell types with high efficiency. The viral genome persists as high-copy-number, circular, nonintegrated episomes that segregate to progeny on cell division. This allows HVS-based vectors to transduce stably a dividing cell population and provide sustained transgene expression for an extended period of time both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the insertion of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) cassette into the HVS genome simplifies the incorporation of large amounts of heterologous DNA for gene delivery. These properties offer characteristics similar to that of an artificial chromosome combined with an efficient delivery system. This protocol describes the use of an HVS recombinant virus expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) (HVS-GFP) to assess the infectivity of a specific cell line.


We introduce two operator commutators by using different-degree loop algebras of the Lie algebra A1, then under the framework of zero curvature equations we generate two (2+1)-dimensional integrable hierarchies, including the (2+1)-dimensional shallow water wave (SWW) hierarchy and the (2+1)-dimensional Kaup-Newell (KN) hierarchy. Through reduction of the (2+1)-dimensional hierarchies, we get a (2+1)-dimensional SWW equation and a (2+1)-dimensional KN equation. Furthermore, we obtain two Darboux transformations of the (2+1)-dimensional SWW equation. Similarly, the Darboux transformations of the (2+1)-dimensional KN equation could be deduced. Finally, with the help of the spatial spectral matrix of SWW hierarchy, we generate a (2+1) heat equation and a (2+1) nonlinear generalized SWW system containing inverse operators with respect to the variables x and y by using a reduction spectral problem from the self-dual Yang-Mills equations.


We present new methods of simultaneously estimating camera geometry and time shift from video sequences from multiple unsynchronized cameras. Algorithms for simultaneous computation of a fundamental matrix or a homography with unknown time shift between images are developed. Our methods use minimal correspondence sets (eight for fundamental matrix and four and a half for homography) and therefore are suitable for robust estimation using RANSAC. Furthermore, we present an iterative algorithm that extends the applicability on sequences which are significantly unsynchronized, finding the correct time shift up to several seconds. We evaluated the methods on synthetic and wide range of real world datasets and the results show a broad applicability to the problem of camera synchronization.


Aims There has been a focus on increasingly 'sedentary lifestyles' as a driver of rising child and adolescent obesity. The use of technology amongst young people has been often purported as a major contributor to this behaviour change. We examined technology through multiple lens, looking at the threats it brings, and how we can harness potential opportunities in the prevention and intervention of obesity. Methods A literature review was performed using PubMed and the Cochrane Library databases, using various combinations of search terms including 'child', 'adolescent', 'overweight', obesity', 'BMI', 'BMI-z', 'technology', 'screen time', 'television', 'ehealth', 'mhealth', 'exergaming,' 'gamification' and 'wearables.' Results Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have identified a correlation between 'screen time' and increased likelihood that a child will be overweight or obese, as well as reduced physical activity and increased consumption of high energy and/or low nutrition quality foods. Multimedia food marketing has been shown to have a negative influence on children's food choices and perceptions of nutrition. However, technologies can be manipulated for health promotion and to encourage behaviour change. Technology can be integrated into existing programmes, making them more accessible, sustainable and individualised. Such integrated models have allowed both patients and professionals to track nutrition and lifestyle behaviours to identify opportunities for intervention and improve communication between these groups. Three systematic reviews identified 'mhealth' and 'ehealth' interventions in children, with none from low and middle-income countries. Diverse modalities exist, with mixed evidence behind their efficacy by physical activity, diet quality or body mass index (BMI) measures. A tailored approach is needed for different age groups or for family focused programmes, with variations in content required to ensure continued engagement. There has been a rapid expansion in the use of commercial 'apps', however little is known regarding the quality of these tools. One review assessing 383 apps identified a lack of evidenced-based methods, scientific evaluation, or healthcare professional involvement in design. Conclusion There is limited robust evidence regarding the role of technology in childhood obesity. Guidelines and policy regarding 'screen time' and the use of technology is important to support healthcare professionals giving advice regarding healthy lifestyle measures.


Background During the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, burnout emerges as a critical health problem that might involve workers in many occupations, particularly healthcare personnel. Although burnout syndrome is not necessarily proved to be nosologic, it yields serious physical, mental, and social outcomes. However, it is essential to provide practical strategies and effective instruments for people so that they can adapt to such highly stressful conditions. Objectives The present review was conducted to explore preliminary evidence for nature, treatment, and prevention of burnout among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Related English literatures published from the beginning of January 2020 to the end of September 2020 were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google scholar databases. "Burnout," "COVID-19," "healthcare workers," "medical staff," and "pandemic" constituted the search terms. A narrative technique was implemented for material synthesis and creating a compelling and cohesive story. Results Final results provided the burnout history and its major effects, causes, and prevalence among healthcare workers. Also, some strategies were listed to be employed by hospital medical staff and organizations to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Recent evidence demonstrated that healthcare staff could gain significant benefits from interventions to modify burnout syndrome, especially from organization-directed interventions. So, health policymakers and practitioners should adopt such interventions and develop context-specific approaches promoting a healthy workplace and averting burnout during the COVID-19 crisis.


If you have used the interactive interface for SAS ® you have most likely used the Display Manager. As it ships, the Display Manager is very powerful and yet fairly easy to use with a minimal learning curve for the new user. Because it is functional 'right out of the box', most users do very little to customize the interface. This is a shame, because the Display Manager contains a great many hidden opportunities to make it even more powerful, even easier to use, and customized for your way of using the interface. The Display Manager builds a variety of windows, screens, and dialogue boxes to facilitate communication between SAS, the Operating System, and the user. For each of the five primary windows and extending to the dozens of secondary windows there are options that control the content, display, and level of interaction. Options have defaults and a majority of these can be easily changed to suite your needs. You think that you know the Display Manager, but you will be amazed at what you have yet to learn. From simple tricks that will save you hours of work, to embedding tools and macros in the Enhanced Editor; there is so very much more that we can do in the Display Manager.


Parkinson's disease is one of the motor system diseases caused by factors that interfere with survival of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Its mechanisms include mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Ubiquinone is a fat-soluble vitamin found in the inner mitochondrial membrane and is involved in electron transport chain that supplies energy to vital organs. Resveratrol is a natural polyphenolic compound that has been shown to offer protective effects against many cardiovascular, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The aim of this work was to study the effect of the combination of L-dopa, ubiquinone and resveratrol in comparison with L-dopa alone on 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced parkinsonism in mice. 50 albino mice were divided into 5 equal groups: Control untreated group, MPTP group, L-dopa + MPTP group, L-dopa + ubiquinone + MPTP group, L-dopa + resveratrol + MPTP group. Striatal dopamine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), glutathione reductase, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate (ATP), mitochondrial complex I activity and catalepsy score were measured. The combination between L-dopa and either ubiquinone or resveratrol induced significant increase in the striatal ATP, dopamine, glutathione reductase and mitochondrial complex I activity with significant decrease in striatal TNF-α level, nitric oxide and malondialdehyde level with significant improvement in the catalepsy score better than the group that received L-dopa alone compared to MPTP-treated group. In conclusion, the combination of L-dopa and ubiquinone or L-dopa and resveratrol had a better effect than L-dopa alone on MPTP-induced Parkinsonism in mice.


The fact that this book is in its 19th edition speaks for its popularity in German-speaking countries. Directed to the medical student, it contains an excellent practical introduction to ophthalmology. The illustrations are most informative and well chosen. Each chapter has a summary in which the most important factors are outlined and reemphasized The most essential or core information is printed against a blue background so that it becomes most conspicuous and can be read immediately. At the end of the book we find short summaries and reviews. Finally, there is a chapter with multiple-choice questions so that the student can find out how much he has learned or needs to know. Again, the questions are divided into those that are core questions, those that reflect the main bulk of ophthalmic information, and those that are less frequently encountered in the daily practice. The answers are given on separate sheets.


Summary Computer system performance depends on load balancing which should concern communication delay, grid topology, workload and the negotiation protocol. The interactions and interdependences between these factors and their correlation with the selected load balancing algorithms are studied in the current paper. Vital issues are considered and extensively examined through the systematic introspection and the comparison of two load balancing algorithms, a static and a dynamic one. The former is the well-known deterministic Round-Robin, whereas the latter has been developed for the needs of our research. In addition, a flexible simulation framework is implemented where the experiments take place. Appropriate metrics are formulated so that their joint examination reveals the behaviour of the system in terms of performance. Performance degradation might result when high information policy complexity is combined with important communication overheads. However, system efficiency can be improved when intense workload is adequately combined with increased delay. Precision of the system's state information is always compensated by the simplicity of the negotiation protocol. Moreover, the grid's topology is examined. Equations, which reveal the dependency of performance and topology, are derived, through the methodical analysis of potential load balancing scenarios and they are confirmed by the experimental results.


This paper assessed the effect of calcium carbide waste (CCW) as additive on the properties of cement paste and concrete. The CCW used was sourced from a local panel beating workshop. It was sundried and sieved through a 75 µm sieve and characterized by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analytical method. The consistency, setting times and drying linear shrinkage of cement paste with CCW addition of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 %, respectively by weight of cement were investigated in accordance with standard procedures. The slump values of fresh concrete containing CCW as additive and of 1:2:4 mix ratio and water-cement ratio of 0.5 was determined. A total of sixty numbers of 150 mm cubes of hardened concrete were tested for compressive strength at 1, 3, 7, 28 and 56 days of curing in accordance with standard procedures. The concrete compressive strength was also modeled using Minitab statistical software based on linear regression technique. The results of the investigations showed that CCW was predominantly of calcium oxide (95.69 %) and a combined SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 and Fe 2 O 3 content of 3.14 %. The addition of CCW in cement decreased drying shrinkage (100 %), initial setting time (78 %) and final setting time (57 %), but increased consistency (14 %) at 1.0 % CCW content. The addition of CCW in concrete also showed slight increase in slump (6.5 %) and increase in compressive strength with increase in CCW additive up to 0.5 % and decrease in compressive strength with further increase in CCW content. The 28 days compressive strength of concrete with 0.5 % CCW content was 6.4 % more than normal, while that of concrete with 1.0 % CCW content was 14.9 % less than normal. The compressive strength model of CCW-concrete was developed with R 2 value of 0.830 and could be used to predict concrete compressive strength. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i1.4


Many readers of this journal will already be familiar with TEACH-VIP, a modular injury and violence prevention curriculum developed by WHO and a global network of experts. Fewer may be aware of MENTOR-VIP, a global injury and violence prevention mentoring programme designed to foster skills development through exchange of experience between a more skilled or experienced person and a person seeking to develop those skills. The skills development objectives of MENTOR-VIP complement the training objectives of TEACH-VIP, and the two programmes together serve as a strong basis for addressing the human resource component of capacity building.

MENTOR-VIP is now in its second year of a 2-year pilot phase. The programme runs on a fixed calendar basis, with applications for people wishing to be mentored opening on the WHO website in mid-February each year and closing in mid-May. In early June of each year, the MENTOR-VIP Core …


Both fluctuations of local velocity and local temperature were measured in a steady turbulent diffusion flame of propane by using the semiconductor laser 2-focus velocimeter and the optical fiber thermometer and the optical fiber thermometer respectively. The flame temperature and the soot particle density were calculated by applying the IR two- color method to the measured radiant energy from the soot particles in the flame. In the analysis of the frequency power spectra of temperature and velocity fluctuations, the correlation-based slotting technique was adopted for those data with the nonuniform time interval. It is shown that the time mean value and the fluctuation of the flame temperature decrease gradually toward downstream in the luminous flame region, and those of the soot density increase due to decay of turbulence along the flame axis. On the other hand, both time mean and fluctuation of the flame temperature increase in the radial direction from the center to the periphery due to the effect of air entrainment marked in the peripheral region of the flame. Furthermore, the power spectrum of the velocity fluctuation is not always the same as that of the temperature fluctuation in the flame center.


Turbulent mixing rates are inferred from measurements spanning 25-37 N in the Pacific. The observations were made as part of the Internal Waves Across the Pacific experiment, designed to investigate the long-range fate of the low-mode internal tide propagating north from Hawaii. Previous and companion results argue that near a critical latitude of 29 N, the internal tide loses energy to high-mode near-inertial motions through parametric subharmonic instability. Elevated shear at that latitude lead to estimates of significantly elevated turbulent mixing, based on finescale shear parameterizations of mixing. Here we estimate mixing from several variations of the finescale method, as well as Thorpe analysis of overturns. Turbulent diffusivity rates estimated from either Thorpe scale analysis or finescale strain predict only a modest elevation at and south of the critical latitude. Reasons for the discrepancy are discussed.


The present study explored sex-specific differences in the Big Five factors of personality between different pet ownership groups, in order to understand individual differences in the choice of companion animals. A total of 250 pet owners completed a German version of the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). For the first analysis, participants were divided into four broad groups: those owning traditional pets (e.g., cats, dogs), those owning cold-blooded exotic pets, those owning warm-blooded exotic pets, and those not owning animals. For the second analysis, participants were subdivided into nine groups, based on species of animal owned: cats, dogs, birds, fish, reptiles, spider/insect, small mammals, owners of many different animals, and non-owners. In both analyses, separate analyses of variance were applied to the scores of the NEO-FFI scales. Interaction effects between sex and several ownership groups on the traits Openness to Experience and Agreeableness were found in both analyses. Female owners of traditional pets scored, for example, significantly lower on openness to experience than female owners of cold-blooded exotic pets as well as male owners of traditional pets. Furthermore, female owners of cold-blooded exotic pets scored significantly higher on openness to experience than their male counterparts. Regarding agreeableness, male owners of cold-blooded exotic pets scored significantly lower than their female counterparts as well as male owners of traditional pets. These and other results indicate that personality may affect choice of pets— but in different directions for the two sexes.


Background: Bibliometrics is a completive method of research and analyses useful to understand the collective contributions of a given scientific community. The detail of the quantity (productivity) and impact as a surrogate marker of quality can shed light on what we have done (number of articles) and how we impact others (citations). It also shows the direction the community can take for further research, guided by its shortcomings and successes. The publications of Latin American medical institutions on brain neoplasms have never been studied.Objective: Analyze a clinical and experimental approach, identifying core journals, type of article, increase of published material with time, number of citations. Additionally, we identified the most researched topics involved in brain tumor literature.Material and methods: We harvested the articles published by at least one author form the Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía form Mexico since its inception in 1964 to 2020. Key bibliometric parameters, as journal of publication, type of paper, number of articles and citations were recorded. Results: In cerebral neoplasms, our institution produced 291 articles (clinical versus experimental: 227 vs. 64). With a modest productivity before 2000, the production had increased 8-fold by 2019. The main topic is glioblastoma, also with the highest number of citations. Researchers prefer to conduct original investigations rather than to subject reviews. Most papers were published in Archivos de Neurociencias (institutional journal produced in Spanish), most papers published in English were in Journal of Neuro-Oncology. Discussion: Productivity had an encouraging growth in the last decade, but more emphasis should be given to target international journals, which offer a high number of readers and citations. Strategies to reach these goals have to be found and should be implemented.Conclusion: Research on brain tumors in Mexico has recently showed buoyancy and we should profit from this inertia to give a definitive boost to it, which might benefit authors and institutional prestige. But mainly, with a more robust research, we could find better solutions for our patients, applicable in the national and international context.


As connected, electric, and autonomous vehicle (AV) services are developed for cities, the research is conclusive that the use of these services must be shared to achieve maximum efficiency. Yet, few agencies have prioritised designing an AV system that focuses on dynamic ridepooling, and there remains a gap in the understanding of what makes people willing to share their rides. However, in 2017, the Australian transport authority Transport for New South Wales launched over a dozen trials for on-demand, shared public transport, including AVs. In this paper, we investigate the user willingness-to-share, based on experiences from one of these trials. Four focus groups (19 participants in total) were held in New South Wales with active users of either the trialled on-demand dynamic ridepooling service (Keoride) or commercial ridepooling (UberPool). Through thematic analysis of the focus group conversations, the cost, comfort, convenience, safety, community culture, and trust in authority emerged as factors that influenced the willingness-to-share. When presented with driverless scenarios, the focus group participants had significant concerns about the unknown behaviour of their co-passengers, revealing sharing anxiety as a significant barrier to the adoption of shared AVs. This paper identifies previously disregarded factors that influence the adoption of AVs and dynamic ridepooling and offers insights on how potential users' sharing anxiety can be mitigated.


The purpose of this study was to examine the number and types of discrepancy errors present after discharge from home healthcare in older adults at risk for medication management problems following an episode of home healthcare. More than half of the 414 participants had at least one medication discrepancy error (53.2%, n = 219) with the participant's omission of a prescribed medication (n = 118, 30.17%) occurring most frequently. The results of this study support the need for home healthcare clinicians to perform frequent assessments of medication regimens to ensure that the older adults are aware of the regimen they are prescribed, and have systems in place to support them in managing their medications.


Collision avoidance is an essential problem for applications of multiple mobile robots. The authors have proposed new sensor system called LOCISS (Locally Communicable Infrared Sensory System) to detect robots and obstacles using infrared local communication. Robots mounting LOCISS can exchange useful information for collision avoidance such as speed and moving direction. In this paper, a set of rules for collision avoidance among multiple autonomous mobile robots using LOCISS is proposed. Each robot mutually carries out collision avoidance using the proposed rule. The validity of this set of rules is shown through a series of experiments using mobile robots.


Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been determined in marine samples for many years, but have only rarely been included in either national or international monitoring programmes. PAH can arise in the environment from natural sources, oil and petroleum products and combustion processes. Although oil spills influence PAH concentrations in local areas, the major sources of PAH are anthropogenic and derived from land-based combustion sources. PAH are globally distributed, and the highest concentrations generally occur close to urban centres. In this paper, we review those aspects relating to the analysis and monitoring of PAH in marine areas. The aim is to provide an overview of current knowledge, so as to assess the need for future monitoring of PAH and the present capability for their analysis. Further monitoring of PAH is justified because of their ubiquity in the environment, their persistence and bioaccumulative properties, and their potential for toxicity both to aquatic organisms and human consumers.


BACKGROUND
Dual therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel has emerged as the gold standard therapy for patients treated with drug-eluting stents (DES). However, there is variability in patients' responses to this antiplatelet therapy, and some patients continue to show ischemic recurrences after therapy. The purpose of the study was to compare the simultaneously obtained results of various platelet-function tests for assessing the prevalence of antiplatelet resistance in coronary artery disease patients undergoing DES therapy.

METHODS
A total of 66 patients were administered a loading dose of aspirin, clopidogrel, and cilostazol at least 12 hr before stenting. The results of VerifyNow (Accumetrics, USA), multiplate analyzer (Dynabyte Medical, Germany), and vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein/P2Y12 (Biocytex, France) assays were compared with those of light transmission aggregometry (LTA) analysis.

RESULTS
The P2Y12 reaction units and P2Y12% inhibition values obtained using the VerifyNow assay showed strong correlation (r) with the results of the LTA analysis. All tests results showed low concordance in defining the antiplatelet resistance in patients, and the degrees of agreement were as follows: 0 for aspirin reaction units; 0.25, P2Y12% inhibition; 0, aspirin-sensitive patients' identification test; 0.21, ADPtest; and 0.14, platelet reactivity index, expressed as the κ statistics. The prevalence of aspirin and clopidogrel resistances in patients resulted in remarkable variations, from 0% to 22.7% and from 9.1% to 48.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The clinical usefulness of the different assays for the correct classification of patients in terms of antiplatelet resistance remains unclear. Further studies are required to determine the best method for correlating the occurrences of adverse ischemic events.


Editor,—Because of the social status of religious professionals and their potential to influence Turkish society, we surveyed them in 1997 to determine their smoking rates. The names of all personnel working for the Mufti in Elazig province (population 510 000) were obtained, with all names being included in the study (n = 969). An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was sent to them. Responses were received from 366 (98.9%) of the 370 provincial centre employees, and from 424 (70.8%) of the 599 employees working in the districts and villages. Standard questions used in the classification of smoking status in the United States,1questions recommended by …


Stereo matching is continuing to be a critical and challenging problem due to continuous progression in computer vision including the widely applied in various Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to echo the human visual system. New developed algorithm approaches with more quality of information extraction and high frame rate of data processing are unique targets to control huge volume data and provide convenient solutions for the massive evolution in this field. Fundamentally, the process of stereo matching involved several stages to implement the disparity map which provides the depth information required in 3D reconstruction. Numerous studies and sophisticated algorithms have been developed in the stereo vision area with different concepts and properties to achieve disparity map implementation. However, their accuracy still low and algorithm structures are complicated which far from current requirements. As a popular breakthrough, post-processing algorithms have proved to achieve outstanding performances in stereo matching in terms of low error rate, less complex algorithm structures, and highly computational in their processing speed. In this paper, we present a novel post-processing framework known as Multistage Hybrid Median Filter (MHMF) with a new segment-based algorithm to surge up the accuracy and maintain low computational complexity. The developed framework consists of two main stages: in Stage 1, the Basic Block Matching (BBM) and Dynamic Programming (DP) are applied to obtain the initial disparity map. While, Stage 2 concerns on segment-based, hybrid median filtering, and merging process for the result of Stage 1 as the main contribution of MHMF. To prove the reliability with current available state-of-the-art algorithms, the experimental results and quantitative measurements on standard indoor and outdoor datasets have been compared. The results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms many existing methods and works as a powerful approach especially in terms of low accuracy, computational cost, and handling of horizontal stripes.


An association between carcinoma of the breast and meningioma has been recognized recently. Three more cases are added to the few previously reported in the literature. An awareness of this association together with modern techniques of investigation, particularly CAT scanning, may permit earlier diagnosis and treatment of more cases. Meningioma as well as carcinoma of the breast is more common in women and the incidence of both tumors reaches a peak in the fifth and sixth decades. Both are related to pregnancy and have an estrogen‐receptor protein. Lesions of the central nervous system following the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer are usually presumed to be metastatic. Therefore, these lesions may be irradiated without complete clinical investigation. If the clinician is aware of this association, appropriate diagnostic procedures could lead to the surgical removal of a benign menigioma. Skull x‐rays, bone scan, brain scan, CAT scan, and cerebral angiograms are useful in making a diagnosis. Besides surgery, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy may play a role in the management.


Stable cw radiation with λ = 1.112 μm was generated in a diode-pumped Nd3+:YAG laser with intracavity frequency doubling (λ = 0.556 μm).


: Shopping carts, in general, should be suitable for carrying smart technology in the retail store environment. Also, a smart shopping cart can present verbal motivating stimuli to increase healthier food purchases. A conjoint experiment was used to test with a hypothetical purchasing task for young consumers (n=91) the potential of motivating stimulus on smart shopping carts to influence healthier purchases when buying frozen pizza. The results show a positive impact for all stimuli stemming from the smart shopping cart, three of which were health-based. This shows that stimuli revealing dynamic and personalized data through smart technology in a physical grocery retail setting have the potential to outperform traditional brand statements. Our conjoint experiment increased young consumers' likelihood of choosing a healthier frozen pizza. This result demonstrates that verbal stimuli on smart shopping carts can function as motivating augmentals on young adult consumers' healthier food purchases and are in line with the market positioning and customer-service focus of many retailers and brands today, emphasizing a social marketing standing.


The YAP-TEAD protein-protein interaction (PPI) is a critical event known to mediate YAP oncogenic functions downstream of the Hippo pathway. Current advanced pharmacological agents which aim at inhibiting YAP-TEAD oncogenic function do so by engaging into the lipid pocket of TEAD. Thereby the consequences of a direct pharmacological disruption of the interface of YAP and TEADs remain unexplored. Here we report the identification of IAG933, the first molecule able to potently and directly disrupt the YAP/TAZ-TEADs PPI with suitable properties to enter in clinical trial. The path to drug discovery was established by structure-based optimization of a truncated natural YAP peptide allowing the pharmacophore mapping of TEAD coil binding site. Based on in silico screening, validated hit was optimized using structure- and property-based lead optimization yielding IAG933, whose chemical structure will be for the first time disclosed here. Biochemical and cellular assays demonstrate that IAG933 specifically abrogates the interaction between YAP/TAZ coactivators and all four TEAD isoforms, thus selectively inhibiting TEAD-driven transcriptional activity and inducing anti-cancer effects. At the epigenome level, YAP eviction from chromatin was observed upon treatment with IAG933, while leaving TEADs genomic occupancy unaffected. Concomitantly, engagement of co-repressor VGLL4 translated to a decrease in enhancer activity with rapid and progressive changes in transcription of Hippo target genes. In preclinical experiments, IAG933 linear pharmacokinetics was consistent with dose proportional TEAD transcriptional inhibition and anti-tumor efficacy in xenograft and primary-tumor derived malignant pleural mesothelioma models. Daily treatment with IAG933 elicited complete tumor regression in the MSTO-211H xenograft model at well-tolerated doses. In line with the current clinical strategy for IAG933, robust anti-tumor efficacy in cancer models bearing NF2 loss of function or expressing TAZ-fusions was observed. Moreover, we provide evidence for combination benefits of IAG933 with several MAPK/KRAS inhibitors, both in vitro and in vivo, in non-Hippo altered models including lung, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. Overall, our results provide a rationale of progressing IAG933 as a monotherapy in patients with Hippo-mutated cancers, and as a combination partner in MAPK-dependent cancers, with the potential to treat patient populations of high unmet medical need.
 Citation Format: Tobias Schmelzle, Emilie Chapeau, Daniel Bauer, Patrick Chene, Jason Faris, Cesar Fernandez, Pascal Furet, Giorgio Galli, Jiachang Gong, Stephanie Harlfinger, Francesco Hofmann, Eloisa Jimenez Nunez, Joerg Kallen, Thanos Mourikis, Laurent Sansregret, Paulo Santos, Clemens Scheufler, Holger Sellner, Markus Voegtle, Markus Wartmann, Peter Wessels, Frederic Zecri, Nicolas Soldermann. IAG933, a selective and orally efficacious YAP1/WWTR1(TAZ)-panTEAD protein-protein interaction inhibitor with pre-clinical activity in monotherapy and combinations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 2 (Clinical Trials and Late-Breaking Research); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(8_Suppl):Abstract nr LB319.


Purpose
This study aims to uncover divergent collaboration in makerspaces using social network analysis to examine ongoing social relations and sequential data pattern mining to invesitgate temporal changes in social activities.

Design/methodology/approach
While there is a significant body of qualitative work on makerspaces, there is a lack of quantitative research identifying productive interactions in open-ended learning environments. This study explores the use of high frequency sensor data to capture divergent collaboration in a semester-long makerspace course, where students support each other while working on different projects.

Findings
The main finding indicates that students who diversely mix with others performed better in a semester-long course. Additional results suggest that having a certain balance of working individually, collaborating with other students and interacting with instructors maximizes performance, provided that sufficient alone time is committed to develop individual technical skills.

Research limitations/implications
These discoveries provide insight into how productive makerspace collaboration can occur within the framework of Divergent Collaboration Learning Mechanisms (Tissenbaum et al., 2017).

Practical implications
Identifying the diversity and sequence of social interactions could also increase instructor awareness of struggling students and having this data in real-time opens new doors for identifying (un)productive behaviors.

Originality/value
The contribution of this study is to explore the use of a sensor-based, data-driven, longitudinal approach in an ecologically valid setting to understand divergent collaboration in makerspaces. Finally, this study discusses how this work represents an initial step toward quantifying and supporting productive interactions in project-based learning environments.


'Work-first' (or 'workfare') activation policies severely restrict the choices of the unemployed. Can third-sector organisations (TSOs), with their person-centred mission, support long-term unemployed adults to make their own choices, given individual and societal constraints? Commentators often focus on 'what works' in supporting those with complex needs; others draw on the 'capabilities approach' (CA). With commentators often talking past each other, two key issues emerge. First, what constitutes real choice, and, second, how do we deal with the testimonies of programme users when those experiencing social deprivation may overstate the choices available to them? We argue that the CA's dichotomisation of 'true/real' versus 'constrained/no' choice is problematic for a balanced assessment of choice possibilities across different programmes. Building on insights from current literatures, we develop a framework for researching choice possibilities. Using qualitative research, we apply this framework to a TSO employability programme in England, and find users have more control over their choices compared with UK workfare policy. The article contributes to international debates on the value of the CA, the links between programme form, user choice and well-being, and the scope for TSOs to deliver on their user-centred mission and prefigure better alternatives to workfare.


The additional relationships i.e., start-to-start, finishto-finish, and start-to-finish, between activity in Precedence Diagram Method (PDM) provides a more flexible schedule than traditional Critical Path Method (CPM). But, changing the duration of critical activities in the PDM network will have an anomalous effect on the critical path and the project completion date. In this study, we classified the critical activities in two groups i.e., 1. activity on single critical path and 2. activity on multi-critical paths, and six classes i.e., normal, reverse, neutral, perverse, decrease-reverse and increasenormal, based on their effects on project duration in PDM. Furthermore, we determined the maximum float of time by which the duration each type of critical activities can be changed without effecting the project duration. This study would help the project manager to clearly understand the behavior of each critical activity on critical path, and he/she would be able to change the project duration by shortening or lengthening activities based on project budget and project deadline. Keywords—Construction project management, critical path method, project scheduling, precedence diagram method.


The failure of children to acknowledge mixed, contradictory emotions is equally of developmental and clinical interest. Developmentally, children do not ordinarily acknowledge the existence of mixed emotions until late in middle childhood. Clinically, the failure to recognise mixed feelings toward others or self is a common presenting problem. The question addressed here is, how readily can such limitations be corrected in children of different ages. Two studies are reported showing that children as young as 6 and 7 years, who initially revealed little understanding of mixed feelings, showed more insight after a short training session. In Experiment 1. two groups of children were equated for their inability to diagnose the mixed feelings of a story character. Subsequently, both groups were presented with a second story containing a similar conflictual event, but only one group was prompted to consider the character's emotional reaction to each component of the conflict. Children in the prompted group were more accurate in diagnosing the character's emotional reaction at the end of the story than the control group, and they maintained their superiority on a post-test story where no prompts were given. Experiment 2 included a similar training procedure. but with a more stringent measure of post-test generalisation: Children were asked to describe or invent their own examples of emotionally charged conflictual situations. Four- and five-year-olds showed little benefit from the training session, but six- and seven-year-olds again showed considerable benefit. Taken together, the two experiments suggest that young school age children often fail to acknowledge mixed feelings because they engage in a cursory appraisal of the elements of an emotionally charged situation; highlighting the elements is sufficient to improve performance. Preschool children, however, appear to suffer from more basic limitations in their ability to integrate the relevant information.


Author(s): PEREZ, MARIO, GUADALUPE GONZALEZ | Abstract: The technological advances in the digital field have facilitated the access to virtual space or cyberspace; a non-physical place where countless situations of everyday life are occurring. In this place, the transport network companies are transforming the traditional practice of urban mobility in the main cities of Mexico. This paper discusses the influence of Uber in the daily movements, the incursion, boom and later decline of its initial conditions in its transport service. The paper uses a methodological analysis of the content and the quasi-ethnographic practice, consisting of participant observations, formal and informal interviews and netnographic exercises in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara. The results suggest that we are experiencing variations in the exercise of automobilility, through complex hybridizations of the modus normalis and this new option of transport management, which disincentives a little the practice of motorized urban mobility.


PURPOSE
To describe the clinical features and genetic analysis of eight X-linked congenital stationary night blindness (XLCSNB) Dutch patients.

METHODS
Electroretinogram (ERG) measurements were assessed in Dutch patients. Molecular genetic testing by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC), single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis, and direct sequencing of the CACNA1F and NYX genes were performed in the patients possessing a negative Schubert Bornschein ERG.

RESULTS
Molecular genetic testing of CACNA1F and NYX revealed three novel and two known CACNA1F sequence variants as well as two novel sequence alterations in the NYX gene. While one of the CACNA1F sequence variants (5756G>A, R1919H) has been previously described as a common polymorphism in Japanese families, we did not found this transition in 100 European control alleles.

CONCLUSIONS
In a pool of eight diagnosed XLCSNB patients, five showed a sequence variation in the CACNA1F and two in the NYX gene. In only one of the eight patients no sequence alteration could be detected. This might be explained by a mutation in other, as yet unidentified coding or regulatory sequences of NYX or CACNA1F or additional genes.


Abstract Electron-excited X-ray microanalysis performed with scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) has been used to measure trace elemental constituents of complex multielement materials, where "trace" refers to constituents present at concentrations below 0.01 (mass fraction). High count spectra measured with silicon drift detector EDS were quantified using the standards/matrix correction protocol embedded in the NIST DTSA-II software engine. Robust quantitative analytical results for trace constituents were obtained from concentrations as low as 0.000500 (mass fraction), even in the presence of significant peak interferences from minor (concentration 0.01≤C≤0.1) and major (C>0.1) constituents. Limits of detection as low as 0.000200 were achieved in the absence of peak interference.


OBJECTIVE
To examine schizophrenia patients' visual attention to social contextual information during a novel mental state perception task.

METHOD
Groups of healthy participants (n = 26) and schizophrenia patients (n = 24) viewed 7 image pairs depicting target characters presented context-free and context-embedded (i.e., within an emotion-congruent social context). Gaze position was recorded with the EyeLink I Gaze Tracker while participants performed a mental state inference task. Mean eye movement variables were calculated for each image series (context-embedded v. context-free) to examine group differences in social context processing.

RESULTS
The schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly fewer saccadic eye movements when viewing context-free images and significantly longer eye-fixation durations when viewing context-embedded images. Healthy individuals significantly shortened eye-fixation durations when viewing context-embedded images, compared with context-free images, to enable rapid scanning and uptake of social contextual information; however, this pattern of visual attention was not pronounced in schizophrenia patients. In association with limited scanning and reduced visual attention to contextual information, schizophrenia patients' assessment of the mental state of characters embedded in social contexts was less accurate.

CONCLUSION
In people with schizophrenia, inefficient integration of social contextual information in real-world situations may negatively affect the ability to infer mental and emotional states from facial expressions.


A lithium rich composite cathode electrode material Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 was synthesized using the hybrid annealing method. Compared with the traditional annealing method, the hybrid annealing method added a cool treatment to the annealing process. Based on detailed characterizations from X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), it is suggested that a good layer structure (axis ratio of c/a > 5.0), appropriate particle size of about 100 nm, and high lithium ion diffusion coefficient around 3.98 × 10−24 cm2 s−1 are attained when the annealing temperature drops to 100 °C. Because of the above reasons the sample showed a high discharge capacity and excellent cycle stability. The first discharge capability and capacity retention after 60 cycles are 287.3 mA h g−1 and 96.1%, respectively. The reasons for the electrochemical enhancement are systematically investigated.


Aim: The article describes methods for eliminating the risk of an electrostatic discharge formation which could initiate an explosive atmosphere conflagration. Introduction: An explosive atmosphere, according to Directive 2014/34/EU, is defined as a mixture with air, under atmospheric conditions, of flammable substances in the form of gases, vapours, mists or dusts, in which combustion spreads to the entire unburned mixture after ignition. Electrostatic discharge is considered a process of rapid electrification decay, accompanied by a release of energy, together with light and acoustic effects. Project and methods: A resistance measurement result and/or a resistivity parameter, determined on the basis of the measured resistance, were used to determine the electrostatic properties of materials, i.e. to classify them as conductive, dissipative or insulating. The electrification ability test (also called "the electrification test") was performed to determine whether a non-conductive material can charge up to a degree sufficient to result in a brush discharge, and thus become an explosive mixture-ignition source. Electrostatic brush discharges are discharges from small areas (the literature and standards consider a 100 cm2 area to be an effective surface area). Each pipe was tested at no further than one metre from the mouth of the pipe. Information regarding the magnitude of the electrostatic charge, e.g. in the middle of the pipe, was not available. Results: Based on the performed tests, it can be concluded that: 1. A polyethylene pipe is an electrostatic insulator with very good electrification and surplus electric charge accumulation abilities. 2. The pipe is not able to carry a charge to the ground when in contact with the ground. 3. The entire metal structure is conductive and connected to the ground, so it cannot be electrified by induction. 4. Due to their connection to the studied construction, metal signal wires inserted into the plastic pipes constitute a grounded object with an electric potential equal to zero; therefore, a discharge to the metal wire is very likely. 5. A polyethylene pipe with a very large inner surface has many effective 100 cm2 areas from which the gathered electrostatic charge can initiate a sparkover. Conclusions: The conclusions in this paper shown actions needed to eliminate electrostatic discharges and ignition possibilities. The proposed preventive measures should be classified into the following groups: – removing discharge sources in the form of electrostatic charges, – eliminating potentially explosive atmospheres, – preventing the possibility of electrostatic discharge formation.


ABSTRACT The author presents a history of his efforts to design sustainable and economical circuit construction on paper, which he finds more akin to craft than industry. He focuses on a collection of modules called Rollz-5, which creates organic rhythms out of geometrical forms. A future application of this work will be to create radio devices based on the Platonic solids.


We describe in more detail a novel InP-based comb generator for optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) transmission. The device integrates a Mach-Zehnder interferometer inside an amplified ring. In order to maximize the number of lines in the spectrum, the phase modulators were designed with a 3-step asymmetric quantum well structure to maximize the index change with voltage change. We demonstrate a 6-line frequency comb which is tunable over 80 nm. The linewidth of the comb is limited by only the input laser, which makes this device especially suitable for coherent optical OFDM applications.


Lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite (LSCF) nanofibers have been fabricated by the electrospinning method and used as the cathode of an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. The three-dimensional nanofiber network cathode has several advantages: (i) high porosity; (ii) high percolation; (iii) continuous pathway for charge transport; (iv) good thermal stability at the operating temperature; and (v) excellent scaffold for infiltration. The fuel cell with the monolithic LSCF nanofiber cathode exhibits a power density of 0.90 W cm−2 at 1.9 A cm−2 at 750 °C. The electrochemical performance of the fuel cell has been further improved by infiltration of 20 wt% of gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) into the LSCF nanofiber cathode. The fuel cell with the LSCF–20% GDC composite cathode shows a power density of 1.07 W cm−2 at 1.9 A cm−2 at 750 °C. The results obtained show that one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanofibers hold great promise as electrode materials for intermediate-temperature SOFCs.


In India, women have been greatly praised in the literature and religion as 'Devi' or 'shakti' or 'ardhangini' and a portion of a man, however, by the contrivance of this civilisation, this slice or part of man has assumed a very little proportion of the whole of man by reducing woman to an appendage of his life, a parasite, a domestic animal, a pleasure resort. This is true story of man-made civilisation wherein lies the tragedy of woman. The life of average Indian women is still governed by customs, habits, prejudices and unwritten codes of conduct. The Indian society is averse to treating a women as a human being. The researcher here observe that the legal equality which women enjoy under the Constitution and the special privileges are all in papers. Though in their public utterances, men praise the concept of equality and show concern that women should be able to avail of their constitutional and legal rights, yet at heart they are the most conservative. The judiciary is not sympathetic to the women's cause. She has to undergo sex determination test to know the gender of the child. She is teased on streets, harassed everywhere, molested in public places but she is mum because of the fear of retaliation from the offender. Most crimes against women go unreported. Eve teasing and sexual harassment is bitter reality but it is true that women are being insulted almost everyday, everywhere and everytime. It is an almost a torture for a woman to walk alone on the road. Eve-teasing are almost recognised as a male sport. The victim of offence are mostly modest and shy girls or young women of respectable families. The poor victims dare not protest in order to avoid creating a scene o attracting a crowd on the spot.Incidents of indecent Representation of women are shameful. The condition of women in India cannot be improved by any single method or merely by pronouncing the word 'Women Empowerment'. There is need to change the traditional mental set-up which is deep rooted in the minds of women only then this concept can turn into reality.I still keep asking myself the same question, and so do many of us: Are women getting their due share in the society? Swami Vivekananda had said, 'That country and that nation which doesn't respect women will never become great now and nor will ever in future and in pursuit of making India a great nation, let us work towards giving women their much deserved status.' A lot is still to be done, miles to go….


Polyketides are a very diverse family of natural products with an extremely broad range of biological activities and pharmacological properties, including antiproliferative, antibiotic, antifungal, or antiplasmodial activities, and in many cases specific targets are addressed at the molecular level. Their structures are characterized by diverse assemblies of methyl- and hydroxyl-bearing stereogenic centers enabling large numbers of stereochemical permutations, which are often embedded into macrolide rings. This complexity renders the stereochemical assignment and directed total synthesis challenging tasks. Within this review, we will detail practicable approaches for the stereochemical determination of diverse complex polyketides of myxobacterial origin by using computational and NMR methods in combination with novel procedures based on bioinformatics. Furthermore, we have developed efficient preparative strategies for the synthesis of these compounds, which have culminated in several first total syntheses. Key aspects of these various endeavors, which will also focus on the importance of conformational bias in complex polyketide analysis and synthesis, will be discussed within this review in the realm of the potent macrolide antibiotics etnangien and rhizopodin. Along these lines, we will also summarize novel methods for the rapid assembly of key structural elements of polyketides including a novel domino concept relying on a combination of a nucleophilic addition and a Tsuji–Trost reaction.


Of the 1350 fixed offshore oil and gas platforms recorded in Southeast Asia, over 800 may be over 20 years of age and thus nearing the end of their planned operational lives. This raises issues with regard to the rules applicable to their decommissioning. Should they be entirely or partially removed, or is it permissible for them to be left in situ? This paper discusses the application of the current international legal framework for offshore decommissioning in Southeast Asia. It focuses on three aspects of the existing international legal regimes that are problematic in the context of Southeast Asia. The first aspect discussed is the application of the 1989 IMO Guidelines and Standards for the Removal of Offshore Installations and Structures (the 1989 IMO Guidelines). One particular difficulty created by these Guidelines in the context of Southeast Asia results from the specific treatment they reserve for smaller offshore installations located in shallow waters. These must be entirely removed unless extreme conditions are met. Given the geography of Southeast Asian seas, this exception applies to the majority of old platforms located in this region. This paper presents the view that these IMO Guidelines may not need to be applied strictly in Southeast Asia. The second aspect pertains to the extent of the application of the standards set by the 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution from the Dumping of Waste and Other Matter (the 1972 London Convention) to coastal States that have not ratified this Convention. This paper explores the respective scope of the obligation of removal of offshore installations and of the rules on dumping. It also discusses whether abandonment can be interpreted as an act of dumping. This is of particular relevance for abandoned and disused offshore installations located in territorial seas and archipelagic waters where the 1989 IMO Guidelines do not apply but the 1972 London Convention may apply. For abandoned installations located in the EEZ and on the continental shelf, this paper discusses the combined application of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, the 1989 IMO Guidelines and the 1972 London Convention. It discusses the differences in the objectives pursued by each instrument and the differences in the interests vested in the institutional authority, to propose ways to combine the application of otherwise contradicting provisions. The third aspect is the opportunity for the re-use of disused offshore installations as artificial reefs to enhance marine biodiversity and fisheries in the seas of Southeast Asia. This paper highlights the legal justification for a rigs-to-reefs solution based on sound science. Such a solution is particularly suited to the biologically diverse and highly productive seas of Southeast Asia, which are subject to numerous anthropogenic and climatic stresses. It has the potential of assisting with the re-establishment of destroyed reefs and in ecosystem resilience building. As a result it can only be supported by rules of international law for the protection of the marine environment.


In continuation of our earlier work on binary mixtures (1992 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 25 679), an empirical relationship to estimate the higher-order contributions to thermal conductivity of dilute monatomic multicomponent gas mixtures has been developed. This relationship is able to reproduce the exact contributions to within 0.2%. Finally, a method of estimating accurate values of thermal conductivity is outlined.


In recent years, the frequency and intensity of environmental disasters raised awareness among the international community that the impact of environmental degradation on migration could be acutely exacerbated in the future. There have been many international calls to take steps for an international regime of protection of the affected populations. However, current works on environmental migrations demonstrate that it is still a very controversial and highly political issue. As follows, we criticize the analogy made between traditional refugees and environmental migrants. From a legal and practical perspective, the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol is not appropriate to address the plight of environmentally induced migrants. Combining the protection of affected populations to other regional refugee protection regimes is also misleading. The term "environmental refugees" cannot adequately capture the diversity of migrations induced by environmental degradation. Besides, given the current States migration policies, extending the status of refugees to affected people could threaten the effectiveness of the Convention protection regime. In this way, through the detailed study of draft conventions and recommendations already made, we consider the possibility of drawing up a universal status specifically dedicated to the environmentally-induced migrants. However, our work also highlights all along the great difficulty of directly linking environmental degradations and migration. Addressing these closely inter-linked environmental, socio-economic and cultural factors lead us to consider alternative approaches for perceiving migration. We also must think of environmental migrations according to the different and local contexts in which environmental degradations may occur and affect population displacements. It appears therefore necessary to take into account the highest vulnerability of the poorest and above all, of indigenous peoples. In the view of their unique characteristics and their claims on the international scene, we question how the protection of indigenous peoples' rights must be connected to the issue of protecting environmental migrants. Studying the particular case of Tuvalu and how the terms "environmental refugee" and "migration" are perceived by Tuvaluan also illustrate how the more flexible regional and bilateral agreements could be more effective to respect and protect the link with their community.


Abstract Much previous study has been done on the degree spectra of prime models of a complete atomic decidable theory. Here we study the analogous questions for homogeneous models. We say a countable model has a d-basis if the types realized in are all computable and the Turing degree d can list -indices for all types realized in . We say has a d-decidable copy if there exists a model ≅ such that the elementary diagram of is d-computable. Goncharov, Millar, and Peretyat'kin independently showed there exists a homogeneous with a 0-basis but no decidable copy. We prove that any homogeneous with a 0′-basis has a low decidable copy. This implies Csima's analogous result for prime models. In the case where all types of the theory T are computable and is a homogeneous model with a 0-basis, we show has copies decidable in every nonzero degree. A degree d is 0-homogeneous bounding if any automorphically nontrivial homogeneous with a 0-basis has a d-decidable copy. We show that the nonlow2 degrees are 0-homogeneous bounding.


Representative bureaucracy scholars contend that clients are likely to experience greater benefits and more positive policy outcomes from public agencies when bureaucrats share salient demographic characteristics. Despite the large body of evidence that shows a link between passive and active representation, much of the extant representative bureaucracy literature rests on an assumption of group homogeneity. However, racial groups have a great deal of heterogeneity among them, particularly due to immigration patterns. One-fifth of Black Americans have ties to some other country, thus allowing us to leverage heterogeneity among this group to examine who most effectively represents foreign-born clients. Differences between Black native-born bureaucrats and Black foreign-born clients in experiences, socialization processes, and interests may hinder the linkage between passive and active representation for Black immigrants. However, a shared connection to immigration among foreign-born Black clients and Latinx and Asian bureaucrats may facilitate a passive to active representation linkage for Black immigrants. Using fixed effects, comparative relational analytic models, we analyze New York City public school data from the 2005–2006 to 2015–2016 school terms to find that racial representative bureaucracy crosses ethnic lines. Both foreign-born and native-born Black students experience performance gains when taught by a Black teacher. Our research holds implications for understanding the complexities of representation for pan-ethnic groups and emphasizes the challenges that heterogeneity poses for the theory of representative bureaucracy.


A man had widespread, slowly evolving vascular lesions since infancy suggestive of the Blue Rubber Bleb Nevus Syndrome. His son had two painless lesions typical of Multiple Glomus Tumors. Many of the man's nodular lesions were painful. Post‐excision recurrences were noted. Histologic studies of asymptomatic tumors from both cases showed irregular, dilated, vascular channels surrounded by narrow mantles of glomus cells, whereas a painful tumor had large foci of glomus cells with wider mantles around the flattened channels. Electron microscopy showed the glomus cells to be modified smooth muscle cells. The anatomy and pathology of glomus tumors are reviewed. Differentiation from other syndromes of multiple hemangiomata, particularly the Blue Rubber Bleb Nevus Syndrome is stressed. It is suggested that Multiple Glomus Tumors may be derived from simple cutaneous vessels and not the Sucquet‐Hoyer canal of the normal cutaneous glomus body described by Masson in 1924.


Web pages often contain clutter (such as pop-up ads, unnecessary images and extraneous links) around the body of an article that distracts a user from actual content. Extraction of "useful and relevant" content from web pages has many applications, including cell phone and PDA browsing, speech rendering for the visually impaired, and text summarization. Most approaches to removing clutter or making content more readable involve changing font size or removing HTML and data components such as images, which takes away from a webpage's inherent look and feel. Unlike "Content Reformatting", which aims to reproduce the entire webpage in a more convenient form, our solution directly addresses "Content Extraction". We have developed a framework that employs easily extensible set of techniques that incorporate advantages of previous work on content extraction. Our key insight is to work with the DOM trees, rather than with raw HTML markup. We have implemented our approach in a publicly available Web proxy to extract content from HTML web pages.


This article presents an empirical ground-motion prediction model (attenuation relation) for inelastic (as opposed to elastic) spectral displacement ( Sdi ) for ground motions without forward directivity effects. It is a function of two earthquake parameters, moment magnitude ( M w) and the closest distance to rupture ( R rup), and two bilinear oscillator parameters, an undamped elastic period ( T ) and a yield displacement ( dy ). The dy is introduced via the predicted median strength-reduction factor (![Graphic][1] ), a proxy for the ratio of elastic spectral displacement ( Sde ) to dy , which is identical with the familiar strength-reduction factor ( R ). The proxy ![Graphic][2] recognizes that R can only be estimated indirectly because it implicitly contains the random variable, Sde , which cannot be known a priori ; therefore, the median estimate or predicted median ( Ŝde ) from a conventional (elastic) ground-motion prediction model is used instead to calculate ![Graphic][3] = Ŝde / dy . For enhanced generality, the inelastic spectral displacement prediction model here is based on a ratio concept, that is, the total model is a (any) conventional elastic prediction model coupled with a new inelastic displacement ratio prediction model, with proper statistical correlation between the two. We empirically consider the dependence of this ratio on source and path effects (i.e., M w and R rup), and find that M w is significant, but R rup is not. The resulting prediction model can easily be added to existing probabilistic seismic-hazard analysis (psha) software packages with only one extra structure-specific parameter, dy of the oscillator. In practical engineering applications, this will likely have been estimated from the conventional static pushover analysis of the multi-degree-of-freedom (mdof) structure under consideration.

The resulting psha product is a hazard curve for Sdi , the inelastic spectral displacement of a nonlinear oscillator. Such a curve can provide a more direct hazard- based target displacement for nonlinear static procedures (Federal Emergency Management Agency [fema] 356, 2000) and/or a basic input function for new probabilistic seismic-demand analyses that is based on Sdi (as opposed to Sde ) as an efficient and sufficient intensity measure. This new attenuation relationship will be particularly useful in evaluating the performance of existing structures and specified designs with known lateral strength. In particular, unlike most past studies, it does not pre-fix the ductility level.

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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Flying Start NHS™ on the confidence, competence and career development of newly qualified practitioners.

BACKGROUND
The first year of practice as a registered nurse, midwife, or allied health professional is recognised as challenging. This paper presents the findings of a two-year evaluation of Flying Start NHS™, a web-based programme developed by NHS Education Scotland to support newly qualified health professionals during the transition from student to qualified practitioner.

DESIGN
Descriptive design with one to one and focus group interviews, plus a survey.

METHODS
The evaluation employed a multi-method approach including telephone interviews with Flying Start NHS™ leads/coordinators (n=21) and mentors (n=22) and focus groups with newly qualified practitioners (n=95). An online survey was completed by 547 newly qualified practitioners.

RESULTS
A majority of newly qualified practitioners reported that Flying Start NHS™ had been useful in terms of clinical skills development and confidence. Those who were able to take protected time were more likely to complete the learning units and report that the support they received was good. Both newly qualified practitioners and mentors reported a lack of time. Newly qualified practitioners who took up posts in the community expressed greater satisfaction with the support received.

CONCLUSIONS
NHS Boards should ensure that there is an ethos of support at all levels, as well as an understanding of the purpose of Flying Start NHS™ and what newly qualified practitioners require to do to complete it. The expectation that newly qualified practitioners will enrol on Flying Start NHS™ should be accompanied by an expectation that they will complete the programme in their first year, coupled with support to enable them to do so.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Undertaking Flying Start NHS™ in the first year of employment increases clinical skills development and confidence. Mentors require training and time to enable them to provide support.


Diffraction of an electromagnetic plane wave by an infinite slit in a conducting screen of finite thickness is studied theoretically using Weber-Schafheitlin discontinuous integrals. The direction of the incident wave is assumed to be in a plane perpendicular to that of the screen, and both polarizations are treated. The problems are reduced to simulataneous equations with an infinite number of unknowns, which are truncated in actual numerical computation. Numerical results for transmission coefficients are compared with those calculated from the Mathieu function expansion, and fairly good agreement is obtained. Far-field patterns are measured experimentally for the E -Polarization using a parallel-plate waveguide. The measured results confirm the validity of the theoretical prediction.


This study was designed to determine the extent to which differences in criteria for dialysis patient selection and availability of financial resources cause the wide variation in acceptance rates for dialysis in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also sought to determine whether there is agreement among nephrologists in the three countries on which patients should not be offered dialysis. We used a cross-sectional survey of all members of the Canadian Society of Nephrology and the Renal Association of Great Britain, and a randomized sample of 800 members of the American Society of Nephrology. Five case vignettes were presented asking for yes/no decisions on offering or not offering dialysis, together with ranking of factors considered important. We also inquired about dialysis resources and physician demographics. We compared responses by country. More nephrologists from the United Kingdom returned responses (83%) than Canadian (53%) or American (36%) nephrologists. American nephrologists offered dialysis more than Canadian or British nephrologists (three of five cases; P < 0.04 to P < 0.001) and ranked patient/family wishes (three of five cases; P < 0.057 to P < 0.0001) and fear of lawsuit (P < 0.04 to P = 0.0012) higher than British or Canadian nephrologists. Canadian and British nephrologists reported their perception of patients' quality of life as a reason to provide (P = 0.0019) or not provide (P = 0.068 to P = 0.0026) dialysis more often than their American counterparts. Despite these differences, nephrologists from each country did not differ by more than 30% on any decision and ranked factors almost identically. Ten percent and 12% of Canadian and British nephrologists, respectively, but only 2% of American nephrologists, reported refusing dialysis due to lack of resources (P < 0.0001). We conclude that the wide variation in dialysis acceptance rates in the three countries is somewhat influenced by differences in patient selection criteria and withholding of dialysis by nephrologists based on financial constraints, but that other factors, such as differences in rates of patient nonreferral for dialysis, contribute more significantly to the variation. Generally agreed on practice guidelines for dialysis patient selection appear possible.


This document presents an adaptive system that supports logistic and marketing operations planning of a company in the agribusiness sector. First, we have studied the processes of the supply chain of the company, identifying which of them are oriented to the customer. We integrated these processes with an adaptation model. This model implements a customer profile favoring its buying preferences. Likewise, the adaptation model also includes a context profile. This profile gives the possibility to the company to know the environment characteristics and their impact on the company. Finally, the system integrates a cooperation model to improve the order fulfillments through the generation of coalitions of partners to ensure the availability of products