Objectives: We aimed to examine the association between experience of workplace violence and musculoskeletal pain among wage workers in South Korea. Methods: We analyzed a cross-sectional survey of 29,601 wage workers from the third wave Korean Working Conditions Survey in 2011. Experience of workplace violence was assessed through three questions, "Over the past 12 months, have you ever experienced: (1) physical violence, (2) bullying, or (3) sexual harassment at workplace?" Musculoskeletal pain was measured using the three questions, "Over the past 12 months, have you ever experienced: (1) low back pain, or (2) upper limb pain(i.e. shoulder, neck, and arm), or (3) lower limb pain(i.e. hip, leg, knee, and foot)?" Wage workers could answer 'Yes' or 'No' to each of the three questions. Multivariate negative binomial regression was applied to examine the association between workplace violence and musculoskeletal pain after adjusting for confounders including self-reported physical work factors. All analyses were performed using STATA/SE version 13.0. Results: Physical violence was associated with low back pain(PR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.77, 2.65), upper(PR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.45, 1.88) and lower limb pain(PR: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.52, 2.15) among male wage workers whereas it was related to upper(PR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.53, 2.26) and lower limb pain(PR: 2.95, 95% CI: 2.47, 3.53) among female wage workers. Significant association was observed between sexual harassment and upper(PR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.56) and lower limb pain(PR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.97, 2.93) among female wage workers whereas the association was only significant in the analysis with lower limb pain(PR: 1.87, 95% CI: 1.17, 2.97) among male wage workers. Bullying was associated only with lower limb pains among both male(PR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.32, 2.37) and female(PR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.69, 2.61) wage workers. Conclusions: This study found that experience of workplace violence, particularly physical violence and sexual harassment, was associated with musculoskeletal pain among Korean wage workers.


: Polytrauma is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in both developed and developing countries. The primary goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview on current knowledge in the management of pediatric polytrauma patients (PPPs). A database review was conducted based on a search in the Embase, Medline OVID-SP, Web of Science, Cochrane central, and Pubmed databases. Only studies with "paediatric population" and "polytrauma" as criteria were included. A total of 3310 citations were retrieved. Of these, 3271 were excluded after screening, based on title and abstract. The full texts of 39 articles were assessed; further selection left 25 articles to be included in this review. The most crucial point in the management of PPPs is preparedness of the staff and an emergency room furnished with age-appropriate drugs and equipment combined with a systemic approach


Background: This study aims to determine the effects of artesunate on proliferation, apoptosis and β-catenin expression in the human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63. Methods: MG-63 cells in the logarithmic growth phase were collected and cultured with different concentrations of artesunate (12.5 µg/mL, 25 µg/mL and 50 µg/mL) for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h. The total number of MG-63 cells and the morphological changes were observed under an inverted microscope. The MTT assay was adopted to test the inhibition rate (IR) of cell growth. The apoptosis rate was detected using annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Cell cycle distribution was identified by flow cytometry (FCM), and the expression levels of β-catenin, cyclins and cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs) were measured using Western blotting. Results: The results of the MTT assay indicated that artesunate could remarkably inhibit MG-63 cell proliferation compared with the rates in the untreated control group (0 µg/mL artesunate), and the inhibitory effect was dose-dependent. The apoptosis rate of MG-63 cells was elevated as the concentration of artesunate increased, and all the rates were significantly higher than that in the control group. Additionally, as the artesunate concentration increased, the proportion of MG-63 cells in G0/G1 phase gradually declined whereas that of cells in the G2/M and S phases increased. Western blotting confirmed that a higher concentration of artesunate reduced the expression levels of β-catenin, cyclin A, cyclin D1 and CDK1 and increased the expression levels of cyclin B1; however, artesunate had no impact on CDK2 expression in MG-63 cells. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that artesunate can inhibit β-catenin expression and cell proliferation as well as promote cell apoptosis in MG-63 cells, which indicates that artesunate may serve as a promising drug in the clinical treatment of osteosarcoma.


SIR,-Oldroyd et al (British Heart Journal 1992;67:230-5) claimed that there were no previously published data on the fi-endorphin response to myocardial ischaemia or infarction and that they were first to show that fl-endorphin is released to plasma during myocardial infarction. This is not correct. In our study published in 1987 we used a specific fl-endorphin radioimmunoassay to show increased concentrations of /J-endorphin during myocardial infarction but normal concentrations during unstable angina pectoris. I The highest fi-endorphin concentrations were found in patients with cardiac failure and in those who died within 24 hours. Pain ratings by use of a visual analogue scale were no different in myocardial infarction and unstable angina pectoris. These results are beautifully replicated by Oldroyd et al in a similarly designed study.2 It is disappointing that our similar previous study is not cited among their 46 references. It is also appropriate to mention a study that found no increase in plasma fl-endorphin during myocardial infarction but an inverse relation between pain intensity and plasma fl-endorphin.3 FLEMMING W BACH Anesthesiology Research Laboratory University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093, USA


This article reports on a project conceived in workshop and performed as part of the University of Auckland School of Music 2005 Annual Voice Class Concert. A key factor in the creation of this project was the ethnicity of the voice class and teaching staff. Two thirds of the voice faculty were indigenous Māori, and over one third of the students participating were of Māori or indigenous Pacific Island ancestry, or foreign born. This unusually high percentage of indigenous and acculturated students allowed us to explore the theme of hybridity by sharing knowledge stored in the oldest thread. By juxtaposing standard works from the established Western art-music repertoire with music from the students' individual sound worlds, we created a work in which 'cultural ideas and traditions are exchanged and conjoined in an artistic third space' (Rutherford, 1990).


To find out the feasibility of different neural networks in sEMG-based force estimation, in this paper, three types of networks, namely convolutional neural network (CNN), long short-term memory (LSTM) network and their combination (C-LSTM) were applied to predict muscle force generated in static isometric elbow flexion across three different circumstances (multi-subject, subject-dependent and subject-independent). Eight healthy men were recruited for the experiments, and the results demonstrated that all the three models were applicable for force estimation, and LSTM and C-LSTM achieved better performances. Even under subject-independent situation, they maintained mean RMSE% of as low as 9.07 ± 1.29 and 8.67 ± 1.14. CNN turned out to be a worse choice, yielding a mean RMSE% of 12.13 ± 1.98. To our knowledge, this work was the first to employ CNN, LSTM and C-LSTM in sEMG-based force estimation, and the results not only prove the strength of the proposed networks, but also pointed out a potential way of achieving high accuracy in real-time, subject-independent force estimation.


Comparative analysis of scientific production indicators on Toxinology based on data retrieved from two sources: Web of Science and Digital Repository of the Instituto Butantan, from 2003 to 2016. The software VantagePoint 5.0 and the editor Excel 2010 were used to data organization and analysis. The results show different values of coverage on the subject, concluding that data obtained in different sources interferes drastically in the values of the indicators. Consequently, this research indicates the need for strategic actions and options by research institutions to obtain adequate positioning in national and international scientific production evaluations.


Based on the theory of landscape ecological security pattern and the RS and GIS techniques, this paper analyzed the distribution of ecological security grades in Nanchong City, taking six elements including terrain condition, flood hazard, soil erosion, vegetation cover, geological disaster, and biological protection as the ecological constraints (or determinants) of urban expansion. According to the minimum cumulative resistance model, the ecological corridors and ecological nodes were built to strengthen the space contact of ecological network, and, on the basis of the protection of ecological safety, the reasonable trend of urban expansion and the optimization of space layout were investigated. The results showed that the ecological security of Nanchong City was quite good, with the regions of low ecological security mainly distributed in the west suburban mountains and the downstream region of Jialing River in the south of the City. Ecological elements were the most important constraints for the future expansion of urban space. There were more spaces for the urban expansion in the southern and northern parts of Nanchong City. To develop satellite towns would be the best selection to guarantee the ecological security of the city.


The CεmX domain of 52 a.a. residues, located between the CH4 domain and membrane-anchor segment of human membrane-bound ? chain on mIgE+ B cells, is a unique antigenic site for the immunological targeting of those B cells. We have demonstrated that a chimeric form of anti-CεmX monoclonal antibody (mAb), 4B12, can induce apoptosis and ADCC against a human mIgE.Fc+ B cell transfectoma via effector cells from PBMC in vitro (presented by another abstract in this meeting). To enhance the clinical applicability of 4B12, we have humanized it by first grafting its six complementary-determining regions (CDRs) into human Ig VH subgroup IV and V? subgroup II frameworks (FWs). Those residues in the FWs of VH and VL of the parental murine 4B12 that are essential for Fv dimer interaction and CDR conformation were identified by analyzing the binding affinity of a number of designed Ab variants with site-directed mutations, using competitive ELISA and surface plasmon resonance analysis. A humanized 4B12 retaining the affinity of its parent was obtained by adopting all FWs of the selected human V? template without any change and all FWs of the selected VH with only one residue change. The Val at position 71 of the human VH was replaced by Arg at the corresponding position of the murine VH. Based on molecular modeling analysis, it is likely that such a change is probably crucial for maintaining the proper structural packing of Arg71 with Ile29 in the CDRH1 and Gly55 in the CDRH2. The KD of the chimeric and humanized 4B12 are 5.37×10-9 M-1 and 5.76×10-9 M-1, respectively. Affinity enhancement of humanized 4B12 by selective CDR mutations is in progress.


The columnar branching stromatolite Archaeozoon acadiense Matthew 1890 occurs in platy fault-slivers of a biohermal or biostromal limestone that accumulated on a shallow submerged platform, possibly during Neohelikian time. The columns show that the stromatolitic beds at Green Head face north, and can be used to provide a partial estimate of amount and type of local tectonic deformation. Archaeozoon Matthew has attributes similar to those for such Riphean groups as Tungussia, Baicalia and Jacutophyton, and it is likely that one or more of these are junior subjective synonyms of Archaeozoon, or represent at least morphologic variants.


BACKGROUND
The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydial infections and to determine sexual and demographic correlates for these sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among visitors of an STD clinic.

METHODS
In 1994, a cross-sectional study was carried out among 2984 consecutive visitors of the STD clinic of the University Hospital Rotterdam.

RESULTS
The prevalence of chlamydial infection was 12.1% for women and 12.3% for men. For gonorrhoea, prevalence was 3.2% and 6.0%, respectively. For men, gonorrhoea was independently associated with multiple partners in the last month, homosexual activities, a history of gonorrhoea, last sexual contact in the past 4-14 days and casual partners. In contrast, chlamydial infection was less likely to be found in homosexual men and male intravenous drug users. Additionally, chlamydial infection was independently associated with young age, multiple partners in the last 6 months and with last sexual contact in the past 2 months. For women, intravenous drug use (associated with commercial sex work) and a history of trichomoniasis were independent risk factors for gonorrhoea. Independent risk factors for chlamydial infection in women were: young age, two or three sexual partners during life and last sexual contact within 2 months. Chlamydial infection was uncommon in commercial sex workers.

CONCLUSIONS
The differences in the epidemiological correlates suggest that chlamydial infection is more diffusely spread into the general population than gonorrhoea. Additionally, it is hypothesized that men acquire their chlamydial infection through less stable relationships and subsequently infect their regular female partner.


Today African literature exhibits and incorporates the decentred realities of African writers themselves as they negotiate and engage with multifarious forms of diaspora experience, dislocation, otherness, displacement, identity, and exile. National cultures in the twenty-first century have undergone significant decentralization. New African writing is now generated in and outside Africa by writers who themselves are products of transcultural forms and must now interrogate existence in global cities, transnational cultures, and the challenges of immigrants in these cities. Very few novels explore the theme of otherness and identity with as much insight as Adichie's Americanah. The novel brings together opposing cultural forms, at once transcending and celebrating the local, and exploring spaces for the self where identity and otherness can be viewed and clarified. This article endeavours to show how African emigrants seek to affirm, manipulate, and define identity, reclaiming a space for self where migrant culture is marginalized. Adichie's exemplary focus on transcultural engagement in Americanah provides an accurate representation of present-day African literary production in its dialectical dance between national and international particularities.


Skin-to-skin, or chest-to-chest, contact (SSC) between newborns and their mothers is known as kangaroo mother care. The physiological and psychological benefits of SSC for infants and mothers are well established. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends practicing SSC for term and preterm newborns. However, in Saudi Arabia, SSC is not practiced as widely as recommended. There is insufficient evidence of the nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding SSC in Saudi Arabia. The aims of this study were to describe and determine relationships between knowledge, education, beliefs/attitudes, and the implementation of SSC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Thank You for Your Time and Kind Suggestion Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive data were collected from 40 nurses using an English-language version of a knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, education, and implementation questionnaire used by others. Results: The mean age of the nurses was 42.4 years (SD = 3.2), with a mean experience of 12 years (SD = 2.1). The mean total score of SSC knowledge was 13.6 (SD = 2.3), the mean of total score of attitudes/beliefs was 12.3 (SD = 3.1), the SSC education mean score was 17.1 (SD = 3.4), and the SSC implementation mean score was 17.0 (SD = 4.1). In total, 55% of the nurses were not sure of the impact of SSC on brain development in neonates, 45% could not interpret infants' responses during SSC; 67% disagreed that it was the nurses' responsibility to facilitate SSC, 37.5% were not aware of SSC guidelines, and 47% of the nurses had not received any continuing education on SSC in their units. Pearson correlations revealed a significant association between SSC implementation and nurses' knowledge level (r = 0.297, p = 0.031), education (r = 0.85, p = 0.015), and beliefs (r = 0.31, p = 0.024). Conclusions: Once nurses have improved their knowledge, education, and beliefs/attitudes, SSC implementation may concomitantly increase. A continuing education program and clear guidelines are needed to promote SSC adoption in practice.


It is assumed in this paper that the interquark (or gluon) forces are dominated by color octet exchange, which leads to the attractive forces to form colored bound states. The mass spectrum of colored states is discussed in two quasi-confinement models. A qualitative prediction of the experimental signature on the colored bound states is included.


Background. Although intentional self-poisoning is a major public health problem in rural parts of the Asia-Pacific region, relatively little is known of its epidemiology. We aimed to determine why Sri Lankan self-poisoning patients choose particular poisons, and whether acts of self-harm with highly dangerous poisons were associated with more premeditation and effort. Methods. We interviewed 268 self-poisoning patients presenting to two district general hospitals in rural Sri Lanka. Results. Eighty-five percent of patients cited easy availability as the basis for their choice of poison. There was little premeditation: more than 50% ingested the poison less than 30 minutes after deciding to self-harm. Patients had little knowledge about treatment options or lethality of the poison chosen. We found no difference in reasons for choice of poison between people ingesting different poisons, despite marked differences in toxicity, and between people who died and those who survived. Conclusions. Poisons were chosen on the basis of availability, often at short notice. There was no evidence that people using highly toxic poisons made a more serious or premeditated attempt. Restrictions on availability of highly toxic poisons in rural communities must be considered in strategies to reduce the number of intentional self-poisoning deaths in the Asia Pacific region.


The burden of irreversible vision loss from Glaucoma continues to rise. While the disease pathogenesis is not well understood, intraocular pressure (IOP) is the only modifiable risk factor identified to prevent glaucomatous vision loss. Medical management remains the first-line of treatment in most adult glaucomas and the evolution of medical therapy for glaucoma has followed an exponential curve. This review tracks the rapid development of new medications and drug delivery systems in the recent years. Introduction of Rho kinase inhibitors with an entirely new mechanism of action from that of the currently used anti glaucoma medications has been a significant milestone. Latanoprostene Bunod is a novel, single molecule which provides two active metabolites that work through two different pathways for reducing intra ocular pressure. Bimatoprost implants and travoprost punctum plugs attempt to ease chronic medication use in glaucoma patients. Nanotechnology is an evolving route of drug delivery. Role of cannabinoids in medical management of glaucoma remain equivocal. The relatively short term effect on IOP, the risks of developing tolerance and side effects impacting patients' neurocognitive health greatly outweigh the potential benefit. Research on Latrunculin B, Adenosine receptor agonists, Specific gene silencing and Stem cell therapy are poised to make an impact on glaucoma treatment. While there is some evidence to support the role of Brimonidine in neuroprotection, further research is needed to clarify the role of Memantine and Neurotrophins. Evidence for benefit from dietary supplementation with Alpha lipoic acid, Forskolin , and Ginko Biloba is limited


Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine technology is relatively new and the combustion behavior in an HCCI engine is difficult to predict. The combustion is fully controlled by the chemical kinetics and the chemical reaction of the mixture is influenced by changing input parameters. A zero-dimensional single-zone model was used to investigate the combustion behavior of a diesel engine operating in HCCI mode. An open source chemical kinetics package from Cantera was used in this study. The combustion behaviour can be observed, where H2O2 was fully decomposed during the main combustion event. The time for H2O2 to completely decompose into OH radicals was very short, which was about 5°CA. The combustion phasing was predicted in accordance with the experiment. The auto-ignition can be controlled by controlling the intake temperature or AFR. The start of combustion was advanced by increasing the intake temperature from 20 to 70°C and reducing the AFR from 58 to 29. However, reducing AFR will increase the in-cylinder peak pressure. In general, a zero-dimensional model is a useful and faster tool to predict the combustion phasing. When coupled with chemical kinetics, it provides more accurate results.


Endothelial dysfunction can be detected in the early phase of atherosclerosis. Two unresolved questions have been raised the wether, (1) the dyslipidemic state alone without any other risk factors can be harmful for the endothelial function measured by ultrasound, and (2) the use of the antilipidemic fibrate is sufficient to influence the endothelial functions. From 38 subjects with solitary combined dyslipidaemia 32 (84%) showed endothelial dysfunction measured by flow mediated vasodilatation (FMD) on the forearm and this group of patients was featured only by higher fibrinogen levels (no differences on BMI, serum lipid and glucose level). The patients with endothelial dysfunction were treated with 100 mg of ciprofibrate per day (12 women, 20 men, average age: 44.6 +/- 9 years, BMI 24.6 +/- 3.4 kg/m2). The pretreatment serum lipid levels were: total cholesterol 6.9 +/- 0.4, triglyceride 4.2 +/- 0.3, HDL cholesterol 1.13 +/- 0.21 mmol/l. After the 4 weeks treatment period the cholesterol and triglyceride level decreased, the concentration of HDL cholesterol increased significantly, which changes were in correspondence with significant improvement of FMD (3.9 +/- 0.7% vs. 7.0 +/- 1.6%). The level of fibrinogen also declined significantly. At the 8th week there were no significant further changes compared to the data received at the 4th week. Using the lineal regressive analysis the improved vasodilatator respond at both check points was correlated only with the fall of total cholesterol level. The ciprofibrate was suspended after the 8th week for a 4 weeks period and the triglyceride and the fibrinogen levels increased whereas the HDL cholesterol level decreased significantly. The FMD impaired significantly (to 5.8 +/- 1.2%). There were no correlations among the changes. The results demonstrated the lipid and probably non-lipid-factors are important in these early damages of endothelial functions.


EG&G, Inc., a leader in the field of photographie data acquisition and analysis for over 25 years, has for the past five years been placing increased emphasis on digital image processing in support of the Field Testing Division of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory under AEC Contract No. AT(29–1)1183. During that time, capabilities that originally involved photogrammetric and radiometrie analysis have been augmented to include two-dimensional Fourier frequency analysis and spatial filtering of images. This article describes some of the image processing equipment at EG&G, along with the results obtained using this equipment, and discusses digital holography in greater detail.


A comparative perspective of the two Muslim majority areas of the subcontinent most affected by the turmoil which followed the British decision to divide and quit in 1947. The text presents insights into both the mechanisms of boundary drawing and the consequences for the millions of ordinary people caught up in the massacres and migrations.


The past decade witnessed a series of high-profile inquiries that cast a noxious miasma over the medical profession and provoked demands for strict regulation. Somehow, a balance must be struck whereby the public can be confident that doctors practise competently, with due regard to ethical and technical standards, yet the regulations are not so overwhelming as to represent a sword of Damocles permanently hanging over doctors' heads. This article explores the current regulatory framework, exclusion from the workplace, serious professional misconduct and seriously deficient performance. The General Medical Council deals with a large number of regulatory cases each year, of which a small proportion are appealed. As well as providing valuable insight into judicial thought, case law in this area is helpful in understanding the balance between social policy and medical regulation.


This study investigates the sustainability disclosure effects of the introduction of the Companies Act 2006 Regulations 2013 in the United Kingdom. The regulation mandates the disclosure of information on greenhouse gas emissions, gender distribution and human rights issues. We examine two research questions: first, whether firms increased disclosure on the mandated topics after the regulation became effective relative to a control group, and second, whether a potential increase in disclosure is moderated by firms' reporting incentives, namely, firms' capital market visibility, growth orientation, governance structure, prior voluntary sustainability disclosure levels and critical media coverage. Our sample consists of the FTSE-350 firms and a matched control group of US firms. We use textual analysis to assess the disclosure of the mandated sustainability topics in firms' annual reports. Specifically, we examine two types of disclosure, namely, the disclosure of the mandated key performance indicators and the narrative disclosure. Our results reveal a significant increase for both types of disclosure relative to the control group. Overall, this treatment effect tends to be smaller for firms with higher reporting incentives, i.e., reporting incentives mitigate the regulatory effect. Taken together, our results suggest that both standards and reporting incentives shape firms' sustainability disclosure level.


This paper presents a method to use pattern recognition in the analysis of soil water dynamics in time and space simultaneously. Space-time correlation structures are generated by use of a numerical model for the one-dimensional unsaturated flow equation. By applying the method to various soil parameter combinations (unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and dispersion coefficient) and length of infiltration periods it is shown how space-time dependence of soil water changes. The method clearly visualizes effects of changes in infiltrated input and soil heterogeneities which are not noticeable in the original soil water time series. Application of the method to field data reveals small-scale heterogeneities and vertical and horizontal variability in hydraulic properties. The method possesses special advantages when analyzing time- and space-dependent properties simultaneously. Since the method gives a statistical measure of the dependent property that varies within the space-time field, it can be used to interpolate the fields to points where observations are not available, to estimate spatial or temporal averages from discrete observations, and to define regions (spatial or temporal) where observations are the most efficient.


The Valsequillo reservoir is a Ramsar wetland due to its importance as a point of convergence of migratory waterfowl. It is located in Central Mexico and is currently endangered by the constant spill of municipal and industrial discharges from Puebla city. On this context, we evaluated thirteen potential toxic metals (PTMs) in water, Water hyacinth (E. crassipes) plants and sediments at this site. A combined number of 31 samples were collected from the study area. The degree/extent of metal contamination in sediments was assessed through different geochemical indexes, namely: Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), Enrichment Factor (EF) and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI). The ability of Water hyacinth plants residues as a phytodepurator in the Ramsar site was tested in terms of the bioaccumulation factor (BF) and the translocation factor (TF). The results concerning sediments showed that Pb, Cu and Hg pose a threat to the aquatic environment since Igeo and EF indicate sediments ranging from moderately contaminated to contaminated. Moreover, PERI pointed out Hg as the main contributor to the ecological risk in sediments, especially in the part of the reservoir covered by E. crassipes. Water hyacinth plants displayed good capacity to absorb PTMs from the water, since the content of Co, Zn, As, Ni, Cu, Pb, Ti, Cr, Ba, Mo and V in the total plant was (all values in mg/kg of dry weight) 21 ± 9, 408 ± 300, 12 ± 6, 93 ± 21, 93 ± 69, 53 ± 29, 1067 ± 643, 78 ± 55, 362 ± 39, 14 ± 0.6 and 96 ± 35, respectively. Metal content in sediments resembles to that of E. crassipes; especially in the roots, suggesting a constant deposition of plants at the bottom of the reservoir, which contributes to the eutrophication of the water. The present work encourages the need for a sustainable management of Water hyacinth plants in the Ramsar site, since they represent a plague and a natural phyto-depurator at the same time.


Th e article deals with Nietzsche's idea of affi rmation of life. Author claims that the idea belongs to the late Nietzsche and is linked with the image of child in legend of spirit's transformation. To expound on the idea author gives a detailed description of some moments of value production in Nietzsche's philosophy. Th ese moments are "eternal recurrence", "gift -giving virtue" and "joy". Th ese moments are compared with the experience of the positive and the negative. In the article the two types of experience are analyzed and it is established in what sense the two refer to what is pro and what is contra. Author suggests that it is possible to invent the notions of pro-movement and contra-movement and to defi ne some aspects of the notions. Based on this analysis, the author comes to the possibility of comparing the Nietzsche's idea of life-affi rmation with the notion of pro-movement.


Background. Despite the availability of clinical guidelines for stroke, variation exists in the management patterns of stroke among neurologists. Objective. To determine the current practice patterns of Filipino adult neurologists in stroke and their adherence to the current clinical guidelines of the Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP). Methods. Cross-sectional survey using a 3-page, 17-item questionnaire reviewed by the Stroke Council of the Philippine Neurological Association (PNA). Results and Observations. From November 2013 to July 2014, 136 of 277 (49%) locally practicing board certified adult neurologists of the PNA were surveyed. Some important findings from the survey include: (1) 70% of respondents underestimated the benefit of warfarin in stroke prevention in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF); (2) for acute ischemic stroke, although the recommended systolic blood pressure (SBP) threshold is >220 mm Hg, 43% would initiate antihypertensive therapy at SBP >180 mm Hg; (3) for acute primary intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), 42% would start antihypertensives at SBP >140 mm Hg; (4) despite the absence of guidelines recommending the use of neuroprotectant drugs for acute stroke, 75% and 56% of neurologists have prescribed it to >80% of their patients with infarcts and ICH respectively; (5) 46% of neurologists have not experienced giving thrombolytic therapy to any of their patients with acute ischemic stroke; (6) among patients with clinically stable hemorrhagic strokes, 77% of neurologists would give antithrombotics, while 28% of them would start it 30 days after the onset of stroke; (7) only 21% of respondents have ordered carotid studies as part of their work up in >80% of their patients with ischemic strokes; and (8) 64% of respondents have requested carotid revascularization procedures for patients with significant carotid stenosis, and about 38% of these patients underwent the procedure. Conclusion. The management patterns in stroke remain varied among Filipino neurologists, although the patterns show increasing adherence toward guideline recommendations. The following practices are noted: underestimation of the benefits of oral anticoagulation for stroke prevention among patients with NVAF; use of pharmacologic control of blood pressure below the recommended threshold for acute ischemic stroke; widespread use of neuroprotectant drugs despite lack of definite evidence for its use; low utilization of carotid studies in the work-up of patients with ischemic stroke and the low rate of revascularization procedures in confirmed cases of carotid stenosis; and a relative increase in experience with thrombolysis.


PURPOSE
This paper investigates the impact of quality-of-life adjustment on cost-effectiveness analyses, by comparing ratios from published studies that have reported both incremental costs per (unadjusted) life-year and per quality-adjusted life-year for the same intervention.

METHODS
A systematic literature search identified 228 original cost-utility analyses published prior to 1998. Sixty-three of these analyses (173 ratio pairs) reported both cost/LY and cost/QALY ratios for the same intervention, from which we calculated medians and means, the difference between ratios (cost/LY minus cost/QALY) and between reciprocals of the ratios, and cost/LY as a percentage of the corresponding cost/QALY ratio. We also compared the ratios using rank-order correlation, and assessed the frequency with which quality-adjustment resulted in a ratio crossing the widely used cost-effectiveness thresholds of 20, 000 US dollars, 50,000 US dollars, and 100,000 US dollars/QALY or LY.

RESULTS
The mean ratios were 69,100 US dollars/LY and 103,100 US dollars/QALY, with corresponding medians of 24,600 US dollars/LY and 20,400 US dollars/QALY. The mean difference between ratios was approximately -34,300 US dollars (median difference: 1300 US dollars), with 60% of ratio pairs differing by 10,000 US dollars/year or less. Mean difference between reciprocals was 59 (QA)LYs per million dollars (median: 2.1). The Spearman rank-order correlation between ratio types was 0.86 (p<0.001). Quality-adjustment led to a ratio moving either above or below 50,000 US dollars/LY (or QALY) in 8% of ratio pairs, and across 100,000 US dollars in 6% of cases.

CONCLUSIONS
In a sizable fraction of cost-utility analyses, quality adjusting did not substantially alter the estimated cost-effectiveness of an intervention, suggesting that sensitivity analyses using ad hoc adjustments or 'off-the-shelf' utility weights may be sufficient for many analyses. The collection of preference weight data should be subjected to the same scrutiny as other data inputs to cost-effectiveness analyses, and should only be under-taken if the value of this information is likely to be greater than the cost of obtaining it.


The liquid lining in small human airways can become unstable and form liquid plugs that close off the airways. Direct numerical simulations are carried out on an airway model to study this airway instability and the flow-induced stresses on the airway walls. The equations governing the fluid motion and the interfacial boundary conditions are solved using the finite-volume method coupled with the sharp interface method for the free surface. The dynamics of the closure process is simulated for a viscous Newtonian film with constant surface tension and a passive core gas phase. In addition, a special case is examined that considers the core dynamics so that comparisons can be made with the experiments of Bian et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 647, 2010, p. 391). The computed flow fields and stress distributions are consistent with the experimental findings. Within the short time span of the closure process, there are large fluctuations in the wall shear stress. Furthermore, dramatic velocity changes in the film during closure indicate a steep normal stress gradient on the airway wall. The computational results show that the wall shear stress, normal stress and their gradients during closure can be high enough to injure airway epithelial cells.


Background: The complexity of today's healthcare system has led to the growth of an emerging healthcare function known as healthcare advocacy. A telephonic healthcare advocate or advisor can play an essential role in care coordination, a better understanding of health benefits, and ease in navigating the healthcare system. A healthcare advocate's role may be filled by clinical staff (i.e., registered nurses), non-clinical staff, or both, with varying levels of training depending on the intended scope of service.
Objective: With a higher number of employers seeking customized health advocacy programing, this study serves to determine if more favorable healthcare outcomes offset the additional operating costs associated with a more dedicated delivery system. Therefore, this study's primary objective was to evaluate the impact of patient access to a customized health advocacy program on downstream medical costs and healthcare utilization compared to a control (CON) group without access to this service. The secondary aim was to provide information to employers on whether a higher investment in a more complex customized delivery model provides significant value compared to a less customized program.
Methods: The study treatment (TRT) group included 89,372 individuals with access to a customized advocacy program for employees, while the CON group of 115,465 had access to a non-customized program. Key outcomes included total healthcare expenditures, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and physician office visits 12 months after the advocacy start date compared to 6 months before the start date. Researchers evaluated the impact the customized advocacy intervention had on expenditures by comparing differences in pre- and post-expenditures between customized health advisor and non-customized health advisor groups after controlling for various demographic, socioeconomic, and health status characteristics. Inverse propensity score weighting helped minimize differences in characteristics between the TRT and CON groups.
Results: With the customized advocacy product, healthcare expenditures increased by only $2.03 per member per month (PMPM) compared with a $26.35 PMPM larger increase for controls with a non-customized product. Also, customized health advisor participants experienced reduced hospital admissions and ER visits compared with the CON group.
Conclusions: Study participants with access to customized healthcare advocacy services experienced significant healthcare cost savings, along with fewer ER visits, and reduced inpatient admissions compared with the CON group. Thus, these findings suggest that healthcare advocacy programs justify the increased delivery cost and can lead to reduced healthcare costs and utilization, along with the potential to improve health outcomes and quality of life.


Summary

Careful assessment of the biochemistry panel and familiarity with normal biochemistry values for neonatal foals is imperative in the workup of any critically ill neonate, particularly those with neurological signs. The importance of rapidity of change compared to the absolute value of the biochemical abnormality must be emphasised. Serial biochemical panels ideally assist in assessing rapidity of change. Many foals can have severe biochemical derangements in the absence of seizures. Identifying values that are significantly out of range should spur immediate therapy to correct them and potentially additional diagnostic testing to determine the cause of the abnormalities. A temporal relationship between correction of biochemical abnormalities and resolution of seizures and encephalopathic signs supports causation.


Religion, culture, and heritage are major factors that contribute to the formation of identity. Religion, in particular, plays a crucial role in the causes, dynamics, and resolution of conflicts, making it a powerful tool for both generating and preventing conflicts. While some view religion as a source of conflict, it cannot be denied that religion can also play a significant role in conflict resolution and peace building. This paper delves into the multifaceted role of religion in society, which can act as both a source of conflict and violence, but also as a means for conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The interplay between religion and identity formation is explored in relation to its impact on conflict, including causes, dynamics, and potential resolutions. With a focus on the Islamic perspective, the paper outlines the guidelines and methodologies provided by religion to prevent conflicts and promote peace. Additionally, the role of religious leaders in facilitating peacebuilding efforts is examined. Ultimately, the paper underscores the need to recognize and harness the positive potential of religion in the pursuit of sustainable peace.


MATERNITY is commonly believed to be an important contributory cause of increased weight in women. Sheldon (1949) provided circumstantial evidence from the histories of obese parous women, and further support was given by the conclusion of Thomson and Hytten (1961) that about 30% of the average weight gained during pregnancy is due to an increase of body fat. Yet Thomson and Billewicz (1965) showed from cross-sectional data that parity added little to the tendency of weight to increase with age, though 'increasing parity does give rise to a minority of unusually heavy women'. Lowe and Gibson (1955) had previously concluded, also from a cross-sectional study, that marriage, but not parity, added to the effect of age, while the Joint Clothing Council Ltd. (1957) found no clear effect of either marital status or parity. Though all investigators agree that weight tends to increase with age, an independent effect of parity must still be regarded as uncertain. Investigation is complicated by the fact that the average weights of women have tended to increase during recent years (Thomson, Billewicz, and Holliday, 1967). In this paper, the effects of age, parity and other factors on body weight are reported on the basis of longitudinal data derived from women who were weighed during their first and subsequent pregnancies.


PURPOSE
To examine the morphologic features of parapapillary atrophy by using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) and color fundus photographs.

METHODS
The clinical observational comparative study included 80 normal eyes of 46 subjects and 80 eyes of 46 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Both groups did not vary significantly in axial length (P = 0.62) and refractive error (P = 0.30). Color fundus photographs and cross-sectional B-scan images obtained by EDI-OCT were examined. On the EDI-OCT images, we measured a gamma zone defined as the region between the temporal disc margin to the beginning of Bruch's membrane, and a beta zone defined as Bruch's membrane without retinal pigment epithelium.

RESULTS
The gamma zone (mean area: 1.13 ± 2.04 mm(2)) was significantly associated with longer axial length (P < 0.001; standardized coefficient beta: 0.48), longer vertical disc diameter (P < 0.001; beta: 0.43), older age (P = 0.008; beta: 0.22), and the absence of glaucoma (P = 0.03; beta: -0.19). The beta zone (mean area: 0.85 ± 0.60 mm(2)) was associated with longer axial length (P < 0.001; beta: 0.39) and the presence of glaucoma (P < 0.001; beta: 0.48).

CONCLUSIONS
In addition to associations with older age, increasing myopia, and larger disc size, the EDI-OCT-defined gamma zone of parapapillary atrophy was associated with the absence of glaucoma, whereas the EDI-OCT-defined beta zone was associated with the presence of glaucoma. Differentiation between the beta zone and the gamma zone may be clinically useful.


Broiler chickens were exposed to 3,000, 6,000 and 12,000 ppm of CO2 for the 4-week brooding period, and their performance was compared to that of controls brooded where the CO2 level did not exceed 1,000 ppm. Exposure to 3,000 and 6,000 ppm did not significantly affect body weights at 4 or 7 weeks, but exposure to 12,000 ppm of CO2 depressed body weight at 4 weeks by about 60 g; the deficiency in weight persisted until 7 weeks of age. Feed conversions were not affected.


In the last years Game Theory (GT) has been widely used in wireless technologies to model medium access, power control or resource exchange. In order to have a wider vision of the problem and describe the evolution of such networks, Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT) is currently considered as an important tool. This theory has been applied in biology since the seventies to describe animals' behaviour. We applied the theory to a new field of research and we describe how it could provide very interesting results. Cardiac diseases represent one of the biggest death causes in modern society. Despite their importance, current therapies do not give an efficient solution to the problem. However, stem cells research could represent a future hope for a more efficient solution. In particular, there is currently a great interest in myocardial tissue generation from stem cells cultures in 3D bio-active scaffolds. Those polymeric structures intend to mimic the environment inside the heart where cardiac cells, cardiomyocytes, are generated. Well designed scaffolds along with chemical substances contribute to the differentiation process of the stem cell. How this happens, and how a stem cells population becomes a myocardial tissue? We studied a solution using Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT). We set a very simple model to describe the basic concepts of EGT and present some early results.


This paper presents an interactive communication synthesis approach for multiprocessor systems. The aim of the approach consists in mapping a high level specification into a modular and flexible target architecture. The input specification is composed of a set of finite state machines that communicate via a procedural call mechanism. If we assume that the communication critical part is done through a shared memory, this approach allows us to refine the communication structures (interfaces, controllers) in order to reach an operational model easily mappable onto the target architecture. While the choice of communication protocols influences what the best partition is, the target architecture is extendible in order to minimize the communication cost that can be added by the partitioning. The proposed approach is validated through the design of a communication controller.


ABSTRACT Contemporary research has demonstrated that entrepreneurship is a fundamentally contextualized phenomenon and unfolds differently in different contexts. Despite the extensive coverage of the importance of embeddedness for entrepreneurial activities, the research predominantly relies on somewhat static, single layered, and binary notions of embeddedness. We argue that there is a strong need for studies that problematize embeddedness and the relationship between entrepreneur and context. This call for papers, thus invites contributions that explore embeddedness as dynamic, processual and multi-layered, as well as elaborate on the paradoxes of embeddedness?


The development of meiosis during oogenesis in the normal, and 0.1% thio-TEPA (triethylene thiophosphoramide) fed female of Aedes aegypti was studied. Chromosome preparations were made from adults 24 h after a blood meal. The frequency of various kinds of chromosomal abnormalities was analysed.


The question of whether the glass transition temperature in thin polymer films depends on the film thickness or not has given rise to heated debate for almost two decades now. One of the most puzzling findings is the seemingly universal thickness independence of the dielectric α-relaxation observed for supported films. It is puzzling not only in view of the fact that other techniques or other geometries sometimes showed a significant shift of as a function of film thickness, but more so, because computer simulations for all types of polymer film models revealed changes in the structure and dynamics close to a hard surface or a free surface. Our results suggest to explain this apparent contradiction by the fact that only within 1–2 nm from the wall the density changes are sufficiently large to alter the dynamics. Additionally, the wall desorption kinetics, which introduces a new energy scale (at least for simple van der Waals attraction), is enslaved to the α-relaxation at low temperatures.


This paper shows how the Kazhdan-Lusztig theory of cells can be directly applied to establish the quasi-heredity of q-Schur algebras. The application arises because of a very strong homological property enjoyed by certain cell ltrations for q-permutation modules.


Several studies have shown that explaining actions increases students' knowledge. In this paper, we discuss how NORMIT supports self-explanation. NORMIT is a constraint-based tutor that teaches data normalization. We present the system first, and then discuss how it supports self-explanation. We hypothesized the self-explanation support in NORMIT would result in increased problem solving skills and better conceptual knowledge. An evaluation study of the system was performed, the results of which confirmed our hypothesis. Students who self-explained learnt constraints significantly faster, and acquired more domain knowledge.


Transparent microelectrodes have recently emerged as a promising approach for crosstalk‐free multifunctional electrical and optical biointerfacing. High‐performance flexible platforms that allow seamless integration with soft tissue systems for such applications are urgently needed. Here, silver nanowires (Ag NWs)‐based transparent microelectrode arrays (MEAs) and interconnects are designed to meet this demand. The nanowire networks exhibit a high optical transparency >90.0% at 550 nm, and superior mechanical stability up to 100,000 bending cycles at 5 mm radius. The Ag NWs microelectrodes preserve low normalized electrochemical impedance of 3.4–15 Ω cm2 at 1 kHz, and the interconnects demonstrate excellent sheet resistance (Rsh) of 4.1–25 Ω sq−1. In vivo histological analysis reveals that the Ag NWs structures are biocompatible. Studies on Langendorff‐perfused mouse and rat hearts demonstrate that the Ag NWs MEAs enable high‐fidelity real‐time monitoring of heart rhythm during co‐localized optogenetic pacing and optical mapping. This proof‐of‐concept work illustrates that the solution‐processed, transparent, and flexible Ag NWs structures are a promising candidate for the next‐generation of large‐area multifunctional biointerfaces for interrogating complex biological systems in basic and translational research.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) tends to have its onset in women in their 40s or 50s, and not a few of these patients are still of childbearing potential. It used to be necessary to forgo pregnancy and delivery because of RA treatment, but with rapid advances in treatment drugs for RA, we have entered an era in which RA patients can become pregnant and deliver. Objectives We conducted a survey to investigate actual conditions among RA patients who have experienced pregnancy and delivery, to consider the role of nurses in their treatment. Methods Since biologics became available for RA treatment in Japan in 2003, our clinic has conducted interview-style questionnaire surveys of RA patients who have experienced pregnancy and delivery. Results Seven of RA patients had experienced delivery. Two of the 7 RA patients had experienced delivery 2 times. and in all cases, both mother and child were normal. We now have 2 patients who are newly pregnant. The specific sources of anxiety concerning pregnancy and delivery included that the effects of RA treatment drugs on the fetus, the postpartum condition, advisability of use of RA treatment drugs while nursing, and effects of RA treatment drug while nursing on the newborn. On the other hand, they feel that they have sufficient understanding and cooperation from family members with respect to their pharmacotherapy during pregnancy and delivery. Before becoming pregnant, 5 of these patients had used etanercept (ETN), 1 had used infliximab, and 1 had used a steroid, and although 2 went drug-free after becoming pregnant, the other 5 continued to use the same treatment drugs they had used before becoming pregnant. All of the patients fed their babies with a combination of mother's milk and artificial milk, and 3 of them continued ETN monotherapy during the period of lactation. Conclusions This survey elucidated the concerns of RA patients with respect to pregnancy and delivery. It shows the importance of having nurses address not only care of the disease itself but also total management entailing the building of relationships of trust with patients of reproductive age early on while providing mental care that includes the families, collaborating with departments of obstetrics, and collecting information, etc. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2804


In this paper, a 2-1/2-D unified tracking and regulation visual servoing strategy is proposed for a nonholonomic mobile robot system equipped with an onboard camera. Firstly, by comparing the feature points of the unmodeled target object from a reference image with those on the current image and the prerecorded desired sequence of images, a novel composite error vector is defined including both image signals and rotational angles. Subsequently, the chained-form error system dynamics is obtained after utilizing a transformation formed by a new error signal set. Then, adaptive Lyapunov-based techniques are employed to construct online estimate to compensate for constant unknown parameters, and the asymptotically convergent performance is achieved by designing a time-varying continuous controller despite the lack of object model and depth information. Simulation results are collected to investigate the feasibility of the proposed approach.


This study focuses on the development of a conformity tool for Islamic social entrepreneurship (ISE) towards Muslim social entrepreneur (MSE). Previous literature studied on the concept of social entrepreneurship based on the Western perspective. However, none of the Islamic social entrepreneurship model is dedicated towards social entrepreneur. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a conformity tool to measure the percentages of social entrepreneur in Islamic social entrepreneurship. The conformity tool was validated through expert review. Findings from the expert reviews show that the majority of the experts agreed and perceived the conformity tool as bringing benefit to the social entrepreneur and entrepreneur institutions; help to give awareness; help to increase the social activities based on Islamic social entrepreneurship; and to avoid prohibited element such as riba, gharar and maisir.


The excavations at Mzinyashana Shelter provide insight into hunter-gatherer hunting strategies during the late Holocene. The variety of animals identified indicates that the occupants were familiar with the habits of the different animals they targeted, and applied different hunting techniques to obtain their prey. Most of the taxa identified have been recorded from the region during historical times, but there are a number of species that are out of their present range, suggesting a wider distribution in the past. Very few bone fragments show traces of modification, probably an effect of the fragmented nature of the assemblages. Where applicable, sex and age determinations were made. The faunal sample shows many similarities with those from other shelter sites in the Drakensberg/Thukela Basin, and supports findings of earlier studies. The presence of some very young animals suggests that the site was at least occupied in the spring. The site also provides some evidence of either contact between the hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists, or that the latter occupied the shelter when the last few layers were deposited. To cite this paper: Plug, I. 2002. Faunal remains from Mzinyashana, a Later Stone Age site in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.  Southern African Humanities 14 : 51-63.


This paper deals with the nullity of a company. It emphasizes why it is necessary to establish a special restrictive regime with regard to the nullity of a company, and what complementary mechanisms need to be introduced in order to accomplish legal certainty. In this respect the existing regime of the nullity of companies within EU Company Law is examined and different conditions for nullity, including possible consequences are presented. Different theoretical concepts of the nullity of a company were examined and compared in this paper, in particular nullity of the company's incorporation, invalidity of the articles of incorporation, as well as registration procedure. Comparative law concepts, including de facto company, societe de fait or fehlerhafte Gesellschaft are also examined in order to define nullity in Serbian Company Law, as well as to resolve some existing concerns and problems in Serbian case law. Finally, it is underlined that nullity of a company must be regarded within the existing system of control of the incorporation of the company. It is emphasized that, in order to achieve legal certainty, nullity must be the ultimate means of protecting the interests of persons concerned, which is why it is necessary to improve the existing control system of incorporation of companies.


HELLP syndrome is a serious pregnancy-related syndrome characterised by hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count occurring in 0.5-0.9% of all pregnancies and in 10-20% of cases with severe preeclampsia. Typical presenting symptoms are right upper quadrant or epigastric pain, nausea and vomiting. Seventy percent of the cases develop antepartum, majority between the 27th and 37th gestational weeks. Thirty percent of the cases are diagnosed postpartum, often within 48 h post-delivery. The occurrence of preeclampsia post-delivery is well established. However, in most reported cases, HELLP syndrome persisted since late pregnancy. We report a case of HELLP syndrome in combination with preeclampsia that developed 2 days post-delivery in an uncomplicated pregnancy. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2019;8(4):118-120 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcgo605


Although polysomnography is indispensable in the diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), a common disease in Japan, it is a time-consuming procedure. We therefore assessed the clinical usefulness of a cardiopulmonary sleep study (CPSS), which monitors indices of respiratory and circulatory kinetics during sleep. Of ninety male patients (50 +/- 11 years old, BMI: 27 +/- 4), those with apnea indices (AI) > 5, as determined using an apnomonitor, underwent CPSS with a Night Watch System. Sixty-nine patients with indications for nasal CPAP (NCPAP) therapy underwent overnight CPSS and the optimum pressure was determined. AI was 31 +/- 17, whereas CPSS showed an apnea-hypopnea index of 49 +/- 24, a mean SaO2 of 93 +/- 3%, and a minimum SaO2 of 71 +/- 11%, indicating severe OSAS. The mean optimum pressure was 10 +/- 2 cm H2O, and the compliance was 86%, which was comparatively good. As CPSS can be performed on many patients in a short time, it may be useful for the early diagnosis and initial treatment of SAS.


Internet banking is changing the banking business, having the significant impacts on banking connections. Banking is currently not, at this point restricted to the branches where one needs to move toward the branch face to face, to pull back money or store a check or solicitation an announcement of records. In obvious. Internet banking, any request or exchange is prepared online with no reference to the branch (anyplace banking) whenever. The net banking, in this way, presently is to a greater extent a standard instead of an exemption in many created nations because of the way that it is the least expensive method of giving banking administrations. This examination paper will acquaint you with e-banking, giving the significance, capacities, types, focal points, and impediments of e-banking. It will likewise show the effect of e-banking on conventional administrations lastly the outcome documentation. Digitalization diminishes human mistake and hence assembles client reliability. clock admittance to banks because of web based banking. Clients need not store money any longer and can make exchanges at any spot and time. A few business banks began moving towards advanced client administrations to stay serious and important in the race. Banks have profited in a few chime more current innovations. E-banking has brought about lessening costs radically and has produced income through different channels. Business Banks in India have moved towards innovation by method of Bank Mechanization and n to MICR based check preparing, Electronic Funds move, Interconnectivity among bank Branches and usage of ATM (Automated Teller Machine) Channel have brought about the comfort of Anytime banking. Solid activities have been taken by t Reserve Bank of India in fortifying the Payment and Settlement frameworks in banks. Indian government, banks, fintech organizations have been advancing and changing the way India goes through its cash. Simultaneously computerized transformation additionally raises new test the steadiness and the honesty of the budgetary framework and the security of purchasers.


Context : Software performance is a critical non-functional requirement, appearing in many fields such as mission critical applications, financial, and real time systems. In this work we focused on early detection of performance bugs; our software under study was a real time system used in the advertisement / marketing domain. Goal : Find a simple and easy to implement solution, predicting performance bugs. Method : We built several models using four machine learning methods, commonly used for defect prediction: C4.5 Decision Trees, Naı̈ve Bayes, Bayesian Networks, and Logistic Regression. Results: Our empirical results show that a C4.5 model, using lines of code changed, file's age and size as explanatory variables, can be used to predict performance bugs (recall = 0.73, accuracy = 0.85, and precision = 0.96). We show that reducing the number of changes delivered on a commit, can decrease the chance of performance bug injection. Conclusions: We believe that our approach can help practitioners to eliminate performance bugs early in the development cycle. Our results are also of interest to theoreticians, establishing a link between functional bugs and (non-functional) performance bugs, and explicitly showing that attributes used for prediction of functional bugs can be used for prediction of performance bugs.


Global efforts to feed the burgeoning population have focused on increasing food production and access. In the meantime, FAO estimates about 1/3 food loss in the developing countries. To minimize these losses, grain storage techniques were investigated in an earthquake hit village in Kavre district of Nepal. Pesticide free moisture proof/airtight food storage bags were provided to 1,055 households using financial support from UNICEF-Nepal. Thirty-three households were identified who could store food grains for 6-month for this study. Maize and rice grains were stored in porous and in moisture-proof hermetic bags. Food grain samples were collected at the beginning and at 6-month and were analyzed for physical quality parameters, nutrients and mycotoxins. About 92% insect damage occurred in maize stored in porous bags which was prevented in triple layer hermetic Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) bags. Insect damage in paddy remained low within 10% in both treatments. Major maize nutrient loss occurred through insect damage. The traditional practice was to use insect and mold infested maize as feed. Mycotoxins results showed that toxigenic molds develop in open storage of improperly dried grains especially maize. Fusarium-related mycotoxins associated with stunting were detected in maize samples using LC-MS/MS equipment. Mature grains should be dried sooner to processing moisture contents and packaged into moisture-proof hermetic bags (Dry Chain) to minimize postharvest loss. A clear policy implication is that use of improved low-cost Dry Chain technology should be promoted to enable quality food systems.


Use of reflection in medical education has been shown to enhance health care practitioner competency and enable a transformation from passive learning of theoretical constructs to a more active acquisition of core competences. Implementation of reflection in medical curriculum is a challenge, and a deficiency of reflective practice has been noted by residency directors. This highlights a need to develop reflective skills within the medical curriculum. In the anatomy course, reflection facilitates deeper learning and gives meaning to a student's dissection experience. During the 7 week gross anatomy course, we implemented four reflection sessions ("Safe Harbor") aimed at fostering reflective capacity through encouraging student reflection on elements of professionalism including teamwork, ethics, and work‐life balance. Approximately two‐thirds of the class voluntarily participated in sessions lead by near‐peer facilitators. Reflection in professionalism index scores were analyzed at the beginning and end of the course. Preliminary results suggest first year students appreciate the "Safe Harbor" forum to reflect on anatomy course experience, professionalism, and personal challenges. Facilitators report positively on students personally adopting and integrating the reflection framework during Safe Harbor sessions, thereby suggesting an increased capacity to reflect on professionalism.


Recent studies connecting the decline of large predators and consumers with the disintegration of ecosystems often overlook that this natural experiment already oc -curred. As recently as 14 ka, tens of millions of large-bodied mammals were wide spread across the American continents. Within 1000 yr of the arrival of humans, ∼ 80% were extinct including all >600 kg. While the cause of the late Pleistocene (LP) extinction remains contentious, largely overlooked are the ecological conse quences of the loss of millions of large-bodied animals. Here, we examine the in fluence of the LP extinction on a local mammal community. Our study site is Hall's Cave in the Great Plains of Texas, which has unparalleled fine-grained temporal res olution over the past 20 ka, allowing characterization of the community before and after the extinction. In step with continental patterns, this community lost 80% of large-bodied herbivores and 20% of apex predators at the LP extinction. Using tightly constrained temporal windows spanning full glacial to modern time peri ods and comprehensive faunal lists, we reconstruct mammal associations and body size distributions over time. We find changes in alpha and beta diversity, and in the statistical moments associated with periods of climate change as well as with the LP extinction event. Additionally, there is a fundamental change in the composition of herbivores, with grazers being replaced by frugivores/granivores starting about 15 ka; the only large-bodied grazer remaining today is the bison Bison bison . More over, the null model program PAIRS reveals interesting temporal patterns in the dis association or co-occurrence of species through the terminal Pleistocene and Holo cene. Extinct species formed more significant associations than modern ones, and formed more aggregated pairs than do modern species. Further, negative species associations were about three times stronger than positive.


Previous work suggests that strontium ions (Sr(2+)) are less effective than calcium ions (Ca(2+)) at supporting excitation-contraction (EC) coupling in cardiac muscle. We therefore tested whether this was due to differences in the uptake and release of Ca(2+)and Sr(2+)by the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of rat ventricular trabeculae and myocytes at 22-24 degrees C. In permeabilized trabeculae, isometric contractions activated by exposure to Ca(2+)- and Sr(2+)-containing solutions produced similar maximal force, but were four times more sensitive to Ca(2+)than to Sr(2+). The rate of loading and maximal SR capacity for caffeine-releasable Ca(2+)and Sr(2+)were similar. In isolated, voltage-clamped ventricular myocytes, the SR content was measured as Na(+)-Ca(2+)exchange current during caffeine-induced SR cation releases. The SR Ca(2+)load reached a steady maximum during a train of voltage clamp depolarizations. A similar maximal Sr(2+)load was not observed, suggesting that the SR capacity for Sr(2+)exceeds that for Ca(2+). Therefore, the relative inability of Sr(2+)to support cardiac EC coupling appears not to be due to failure of the SR to sequester Sr(2+). Instead, increases in cytosolic [Sr(2+)] seem to poorly activate Sr(2+)release from the SR.


This paper examines assessment as a tool for effective teaching and learning. It revealed the concept of teaching and learning in lined with its improvement through the use of assessment. The concept of assessment and its various forms were x-rayed as a means of assessing both the teaching and learning. The author thereafter examines the problems of operating assessment in the schools to include among others, the difficulty of incorporating assessment scores to final examinations, lack of qualified teachers and large classes. The author further shield light on the implications of assessment to teaching and learning with the main idea that, where assessment is implemented effectively, it raises standard of achievement across the board. Finally, the author recommends among others that stakeholders in education and the external examination bodies should brain storm on the possible ways to incorporate assessment scores of students to final examination scores, government and private organizations should assist in training and re-training of teachers to effectively handle students' assessment and teachers were called upon to find way of receiving better feedback from learners by improving on the quality of class room dialogue.


Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder, affecting up to 9% individuals globally. Although the etiology of this syndrome is likely heterogenous, it presents with its hallmark symptoms of abdominal pain and altered intestinal motility. Moreover, it is considered to be a disorder of the gut-brain interaction, and the microbiome has often been implicated as a central player in its pathophysiology. Patients with irritable bowel syndrome display altered composition and function of the gut microbiota compared to healthy controls. Microbiome directed therapies, such as probiotics, antibiotics and fecal microbiome transplantation, appear to be beneficial for both gut symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities. This review aims to recapitulate the available literature on the microbiome contribution to the pathophysiology and symptoms presentation of irritable bowel syndrome, as well as the current literature on microbiome-targeted treatments for this disease.


The spatial distribution of cell surface proteins govern vital processes of the immune system such as inter-cell communication and mobility. However, tools for studying these at high multiplexing scale, resolution, and throughput needed to drive novel discoveries are lacking. We present Molecular Pixelation, a DNA-sequencing based method for single cell analysis to quantify protein abundance, spatial distribution, and colocalization of targeted proteins using Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs). Relative locations of AOCs are inferred by sequentially associating these into local neighborhoods using DNA-pixels containing unique pixel identifier (UPI) sequences, forming >1,000 connected spatial zones per single cell in three dimensions. DNA-sequencing reads are computationally arranged into spatial single cell maps for 76 proteins without cell compartmentalization. By studying immune cell dynamics and using spatial statistics on graph representations of the data, previously known and novel patterns of protein spatial polarization and co-localization were found in chemokine-stimulated T-cells.


An interference assay has been devised in Schizosaccharomyces pombe to rapidly identify and clone genes involved in chromosome segregation. Random S.pombe cDNAs were overexpressed from an inducible promoter in a strain carrying an additional, non-essential minichromosome. Overexpression of cDNAs derived from four genes, two known (nda3+and ubc4+, encoding beta-tubulin and a ubiquitin conjugating enzyme, respectively) and two unknown, named mlo2+ and mlo3+ (missegregation & lethal when over expressed) caused phenotypes consistent with a failure to segregate chromosomes. Full overexpression of all four cDNAs was lethal. Cells overexpressing nda3+ and ubc4+ cDNAs arrested with condensed unsegregated chromosomes and cells overexpressing mlo2+ displayed an asymmetric distribution of nuclear chromatin. Sublethal levels of overexpression of nda3+, ubc4+ and mlo2+ cDNAs caused elevated rates of minichromosome loss. A third cDNA mlo3+, displayed no increase in the frequency of minichromosome loss at sublethal levels of overexpression but full overexpression caused a complete failure to segregate chromosomes. Our results confirm the assumption that beta-tubulin overexpression is lethal in S.pombe, implicate ubc4+ in the control of metaphase-anaphase transition in fission yeast and finally identify two new genes, mlo2+and mlo3+, likely to play an important role for chromosome transmission fidelity in mitosis.


Design analysis and computer experiments (DACE) model is widely used to express efficiently nonlinear responses in the field of engineering design. As a DACE model, kriging model can approximately replace a simulation model that is very expensive or highly nonlinear. The kriging model is composed of the summation of a global model and a local model representing deviation from the global model. The local model is determined by correlation coefficient with the pre-sampled points, where the accuracy and robustness of the kriging model depends on the selection of proper correlation coefficients. Therefore, to achieve the robust kriging model, the range of the correlation coefficients is explored with respect to the degrees of the global model. Based on this study we propose the proper orders of the global model and range of parameters to make accurate and robust kriging model.


In this paper, we present a data-driven solution to address the energy efficient routing problem in a multi-layer femtocell network. The basic idea is to divide problems into categories by the clustering of traffic demand vectors, and solve a problem by a most suitable algorithm, in terms of throughput, energy consumption and computation time, corresponding to its category. The simulation results show that, our proposed approach can achieve a similar performance in throughput and energy saving as the previous JRN algorithm, by reducing 80% computation time.


The aim of this paper is to discuss the enantiomer-specific fate of chiral drugs during wastewater treatment and in receiving waters. Several chiral drugs were studied: amphetamine-like drugs of abuse (amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, MDA), ephedrines (ephedrine and pseudoephedrine), antidepressant venlafaxine, and beta-blocker atenolol. A monitoring program was undertaken in 7 WWTPs (utilizing mainly activated sludge and trickling filters technologies) and at 6 sampling points in receiving waters over the period of 9 months. The results revealed the enantiomer-specific fate of all studied drugs during both wastewater treatment and in the aqueous environment. The extent of stereoselectivity depended on several parameters including: type of chiral drug (high stereoselectivity was recorded for atenolol and MDMA), treatment technology used (activated sludge showed higher stereoselectivity than trickling filters), and season (higher stereoselectivity was observed in the aqueous environment over the spring/summer time).


DNA extraction is critical for seafood authentication based on DNA techniques. In this study, eight extraction methods, including commercial kit, from three types of seafood (quick frozen, roasted, and canned products) were compared in terms of DNA yield and purity. The quantity and quality of extracted DNA were evaluated using the ratio A260/A280. Quality was also evaluated by two pairs of primers that could amplify two different sizes of DNA fragments respectively. For quick frozen samples, the results showed that the top three methods for DNA yield were the SDS method, TIANGEN GMO food DNA Extraction Kit, and TIANamp Marine Animals DNA Kit. For roasted samples, the top two methods for DNA yield were the SDS and improved CTAB methods. For canned samples, the top two methods for DNA yield were the SDS and phenol/chloroform/isoamylic alcohol methods. The differences between these aforementioned methods and the remaining methods were highly significant (P < 0.01). The DNA extracted from roasted and canned seafood could not amplify the 650 bp but amplified the 358 bp target fragment. This study determined the proper DNA extraction method for three types of seafood to facilitate seafood authentication.


We report on two unrelated Brazilian boys with craniofacial anomalies that involve the frontonasal process and the first branchial arch associated with pericallosal lipoma. To our knowledge this condition seems to have been reported only once previously, but may represent a new condition within the group of the frontonasal dysgenesis. Clinical and imaging data, phenotypic evolution, and differential diagnosis are discussed. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Remote sensing detects and monitors the physical and spatial characteristics of the earth's oceans, surface, and atmosphere by measuring the reflected or scattered downwelling or emitted upwelling electromagnetic radiation or acoustic signal using passive or active sensors at a distance. It plays an important role in today's energy and environmental sustainability efforts. Remote sensing from spaceborne, airborne, terrestrial, and marine platforms has long been used in hydrocarbon exploration to map surface geology, topography, and hydrocarbon seepages, as well as to evaluate environments that relate to petroleum industry activities. Since the mid-2000s, remote sensing technologies have undergone substantial advances in data acquisition, processing, and interpretation. In the last decade, rapid advances in satellite systems, unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs), sensors, and scale of surveys have further expanded applications.


In this letter, a nonlinear AM-FM speech model is used to extract robust features for speech recognition. The proposed features measure the amount of amplitude and frequency modulation that exists in speech resonances and attempt to model aspects of the speech acoustic information that the commonly used linear source-filter model fails to capture. The robustness and discriminability of the AM-FM features is investigated in combination with mel cepstrum coefficients (MFCCs). It is shown that these hybrid features perform well in the presence of noise, both in terms of phoneme-discrimination (J-measure) and in terms of speech recognition performance in several different tasks. Average relative error rate reduction up to 11% for clean and 46% for mismatched noisy conditions is achieved when AM-FM features are combined with MFCCs.


BACKGROUND
There is an urgent need to deploy and develop new control tools that will reduce the intolerable burden of malaria. Intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) has the potential to become an effective tool for malaria control.

METHODS
We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) treatment in 1503 Mozambican children. Doses of SP or placebo were given at 3, 4, and 9 months of age. The intervention was administered alongside routine vaccinations delivered through the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI). Hematological and biochemical tests were done when infants were 5 months old. Morbidity monitoring through a hospital-based passive case-detection system was complemented by cross-sectional surveys when infants were 12 and 24 months old.

RESULTS
IPTi was well tolerated, and no adverse events associated with SP were documented. During the first year of life, intermittent SP treatment reduced the incidence of clinical malaria by 22.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.7%-37.0%; P=.020) and the rate of hospital admissions by 19% (95% CI, 4.0%-31.0%; P=.014). Although the incidence of severe anemia (packed cell volume of <25%) did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (protective effect, 12.7% [95% CI, -17.3% to 35.1%]; P=.36), there was a significant reduction in hospital admissions for anemia during the month after dosing for both the first and second dose. The serological responses to EPI vaccines were not modified by the intervention.

CONCLUSIONS
IPTi with SP has been shown to moderately reduce the incidence of clinical malaria in Mozambican infants without evidence of rebound after stopping the intervention or of interactions with EPI vaccines. Its recommendation as a malaria control strategy in Mozambique needs to be balanced against the scarcity of affordable control tools and the burden of malaria in children.


A derivative with Schiff-base structure was synthesized. Fluorescence and visible absorption spectra show that the presence of Fe3+ induces the formation of a Fe3+ complex, observing significant enhancement of fluorescence and absorption. The results show that the derivative is not only a good fluorescence and colorimetric chemosensor for Fe3+, but also a metal complex fluorescent probe for BSA.


The mechanical properties of tumors and the tumor environment provide important information for the progression and characterization of cancer. Tumors are surrounded by an extracellular matrix (ECM) dominated by collagen I. The geometrical and mechanical properties of the ECM play an important role for the initial step in the formation of metastasis, presented by the migration of malignant cells towards new settlements as well as the vascular and lymphatic system. The extent of this cell invasion into the ECM is a key medical marker for cancer prognosis. In vivo studies reveal an increased stiffness and different architecture of tumor tissue when compared to its healthy counterparts. The observed parallel collagen organization on the tumor border and radial arrangement at the invasion zone has raised the question about the mechanisms organizing these structures. Here we study the effect of contractile forces originated from model tumor spheroids embedded in a biomimetic collagen I matrix. We show that contractile forces act immediately after seeding and deform the ECM, thus leading to tensile radial forces within the matrix. Relaxation of this tension via cutting the collagen does reduce invasion, showing a mechanical relation between the tensile state of the ECM and invasion. In turn, these results suggest that tensile forces in the ECM facilitate invasion. Furthermore, simultaneous contraction of the ECM and tumor growth leads to the condensation and reorientation of the collagen at the spheroid's surface. We propose a tension-based model to explain the collagen organization and the onset of invasion by forces originating from the tumor.


Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a membrane lytic enzyme that is present in many organisms. Human PLA2 has emerged as a potential biomarker as well as a therapeutic target for several diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and some inflammatory diseases. The current study focuses on the development of lipo-beads that are very reactive and highly sensitive to PLA2. To develop the best supported lipid bilayer formulation, several lipid combinations were investigated using 10 μm porous silica beads. The reactivity of PLA2 was monitored via the decrease in particle fluorescence because of the release of entrapped fluorescent dye from the particle pores or the disintegration of a fluorescent lipid constituted on the bilayer upon lipid hydrolysis using flow cytometry. The enzyme binding studies indicate that lipo-beads with bulky fluorescent tags in the lipid head group and anionic lipids produce a more pronounced response. The kinetic studies suggest that these lipo-beads are very reactive with PLA2 and can generate a detectable signal in less than 5 min. The enzyme inhibition studies were also conducted with two known PLA2 inhibitors, varespladib and quercetin. We find that quercetin can hydrolyze the supported membrane, and thus inhibition of PLA2 is not observed; however, varespladib has shown significant PLA2 inhibition on lipo-beads. We have demonstrated that our lipo-bead-based approach can detect annexin-3, a known disease biomarker, as low as 10 nM within 5 min after incubation.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this article is to familiarize the radiologist with the technical aspects of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The wide range of MDCT imaging findings that are critical for planning and performing TAVR will be reviewed.

CONCLUSION
TAVR is developing into an effective and reproducible therapy for aortic valve stenosis. We describe the important role of MDCT in planning and performing TAVR in a large transcatheter valve program.


Even though the dermal toxicity of hydrocarbon fuels has been well established in the literature, there is little information available on the dermal penetration kinetics and irritation potential of the individual hydrocarbons. The penetration and skin retention of nonane, dodecane and tetradecane was assessed in vitro using hairless rats' skin. The effects of unocclusive dermal exposures of these chemicals (15 mL every 2 h for 8 h a day for four days) on the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and erythema were measured in CD hairless rats. The expression of interleukin 1a (IL-1a) and TNF-a in the skin and blood were measured at the end of dermal exposures. The flux of dodecane was 3- and 77-fold higher than nonane and tetradecane. The retention of chemicals in stratum corneum (SC) was in the order of tetradecane-dodecane-nonane, and directly correlated to the log Kp (r2-0.9900) and molecular weight of the chemicals (r2-0.8782). The TEWL and erythema data indicate that irritation was in the following order: tetradecane-dodecane-nonane. Likewise, the expression of IL-1a in the blood and TNF-a in the skin after dermal exposures was higher for tetradecane followed by dodecane and nonane compared to control. In conclusion, the aliphatic hydrocarbon chemicals of the present study induced cumulative irritation upon low-level repeat exposures for a four-day period. The affinity of the chemicals to SC and their gradual accumulation in the skin in the present study is the probable cause for the differences in the skin irritation profiles of different aliphatic chemicals. The findings of the present study will be helpful in understanding the skin irritation response of the chemicals in humans; indeed the reality check arises from dermal exposures in humans and human experience in occupational handling of these chemicals.


Evolutionary language games have proved a useful tool to study the evolution of communication codes in communities of agents that interact among themselves by transmitting and interpreting a fixed repertoire of signals. Most studies have focused on the emergence of Saussurean codes (i.e., codes characterized by an arbitrary one-to-one correspondence between meanings and signals). In this contribution, we argue that the standard evolutionary language game framework cannot explain the emergence of compositional codes-communication codes that preserve neighborhood relationships by mapping similar signals into similar meanings-even though use of those codes would result in a much higher payoff in the case that signals are noisy. We introduce an alternative evolutionary setting in which the meanings are assimilated sequentially and show that the gradual building of the meaning-signal mapping leads to the emergence of mappings with the desired compositional property.


【The instability in the current financial market caused consumers a lot of difficulties in their financial decision making. The purpose of this study is to classify the changes in household portfolios during the economic crisis under IMF-trusteeship (IMF Crisis hereafter), and to examine the characteristics of the households according to the types of household portfolio changes. The data were taken from 1996 and 1999 Korean Household Panel Studies, and 1,293 households were selected for the final analysis. Methods of analysis included frequencies, percentages, Chi-square tests, F-tests, and t-tests. Major findings are as follows: 1. In the midst of the financial market changes during the period of the IMF crisis, consumers tended to manage their household portfolio differently according to their household characteristics. 2. The changes of household portfolio can be classified into two different types: the changed type (44.4%) and the unchanged type(55.6%). There are significant differences in the level of wealth, family life cycle stage, housing tenure, and the household head's job, between the changed type and the unchanged type. The family members of the unchanged type are more likely to be older and relatively wealthy compared with the families in the changed type. 3. The changes of household portfolio can be further classified into six different types: the unchanged-liquidity type (21%), the unchanged-multiplication type (24.6%), the unchanged-insurance type (9.8%), the changed-to-liquidity type (13.9%), the changed-to-multiplication type (13.0%), and the changed-to-insurance type (17.5%). There are significant differences in income level, wealth level, family life cycle stage, housing tenure, and the job of household head among the six types of changes.】


(p. 55) cannot be accepted. Animals, birds, and human figures were never absent from Islamic art, particularly not from the pottery and metalwork of Central Asia and Khurasan. As for the "rag-paper" of Samarqand (p. 56), it has never been claimed to be of local invention. Its name, waraq al-finl "Chinese paper", was already current in early Islamic times and clearly indicated its actual origin. As to the origin of the squinch in Persian architecture, the author claims that it appeared in the 5th century A.D. (pp. 61-4). Some Iranian monuments, like the firealtars at Niyasar and Rabat-i Safid, have fully developed squinches, and both altars date from the late 2nd or early 3rd century A.D. In Part II the sites and monuments are briefly but well described. This part is extremely helpful to readers who are interested in the arts of Central Asia, but are not familiar with Russian literature on the subject. It is perhaps a shortcoming of the book that newly discovered monuments, as, for example, the Arab Ata mausoleum at Tim, dated 977-8, are not included. Perhaps Knobloch intended to include only those places and buildings with which he was personally familiar. The photographs throughout the book are well reproduced, the text is easily readable, and the Index and Bibliography are very extensive and helpful to readers. The book will be a useful handbook and guide to Central Asia and its size makes it a good companion for visitors to that region.


Dispossession of land on a small scale can have as great an impact on living conditions as large-scale land-grabs. With the increasing commodification of land, new forms of dispossession, in urban as well as rural districts, are also gaining in importance. This book looks at this largely uninvestigated issue through case studies in the Eastern DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda: here the loss of land often represents the loss of people's livelihoods in these areas of extreme land scarcity in highly populated regions. In the post-conflict states of the Great Lakes, governance challenges increase the risk of dispossession of the already poor and vulnerable: formal institutions are weak or biased; customary authorities have lost some of their moral authority. The cases in this book show in particular how local power dynamics, often rooted in history, bear upon the processes of land competition, dispossession and land grabbing. This timely volume will be important not only for those in African Studies, but for those in development studies, as well as practitioners and policy-makers worldwide. An Ansoms is assistant professor in development studies at the Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium); Thea Hilhorst is a senior advisor at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam.


In Cloud service composition, collaboration between brokers and service providers is essential to promptly satisfy incoming Cloud consumer requirements. These requirements should be mapped to Cloud resources, which are accessed via web services, in an automated manner. However, distributed and constantly changing Cloud-computing environments pose new challenges to automated service composition such as: (i) dynamically contracting service providers, which set service fees on a supply-and-demand basis, and (ii) dealing with incomplete information regarding Cloud resources (e.g., location and providers). To address these issues, in this work, an agent-based Cloud service composition approach is presented. Cloud participants and resources are implemented and instantiated by agents. These agents sustain a three-layered self-organizing multi-agent system that establishes a Cloud service composition framework and an experimental test bed. The self-organizing agents make use of acquaintance networks and the contract net protocol to evolve and adapt Cloud service compositions. The experimental results indicate that service composition is efficiently achieved despite dealing with incomplete information as well as coping with dynamic service fees.


As the communication on-chip evolves toward the global multi-service network, various applications with different service requirements have emerged. A key factor is the support services with a guaranteed quality. The differentiated service with double physical channels is seen as the key technology to achieve this goal. It is focused on the control of traffic and recognizing the need for aspects for the management plan achieved by the bandwidth broker. In this paper, a novel QoS architecture for multimedia application over NoC is proposed. The gains in latency and in resource are possible due to the simplicity of the NoC architecture.


We performed crystallization experiments at 2^3 GPa at 700^ 9508C on basaltic and pelitic lithologies with added water and sulphur to constrain the factors controlling sulphur behaviour in subduction zones and how it may have varied through geological time. The resulting hydrous silicic melts have up to 20 times more dissolved sulphur (up to 1wt %) than at 0·2^0·4 GPa, when moderately oxidized conditions prevail. Such high solubilities appear to result from the combined effects of enhanced solubility of water in high-pressure silicate melts (10^20 wt % H2O), which acts to decrease silica activity, and oxidizing conditions. The results confirm previous findings that high sulphur contents in silicate melts do not necessarily require iron-rich compositions, suggesting instead that sulphur^ water complexes play a fundamental role in sulphur dissolution mechanisms in iron-poor silicic melts, in agreement with recent spectroscopic data. The experimental melts reproduce Phanerozoic slab-derived magmas, in particular their distinct Ca- and Mg-rich composition. The results also show that sulphur increases the degree of melting of basalt lithologies. Hence, we suggest that subducted slabs will preferentially melt where sulphur is present in abundance and that the variability in arc magma sulphur output reflects, in part, the vagaries of sulphur distribution in the slab source. In contrast, comparison with the composition of Archean felsic rocks suggests that, in the early Earth, much less sulphur was present in subducted slabs, in agreement with a number of independent lines of evidence showing that the Archean ocean, hence the hydrothermally altered subducted Archean oceanic crust, was considerably poorer in sulphur than at present. Volcanic degassing of sulphur was thus probably much weaker during the Archean than in Proterozoic^ Phanerozoic times.