Background Lake depth and the consequent mixing regime and thermal structure have profound effects on ecosystem functioning, because depth strongly affects the availability of nutrients, light, and oxygen. All these conditions influence patterns of zooplankton diversity. Zooplankton are a key component of the aquatic environment and are essential to maintaining natural processes in freshwater ecosystems. However, zooplankton biodiversity can be different regard to depth, mixing type and trophic state. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine how depth and mixing regime affect zooplankton diversity in lakes. We also investigated the vertical distribution of diversity across a trophic gradient of lakes. Methods A total of 329 zooplankton samples from 79 temperate lakes (36 polymictic and 43 dimictic) were collected. The biodiversity of zooplankton was calculated using species richness (SR) and the Shannon index (SI). An index based on Secchi disc visibility was used to determine the trophic state index (TSISD) of lakes. The one-way ANOVA with Duncan's post hoc test were used to determine differences in zooplankton biodiversity between mictic lake types and thermal layers. To find the best predictors for zooplankton biodiversity a multiple stepwise regression was used. The rarefaction method was used to evaluate the impact of mixing types, thermal layers, and the TSISDon zooplankton biodiversity indices. A Sørensen similarity analysis and nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) were performed to describe the similarity patterns in species composition among lakes. Results We identified a total of 151 taxa from 36 polymictic and 43 dimictic lakes. Lake depth and the TSISD were significantly correlated with the biodiversity of lake zooplankton. The results of ANOVA and Duncan tests show that mictic type and thermal zones had a significant effect on zooplankton biodiversity. The rarefaction curve showed significant differences in zooplankton biodiversity, which was greater in lakes with lower trophic state. Ordination by NMDS showed clustering of different mictic types, thermal layers, and composition changes throughout the TSISDprofile. Moreover, we determined that polymictic lakes are more heterogeneous than dimictic lakes in regard to zooplankton similarities. Discussion Both mictic lake types were characterized by varying levels of zooplankton biodiversity, which is shaped by the communities' response to lake depth, thermal layers and TSISD values. The zooplankton SR and SI (during daylight hours) depends greatly on the mixing type. Lake type also indicates the importance of the metalimnion in shaping zooplankton biodiversity in dimictic lakes. In addition, data from NW Polish lakes indicated that the increase of the TSISD leads to taxonomic shifts and has a negative effect on the diversity of all groups of zooplankton.


The study investigated information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility and utilization of regional bureaus for sustaining public sector reform programs in Oromia Regional State. To examine the status of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) utilization to modernize the civil service, and sustain the reforms currently being implemented, the relevant data were collected both from primary and secondary sources. Instruments such as survey questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to gather data for this study. The study sampled 160 public sector employees in selected regional sectors in Oromia regional state. Besides, interviews and FGDs were conducted with officials, employees and ICT officers in the sectors, and policy documents, reports, and relevant secondary sources were also reviewed. The collected data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, while Chi square-test was used to test the association between different variables at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that at regional/bureau level, more than shortage of ICT facilities, mismanagement of resources is found to be critical problem; the process of implementing the ICT in the region is negatively affected by shortage of technical experts, lack of access to and the skill to use the technology, lack of understanding the technical contribution of this technology by leadership from top down to the lower level managers, high turnover and mismanagement of IT professionals, misunderstanding or communication barrier between ICT professionals and the sector leaders, and weak professional ICT support for employees on how to effectively utilize ICTs, were the challenges identified by the study. The reform programs such as BPR and BSC which are currently being implemented in the region are not also properly supported by IT. Attention for ICT offices/processes on the part of organizational leaders, improving employees' support on how to apply ICT on the part of IT officers, and designing mechanisms to reduce turnover of the ICT officers on the part of the government are among the recommendations of the study. Keywords: ICT, public sector reform, utilization, accessibility, implementation, New Public Management


Capecitabine is an oral fluoropyrimidine which is transformed to 5-Fluorouracil inside tumor cells, where it achieves high drug concentrations. Capecitabine is an active drug diffusely utilized in the treatment of various types of tumors, such as breast, colorectal, gastric, head and neck carcinoma. In our experience, capecitabine-induced hypertriglyceridemia does not seem to be a rare adverse effect as it is observed in 10% of treated patients. It is necessary to monitor the lipidic profile of patients treated with capecitabine also in consideration of the frequent presence of comorbidities in cancer populations, the concomitant toxicity related to other drugs used in combination regimens, and cardiovascular effects characteristic of biological target therapy.


TONG A I, M. and IDE, T.: Core Foreign Medical Journals in Medical School Libraries in Japan. Igaka Toshokan 33 (3): 253-283, 1986. The journals held in many libraries are more valuable than that in less libraries and the journals with high impact factor are more valuable than that with low one. From these two viewpoints, 474 of core foreign medical journals which are the journal titles held in more than half member libraries out of seventy medical school libraries of the Japan Medical Library Association are selected, and their journals' names are listed by 75 subjects in descending order of their impact factor, in order to use it practically as a reference list in the case of decision making which journal to subscribe to in a respective subject field, in addition to or in exchange of existing subscription journals. The comparative analyses of the coverage of the core medical journals in our list with those in the past eight reports concerning biochemistry, microbiology, neoplasms, neurology, pediatrics, pharmacology, physiology, and tropical medicine, are discussed.


Abstract In this paper I argue that stance in discourse is not the transparent linguistic packaging of 'internal states' of knowledge, but rather emerges from dialogic interaction between interlocutors. Thus, stance is more properly viewed from an intersubjective vantage point, rather than being regarded as primarily a subjective dimension of language. I begin by outlining patterns of epistemic stance marking within the speech of single speakers and show that these arise from the intersubjectivity between conversational co-participants. Then, I focus on stance taking as a joint activity between participants in story reception sequences and demonstrate that stances often emerge as a result of joint engagement in evaluative activity. Finally, I concentrate on how the particular linguistic resources used for stance taking fit into the intersubjective pattern by demonstrating syntactic, semantic, and prosodic resonances between contributions by different speakers.


Patients with concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF) account for 5%–10% of those receiving percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI); this prevalence is likely to increase in the future due to the advancing age of the population and attendant comorbidities. Given the great number of possible therapeutic combinations, observational data on patients with AF suffering from acute myocardial infarction (MI) and/or receiving PCI have indicated a large variability of antithrombotic strategies among different countries and centres. Furthermore, available evidence often derives from single-centre registries or small case-controlled series, and refers to patient populations with different characteristics and risk profiles.

Triple antithrombotic therapy for a long time has been empirically considered the ' ideal ' treatment in this setting of patients, as it may provide protection from both AF-related thromboembolic complications and ischaemic cardiac events, that is, oral anticoagulant therapy to prevent stroke or systemic embolism and dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin plus clopidogrel to reduce MI and stent thrombosis. However, a close correlation between bleeding events and number or doses of antithrombotic agents has been clearly documented. In particular, studies have shown a greater than threefold elevation in the risk of major bleeding with use of triple versus dual antithrombotic therapy; notably, the occurrence of haemorrhagic complications may negatively affect the prognosis during follow-up. Thus, three randomised trials have recently evaluated whether in patients with AF undergoing PCI a dual antithrombotic treatment (an oral anticoagulant drug plus a P2Y12 inhibitor, usually clopidogrel, withdrawing aspirin) reduces the rates of bleeding events without increase in ischaemic events compared with triple therapy.1–3 Those investigations showed a safety benefit with …


Landslides are complex geological phenomena that can cause serious damage to the natural and social environments and may result in a significant loss of lives and properties. Consequently, landslide recognition, mapping, and monitoring are important for the prevention of secondary disasters and post-disaster relief. Since various remote sensing images have become more accessible in recent years, the use of satellite and aerial imagery for geological disasters has become a hot research topic. When remote sensing images are used to recognize landslides, image feature extraction is the main technical issue, and inefficiency in extracting ground object features has been a major challenge. This study explores the use of a simplified deep learning network structure, PCANet, to learn image features from post-disaster remote sensing images and train the classifier. This approach reduces the computation time of feature extraction and improves the efficiency of landslide recognition. The materials for training PCANet are image data sets for several areas in Japan including both landslide and non-landslide samples. They were collected from vertical aerial photographs and orthophotographs provided by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI). In addition, post-disaster landslide distribution maps provided by the National Institute of Geosciences and Disaster Recovery (NIED) and GSI were utilized in the selection of sample images. As the analyzed remote sensing images were taken in a short time after a serious geological disaster, this research also contributes to future rapid responses to landslide hazards.


Real time health monitoring using WSN of imbed and wearable sensors is visualized as a continual monitoring solution of bedridden outpatient with motility. This paper aims to implement an instantaneous patient monitoring framework, which is proficient in collecting, transmitting and monitoring patient's perceptual conditions. In present Health monitoring frameworks, the patients are supervised by medical professionals using various equipment's which are hardwired to nearby bedside monitors or PCs, and essentially this equipment's are substantial and consequently it keeps patients confine to bed. The drawbacks of these frameworks may affect the patient's mobility during monitoring the vital signs. Our proposed real time health monitoring framework can detect patient's health conditions like pulse rate, body temperature and electrocardiograph using different bio sensors, the collected data will be processed using ARM7LPC2148 and the processed data is efficiently transferred wirelessly to LabVIEW software via ZigBee. In case of abnormalities, the SMS will be sent to doctor's/care givers using GSM. In addition, the proposed framework uses ZigBee technology since it is low cost and achieves low power usage to maximize the network lifetime, accelerate and expand transmission protocols and also battery life is significantly improved. This framework will help patients to recover easily and also provides enhanced medical care to patients at a low cost. Furthermore, the framework provides profitable benefits for virtually monitoring individuals living away from the remote areas, old individuals, heart patients and can be used for COVID-19 patients in home and hospitals thereby improving medical administrations.


Medical image fusion has very important value of application for medical image analysis and diagnosis. In this paper, the traditional method of wavelet fusion is improved and a new algorithm of medical image fusion is presented. When choosing high frequency coefficients, the regional edge intensities of each sub-image are calculated to realize adaptive fusion. The low frequency coefficient choosing is based on edges of images, so that the fused image can preserve all useful information and appears clearly. We apply the traditional and improved fusion algorithms based on wavelet transform to fuse images and also evaluate the fusion results. Experimental results show that this algorithm can effectively retain detail information of original images and enhance their edge and texture features. This new algorithm is better than traditional fusion algorithm based on wavelet transform.


Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) plays an important role in angiogenesis-osteogenesis coupling during bone regeneration, which can enhance the bone healing capacity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) by improving their osteogenic and angiogenic activities. Previous studies transduced the HIF-1α gene into MSCs with lentivirus vectors to improve their bone healing capacity. However, the risks due to lentivirus vectors, such as tumorigenesis, should be considered before clinical application. Dimethyloxaloylglycine (DMOG) is a cell-permeable prolyl-4-hydroxylase inhibitor, which can activate the expression of HIF-1α in cells at normal oxygen tension. Therefore, DMOG is expected to be an alternative strategy for enhancing HIF-1α expression in cells. In this study, we explored the osteogenic and angiogenic activities of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) treated with different concentrations of DMOG in vitro, and the bone healing capacity of DMOG-treated ASCs combined with hydrogels for treating critical-sized calvarial defects in rats. The results showed that DMOG had no obvious cytotoxic effects on ASCs and could inhibit the death of ASCs induced by serum deprivation. DMOG markedly increased vascular endothelial growth factor production in ASCs in a dose-dependent manner and improved the osteogenic differentiation potential of ASCs by activating the expression of HIF-1α. Rats with critical-sized calvarial defects treated with hydrogels containing DMOG-treated ASCs had more bone regeneration and new vessel formation than the other groups. Therefore, we believe that DMOG enhanced the angiogenic and osteogenic activity of ASCs by activating the expression of HIF-1α, thereby improving the bone healing capacity of ASCs in rat critical-sized calvarial defects.


The ornaments inside the first proctodeal segment of the digestive tube in thirty-three species of the termite subfamily Syntermitinae are described and illustrated, encompassing all genera of the subfamily. The occurrence, type and pattern of the ornamentation reveal a wide morphological diversity. A first proposal for classification and nomenclature of these structures and coverage patterns is included, as well as a discussion of possible functions.


We propose an ultra-low power optical wake-up receiver with a novel front-end circuit and communication scheme suitable for miniature wireless sensor node applications. Named "FLOW" for Free-space Low-Power Optical Wake-up, the receiver consumes 695pW in standby mode, which is ~6,000× lower than previously reported RF and ultrasound wake-up radios. In active mode, it consumes 140pJ/bit at 91bps. A pulse width modulated communication encoding scheme is used, and chip-ID masking enables selective batch-programming and synchronization of multiple sensor nodes.


BACKGROUND
Seeing triple is a rare complaint, so anatomically unlikely that it is often considered a diagnostic symptom of hysteria.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the complaint of triple vision among a large group of neurological inpatients.

DESIGN
Personal case series during a 34-year period.

SETTING
Neurology and neurosurgery wards of the University of Southern California-Los Angeles County Medical Center. Patients Thirteen patients who reported seeing objects in triplicate.

RESULTS
Eleven of 13 patients had ocular motor findings, including third nerve palsy in 5 patients, internuclear ophthalmoplegia in 4, and sixth nerve palsy in 2. Causes included brainstem infarction in 4 patients; ischemic mononeuropathy, trauma, surgery, and hysteria in 2 patients each; and tumor in 1 patient.

CONCLUSION
Triplopia is a rare complaint that, in a neurology inpatient service, often represents an unusual interpretation of abnormal eye movements.


Objectives The outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic required rapid public compliance with advice from health authorities. Here, we ask who was most likely to do so during the first wave of the pandemic. Design Quota‐sampled cross‐sectional and panel data from eight Western democracies (Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Methods We fielded online public opinion surveys to 26,508 citizens between 19 March and 16 May. The surveys included questions about protective behaviour, perceptions of the pandemic (threat and self‐efficacy), as well as broader attitudes towards society (institutional and interpersonal trust). We employ multilevel and fixed‐effects regression models to analyse the relationship between these variables. Results Consistent with prior research on epidemics, perceptions of threat turn out as culturally uniform determinants of both avoidant and preventive forms of protective behaviour. On this basis, authorities could foster compliance by appealing to fear of COVID‐19, but there may be normative and practical limits to such a strategy. Instead, we find that another major source of compliance is a sense of self‐efficacy. Using individual‐level panel data, we find evidence that self‐efficacy is amendable to change and exerts an effect on protective behaviour. Furthermore, the effects of fear are small among those who feel efficacious, creating a path to compliance without fear. In contrast, two other major candidates for facilitating compliance from the social sciences, interpersonal trust and institutional trust, have surprisingly little motivational power during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Conclusions To address future waves of the pandemic, health authorities should thus focus on facilitating self‐efficacy in the public.


The question of bank competition is vitally important for a number of reasons. The essential role of bank credit and other financial services as an input in the production of most other goods and services places banks in a unique and influential position, such that any allocative inefficiency or other market distortions in banking are almost certain to be felt throughout the economy. Moreover, recent history has provided numerous instances where the textbook paradigm of atomistic competition has proven inadequate as a policy guide for efficient banking—either because there are simply too few banks to rely on sheer numbers as a guarantee of vigorous competition, as in Canada; or because of evidence that there can be such a thing as "too much competition" in banking, as suggested by several studies; or because of instances where nearly competitive pricing has been observed in markets containing only one or two banks; or because, conversely, substantially noncompetitive pricing has sometimes been deduced in banking products—such as credit cards— with thousands of suppliers. Thus, the study of bank competition remains an urgent field of research. Claessens and Laeven (2004, this issue of JMCB) make two key contributions here. First, they extend a proven empirical method to an unprecedentedly large and varied crosscountry sample. Second, they offer the logical and policy-relevant additional step of seeking to identify factors associated with variations in measured conduct. This step is needed to assess the empirical validity of the traditional structure-conductperformance paradigm in their sample and is especially important where that paradigm is found lacking as a predictor of bank conduct. Indeed, although the authors


BACKGROUND
There has been a growing interest in the effect that comorbid mental and somatic disorders may have on each other. Metabolic syndrome is an important risk factor for the development of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.

OBJECTIVES
To examine the association between various mental disorders (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders) and metabolic syndrome and discuss the possible pathophysiologic mechanisms that may link specific mental disorders and metabolic syndrome.

METHOD
A MEDLINE search, citing articles from 1966 onward, supplemented by a review of bibliographies, was conducted to identify relevant studies. Criteria used to identify studies included (1) English language, (2) published studies with original data in peer-reviewed journals.

RESULTS
Clinical investigation of the metabolic syndrome in patients with mental disorders, except schizophrenia, has been surprisingly scarce. Metabolic syndrome was reported in 19-63% of schizophrenic patients, in 42.4% of patients with schizo-affective disorder, in 24.6-50% of bipolar patients, in 12-36% of the patients with recurrent depression and in 31.9-35% of patients with combat posttraumatic stress disorder.

CONCLUSION
Metabolic syndrome can contribute to significant morbidity and premature mortality and should be accounted for in the treatment of mental disorders. No definite or reliable insight into the pathophysiological link between metabolic syndrome and mental disorders is available.


In the decade since the inception of the metamaterials field, there have been a number of exciting advances in understanding and confirming many of their exotic physics properties. Many of these attributes have led to the consideration of engineering metamaterials and metamaterial-inspired structures for a variety of applications. This includes the miniaturization of resonators and their use for improving the performance characteristics of electrically small antennas in the VHF, UHF and microwave regimes and of electrically small scatterers in the optical regime. Active metamaterial constructs have been introduced to increase the bandwidths at low frequencies and to overcome the losses at high frequencies. The theoretical designs of many of these highly subwavelength systems and their simulated performance characteristics have been confirmed experimentally. These concurrences between theory and experiment will be highlighted.


A history of endometrial cancer has long been considered a contraindication to estrogen replacement therapy. Yet women with such a history, like other women when postmenopausal, often suffer vasomotor symptoms that could easily be relieved with estrogen. In fact there is no good evidence that estrogen significantly increases the risk of recurrence after treatment for endometrial cancer. Some studies now suggest that estrogen plus a progestin may actually decrease the risk of cancer recurrence in these patients. The benefits of estrogen in preventing osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women is substantial.


A case of catheter-related fungemia due to Hansenula anomala is reported. A 61-year-old male was diagnosed as having stage 3 ascending colon carcinoma stenosing the colon severely and was admitted to our hospital to receive an operation of the carcinoma. Just after admission, an intravenous hyperalimentation (IVH) catheter was inserted and IVH was started to prevent development of ileus and to prepare for laparotomy. Nine days later, he developed a fever. On the next day, the IVH catheter was removed and cultures of blood and the catheter revealed the presence of yeast-like organisms that were identified as H. anomala. Laboratory data showed hypogranulocytemia, slight disturbances of liver and kidney, a prolongation of PT, an increase of FDP and positive reaction of candida antigen by CAND-TEC. He improved after the removal of the catheter, and treatment with intravenous infusion of fluconazole 2 days after the removal was thought to be useful for recovery and to prevent the reappearance of infection though susceptibility to fluconazole was not good. Human infections due to H. anomala are rare and this is the 8th case of H. anomala fungemia in Japan. From this report and a review of the literature, risk factors for developing this fungemia include the use and abuse of central venous catheters such as IVH-catheter. It appears that H. anomala has recently emerged as a potential pathogen in the immunocompromised hosts and patients after insertion of central venous catheters and that these organisms should be added to the growing list of unusual fungal pathogens in these patients.


The scheme that I am trying to present can perhaps best be summarized by a concrete instance. You can teach the deformities of rickets in one of two ways: one is to describe knock-knee, its cause, mechanical production and treatment, and then do the same for bow legs and coxa vara, which is a good way and the usual one. The other way is to teach about bone, its growth and ossification, to tell of bone disturbances, the most frequent of which is a certain disturbance of ossification called rickets; that this process causes softening, and that bending thus occurs according to the mechanical influences in the case, perhaps in one direction, perhaps in another; that you may have an inward, outward or forward deformity of the leg; that you must bring up ossification to normal by diet and hygiene, and not operate until this has happened. Meanwhile, you would treat by braces or manipulation, and thus you would link up rickets with other disturbances of ossification, achondroplasia and the like. In the latter method I believe that the man will have received more education than in the former. Education, In its derivation, means drawing out. It seems to me sometimes as if we had gone on the assumption that it meant putting in. These suggesions are offered in all modesty—merely as suggestions.


We present a case of malignant ameloblastoma presenting in the posterior mandible and cervical lymph nodes of an African American child. This case is somewhat unusual in that the patient was an adolescent and presented with metastatic disease. This partly clinical as well as cytologic diagnosis was facilitated by the presence of typical ameloblastoma cytology in multiple cervical lymph nodes adjacent to the histologically confirmed intraosseous ameloblastoma. Although cytology is helpful in diagnosing ameloblastoma, its features are by no means definitive as there are several cytologic mimics. A high index of suspicion is therefore necessary to confirm or exclude ameloblastoma when evaluating any jaw lesion and/or adjacent enlarged lymph nodes by cytologic examination. Adequate sampling is paramount to accurate diagnosis, and is especially important when attempting to distinguish ameloblastoma from ameloblastic carcinoma. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Gelatin from the skin of Thai panga fish (Pangasius bocourti Sauvage) was pretreated with a solution of 0.8 M sodium chloride and 0.1 M sodium hydroxide and extracted by acetic acid solution pH 4.55 at 55°C for 1 h. Physical properties of the obtained fish gelatin and the commercial bovine bone gelatin were compared. The gel strength (513.75 g), viscosity (3.88 cP), turbidity (73.21%), foaming properties (foam formation ability 1.13 and foam stability 0.71), emulsion stability (34.2 to 44.6%) and adhesiveness (-369.1 g.sec) of the fish skin gelatin were higher, but color (L* 43.62, C* 3.66 and h° 45.28), cohesiveness (0.838) and gel elasticity were lower than those of the bovine bone gelatin. Gelling and melting points of the fish skin gelatin (16.40°C and 26.87°C, respectively) were lower than those of the bovine bone gelatin (18.45°C and 29.90°C, respectively). Results obtained suggest that the gelatin extracted from the skin of Thai panga fish was a potential raw material for producing a gelatin film or use as foaming agent, emulsifying agent or thickener, but not suitable for use as gelling agent.


The vertex-cover problem on the Hanoi networks HN3 and HN5 is analyzed with an exact renormalization group and parallel-tempering Monte Carlo simulations. The grand canonical partition function of the equivalent hard-core repulsive lattice-gas problem is recast first as an Ising-like canonical partition function, which allows for a closed set of renormalization-group equations. The flow of these equations is analyzed for the limit of infinite chemical potential, at which the vertex-cover problem is attained. The relevant fixed point and its neighborhood are analyzed and nontrivial results are obtained both for the coverage as well as for the ground-state entropy density, which indicates the complex structure of the solution space. Using special hierarchy-dependent operators in the renormalization group and Monte Carlo simulations, structural details of optimal configurations are revealed. These studies indicate that the optimal coverages (or packings) are not related by a simple symmetry. Using a clustering analysis of the solutions obtained in the Monte Carlo simulations, a complex solution space structure is revealed for each system size. Nevertheless, in the thermodynamic limit, the solution landscape is dominated by one huge set of very similar solutions.


In the paper, we first investigate symmetries of isospectral and non‐isospectral four‐potential Ablowitz–Ladik hierarchies. We express these hierarchies in the form of un,t= LmH(0), where m is an arbitrary integer (instead of a nature number) and L is the recursion operator. Then by means of the zero‐curvature representations of the isospectral and non‐isospectral flows, we construct symmetries for the isospectral equation hierarchy as well as non‐isospectral equation hierarchy, respectively. The symmetries, respectively, form two centerless Kac‐Moody‐Virasoro algebras. The recursion operator L is proved to be hereditary and a strong symmetry for this isospectral equation hierarchy. Besides, we make clear for the relation between four‐potential and two‐potential Ablowitz–Ladik hierarchies. The even order members in the four‐potential Ablowitz–Ladik hierarchies together with their symmetries and algebraic structures can be reduced to two‐potential case. The reduction keeps invariant for the algebraic structures and the recursion operator for two potential case becomes L2.


This chapter expands on an earlier article (Folland and Iversen, 2014), bringing into view the many studies since then. These include the relationship of social capital to one's age, ethnicity, gender, education and other categories described in recent findings. Of particular note, the authors sort out the complexity of the studies on income inequality and its effect on social capital. One study finds no relation between inequality and trust; yet another finds a negative correlation between social capital and inequality. In one study of kindergarten children it was found that the young girls were more trusting than the boys.


There are critical needs for platinum catalysts with high hydrothermal stability and tunable Pt–acid site proximity, which could not be achieved via traditional methods. Here, we describe a simple strategy (SiO2 alumination combined with controlled removal of the capping agent) through which Pt-based core–shell catalysts that tolerant both high-temperature steam and boiling water can be obtained. More importantly, this strategy allows precise control of the distance between acid sites and Pt; thus, the interfacial electronic interaction can be cut off without prohibiting the spillover of adsorbed species. This tunable structure not only helps to unravel the mechanism of C3H8 oxidation over acidic Pt catalyst but also increases the N2 selectivity for NOx selective catalytic reduction. Given that the component of both the "core" and "shell" can be changed easily, this strategy should have wide application in mechanism exploration as well as the development of catalysts for various reactions.


Anaemia is a common haematologic side effect of dose-dense multi-cycle cytotoxic polychemotherapy requiring erythrocyte transfusions or erythropoietin (EPO) administration. To simulate the effectiveness of different EPO application schedules, we performed both modelling of erythropoiesis under chemotherapy and pharmacokinetic and dynamic modelling of EPO applications in the framework of a single comprehensive biomathematical model. For this purpose, a cell kinetic model of bone marrow erythropoiesis was developed that is based on a set of differential compartment equations describing proliferation and maturation of erythropoietic cell stages. The system is regulated by several feedback loops comprising those mediated by EPO. We added a model of EPO absorption after injection at different sites and a pharmacokinetic model of EPO derivatives to account for the effects of external EPO applications. Chemotherapy is modelled by a transient depletion of bone marrow cell stages. Unknown model parameters were determined by fitting the predictions of the model to data sets of circulating erythrocytes, haemoglobin, haematocrit, percentage of reticulocytes or EPO serum concentrations derived from the literature or cooperating clinical study groups. Parameter fittings resulted in a good agreement of model and data. Depending on site of injection and derivative (Alfa, Beta, Delta, Darbepoetin), nine groups of EPO applications were distinguished differing in either absorption kinetics or pharmacokinetics. Finally, eight different chemotherapy protocols were modelled. The model was validated on the basis of scenarios not used for parameter fitting. Simulations were performed to analyze the impact of EPO applications on the risk of anaemia during chemotherapy. We conclude that we established a model of erythropoiesis under chemotherapy that explains a large set of time series data under EPO and chemotherapy applications. It allows predictions regarding yet untested EPO schedules. Prospective clinical studies are needed to validate model predictions and to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed schedules.


This letter presents a 38/114 GHz switched-mode standing wave oscillator (SWO) capable of synchronous locking. Triple output frequency can be excited by digital control of different mode operations. The experimental prototype was fabricated using a low leakage 65 nm 1P9M triple-well CMOS technology. Incorporating a synchronous lock scheme, the measured phase noise from a 38 GHz carrier before and after the phase locked at 1 MHz offset are -102 dBc/Hz and -120 dBc/Hz, respectively. For the mode 1 operation at 38 GHz and mode 3 operation at 114 GHz, the experimental prototype consumes 4 and 20 mA, respectively, under a 1.2 V biasing voltage and with a chip size of 720 × 880 μm2.


Background: Various predictive rules have been developed to identify wheezy preschoolers at risk for persistent asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the asthma predictive index (API), modified API (mAPI), and PIAMA score, and to examine whether the presence of reversible airflow obstruction (RAO) could improve the prediction of later asthma. Methods: This retrospective study included 92 children aged 6-8 years with recurrent wheeze who had regular follow-up for the last 4 years. Active asthma was defined as doctor-diagnosed asthma or wheeze that required long-term medication in the previous 12 months. RAO was defined as bronchodilator response ≥30% for respiratory resistance and ≥35% for respiratory reactance determined with the forced oscillation technique (FOT). Results: Active asthma was present in 32 children (34.8%). 21 children (22.8%) had positive API, 10 (10.9%) positive mAPI, and 55 (59.8%) had PIAMA score ≥20. RAO was documented in 25 children (27.2%). The stringent API had positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR–) 3.0 and 0.69 respectively. The mAPI had LR+ 16.9 and LR– 0.73, and the PIAMA score LR+ 1.5 and LR– 0.52. The combination of API (or mAPI) and RAO resulted in LR+ 3.8 and LR– 0.24 (LR+ 3.2 and LR– 0.4, respectively), whereas the combination of PIAMA score and RAO resulted in LR+ 1.4 and LR– 0.39. Conclusion: All tested indices had limited overall ability to predict –especially to rule-out– subsequent asthma in preschoolers with recurrent wheeze. Combination of asthma predictive models with FOT-determined RAO may improve the prediction of later asthma in wheezy young children.


Control intensive ICs pose a signi cant challenge to the users of formal methods in designing hardware These ICs have to support a wide variety of requirements including synchronous and asynchronous operations polling and interrupt driven modes of operation multiple concurrent threads of execution non trivial computational require ments and programmability In this paper we illustrate the use of formal methods in the design of a control intensive IC called the Intel Universal Synchronous Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter USART using our hardware description language hopCP A feature of hopCP is that it supports communication via asynchronous ports in addition to synchronousmessage passing Asynchronous ports are distributed shared variables writable by exactly one process We show the usefulness of this combination of communication constructs We outline algorithms to determine safe usages of asynchronous ports and also to discover other static properties of the speci cation We discuss a compiled code concurrent functional simulator called CFSIM as well as the use of concurrent testers for driving CFSIM The use of a semantically well speci ed and simple language and the associated analysis simulation tools helps conquer the complexity of specifying and validating control intensive ICs


Abstract Sustainability learning is holistic and complex as it draws on diverse disciplines and can be interpreted differently within individual pedagogies. Embedding sustainability across and within business schools relies on developing suitable boundary objects. These may include representations such as models, frameworks or classificatory schemes that are malleable enough to be adapted for use within the disparate disciplines and pedagogies, yet durable enough to be recognisable and to maintain consistency across them. Boundary objects thus allow the sharing of ways of knowing or practice across various social boundaries. This paper outlines how participatory curriculum development processes can enable sustainability to be embedded in a business school curriculum. Distinct phases of the process were marked by different ways of knowing, as disciplinary-specific academics developed and embedded sustainability into and across curricula. Boundary objects were both outcomes and productive facilitators of this process. They acted as catalysts and attracted ongoing processes of dialogue, debate and meaning-making between these academics. The institutional context provided enabling conditions to legitimize outcomes from the participatory process. The process may be replicable in other business schools by the use of boundary objects.


One of the challenging tasks for instructors and instructional designers is how to support students to learn well in an online environment. It is unclear for instructors how designs can accommodate students in leaning and how students' learning characteristics affect their leaning experiences. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the relationship between students' demographics, learning characteristics and their learning outcomes in online courses. A research study recruited students from several fully online courses/sessions in Education, Psychology, Environmental Science, and Nutrition in Fall 2014 and Spring 2015. An instrument called the "Learning Traits Questionnaire (LTQ)" identified students' learning characteristics, including Group Preference, Instructional Support, Procrastination, Computer Competency, and Learning Confidence. A course survey collected students' feedback on learning satisfaction and experiences. This presentation shares the findings about the relationships between students' demographics and the five learning characteristics. How students' learning characteristics and the course designs associated with their learning satisfaction was also discussed. The topics of matched design or unmatched design with students' learning characteristics were explored. Furthermore research on instructional design and learning characteristics is expected.


A simple way to upgrade the Peking University 500kV NEC radiocarbon facility (CAMS) for 10Be measurements is presented. In a first phase, a silicon nitride foil as passive boron degrader was mounted in front of the electrostatic deflector near the focal plane of 10Be. The Si detector at the end of the beam line was replaced with a high-resolution ΔE-Eres gas ionization chamber. In addition, a Faraday cup for the measurement of 9Be1+ was installed. Tests with this arrangement showed promising results: a 10Be/9Be background level of 3.4 × 10–14 and an overall transmission for 10Be of 2.2% were obtained. Measurements of standards showed very good stability and reproducibility. In the next step, it is planned to add a second magnet to reduce the background and to partly compensate losses due to energy and angular straggling in the degrader foil by the energy and angular refocusing effect of a magnetic sector field. With this final arrangement, a performance with 10Be/9Be background levels at 10−15 and 10Be overall transmission of 6–7% can be expected. The design proposed in this paper has the advantage that the modifications can be realized in a rather inexpensive way and that the measurement performance for 14C will not be affected.


Body dissatisfaction is a major source of suffering among women of all ages. One factor that has the potential to mitigate body dissatisfaction, as well as promote a positive body image and psychological wellbeing, is self-compassion. This study explored sources of positive and negative body image by investigating the relationship between self-esteem, self-compassion, and appearance contingent self-worth in conceptualizing body image avoidance behaviors. The multiple mediation model assessed the responses of 222 female participants from the general community. Self-compassion and appearance contingent self-worth were both found to partially mediate the relationships between self-esteem and body image avoidance behaviors. The findings are discussed in light of clinical interventions and directions for future research in the body image field.


The relation that exists in quantum mechanics among action variables, angle variables and the phases of quantum states is clarified, by referring to the system of a generalized oscillator. As a by-product, quantum-mechanical meaning of the classical Hamilton-Jacobi equation and related matters is clarified , where a new picture of quantum mechanics is introduced, to be called the Hamilton-Jacobi picture.


Given that the local melatonin levels exhibit rhythmic daily changes in the retina of the viscacha, we considered it important to study the likely daily variations in morphology and specific 2‐[125I]‐iodomelatonin binding in retinas from this rodent and to correlate these putative changes with local indole levels. Adult animals of both sexes were captured in their habitat and were kept under a natural photoperiod. For light and electron microscopic studies the viscachas were sacrificed by decapitation at 08:00, 16:00, and 24:00 hr. A computer‐assisted image analysis system was used to measure the thickness of the complete retina, the photoreceptor layer, the rod outer and inner segments, and the outer nuclear layer. The daily variation in 2‐[125I]‐iodomelatonin binding sites was followed during a 24‐hr light‐dark cycle, the animals being sacrificed at six time points. The parameters studied showed significant variations throughout the 24‐hr period. Maximal specific binding, lysosomal content in the pigment epithelium, and photoreceptor layer outer segment thicknesses were observed at 24:00 hr. Close contact between photoreceptor membranes and microvilli of the pigment epithelium was observed at 08:00 and 16:00 hr. Moreover, the minimal outer segment thickness at 16:00 hr was accompanied by a scarcity of dense bodies, such as lysosomes, a maximum dispersion of melanin pigment granules, and a minimum density of radioligand binding sites. Therefore, in the retina of the viscacha, we suggest that the interaction between melatonin and specific sites could be one of the factors or causes that participate in the regulation of the daily morphological changes observed in viscacha. Anat Rec 266:198–206, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


BACKGROUND
Interindividual variability in weight loss and metabolic responses depends upon interactions between genetic, phenotypic, and environmental factors.

OBJECTIVE
We aimed to model an integrative (nutri) prototype based on genetic, phenotypic, and environmental information for the personalized prescription of energy-restricted diets with different macronutrient distribution.

METHODS
A 4-mo nutritional intervention was conducted in 305 overweight/obese volunteers involving 2 energy-restricted diets (30% restriction) with different macronutrient distribution: a moderately high-protein (MHP) diet (30% proteins, 30% lipids, and 40% carbohydrates) and a low-fat (LF) diet (22% lipids, 18% proteins, and 60% carbohydrates). A total of 201 subjects with good dietary adherence were genotyped for 95 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to energy homeostasis. Genotyping was performed by targeted next-generation sequencing. Two weighted genetic risk scores for the MHP (wGRS1) and LF (wGRS2) diets were computed using statistically relevant SNPs. Multiple linear regression models were performed to estimate percentage BMI decrease depending on the dietary macronutrient composition.

RESULTS
After energy restriction, both the MHP and LF diets induced similar significant decreases in adiposity, body composition, and blood pressure, and improved the lipid profile. Furthermore, statistically relevant differences in anthropometric and biochemical markers depending on sex and age were found. BMI decrease in the MHP diet was best predicted at ∼28% (optimism-corrected adjusted R2 = 0.279) by wGRS1 and age, whereas wGRS2 and baseline energy intake explained ∼29% (optimism-corrected adjusted R2 = 0.287) of BMI decrease variability in the LF diet. The incorporation of these predictive models into a decision algorithm allowed the personalized prescription of the MHP and LF diets.

CONCLUSIONS
Different genetic, phenotypic, and exogenous factors predict BMI decreases depending on the administration of a hypocaloric MHP diet or an LF diet. This holistic approach may help to personalize dietary advice for the management of excessive body weight using precision nutrition variables.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02737267.


We measured the current-dependent asymmetry of spin-split Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) peaks at a variety of GaAs/GaAlAs heterojunctions with various sample geometries. The different current dependence of the spin-split SdH peaks is due to a spin-dependent equilibration between edge and bulk states described by an equilibration length lambda . The onset of the equilibration above a certain current limit marks the transition from non-local to partially local transport. The lambda values and the onset currents of the spin levels were investigated for different channel widths and temperatures. Measurements in tilted magnetic fields gave evidence for the dependence of the asymmetry of the spin-split SdH peaks on the relation between Landau and Zeeman splitting.


This paper studies the Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn (KLS) process on lattices with a junction, where particles move on parallel lattice branches that combine into a single lattice at the junction. It is shown that 11 kinds of phase diagrams could be observed, depending on the two parameters ε and δ in the KLS process. We have investigated the phase diagrams as well as bulk density analytically based on flow rate conservation and the extremal current principle. Extensive Monte Carlo computer simulations are performed, and it is found that they are in excellent agreement with theoretical prediction.


In today's environment, software companies are engaged in multiple projects delivered on heterogeneous platforms for a wide class of applications in disparate application domains. They are increasingly engaged in the co-development of software systems through joint software development projects including staff from partners and customers as well as their own. As a result, they must support multiple software development processes while trying to guarantee uniform levels of process enactment, and product quality across all projects. Our approach is capable of providing process measurement in a joint-project, multi-process model business environment. It is based on a simple meta-model for computing across-process, multiple-project metrics designed to permit monitoring of CMMI compliance. The open source tool Spago4Q has been developed to support our approach and is capable of producing the measurements needed for monitoring of a set of large-scale development projects using different process models, in a real industrial setting in Europe. The results support the view that that it will not always be possible to aggregate the same set of metrics across disparate process models.


AbstractClimate change detection and attribution studies rely on historical simulations using specified combinations of forcings to quantify the contributions from greenhouse gases and other forcings to observed climate change. In the last CMIP5 exercise, in addition to the so-called all-forcings simulations, which are driven with a combination of anthropogenic and natural forcings, natural forcings–only and greenhouse gas–only simulations were prioritized among other possible experiments. This study addresses the question of optimally designing this set of experiments to estimate the recent greenhouse gas–induced warming, which is highly relevant to the problem of constraining estimates of the transient climate response. Based on Monte Carlo simulations and considering experimental designs with a fixed budget for the number of simulations that modeling centers can perform, the most accurate estimate of historical greenhouse gas–induced warming is obtained with a design using a combination of all-forcings...


Using a sample of 86 countries over the 1960–1999 period, this paper investigates the differential growth effects of ethnic division across cultural regions. While the evidence supports a negative relationship between ethnic fragmentation and economic growth, this relationship is significant only for Africa and Latin America. This study also uses a religious measure of ethnic fragmentation, and finds that religious diversity has a positive impact on growth. This impact, however, is present only in the Middle East and East Asia. Some possible reasons behind the heterogeneous effects of ethnic diversity are also explored.


Prior to the twenty-first century, nonfiction picture books in Britain rarely focused on the Black British community. As twenty-first-century Britain struggles to define itself, the education system is one way of institutionalizing and standardizing what it means to be British. By aligning with the National Curriculum standards, publishers of children's nonfiction have found ways to negotiate boundaries and re-envision meaning. Recent texts have used traditional models for British children's nonfiction to focus on areas of citizenship, identity, and history, but by redefining the boundaries between nation/outsider, self/other, and insider/outsider, have created new spaces for British identity and citizenship.


Abstract. We discuss scaling limits of large bipartite quadrangulations of positive genus. For a given $g$, we consider, for every positive integer $n$, a random quadrangulation $q_n$ uniformly distributed over the set of all rooted bipartite quadrangulations of genus $g$ with $n$ faces. We view it as a metric space by endowing its set of vertices with the graph distance. We show that, as $n$ tends to infinity, this metric space, with distances rescaled by the factor $n$ to the power of $-1/4$, converges in distribution, at least along some subsequence, toward a limiting random metric space. This convergence holds in the sense of the Gromov-Hausdorff topology on compact metric spaces. We show that, regardless of the choice of the subsequence, the Hausdorff dimension of the limiting space is almost surely equal to $4$. Our main tool is a bijection introduced by Chapuy, Marcus, and Schaeffer between the quadrangulations we consider and objects they call well-labeled $g$-trees. An important part of our study consists in determining the scaling limits of the latter.


We consider the problem of localizing a submatrix with larger-than-usual entry values inside a data matrix, without the prior knowledge of the submatrix size. We establish an optimization framework based on a multiscale scan statistic, and develop algorithms in order to approach the optimizer. We also show that our estimator only requires a signal strength of the same order as the minimax estimator with oracle knowledge of the submatrix size, to exactly recover the anomaly with high probability. We perform some simulations that show that our estimator has superior performance compared to other estimators which do not require prior submatrix knowledge, while being comparatively faster to compute.


curial ointment or the subcutaneous injection of perchloride of mercury. The account of the cases is followed by an excellent summary of the chief points to which attention should be directed in any case in which it is suspected that there may be syphilitic disease of the nervous system. There is nothing in the book foreign to the ordinary teaching about cerebral syphilis. Professor M'Call Anderson's object in writing it was, to quote his own words, " to help to a more general recognition of the great frequency of syphilitic affections of the nervous system, and of their amenability, in many cases, to early and energetic treatment." There is, we suspect, a good deal of local variation in the readiness with which these facts are accepted. By some practitioners and at many medical schools there is a disposition to treat patients in whom there is no sufficient reason to suspect that syphilis is at the bottom of their trouble with antisypbilitic remedies, because it is recognised that with most cases of nervous disease our only hope is that they are due to syphilis. Still, as Professor M'Call Anderson has "reason to believe that a large number of his professional brethren consider that few cases of syphilis are followed by affections of the nerve centres," he is quite right to try to bring before them the fact that this is not so, and that many patients may be relieved, or even cured, by a proper treatment, but he rightly urges that a complete cure is not by any means always possible, for often syphilis has irremediably destroyed parts of the nervous system before the treatment has been begun.


The exact cause of PEX is not known, but the primary theory centers around unbalanced overgrowth in the costochondral regions. One study showed that asymmetric PEX patients had shorter ribs on the more severely depressed side of the deformity. Up to 43% of PEX patients have a family history of the disease. It is thought to be a disease of multifactorial inheritance, and the exact genes implicated are unknown. PEX can be associated with scoliosis and connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome , Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and Noonan's syndrome. "PEX is of particular concern. In addition to cosmetic considerations, it may result in cardiac compression and cardiopulmonary impairment," says Dawn Jaroszewski, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. "Although some patients are born with pectus, most notice development and significant progression of the deformity during rapid adolescent growth. This may be accompanied by onset or worsening of symptoms." Sternal depression usually involves the lower sternum, with depression of the 4th through 7th costal cartilages. Varying degrees of rotation and asymmetry may be seen.


De novo synthesis of 5S RNA and of transfer RNA (tRNA) has been demonstrated previously to occur by mid‐cleavage (128‐cell stage) in sea urchin embryos (24). The present study focused on determining more precisely the time of onset of activity of the genes for 5S RNA and for tRNA during sea urchin embryogenesis by preloading the GTP precursor pools of unfertilized eggs. The results showed that newly‐made 5S RNA and tRNA could be detected as early as the 32‐cell stage. In order to determine whether newly‐synthesized 5S RNA accumulates coordinately during development with newly‐made 26S (34) and 18S ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), the relative rates of accumulation of these three RNA molecules were measured and compared at each of several stages of sea urchin embryogenesis. In contrast to the coordinated accumulation of newly‐synthesized 26S and 18S rRNAs, newly‐made 5S RNA accumulated in excess at the mesenchyme blastula (9‐fold excess), midgastrula (5‐fold excess) and prism (3‐fold excess) stages. The 5S RNA/26S RNA molar ratios only approached unity in advanced (48 hr) plutei. The non‐coordinated accumulation of newly‐made 5S RNA with that of 26S and 18S rRNAs suggests that the accumulation of these newly‐synthesized RNAs is differentially regulated during early sea urchin development.


The biggest question in beyond the standard model physics is what are the scales of new physics. Ideas about scales, as well as experimental evidence and constraints, are surveyed for a variety of possible forms of new physics: supersymmetry, neutrino masses, unification, and superstring theory.


We have characterized the androgen receptor in a Japanese infant with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (or androgen resistance), and have investigated the molecular basis. Androgen binding was undetectable in cultured genital skin fibroblasts from this patient by whole-cell androgen receptor binding assay. Sequence analysis of the entire coding region of the androgen receptor gene from this patient revealed a single nucleotide substitution (G-->T) at nucleotide position 2676 in exon E (or 5), resulting in conversion of glutamine codon (GAG) to amber stop codon (TAG) at amino acid position 772 within the hormone-binding domain of the androgen receptor. This premature termination mutation (or nonsense mutation), introducing a truncated androgen receptor that lacks most of its androgen binding capacity, is though to cause the receptor-negative form of complete androgen insensitivity syndrome in this patient.


In this short paper, we present results obtained from advanced processing and inversion of AEM data related to AeroTem and VTEM surveys over the same area, Spiritwood Valley, Manitoba, We present an example of integration of ancillary seismic data into the AEM inversion. In particular, the depth to different layers as interpreted from seismic are added to the inversion to constrain the resistivity model. Furthermore, we compare inversion results with other available ground based geophysical data, focusing on electrical resistivity data collected across seismic lines in order to provide some constraints on the AEM resistivity model. Finally, we outline how these results will be applied to generate an integrated 3D geological model for a quantitative description of the Spiritwood aquifer system.


The proposed chaos-based image encryption algorithm consists of four stages: decomposition, shuffle, diffusion and combination. Decomposition is that an original image is decomposed to components according to some rule. The purpose of the shuffle is to mask original organization of the pixels of the image, and the diffusion is to change their values. Combination is not necessary in the sender. To improve the efficiency, the parallel architecture is taken to process the shuffle and diffusion. To enhance the security of the algorithm, firstly, a permutation of the labels is designed. Secondly, two Logistic maps are used in diffusion stage to encrypt the components. One map encrypts the odd rows of the component and another map encrypts the even rows. Experiment results and security analysis demonstrate that the encryption algorithm not only is robust and flexible, but also can withstand common attacks such as statistical attacks and differential attacks. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i1.3018


This article is the first of a series, and the precursor of a monograph on Ibn al-Muqaffa-c's work. I give here a short description of the period of his times, those times of ferment in which Arabo-Islamic civilisation was first formed, and then continue with a more detailed analysis of what is probably the most controversial work attributed to him. I set out to prove that this "Manichean Apology" — which is in fact a "Rationalist Critique of Islam" — is very probably authentic, and gives an insight into the ontological foundations of Ibn al-Muqaffa
 c 's ethical and political system. The article concludes with a summary of his philosophy as it can be reconstructed from his works.


As domestic and international health issues increase in scope and complexity, the need for research into ways to address these issues also grows. An essential component of a successful research project is a well-trained research team. Team members need training in basic jobrelated research skills as well as specialized training relevant to the unique clinical, theoretical, and social complexities of the research being conducted. While its importance is not often emphasized in the research literature, training has serious implications. Providing inadequate or ineffective initial training can result in unbudgeted remedial training costs. Nonstandardized training can also lead to disorder and discrepancies in how the research protocols are followed and can ultimately impact the integrity of the intervention. These situations are certain to delay the progress of a research project, which may jeopardize time-limited funding. This article describes the essential processes and components of a research team training program, using examples from a training program developed for research staff implementing a multi-site randomized controlled intervention trial.


Diagnostic imaging is an integral and essential component of Endodontics, especially for periapical lesions.nbsp Recent research has seen an increase in the development and testing of new and improved techniques. Ultrasonography (US) has the advantage of being a non-invasive, painless, rapid and radiation free method. It is also capable of revealing considerable amount of details on soft tissues and differentiates various periapical pathologies like cysts, granulomas, abscesses and surgical scars with their size and dimensions in the anteroposterior, superoinferior, and mesiodistal planes. Evaluation of imaging techniques is important to ensure optimal monitoring of the outcomes of surgical and conventional endodontic treatment and to diagnose periapical lesions accurately. The present literature review focuses on the principles and rationale behind the USAge of US in the field of Endodontics.nbsp nbsp


Bulbar weakness, including dysarthria, dysphagia, or progressive respiratory weakness, occurs as the presenting feature in approximately 25% of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Misdiagnosis of ALS in patients with progressive bulbar symptoms is uncommon. This report describes a 73-year-old man who had a 10-month history of progressive hoarseness, dysphagia, and respiratory failure. The initial diagnosis was bulbar ALS. Computed tomography of his neck identified a postcricoid squamous cell carcinoma, which was causing bilateral vocal cord paralysis. To the author's knowledge, postcricoid carcinoma has not been previously described as mimicking ALS but should be considered in the differential diagnosis of bulbar ALS.


Retrieval of information from the databases is now a day's significant issues. The thrust of information for decision making is challenging one. To overcome this problem, different techniques have been developed for this purpose. One of techniques is clustering. Clustering is a significant task in data analysis and data mining applications. It is the task of arrangement a set of objects so that objects in the identical group are more related to each other than to those in other groups (clusters).The clustering is unsupervised learning. In this paper we propose a methodology for comparing clustering methods based on the quality of the result and the performance of the execution. The quality of a clustering result depends on both the similarity measure used by the method and its implementation. Clustering has been widely used as a segmentation approach therefore, choosing an appropriate clustering method is very critical to achieve better results. A good clustering method will produce high superiority clusters with high intra-class similarity and low inter-class similarity. There are different types of Clustering algorithms partition-based algorithms such as K-Means, KNN, density-based algorithms and SSC-EA-based algorithms. Partitioning clustering algorithm splits the data points into k partition, where each partition represents a cluster. Density based algorithms find the cluster according to the regions which grow with high density. It is the one-scan algorithms.


The hypothesis that links the increase in the intake of plant-source foods to a decrease in colorectal cancer (CRC) risk has almost 50 years. Nowadays, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies confirmed the association between dietary patterns and CRC risk, in which the non-digestible carbohydrates (NDC) from plant-source foods are known to play beneficial effects. However, the mechanisms behind the physicochemical properties and biological effects induced by NDC on the decrease of CRC development and progression remain not fully understood. NDC from plant-source foods consist mainly of complex carbohydrates from plant cell wall including pectin and hemicellulose, which vary among foods in structure and in composition, therefore in both physicochemical properties and biological effects. In the present review, we highlighted the mechanisms and described the recent findings showing how these complex NDC from plant-source foods are related to a decrease in CRC risk through induction of both physicochemical effects in the gastrointestinal tract, fermentation-related effects, and direct effects resulting from the interaction between NDC and cellular components including toll-like receptors and galectin-3. Studies support that the definition of the structure-function relationship—especially regarding the fermentation-related effects of NDC, as well as the direct effects of these complex carbohydrates in cells—is crucial for understanding the possible NDC anticancer effects. The dietary recommendations for the intake of NDC are usually quantitative, describing a defined amount of intake per day. However, as NDC from plant-source foods can exert effects that vary widely according to the NDC structure, the dietary recommendations for the intake of NDC plant-source foods are expected to change from a quantitative to a qualitative perspective in the next few years, as occurred for lipid recommendations. Thus, further studies are necessary to define whether specific and well-characterized NDC from plant-source foods induce beneficial effects related to a decrease in CRC risk, thereby improving nutritional recommendations of healthy individuals and CRC patients.


Cryptococcosis is a rare opportunistic infection with morphologically diverse cutaneous presentations. Primary infection typically occurs in the lungs with subsequent hematogenous dissemination to other organ systems, especially in immunocompromised patients. Herein, we report a woman in her 70's who presented with pruritic, umbilicated papulonodules of the bilateral upper and lower extremities present for many weeks. She was diagnosed with disseminated Cryptococcus and subsequently evaluated for potential pulmonary and meningeal disease involvement. She died as a result of multiple medical comorbidities.


During a phase of elevated ambient air pollution in January 1987 the alert level of the smog alarm recommendation in Northrhine Westfalia (FRG) was reached. The average concentrations during examinations were 0.255 mg/m3 SO2 and 3.2 mg/m3 CO at the closest station. In 111 healthy persons in Cologne and Düsseldorf, resistance measured by oscillatory method was elevated during this period compared to control examinations. In 59 patients with moderate airway-obstruction from different parts of West Germany lung function showed further deterioration during the smog phase: Airway resistance measured by body-plethysmography was higher than during a control period, FVC, FEV1, PEF and MEF75 were decreased. Finally levels of carboxyhemoglobin in blood also were increased in 46 healthy nonsmokers. The investigation shows, that even in moderate smog episodes (compared to earlier years) small, but consistent changes of lung function parameter can be measured.


Discourse, as seen in Habermas's definition of the public sphere, is an essential aspect of the participation of the citizenry in the public debate which, crucially, is supposed to take place in a linguistically homogeneous society. The aim of this paper is to discuss the centrality of discourse in Habermas's theory in a genuinely multilingual context as is sub-Saharan Africa. We intend to show that the discursive practices and, more generally, the complex dynamics that characterize public debate in this context are determined by sociolinguistic factors such as 'elite closure', linguistic repertoire, as well as by social exclusion (Scotton 1993). Elite closure, considered as social exclusion based on linguistic competence, has had the effect of constructing a public sphere around a specific version of the European (official) language, as it excludes the majority of the citizenry who makes use of the popular versions of these languages. The correlation that exists between visibility (in the public sphere) and register repertoire accounts for the uniformity or homogeneity in the register that tends to characterize public debates, as even individuals who typically use the popular versions of the European languages adopt the register of the elite (often with undesired effects). Language, thus, divides the public sphere in smaller groups along the lines of register competence as well as of linguistic competence which excludes those who have no knowledge of the European official language. This study further suggests that those groups or sphericules (Gitlin 1998) constitute discourse communities in the sense of Watts (1999), that is, sets of individuals whose discourse practices reveal common interests, goals and beliefs. Lastly, we argue that the visibility of all such groups requires the openness of the public sphere to diverse discourses (Fairclough 1999, 2006), independently of the way they materialize. In this sense, the contribution of the individuals whose linguistic repertoires do no include European languages will not necessarily nor exclusively be framed in linguistic terms. One interesting consequence of the discussion is the disempowering/disempowerment of the (European) languages in the African public sphere.


Abstract Fields of divergence calculated from the Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer winds and fields of integrated water vapor and rainrate from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer on Seasat are constructed for three different midlatitude cyclones. These storms include an explosively deepening cyclone that occurred in the North Atlantic (also known as the Queen Elizabeth II cyclone), a storm that occurred in the North Pacific, and a Southern Ocean storm. In all three cases, the regions of convergence and atmospheric water (vapor and rain) are consistent with each other and help to define features of each storm. The vertical distribution of moisture is inferred for one case using both the convergence pattern and the integrated water vapor field. In another, interpretation of the convergence field in a data gap region is aided by the water vapor field. In all three cases, surface low pressure centers, fronts, and even frontal waves are clearly evident as areas of convergence, and increased water v...


The rapid development of the supply chain of the Internet of Things (IoT) industry may trigger financial risk contagion among IoT manufacturers. This article collects data on listed IoT companies in the Chinese market from 2010 to 2019 and explores the development of the environment for the IoT industry. Two dynamic time wrapping (DTW) networks are created to analyze the topological structures of the IoT industry environment. Both the standard DTW and strongly connected DTW networks are revolutionary in terms of their interconnectedness in the IoT industry. We found that the level of clustering and transitivity of the network continued to decline between 2010 and 2019; i.e., the efficiency of financial risk contagion on IoT networks was significantly reduced. This article contributes to the literature in two aspects. First, it reveals that China's IoT industry is increasingly competitive; financial risks have become more difficult to transfer. The IoT industry has become more robust and exhibits a lower likelihood of financial risk contagion. Second, the article provides empirical evidence for the theory of coevolution, showing that risk contagion ability in an industry setting is decreasing with the development of individual firms.


The Maker Movement is currently considered an interesting and promising phenomenon with social and economic implications, especially through a series of locally implemented but globally connected laboratories for making. The social structure of such global community as a whole has not been examined yet. This research proposes therefore to analyze the connections of following and being followed among the Twitter accounts of such Maker laboratories, as a proxy of their pattern of trust and influence. The Twitter accounts were manually gathered in Twitter lists with the help of the search functionalities of Twitter, and the data was later accessed and reconstructed with a script based on the NetworkX library. The network was reconstructed from the ego-networks of each account on the examined lists, and accounts who were not part of the lists were removed. The resulting network shows a relevant polarity between roughly Fab Labs on one side and Hackerspaces, Makerspaces and TechShops on the others. Further analysis of the data revealed that the Fab Lab sub-community is much more diversified and less homogeneous than the other part, with further insights on the impact of the organization of such laboratories and their networks. Furthermore, the analysis of some centrality measures showed how few nodes bridge these polarities, while most of the nodes are very close to each other and the Fab Lab network has a more relevant and distributed influence. A possible direction for improving this research along multiple dimensions is proposed as a conclusion.


Extensive research work has thrown light on the requisites for a protective rust layer to form on weathering steels (WSs) in the atmosphere, one of the most important is the existence of wet/dry cycling. However, the abundant literature on WS behaviour in different atmospheres can sometimes be confusing and lacks clear criteria regarding certain aspects that are addressed in the present paper. What corrosion models best fit the obtained data? How long does it take for the rust layer to stabilize? What is the morphology and structure of the protective rust layer? What is an acceptable corrosion rate for unpainted WS? What are the guideline environmental conditions, time of wetness (TOW), SO2, and Cl−, for unpainted WS? The paper makes a review of the bibliography on this issue.


Research into people's attitudes toward the environment and factors related to it has a long history. Value Orientation reflects individuals' attitudes and actions that affect their normative beliefs. In fact, individuals' awareness of the consequences and responsibility for their actions directly determines their behavioral patterns since norms, values and belief account for significant factors that make a certain behavior exhibit itself. That is why in this study the theory of Values- Beliefs- Norms (VBN) has been employed to investigate the effects of personal values, beliefs and norms on the manifestation of the pro-environment behaviors. Therefore, the present survey makes an attempt to investigate the relationship between value orientation and attitudes toward the environment using SPSS. The data were obtained by a questionnaire from 400 Shiraz University students who were chosen from male and female students of various levels using randomly stratified sampling technique. Data analyses show that there is a significant relationship between the amount of value orientation and attitude toward the environment, meaning that students with better value orientation scores, exhibit a friendlier attitude toward the environment. According to the results, girls obtained higher value orientation scores as compared to their male counterparts, signifying that they are more environmentally friendly. The results also reveal that place of residence and levels of education significantly affect the attitude toward the environment. Urban dwellers as well as better educated individuals gained better scores in terms of attitude toward the environment.


BACKGROUND
The Council on Aging Ottawa-Carleton conducted an evaluation study aimed at reducing the inappropriate use of medication by community-dwelling seniors. During a 17-month period from 1990 to 1992, 278 of 415 seniors consented to participate. All were new referrals to home care, all were 65 years of age or older and all were taking a minimum of six prescription medications.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the patterns of prescription and nonprescription drug use among high risk elderly people living in the Ottawa-Carleton region.

ANALYSIS
Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to explore relationships between the numbers of drugs (prescription and nonprescription), drug classes and drug subclasses, and sex, age and number of prescribing physicians.

RESULTS
The top 10 prescription or nonprescription drugs taken by study participants were consistent among diseases and health problems most commonly found among the elderly. Comparisons by rank for subclasses of drugs indicated that eye, ear, nose and throat (EENT), and respiratory drugs were considerably more prevalent among males than females, while women took more hormones and anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics. Age also appeared to have an effect; the proportions of respiratory drugs and hormones decreased with age. In contrast, vitamins and EENT drugs were most prevalent among the oldest seniors. These findings were supported by the results of multivariate analyses. Having three or more prescribing doctors was positively associated with the use of laxatives. Findings from multivariate analyses indicated that for prescription drugs, the youngest age group was about four times more likely than the oldest age group to be taking at least eight drugs. For nonprescription drugs, the only statistically significant finding was that those with three or more doctors were twice as likely as those with one or two doctors to take at least one nonprescription drug.


The characteristics of time-dependent swirling flows in a von Kármán configuration are investigated numerically up to Reynolds number Re = 3000 (based on the angular velocity and the radius of the cylinder), and experimentally within turbulent regimes. Experimental results are analyzed together with the periodic and aperiodic flow obtained numerically. In the present configuration, the fluid is contained in a cylindrical cavity with aspect ratio (height to radius) Γ = 2 and the motion is driven by the exact counter rotation of the end walls while the sidewall is at rest. Spectral direct numerical simulations show that for this geometry the axisymmetric base flow becomes unstable to non-axisymmetric perturbations with azimuthal wavenumber m = 1 through a subcritical bifurcation, and the corresponding flow exhibits a pattern with one cat's eye in the axial-azimuthal planes. Increasing the Reynolds number the flow becomes unstable to non-axisymmetric steady perturbations with even azimuthal wavenumbers, and the corresponding flows exhibits a two cat's eyes pattern. The occurrence of cat's eye pattern in radial-azimuthal surfaces was observed in this and other aspect ratio cavities and is associated with vortices in 3D steady flows with characteristic azimuthal modes [Nore, C., Tuckerman, L.S., Daube, O. and Xin, S., The 1 : 2 mode interaction in exactly counter-rotating von Kármán swirling flow, J. Fluid Mech., 2003, 477, 51–88; Lackey, T.C. and Sotiropoulos, F., Relationship between stirring rate and Reynolds number in the chaotically advected steady flow in a container with exactly counter-rotating lids, Phys. Fluids, 2006, 18, 1–14]. Time-dependent regimes are obtained numerically when the value of the Reynolds number is Re ≥ 1500. The time dependency is associated with a pulsation of the two vortices found in the steady regime. Experimental visualizations and measurements show that in turbulent regimes the flow also exhibits two vortices, but in this case they travel in the azimuthal direction with a frequency compatible with the frequency obtained in the numerical simulations at much lower Reynolds number. The azimuthal drift of these vortices is associated with the asymmetry of the mean azimuthal flow with respect to the equatorial plane.


This paper focuses on regression applications of the Support Vector Machine (SVM) in the process industry. The support vector regression machines are employed to build soft sensing models in the paper. Soft sensor modeling, in a sense, is a kind of regression problems in industrial processes. First we review the development history of the Vapnik Chervonenkis (VC) theory and SVM. And then, the basic idea behind the SVM is introduced and some famous SVM regression algorithms are talked about. After that, the standard QP and SMO implementations to Vapnik's soft margin epsiv-SVM regression algorithm are discussed in detail. Using these two implementing methods, we perform some experiments, to predict pulp Kappa numbers, over a real-life dataset retrieved from a kraft pulp cooking process. Some useful conclusions are drawn finally.


Neuromorphic engineering promises the deployment of low latency, adaptive and low power systems that can lead to the design of truly autonomous artificial agents. However, many building blocks for developing a fully neuromorphic artificial agent are still missing. While neuromorphic sensing, perception, and decision-making building blocks are quite mature, the ones for motor control and actuation are lagging behind. In this paper we present a closed-loop motor controller implemented on a mixed-signal analog/digital neuromorphic processor which emulates a spiking neural network that continuously calculates an error signal from the desired target and the feedback signals. The system uses population coding and recurrent Winner-Take-All networks to encode the signals robustly. Recurrent connections within each population are used to speed up the convergence, decrease the effect of mismatch and improve selectivity. The error signal computed in this way is then fed into three additional populations of spiking neurons which produce the proportional, integral and derivative terms of classical controllers exploiting the temporal dynamics of the network synapses and neurons. To validate this approach we interfaced this neuromorphic motor controller with an iCub robot simulator. We tested our spiking controller in a single joint control task for the robot head yaw. We demonstrate the correct performance of the spiking controller in a step response experiment and apply it to a target pursuit task.


Advertisements are used to create an image and/or symbolic appeal for a company's product or service brand. Different appeals help to enhance effectiveness of advertisements that evokes some emotional reaction in viewer's mind. Advertisers often believe that positive emotional message directly stimulates the customer toward the use of the brand while negative emotional message will give the same result by an alternate route. It is often discussed that up to what extent this negative emotional message are stimulating the customers to buy a brand. Even though it works, its effect is always questioned on the basis of nature of customer and the type of product category for which it has been used. This paper tries to measure the effect of some selected FMCG product's television advertisements with commonly used negative emotional appeals on cognitive message processing style of Indian house wives.


A conical beam may be obtained from balanced equiangular spiral antennas by constructing an antenna with more than two spiral arms and symmetrically connecting these arms to provide a suppression of the radiated fields on the axis of the antenna. The angle of this conical beam can be controlled and, with proper choice of parameters, confined to the immediate vicinity of the azimuthal ( \theta = 90\deg ) plane. An antenna with four symmetrically spaced arms can provide a radiation pattern that is within 3 db of omnidirectional circularly polarized coverage in the azimuthal plane. The standing-wave ratio of this antenna referred to a 50-ohm coaxial cable is less than 2-to-1 over the pattern bandwidth. This four-arm version retains the wide frequency bandwidths of the basic conical log-spiral antenna, and it provides a coverage which heretofore has been difficult to obtain even with narrow-band antennas.


Background/Aims: Melatonin is a hormone transferring information about duration of darkness to the organism and is known to modulate several signaling pathways in the cells, e.g. generation of endoplasmic reticulum stress, oxidative status of the cells, etc. Melatonin has been shown to exert antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on various human cancers. We proposed that this hormone can differently affect tumour cells and healthy cells. Methods: We compared the effect of 24 h melatonin treatment on calcium transport (by fluorescent probes FLUO-3AM and Rhod-5N), ER stress (determined as changes in the expression of CHOP, XBP1 and fluorescently, using Thioflavin T), ROS formation (by CellROX® Green/Orange Reagent) and apoptosis induction (by Annexin-V-FLUOS/propidiumiodide) in two tumour cell lines – ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and stable cell line DLD1 derived from colorectal carcinoma, with non-tumour endothelial cell line EA.hy926. Results: Melatonin increased apoptosis in both tumour cell lines more than twice, while in EA.hy926 cells the apoptosis was increased only by 30%. As determined by silencing with appropriate siRNAs, both, type 1 sodium/calcium exchanger and type 1 IP3 receptor are involved in the apoptosis induction. Antioxidant properties of melatonin were significantly increased in EA.hy926 cells, while in tumour cell lines this effect was much weaker. Conclusion: Taken together, melatonin has different antioxidative effects on tumour cells compared to non-tumour ones; it also differs in the ability to induce apoptosis through the type 1 sodium/calcium exchanger, and type 1 IP3 receptor. Different targeting of calcium transport systems in tumour and normal, non-tumour cells is suggested as a key mechanism how melatonin can exert its anticancer effects. Therefore, it might have a potential as a novel therapeutic implication in cancer treatment.


In the previous analytical description of the neoclassical polarization current effect on the neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs), it is usually assumed that the magnetic island is much larger than the finite-ion-banana-width (FBW). This assumption is questionable when the experimentally observed seed island width of the NTMs is comparable to the FBW. We introduce a simple and direct theoretical method to investigate the FBW effect on the neoclassical polarization contribution to the NTM evolution in collisional plasmas. The results show that, the FBW effect can strongly modify the neoclassical polarization current profile near the island separatrix, and thus weaken its probably stabilizing effect on the NTMs.


Background and Aims: Pecs block and its variations provides perioperative analgesia, reduce PONV and other opioid related side effects. We hypothesized that COMIBPES block in addition to general anaesthesia will provide better postoperative analgesia when compared to general anaesthesia alone in breast cancer surgery patients. Methods: After obtaining permission from the institutional review board and registering the trial with Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI), we conducted a double blinded randomized controlled trial of 100 patients posted for elective breast surgery with axillary dissection. Patients were divided into two groups, P (Pecs block) and C (control). Intraoperative analgesia, postoperative analgesia, postoperative nausea vomiting (PONV) and shoulder mobility on first postoperative day (POD1) were noted. Primary outcomes were the pain scores measured by visual analog scale (VAS) and cumulative intravenous morphine consumption from patient controlled analgesia (PCA) pump at measurement intervals of 0, 1, 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours postoperatively. Results: Intraoperatively, Group P patients did not require any additional analgesia, whereas all the patients in Group C required additional intraoperative morphine (mean, SD: 5.12, 2.63 mg, compared to nil in group P, P< 0.01). COMBIPECS block group had lower pain scores and PCA morphine requirements, less PONV and better shoulder mobility on POD1. Conclusion: COMBIPECS block is a valuable addition to general anaesthesia for breast cancer surgery as it reduces pain and PONV while allowing better postoperative shoulder mobility.


This thesis presents a study on management of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [Mart.] Solms) using insects and fungal pathogens as bioagents. The main goal was to develop an effective biocontrol strategy for water hyacinth in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. To this end, a field survey was conducted to assess the agro-ecological distribution of water hyacinth and of native fungal pathogens found in association with water hyacinth. We also performed laboratory and lath house experiments on (i) pathogenicity and host specificity of the fungal pathogens; (ii) adaptability, life table, efficacy and host specificity of the two Neochetina weevils; and (iii) the synergetic effects of integrated use of Neochetina weevils and fungal pathogen as bioagents. Survey results indicated that the weed is distributed in the Rift Valley water bodies located in low, mid and high altitude. The survey results also identified 25 fungal species found in association with water hyacinth that belonged to nine genera. Among the isolates, Alternaria alternata, A. tenuissima, and Alternaria spp. hold promise as possible bioagents of water hyacinth. Laboratory study on life cycle and development of Neochetina weevils indicated the two weevils took shorter generation time in Ethiopia than in Argentina but relatively similar to Kenya and Uganda. In Ethiopia, the two weevils produced four generations per year indicating their successful establishment. Feeding by adult weevils and tunneling by larvae significantly impacted the vigour and reproduction of water hyacinth plants. A herbivory loads of three pairs of N. bruchi and two pairs of N. eichhorniae showed the highest level of leaf damage and defoliated petioles. The study also reinforced that the two weevils are sufficiently host-specific. Finally, a study on integrated use of Neochetina weevils and an indigenous plant pathogen revealed that the two Neochetina weevils and the fungus A. alternata were together able to reduce the vegetative growth and fresh weight of water hyacinth plants considerably. This study recommends integrated use of fungal species and the two weevils to control water hyacinth. Implications of the findings are also discussed in the context of integrated water hyacinth management using the native fungal pathogens and the two weevils.


We present a highly effective, parallelized random-walk–based algorithm to calculate the density of states of complex physical systems. Random walkers' attempted moves from one energy level to another are represented in a stochastic matrix, giving estimates for the transition matrix at infinite temperature. The eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue is the density of states up to a normalization. We verify the performance on selected examples of Ising spin systems with random coupling constants drawn uniformly from [ − 1,1], of which the exact density of states has been calculated by a branch-and-bound approach.


Background: In many referral centers, laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) is a well-established method for the management of colorectal liver metastases (CLM). The aim of this study is to review a single institution experience. Methods: Between April 2008 and September 2016, 58 patients underwent LLR for various benign and malignant liver tumors. The analysis included 12 patients operated on for CLM. The primary outcomes of this prospective non-randomized study included operative procedure and operating time (minutes), estimated blood loss (mL), conversion rate, R0 resections, resection margins (mm), length of hospital stay (days), post-operative morbidity, and mortality. The secondary outcome of the study was survival analysis. Results: Eight patients (67 %) had atypical LLR. The average operating time was 130 minutes (range 60–210 minutes). The mean estimated blood loss was 140 mL (range < 50–600 mL). In one patient LLR was converted to open procedure (conversion rate 8 %). Seven patients (58 %) had one liver metastasis. The mean metastasis size was 3.6 cm (range 1–9 cm). R0 resection was achieved in all cases. The mean resection margin was 6.8 mm (range 2–15 mm). Te mean length of hospital stay was 6 days (range 3–12 days). Morbidity and mortality rates were 0 %. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 13 months. Nine patients are alive with no evidence of disease, two patients are alive with disease and one patient died of disease. Conclusion: LLR is a feasible and safe method for the treatment of CLM and there is no compromise of oncological surgical principles.


Abstract This paper discusses Architectural History and Theory at the Graduate School of Architecture, University of Johannesburg in 2019. The curriculum is centered on a series of conversations as the means to generate forms of engagement for a plurality of voices, contested views and dialogic encounters, as a way of working toward an alternative institutional imaginary. The focus on conversation and dialogue aims to create a space for slow and shared scholarship, to become a manifestation of spatial resistance to the imperatives of the neoliberal university and global economies of higher education. This paper discusses some of the key conceptual and practical moves undertaken in the development of a new history and theory course through examples of student work. The paper points to inclusive and reflexive pedagogical methods and modes of collaboration as central to resistance, and as the means that enable generative and supportive networks across geographic and institutional boundaries.


This paper presents a novel optimization algorithm, namely, hierarchical artificial bee colony optimization (HABC), to tackle complex high-dimensional problems. In the proposed multilevel model, the higher-level species can be aggregated by the subpopulations from lower level. In the bottom level, each subpopulation employing the canonical ABC method searches the part-dimensional optimum in parallel, which can be constructed into a complete solution for the upper level. At the same time, the comprehensive learning method with crossover and mutation operator is applied to enhance the global search ability between species. Experiments are conducted on a set of 20 continuous and discrete benchmark problems. The experimental results demonstrate remarkable performance of the HABC algorithm when compared with other six evolutionary algorithms.