Malnutrition is a widespread problem that affects human health, society, and the economy. Traditional maize that serves as an important source of human nutrition is deficient in vitamin-E, vitamin-A, lysine, and tryptophan. Here, favorable alleles of vte4 (α-tocopherol methyl transferase), crtRB1 (β-carotene hydroxylase), lcyE (lycopene ε-cyclase), and o2 (opaque2) genes were combined in parental lines of four popular hybrids using marker-assisted selection (MAS). BC1F1, BC2F1, and BC2F2 populations were genotyped using gene-based markers of vte4, crtRB1, lcyE, and o2. Background selection using 81–103 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers led to the recovery of recurrent parent genome (RPG) up to 95.45%. Alpha (α)-tocopherol was significantly enhanced among introgressed progenies (16.13 μg/g) as compared to original inbreds (7.90 μg/g). Provitamin-A (proA) (10.42 μg/g), lysine (0.352%), and tryptophan (0.086%) were also high in the introgressed progenies. The reconstituted hybrids showed a 2-fold enhancement in α-tocopherol (16.83 μg/g) over original hybrids (8.06 μg/g). Improved hybrids also possessed high proA (11.48 μg/g), lysine (0.367%), and tryptophan (0.084%) when compared with traditional hybrids. The reconstituted hybrids recorded the mean grain yield of 8,066 kg/ha, which was at par with original hybrids (mean: 7,846 kg/ha). The MAS-derived genotypes resembled their corresponding original hybrids for the majority of agronomic and yield-related traits, besides characteristics related to distinctness, uniformity, and stability (DUS). This is the first report for the development of maize with enhanced vitamin-E, vitamin-A, lysine, and tryptophan.


INTRODUCTION
Exertional heat stroke (EHS), which presents with extreme hyperthermia and alteration to the central nervous system, disproportionately affects the military, where warfighters are expected to perform in all types of environmental conditions. Because of an incomplete understanding of individualized recovery from EHS, there are several shortcomings with the current guidance on return to duty (RTD) following an EHS. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide an updated literature review of best practices for return to duty following EHS to guide decision making regarding EHS and explore areas of future research for medical staff who work with warfighters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A literature review related to EHS in both athlete and military populations, as well as any existing guidelines for RTD, was conducted using PubMed and Covidence.

RESULTS
Twenty-one articles were identified for this updated review on EHS and RTD, with recommendations focused during and after an EHS event, as well as the role of heat tolerance testing (HTT).

CONCLUSIONS
EHS has a high morbidity and mortality rate if not treated rapidly. Because the extent of end-organ damage is dependent on the amount of time that the individual is hyperthermic, rapid diagnosis via rectal thermometry, and efficient cooling methods are imperative to the wellbeing of EHS patients. Following EHS, gradual RTD recommendations within the limits of operational demand should be implemented to reduce the risk for a subsequent heat injury event. While many versions of HTT, most notably the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) protocol, have been created to guide RTD recommendations, a universal assessment for heat tolerance has yet to be adopted. As such, medical personnel should apply a multifactorial approach to ensure safe RTD.


PURPOSE
To eliminate the continuing so-called "controversy" regarding, and opposition to, the specific medical management of traumatic hyphema (TH) with systemic antifibrinolytic agents including aminocaproic acid (ACA) and tranexamic acid (TXA) and steroids (prednisone); to illuminate the role of topical steroids.

METHOD
Review of all (English language) studies since 1950 of these medical treatments of TH, and contemporary no specific medical treatment controls.

RESULTS
The difference between the average rebleeding rate in the specifically medically treated group, 4.89%, and that rate in the untreated group, 13.02%, was statistically a true difference due not to chance but to the difference in therapy with a probability of <0.0001 by Chi Square Test, Yates Corrected Chi Square Test and Fisher's Exact Test. This was also true individually respectively and with identical probabilities of p=<0.0001 for systemic steroids, topical steroids, ACA and TXA. Combined topical steroids and systemic ACA or TXA did not further improve results.

CONCLUSION
Preventing rebleeding episodes remains a major treatment objective in the clinical management of TH. This is best accomplished by the Yasuna systemic steroid No Touch or No Touch PLUS treatment protocol, the only treatment protocols consistently yielding zero rebleed rates in non-Scandinavian populations.


Lifetime dairy production, reproduction and growth traits of 75 females sired by Holstein, Jersey or Brown Swiss bulls and Hol- stein-Friesian x Gir dams of 1/2 to 3/4 Holstein-Friesian fractions were compared. The animals were in a single herd under the same manage- ment. Milk, fat and protein yields, concentrates fed, reproduction, and weights were recorded throughout the lifetime of the cows. The data were analyzed by least squares techniques under models including the fixed effects of breed of sire, Bos taurus fraction and year of birth. Herd lifes for Holstein, Jersey and Brown Swiss crosses were 6.006 ± 0.812, 8.129 ± 0.863 and 7.247 ± 0.777 years. Milk yields per day of herd life were 7.150 ± 0.266, 6.757 ± 0.282 and 6.249 ± 0.254 kg. Weights of cull cows sold were 458 ± 15, 415 ± 15 and 457 ± 13 kg. Based on these and on previously reported results of the same experiment, intakes of roughage and pasture were estimated from energy requirements. Life- time expenditures on concentrates, roughages, pastures, milking, repro- duction, and heifer rearing were calculated based on mean performance of each breed of sire, as well as on receipts from animals and milk sold


Substantial progress has been made in the U.S. in reducing the impaired driving problem. Future gains will be more difficult because of certain high risk groups of drivers who are more resistant to change. Persistent drinking drivers are one of those groups: they drink and drive again and again; their behavior apparently has not been affected by information and education; and many of them have not been deterred by laws and enforcement or even by arrest and punishment. We need to know who this driver is, what he knows and thinks, and how he acts. This paper gives a brief overview of recent data and studies on the persistent drinking driver primarily from the U.S. Programs being initiated to deal with some of these high risk drivers are listed.


When analysing complex interaction networks occurring in biological cells, a biologist needs computational support in order to understand the effects of signalling molecules (e.g. growth factors, drugs). ANIMO (Analysis of Networks with Interactive MOdelling) is a tool that allows the user to create and explore executable models of biological networks, helping to derive hypotheses and to plan wet-lab experiments. The tool is based on the formalism of Timed Automata, which can be analysed via the UPPAAL model checker. Thanks to Timed Automata, we can provide a formal semantics for the domain-specific language used to represent signalling networks. This enforces precision and uniformity in the definition of signalling pathways, contributing to the integration of signalling event models into complex, crosstalk-driven networks. We propose an approach to discretization of reaction kinetics that allows us to efficiently use UPPAAL as the computational engine to explore the dynamic cell behaviour. A user friendly interface makes the use of Timed Automata completely transparent to the biologist, while keeping the expressive power intact. This allows to define relatively simple, yet faithful models of complex biological interactions. The resulting timed behaviour is displayed graphically, allowing for an intuitive and interactive modelling experience.


A novel series of quinzoline based compounds (IIIa d, VIa f, IXa f) were designed, synthesized and screened for their inhibitory activity towards the PDE4B isoform. The in vivo antiinflammatory effect of the titled compounds (IIIa d, VIa f, IXa f) as well as their effect on the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNFwere evaluated. Among all of the synthesized compounds, IXb, IXd and IXf, exhibited good inhibitory activity against PDE4B enzyme with inhibition percentages of 42, 62 and 68%, respectively. Most of the tested compounds showed potent anti-inflammatory activity compared to indomethacin with a marked decrease in TNFlevel. The ulcerogenic effect of the tested compounds was also examined. The gastric mucosa of the tested animals remained intact after oral administration of the hit compounds. Additionally, docking study was used to explore the possible binding mode of the active compounds on the PDE4B enzyme as well as to illustrate the selectivity of the active hits on the PDE4B isoform. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin 2014, November Abstract


Background: Many studies have reported the use of simethicone before colonoscopy removes bubbles. However, guidelines weakly recommend simethicone administration before colonoscopy. The present study aimed to confirm the advantages of taking simethicone and determine the appropriate time for taking simethicone. Methods: We randomly assigned patients to the following 5 groups according to the administration time: 4 groups were divided based on 2 parameters (the day before and on the day of colonoscopy and before and after bowel cleansing) and the remaining group was the control group. We compared bubble score (BS), number of simethicone solution irrigations when visually obscured, satisfaction score of the endoscopist, insertion time. Results: A total of 204 patients were included in the study. There was a difference in BS according to the timing of simethicone administration (P < .001). The group taking simethicone on the day of the test had a better BS than the group taking simethicone the day before (P < .001). The group taking simethicone on the previous day had a better BS than the control group (P = .001). In the group of taking simethicone on the examination day, the number of irrigations was lower, and satisfaction with the inspector was higher than group of taking simethicone on previous day and control group (both P < .001). The insertion time showed a non-significantly decreasing trend (P = .417). Conclusion: Administering simethicone reduced bubbles and facilitated effective colonoscopy, especially when administrating it on the day of examination. It needs to be administered on the day of the examination regardless of bowel preparation.


Kidney failure has become a growing problem at Hadejia Emirates over the last decade. This can be attributed to water pollution, possibly due to heavy metal contamination of River Hadejia that affects organisms living in it, such as fish. This study is aimed to determine the concentration of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Pb) in two fish muscles. The research was conducted on tilapia and catfish where two samples of both fishes were used. The fish tissues were cut and oven-dried at 110 °C, and then a motor and pestle were used to powder the dried fish sample. A wet digestion method was used based on the analytical methods for Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). The result obtained shows that the concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, As and Pb) in both fishes were found to be 0.3220 ± 0.0028; 0.1656 ± 0.002 (𝑚𝑔/𝑘𝑔), 0.0319 ± 0.0018; 0.0333 ± 0.0018 (𝑀𝑔/𝑘𝑔), 0.0697 ± 0.0011; 0.1035 ± 0.0015 (𝑚𝑔/𝑘𝑔) and 1.008 ± 0.0035; 0.600 ± 0.002 (𝑚𝑔/𝑘𝑔) respectively. The mean concentration value of the two samples of both tilapia and catfish were found to be above WHO standard limit except for cadmium in tilapia which is below WHO standard limit.


In Reply.— Dr Berry only thinks that he lets the pathologist know what is on his mind by using the terms "abnormal nevus," "irregularly pigmented nevus," or "nevus with change." They are considered by him to be euphemisms for melanoma, but a competent pathologist could interpret the first example to mean so-called dysplastic nevus; the second, nevus spilus (congenital speckled lentiginous nevus); and the third, rupture of an infundibular cyst beneath a Miescher nevus on a face. In short, Dr Berry is playing games both with pathologists and with patients when, in my judgment, there is no need to do that. Ironically, Dr Berry surely expects his pathologist to issue specific diagnoses of melanocytic neoplasms, but he feels no obligation to reciprocate. For almost 20 years, many colleagues in pathology have engaged in evasions in regard to diagnosis of melanoma in situ similar to those of Dr Berry. That explicit diagnosis has


This work addresses the initiative to use consumer-grade Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones, as potential instruments for the evaluation and monitoring of shallow coral reefs in Colombia. This initiative started with the construction of an interdisciplinary team that includes institutions from academia, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, a marine surveying private company, and a German research center. The test was conducted inside the Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Old Providence; an island that is located at the Archipelago of San Andrs, Providencia and Santa Catalina, which includes the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve (the third largest true barrier reef in the world). Field data were acquired by using two DJI RPAS: Phantom 4 Pro and Mavic Air, and geo-referenced diving. In this work, we show the potential for using such technologies with a geometrically corrected mosaic of images of Crab Cay, a small cay located inside the MPA. This project is the first of its kind within the Seaflower Reserve and may support technology-based data collection, increasing the quality of information that can be useful to make important decisions regarding ocean space utilization. Additionally, obtained images will be shared for the benefit of local communities, other stakeholders, and visitors, in a manner that opens up science to broader society, promoting outreach activities and educational tool via photos and videos.


Expression of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in livers and kidneys of rodents is activated at birth and is induced by glucocorticoids and cyclic AMP in the liver. Regulatory elements in a 10-kb fragment upstream of the mouse gene have been characterized. The promoter lacks TAATA and CCAAT consensus sequences and shows only extremely weak activity in transitory expression assays with phenylalanine hydroxylase-producing hepatoma cells. No key elements for regulation of promoter activity are localized within 2 kb of upstream sequences. However, a liver-specific DNase I-hypersensitive site at kb -3.5 comprises a tissue-specific and hormone-inducible enhancer. This enhancer contains multiple protein binding sites, including sites for ubiquitous factors (NF1 and AP1), the glucocorticoid receptor, and the hepatocyte-enriched transcription factors hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF1) and C/EBP. Mutation revealed that the last two sites are critical not only for basal activity but also for obtaining a maximal hormone response. Efficient transcription from the highly inducible promoter shows absolute dependence upon the enhancer at kb - 3.5, which in turn requires HNF1 and C/EBP as well as hormones. The regulatory region of the mouse phenylalanine hydroxylase gene differs totally from that of humans, even though the genes of both species are expressed essentially in the liver. Furthermore, the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene of mice shows an expression pattern very similar to those of the rodent tyrosine aminotransferase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase genes, yet each shows a different organization of its regulatory region.


Most ophthalmologists, either at meetings or on visits to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, have had occasion to marvel at Dr. Donaldson's beautiful stereoscopic slides of clinical disorders. In the first of a series of volumes, he has assembled an explanatory text and miniaturized reproductions of representative external diseases of the eye. These are colored stereo-transparencies to be seen in a collapsible viewer incorporated in the volume. Although these reduced copies cannot compare with the originals either in detail or color quality, we are delighted to have Dr. Donaldson's beautiful and instructive photographs made more generally available. We are looking forward to the publication of additional volumes.


Adult Schistosoma mansoni were incubated for 1 hour in vitro with various drugs and then returned into the mesenteric veins of permissive animal hosts. Survival of schistosomes was assessed 3-4 weeks later by portal perfusion. Under these conditions, oxamniquine and hycanthone proved effective in killing S. mansoni, whereas UK-3883, lucanthone and lucanthone-4-desmethyl had no lethal activity. The same drugs which were schistosomicidal in vitro also persistently inhibited DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis in S. mansoni, whereas they were only transiently inhibitory against Schistosoma japonicum, against hycanthone-resistant S. mansoni and against immature worms. When drugs were administered in vivo to infected mice and the synthesis of macromolecules was assayed in vitro on worms obtained 1 or 3 days after treatment, not only oxamniquine and hycanthone, but also UK-3883 and lucanthone, proved effective in inhibiting the synthesis of macromolecules in sensitive--but not in resistant--S. mansoni. It is suggested that oxamniquine, like hycanthone, may exert its schistosomicidal activity by inhibiting nucleic acid synthesis in the parasite.


RNase H1 is an endonuclease specific towards RNA:DNA hybrids. Members of this protein family are present in most living organisms and are essential for removing RNA that base pairs with DNA. It prevents detrimental effects of RNA:DNA hybrids and is involved in several biological processes. We show that Arabidopsis thaliana contains four RNase H1-like proteins originating from two gene duplication events and alternative splicing. These proteins have the canonical RNase H1 activity, which requires at least four ribonucleotides for activity. Two of those proteins are nuclear, one is localized to mitochondria and one to plastids. While the nuclear RNases H1 are dispensable, the presence of at least one organellar RNase H1 is required for embryonic development. The plastid protein RNH1C affects plastid DNA copy number and sensitivity to hydroxyurea. This indicates that three genomes present in each plant cell are served by at least one specialized RNase H1 protein.


Abstract Progress in hurricane and tropical meteorology is reviewed over the period 1960–1971. The recognition of the role of scale-interaction; the necessity to include energy sources and sinks in the general circulation models; the complexity of the problem of subgrid scale processes; the growth of a quantiative observational base in the tropics, the advent of the meteorological satellite; and the power of the computer have collectively led to great effort and considerable progress in the realm of tropical meteorology during this period. This progress and the areas of weakness are presented within a framework of spatial and temporal sales ranging from the planetary to the turbulent. Without minimizing the difficulties that lie ahead there is reason for a degree of optimisim. A coherent picture of the tropical atmosphere is emerging. Theory and observations are finding common ground. Critical tests of both lie ahead in the first major experiment of the Global Atmospheric Research Program: the GARP Atlant...


The species Sitobion graminis Takahashi, 1950 (Hemiptera, Aphididae) was first detected in Brazil in 1998, in Curitiba, Parana state, associated with the grass species Erianthus sp., Calamagrotis sp. and Paspalum urvilei. Both the field-collected and laboratory-reared specimens presented a noticeable intrapopulational variation in body and appendix length and in dorso-abdominal sclerotization. This species has been recorded in Malaysia, New Guinea, India, Philippines and Africa, where it colonizes several species of Poaceae. S. graminis differs from other Sitobion species from Brazil associated with grasses, as it presents black cauda and siphunculi and exhibits a constriction in the base of the last rostral segment. Biological data were obtained in the laboratory by rearing newborn nymphs on the inflorescence of the host plants. They passed through four nymphal instars. The mean duration of the nymphal stage was of 11.4 days, with a mortality ratio of 36.5%. The mean pre-larviposition period was of 1.8 days; mean longevity of the females was 25.2 days; and mean fecundity was 18.7 nymphs/female, ranging from 2 to 41 nymphs/female.


In August 2011, the Supreme Court of Brazil continued the judgment on the constitutionality of the Brazilian Controlled Foreign Corporation (CFC) legislation. The final decision is dependent on a sole justice's opinion, but some conclusions can be drawn from the case so far. In April 2011, the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil also decided one leading case on the CFC rules, which restricted its scope. The case law under review is a signpost that the Brazilian CFC legislation needs to be reformed in order to match reasonable and internationally accepted parameters. In this article, the author provides an overview of the Brazilian CFC regime. It was originally written as a paper presented at the 2nd London Alumni International Tax Conference, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.


Telephone Management How to Use This Book Telephone Triage and Advice: How to Delegate in Office Practice Medications by Telephone: Prescription and OTC Telephone Equipment Components of an Effective Telephone Encounter How to Use Telephone Protocols for Training Nurses and Physicians Emergency Calls Anaphylaxis (Severe Allergic Reaction) Choking (Inhaled FB) Confusion (Delirium) Fainting Poisoning (Ingestion) Respiratory Distress (Breathing Difficulty, Severe) Seizure with Fever Seizure without Fever Trauma (Injury) Calls Trauma, Bone/Ligament/Muscle Trauma, Ear Trauma, Eye Trauma, Finger and Toe Trauma, Genital Trauma, Head Trauma, Mouth Trauma, Nose Trauma, Skin (Cuts, Scrapes, and Bruises) Puncture Wound Trauma, Tooth Newborn and Infant Calls Bottle (Formula) Feeding Questions Breast Feeding Questions Crying Baby Under 3 mo (Includes Colic) Crying Child Over 3 mo (Irritability, Fussiness) Diaper Rash Jaundiced Newborn Newborn Appearance: Common Questions Newborn Rashes and Birthmarks Spitting Up Thrush Symptom or Disease Calls Abdominal Pain Asthma Attack Athlete's Foot Bee or Wasp Sting Bite, Animal or Human Bite, Insect Bite, Spider Bite, Tick Breath-Holding Spell Burns Chest Pain Chickenpox (Varicella) Colds Constipation Cough Croup Diarrhea Ear, Earache Ear, Congestion Ear, Discharge Ear, Swimmer's (Otitis Externa) Eye, Allergy Eye, Chemical In Eye, Foreign Body Eye, Red (Without Pus) (Viral Conjunctivitis) Eye, With Pus (Bacterial Conjunctivitis) Fever Fifth Disease (Erythema Infectiousum) Fluid Intake, Decreased Groin or Scrotum Swelling Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease Hay Fever (Allergic Rhinitis) Headache Hives (Urticaria) Immunizations: Recommended Schedule Immunization Reactions Impetigo (Infected Sores) Infection Exposure Questions: Contagious Periods and Incubation Periods Lice (Pediculosis) Limb Pain Lymph Nodes, Swollen Menstrual Cramps (Dysmenorrhea) Mouth Ulcers (Canker Sores) Nosebleed Pinworms Poison Ivy, Oak or Sumac Rashes, Localized and Cause Unknown Rashes, Widespread and Cause Unknown Rashes, Widespread While on Drugs Ringworm Sinus Pain or Congestion Sore Throat (Pharyngitis) Strep Exposure (Contacts) Sunburn Swallowed Foreign Body Toothache Urination, Pain with (Dysuria) Vaginal Itching or Irritation Vomiting Wheezing (Other than Asthma


Phylogeographic data indicate that DNA differences consistently exist between the North American and European allopatric populations of Gymnopus confluens. Conversely, pairing experiments show that collections from both populations were sexually compatible in vitro and detailed morphological examinations of numerous fresh and dried basidiomata do not produce qualitative differences. Percent ITS sequence divergence between Europe and North American collections of G. confluens was 3.25%. Species delineation metrics including Rosenberg's PAB statistic, PID metrics, RRD (randomly distributed) and PTP (Poisson Tree Processes) gave mixed indications that North American and European populations were distinct at species rank. The North American populations are described as Gymnopus confluens subsp. campanulatus (Peck) R.H. Petersen.


Abstract Background Previous studies investigating the known risk factors of atherosclerosis in phenylketonuria patients have shown conflicting results. The primary aim of our study was to investigate the serum atherogenic markers in adolescent classical phenylketonuria patients and compare these parameters with healthy peers. The secondary aim was to compare these atherogenic markers in well-controlled and poorly controlled patients. Methods A total of 59 patients (median age: 12.6 years, range: 11–17 years) and 44 healthy controls (median age: 12.0 years, range: 11–15 years) were enrolled in our study. Phenylketonuria patients were divided into two groups: well-controlled (serum phenylalanine levels below 360 µmol/L; 24 patients) and poorly controlled patients (serum phenylalanine levels higher than 360 µmol/L). Results The mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels of well-controlled patients (1.0±0.2 mmol/L) were significantly lower compared with poorly controlled patients and controls (1.1±0.2 mmol/L, p=0.011 and 1.4±0.2 mmol/L, p<0.001, respectively). Poorly controlled patients had lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than healthy controls (p=0.003). Homocysteine levels of both well-controlled (9.8±6.4 µmol/L) and poorly controlled (9.2±5.6 µmol/L) patients were higher compared with controls (5.8±1.8 µmol/L, p<0.01). The mean platelet volume of well-controlled patients (9.5±1.1 fL) was higher than that of poorly controlled patients and controls (8.9±0.8 fL, p=0.024 and 7.7±0.6 fL, p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion Lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and higher homocysteine and mean platelet volume levels were detected in phenylketonuria patients. In particular, these changes were more prominent in well-controlled patients. We conclude that phenylketonuria patients might be at risk for atherosclerosis, and therefore screening for atherosclerotic risk factors should be included in the phenylketonuria therapy and follow-up in addition to other parameters.


. — We report an observation of egg pre-dation by conspecibcs in the Florida Scrub-Jay (Apliel-oconia coerulescens) at Archbold Biological Station in Highlands County, Florida. This is the first confirmed account of intraspecihc egg predation in this threatened and declining species. We observed a group of five jays harass an established breeding pair at their nest that contained four warm eggs. One female intruder alighted on the nest and carried off an egg in its beak. Other intruding females also were seen at the nest and presumably removed two more eggs. The following day, the nest was deserted and contained only one cold egg. We discuss potential reasons for such conspecific egg predation, focusing on resource limitation. We believe that further re.search in this area is essential for this species in which competition for resources (e.g., nesting habitat) intensifies as suitable habitat declines. Received 25 Septemher 2001, accepted 14 March 2002. Egg predation by conspecifics is seldom observed and its eontribution to egg loss in birds has


Ever since Kant and Hegel, the notion of autonomy - the idea that we are beholden to no law except one we impose upon ourselves - has been considered the truest philosophical expression of human freedom. But could our commitment to autonomy, as Theodor Adorno asked, be responsible for the extreme evils that we have witnessed in modernity? In Autonomy After Auschwitz, Martin Shuster explores this difficult question with astonishing theoretical acumen, examining the precise ways autonomy can lead us down a path of evil and how it might be prevented from doing so. Shuster uncovers dangers in the notion of autonomy as it was originally conceived by Kant. Putting Adorno into dialogue with a range of European philosophers, notably Kant, Hegel, Horkheimer, and Habermas - as well as with a variety of contemporary Anglo-American thinkers such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, John McDowell, and Robert Pippin - he illuminates Adorno's important revisions to this fraught concept and how his different understanding of autonomous agency, fully articulated, might open up new and positive social and political possibilities. Altogether, Autonomy After Auschwitz is a meditation on modern evil and human agency, one that demonstrates the tremendous ethical stakes at the heart of philosophy.


The rat parotid gland parenchyma consists of four principal components: acini, intercalated ducts, striated ducts, and excretory ducts. Secretory acini are mostly of ellipsoidal to polygonal shapes, exceptionally of typically globular shape. The shape and the size of acini are in a close relation to their localization within the glandular parenchyma. The average acinar size is approximately equal to 35 microns. The structure of the ductal three corresponds with the known description but the surface of the individual segments (especially of striated and excretory ducts) shows some features that are impossible to be discovered when observed with TEM but that are clear by visible when observed with S.E.M. Myoepithelial cells have a typical asteroid shape. The observations with S.E.M. have shown that they overlap with their processes from one acinar cell to another one, or they radiate also over the adjacent intercalated duct.


OBJECTIVE
Prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer is poor. Median survival from diagnosis without determining surgical treatment is 3-11 months, after surgical treatment between 13-20 months according to various studies. 5-year survival rate is below 5%. The only chance of cure remains a radical surgical resection. Early diagnosis and determining resectability of tumour is the most important objective in patients with pancreatic cancer. Aim of this work is to evaluate the benefits and define the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in preoperative staging.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
195 patients (103 men, 92 women, mean age 66.7 year, range 32-88 years) with suspected pancreatic lesions underwent enhanced 18F-FDG PET/CT in the preoperative staging in addition to standard investigative methods (ultrasonography, contrast enhanced CT, EUS, EUS FNA). All PET/CT findings were compared with standard methods (CT, EUS, EUS FNA), with peroperative findings and definitive histology in surgical patients as the reference standards. Interpretation of the extent of the tumor defined by TNM classification. Limitations of the local resectability was advanced local stage (T4) and presence of distant metastases (M1).

RESULTS
In 195 patients with suspected pancreatic lesions was pre-operatively performed PET/CT in the period 1/2007-3/2009. 153 patients with pancreatic cancer, of which 72 was not suitable for radical surgery because of local inoperability or a generalization of the disease. The sensitivity of PET/CT in the capture of primary lesions was 92.2%, specificity 90.5%. False negative findings in 12 patients, false-positive results occurred in 4 cases, positive predictive value (PPV) 97.2%, negative predictive value (NPV) 76.0%. In the assessment of regional lymph nodes sensitivity was 51.9%, specificity 58.3%, PPV 58.3%,NPV 51.9%. In detection of distant metastases PET/CT reached sensitivity 82.8%, specificity 97.8%, PPV 96.9%, NPV 87.0%. PET/CT found distant metastases in 12 patients, which standard methods failed to detect. Surgery was cancelled in 15 patients (15.6%) with potentially resectable tumour based on the performance of PET/CT findings and the management of treatment was changed.

CONCLUSION
PET/CT is highly sensitive and specific method suitable for preoperative staging of pancreatic cancer. It improves the selection of patients for surgery, who can benefit from and reduces the number of incorrectly indicated operations.


Finding the largest few principal components of a matrix of genetic data is a common task in genome-wide association studies (GWASs), both for dimensionality reduction and for identifying unwanted factors of variation. We describe a simple random matrix model for matrices that arise in GWASs, showing that the singular values have a bulk behavior that obeys a Marchenko-Pastur distributed with a handful of large outliers. We also implement Golub-Kahan-Lanczos (GKL) bidiagonalization in the Julia programming language, providing thick restarting and a choice between full and partial reorthogonalization strategies to control numerical roundoff. Our implementation of GKL bidiagonalization is up to 36 times faster than software tools used commonly in genomics data analysis for computing principal components, such as EIGENSOFT and FlashPCA, which use dense LAPACK routines and randomized subspace iteration respectively.


Stents have been created to prevent vessel recoil after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). Despite the evolution in stent design, intimal hyperplasia and stent fractures and the resulting in-stent restenosis (ISR) still occur. Different strategies to treat ISR have been described with variable results in patency rates in the short and the long-term. PTA only in the treatment of ISR showed high procedural success, but the mid and long-term patency rates were very disappointing. Atherectomy devices have showed same insufficient results. If stent fracture is the cause of the ISR, the fracture has to be overstent. The best two options are covered stents and drug eluting stents (DES). Drug eluting devices like DES and drug eluting balloons (DEBs) showed promising results, with patency rates up to over 90% after one year. DEBs have the advantage of leaving nothing behind. Combined treatment of ISR with atherectomy and DEB has a similar good result. Endovascular brachytherapy showed high patency rates after one year but this technique is limited due to the time-consuming nature of the procedure, complex radiation safety measurements, and staffing requirements. Overall drug-eluting devices are emerging as the best treatment of SFA ISR with patency rates over 90% after 2 years.


The complementary characteristics of active and passive depth sensing techniques motivate the fusion of the LiDAR sensor and stereo camera for improved depth perception. Instead of directly fusing estimated depths across LiDAR and stereo modalities, we take advantages of the stereo matching network with two enhanced techniques: Input Fusion and Conditional Cost Volume Normalization (CCVNorm) on the LiDAR information. The proposed framework is generic and closely integrated with the cost volume component that is commonly utilized in stereo matching neural networks. We experimentally verify the efficacy and robustness of our method on the KITTI Stereo and Depth Completion datasets, obtaining favorable performance against various fusion strategies. Moreover, we demonstrate that, with a hierarchical extension of CCVNorm, the proposed method brings only slight overhead to the stereo matching network in terms of computation time and model size.


The potential application of acoustic rhinometry for evaluating paranasal sinuses was evaluated experimentally. In order to assess the influence of paranasal sinus volume in acoustic rhinometry, three model studies were performed. A tube made of acryle (20 cm in length, 2 cm in diameter) with a side hole was used for the first experiment. In the experiment measuring this tube with acoustic rhinometry, a difference between cases with a side hole (ex. 2 mm in diameter) and these without a side hole was observed. In the former, a more posterior tube position gave rise to an increase in the acoustic curve. In the second experiment, a syringe was was fixed to the side hole of the tube, so as that no leakage of sound wave would occur. A change in the volume of the syringe could be detected by acoustic rhinometry, even with changes as small as 1 ml. In the third experiment, the relationship between the size of the side hole and the volume of the syringe was evaluated. When the volume was less than 20 ml, the value was almost equal to the theoretical value even if the diameter of the side hole was as small as 4 mm. A larger size hole was required when the volume was increased. It was concluded that acoustic rhinometry is of possible value in assessing the paranasal sinuses, if the nasal cavity communicates with the paranasal sinuses via a large opening (e.g. in post-operative cases).


This article describes how wordnet information can be used to enrich semantic information in an electronic dictionary. The semantic division and definitions from The Danish Dictionary were used to build the Danish wordnet, DanNet, so there is a close connection between the two resources already. Especially for language production purposes and in second language learning, human users can benefit from the onomasiological organization principle of a wordnet. In the online version of The Danish Dictionary the wordnet information is presented in a new element, called related words, which puts together not only synonyms but a wider range of paradigmatic alternatives, including hyponyms and hyperonyms, that are relevant for someone who is looking for "the right word" when writing a text, or for someone trying to learn the vocabulary of a particular topic. The principles of selection and presentation are described, with particular attention devoted to the problems and the challenges that remain for future development


Electrical insults to the human body range from death to damage to various parts of the body. It can result in a wide range of ocular injuries with resultant ocular complications. Of these, electrical cataract can occur after a latent period and then can progress with starting rapidly. The clinical picture of electrical injury is influenced by numerous factors including voltage, tissue sensitivity, type of current (direct or alternating), length of contact, place and area of contact, and route traveled in the body. The majority of cases respond well to surgery, but final visual acuity will depend on the other ocular damage due to electrical current. However proper surgical management can result in good and stable visual acuity as is seen in this case. The need for awareness of the possibility of this complication and screening of all cases of electrical injuries is stressed. The majority of cases respond well to surgery. We report a rare case of a 15 years young boy having bilateral anterior sub-capsular cataracts caused by high-voltage electrocution in a young man who regained normal vision after surgery in both eyes. Bilateral Phacoemulsifiation with foldable hydrophobic lens [PCIOL] in capsular bag was done.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of subtotal (SG) versus total (TG) gastrectomy on the oncologic outcome of patients with cancer of the distal stomach from 28 Italian institutions.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA
There is controversy over whether SG and TG have a different impact on the 5-year survival probability of patients with cancer of the distal half of the stomach.

METHODS
The present analysis involved 618 patients randomized during surgery to SG (315) or TG (303), provided there was at least 6 cm from the proximal edge of the tumor to the cardia, there was no intrapertoneal or distant spread, and it was possible to remove the tumor entirely. Both surgical treatments included regional lymphadenectomy.

RESULTS
Four patients died after SG and seven after TG. Median follow-up was 72 months after SG (range 2 to 125) and 75 months after TG (range 7 to 113). Five-year survival probability as computed by the Kaplan-Meier method was 65.3% for SG and 62.4% for TG. The test of equivalence led to the conclusion that the two procedures may be considered equivalent in terms of 5-year survival probability. The analysis of survival using a multivariate Cox regression model showed a statistically significant impact on survival of tumor site, tumor spread within the gastric wall, extent of resection to the spleen plus or minus neighboring organs or structures, and relative frequency of metastasis in resected lymph nodes.

CONCLUSIONS
Both procedures have a similar survival probability. The authors believe that SG, which has been reported to be associated with a better nutritional status and quality of life, should be the procedure of choice, provided that the proximal margin of the resection falls in healthy tissue.


Background Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the most serious type of coronary heart disease. However, less than 30% of these patients have been treated effectively in China. Delayed treatment is a leading cause. This study aimed to evaluate a new regional cooperative model for improving the first medical contact-to-device time and the therapeutic effects on AMI patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of 458 ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients was performed. Patients were divided into two groups in terms of before or after the model were implemented. First medical contact-to-device time (FMC2D), Door to device time (D2D), referral time, cardiac functions, mean cost, days of hospitalization, and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were analyzed. Results The mean FMC2D time, D2D time and referral time of the model group were significantly lower than the control group. The left ventricular ejection fraction of the model group increased but the left ventricular end-diastolic dimension decreased compared with the control group at 6 months after discharge. These results also showed that mean costs and days of hospitalization were reduced. The MACE rate was reduced in the model group. Conclusions These results suggested that the new model decreased the FMC2D time, which could improve the cardiac function and therapeutic effect of STEMI patients as well as decreased the financial burden.


Weaving models are used in the model driven engineering (MDE) community for
 various application scenarios related to model mappings. However, an analysis
 of its suitability for specification of heterogeneous schema mappings reveals
 that weaving models lack support for mapping rules and, therefore, cannot
 prevent mapping specifications which are semantically meaningless, wrong or
 disallowed. This paper proposes a solution which overcomes the identified
 open issue by providing the explicit support for semantic mapping rules. It
 is based on introduction of weaving metamodels augmented with constraints
 written in OCL. The role of OCL constraints is to restrict mapping
 specifications to only those which are semantically meaningful. Using well
 known MDE technologies, such as EMF and QVT, an existing tool is used to
 validate the presented solution. This solution is also successfully evaluated
 in practice.


In Candida albicans-infected resident peritoneal macrophages, activation of group IVA cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2α) by calcium- and mitogen-activated protein kinases triggers the rapid production of prostaglandins I2 and E2 through cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and regulates gene expression by increasing cAMP. In C. albicans-infected cPLA2α−/− or COX-1−/− macrophages, expression of Il10, Nr4a2, and Ptgs2 was lower, and expression of Tnfα was higher, than in wild type macrophages. Expression was reconstituted with 8-bromo-cAMP, the PKA activator 6-benzoyl-cAMP, and agonists for prostaglandin receptors IP, EP2, and EP4 in infected but not uninfected cPLA2α−/− or COX-1−/− macrophages. In C. albicans-infected cPLA2α+/+ macrophages, COX-2 expression was blocked by IP, EP2, and EP4 receptor antagonists, indicating a role for both prostaglandin I2 and E2. Activation of ERKs and p38, but not JNKs, by C. albicans acted synergistically with prostaglandins to induce expression of Il10, Nr4a2, and Ptgs2. Tnfα expression required activation of ERKs and p38 but was suppressed by cAMP. Results using cAMP analogues that activate PKA or Epacs suggested that cAMP regulates gene expression through PKA. However, phosphorylation of cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), the cAMP-regulated transcription factor involved in Il10, Nr4a2, Ptgs2, and Tnfα expression, was not mediated by cAMP/PKA because it was similar in C. albicans-infected wild type and cPLA2α−/− or COX-1−/− macrophages. CREB phosphorylation was blocked by p38 inhibitors and induced by the p38 activator anisomycin but not by the PKA activator 6-benzoyl-cAMP. Therefore, MAPK activation in C. albicans-infected macrophages plays a dual role by promoting the cPLA2α/prostaglandin/cAMP/PKA pathway and CREB phosphorylation that coordinately regulate immediate early gene expression.


This thesis examines the role of formal schooling in
reproducing inequality in our society. It suggests
that while schooling is presented as a neutral process
it is in fact a political process.
The ideology which underlies the education system is
part of a philosophy which promotes competitive
individualism. In order to reveal the nature of the
political process of Education it is necessary to
reveal its ideological basis.
The concept of meritocracy which is central to our
education system promotes inequality. Those who are
powerful economically and politically can use their
power to ensure that their values are the ones which
are promoted in society. In this way such groups can
maintain their power while apparently justifying it on
a rational basis.
The fact that schooling does not value the culture of
the working-class, or other minorities has serious
consequences for many. It leads to many leaving school
without the credentials which are used to obtain access
to the labour market and limits their life chances.
This thesis examines this process and suggests that
adult education rejects the philosophy which sees
education as simply an aid to economic development.
The holistic development of the human being involves
much more than learning mechanical skills. It is about
empowerment and developing critical thinking and
awareness.


A crucial challenge in reinforcement learning is to reduce the number of interactions with the environment that an agent requires to master a given task. Transfer learning proposes to address this issue by re-using knowledge from previously learned tasks. However, determining which source task qualifies as the most appropriate for knowledge extraction, as well as the choice regarding which algorithm components to transfer, represent severe obstacles to its application in reinforcement learning. The goal of this paper is to address these issues with modular multi-source transfer learning techniques. The proposed techniques automatically learn how to extract useful information from source tasks, regardless of the difference in state-action space and reward function. We support our claims with extensive and challenging cross-domain experiments for visual control.


Background Developing and implementing novel models of care requires a robust approach to identifying and assessing existing evidence. Rapid reviews have emerged as an efficient approach. There is a growing number of rapid review 'methods' but no accepted standardised methodology. We describe the methodological options and an example the Palliative Care Evidence Review Service (PaCERS) where streamlined systematic review methodology is used to conduct rapid reviews requested by clinicians/clinical services. Aims To describe evidence synthesis options including PaCERS for producing rapid evidence summaries on questions of direct importance to service delivery. To identify related methodological challenges. Methods We examine various rapid review methods and describe in full PaCERS methodology. This uses a focussed search strategy across a limited set of databases and other sources. Study selection data extraction and critical appraisal are performed independently by at least two reviewers. Results are published online using a template co-produced with users which describes key clinical messages evidence quality and summaries of included studies. Results We will describe the pros and cons of conducting rapid reviews and highlight methodology development unique to PaCERS. We will discuss specific issues encountered during the review process to produce rigorous reviews in a short time frame for palliative services. Conclusion Rapid reviews have tremendous methodological variation however they are an important tool for evidence-informed decision making especially when time resource constraints and health needs are an issue. Therefore using rapid reviews can be used in implementing new models of palliative care. Reference . Wales Cancer Research Centre. Palliative Care Evidence Review Service (PaCERS)2016. Available at: http://palliativecare.walescancerresearchcentre.com/palliative-care-evidence-review-service/ [Accessed: 30 May 2018]


This study aims to
identify details of the psychosocial characteristics of fathers
who have abused children as they appear to public health nurses (PHNs). In this study a
qualitative descriptive design was applied to the data analysis. Interviewees
were 10 public health nurses (PHNs), in charge of maternal
and child health services for 5 or more years at public
health centers. The study analyzed 13 cases reported in the PHNs interviews. The characteristics
of the fathers who had abused children as seen by the PHNs were the psycho-social characteristics
of 'weak suppression and control of impulsiveness', 'cognitive dissonance in
the fatherhood role', 'poor social sensitivity', 'unbalanced relationship with
other members of the family' and 'weak relationships with people around the
father'. The father's impulsiveness and cognitive dissonances in the fatherhood
role are associated with weaknesses in the family relationships
and social adaptation. Conversely, the weakness in the strength of family
relationships and social adaptation affects the father's ability to control impulsiveness
and give rise to the cognitive
dissonance in the fatherhood role. These in turn interact to create a negative
downward spiral, a steadily worsening situation. The findings of this study
suggest the necessity for PHNs to focus on the background to the
cognitive dissonance in the fatherhood role and to work to educate and guide the fathers.


This work presents a spiral antenna array, which can be used in the V- and W-Band. An array equipped with Dolph-Chebychev coefficients is investigated to address issues related to the low gain and side lobe level of the radiating structure. The challenges encountered in this achievement are to provide an antenna that is not only good matched but also presents an appreciable effective bandwidth at the frequency bands of interest. Its radiation properties including the effective bandwidth and the gain are analyzed for the W-Band.


Small fiber neuropathy is a disorder of the thinly myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers most commonly presenting in a length-dependent form, but non–length-dependent neuropathies are seen in a small subset of patients.1 As in many other neuropathies, many underlying diseases may cause damage to the small nerve fibers, including diabetes, sarcoid, and Sjögren syndrome. There are also rare genetic forms such as Fabry disease and transthyretin amyloidosis. Small fiber neuropathies are characterized by is disruption to pain, thermal sensitivity, and autonomic nerve fibers.1 Clinically, neuropathic pain is the most common complaint.


We demonstrate in this paper the tunable electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) made from superconducting (SC) niobium nitride (NbN) induced by intense terahertz (THz) field. The experimental results and simulation show that bright resonator is altered greatly due to strong and direct coupling to incident intense THz field, while the dark resonator has little coupling with incident THz field via a weak near-filed coupling to the bright-mode resonator. This implies that we can partially control the selective mode or part of metamaterial by introducing the incident intense THz field, which offer an effective manner to design and selectively control the metamaterial, and thus may bring tunable EIT-like metamaterial into novel applications.


OBJECTIVES
Our goal was to evaluate the quality of life in patients who underwent an elective lumbar stabilization and fusion.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We treated 208 patients (120 females and 88 males) for degenerative lumbar spine conditions. In 165 cases we performed the transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF), in 38 the posterolateral lumbar fusion (PLF) and in 5 the anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF). Before and after the surgery, pain was evaluated with the VAS and the quality of life with the second version of the SF-6. Follow up was from six months to two years. We used the statistical tests chi-square, t-test and ANOVA.

RESULTS
Satisfied were 62.5% of patients, partially satisfied were 19.7% and dissatisfied were 17.8% of patients. The average VAS decreased from 68 to 35. There was a significant improvement in mobility and decrease of consumption of analgetics after the surgery. Clinically significant improvements were in all domains of sf-36 except the mental health, social function and mental composite score. We had 30 complications in 28 patients. A revision surgery was necessary in 18 cases. Complications had no significant effect on the SF-36 and VAS score.

CONCLUSION
The results are comparable with published data. Correctly indicated spinal operations are effective in reducing pain and improvement of the function. We have noted a significant decrease of pain, improvement of mobility, and a reduction of analgetics consumption. Despite the improvements, post-operatively all values of the SF-36 were lower than standards for the population. Complications and reoperations in our group are relatively common problems, surprisingly did not affected the quality of life after surgery (Tab. 9, Ref. 38). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.


In order to intercept a moving target such as a baseball with high spatio-temporal accuracy, the perception of the target's movement speed is important for estimating when and where the target will arrive. However, it is unclear what sources of information are used by a batter to estimate ball speed and how those sources of information are integrated to facilitate successful interception. In this study, we examined the degree to which kinematic and ball-flight information are integrated when estimating ball speed in baseball batting. Thirteen university level baseball batters performed a ball-speed evaluation task in a virtual environment where they were required to determine which of two comparison baseball pitches (i.e., a reference and comparison stimuli) they perceived to be faster. The reference and comparison stimuli had the same physical ball speed, but with different pitching movement speeds in the comparison stimuli. The task was performed under slow (125 km/h) and fast (145 km/h) ball-speed conditions. Results revealed that the perceived ball-speed was influenced by the movement speed of the pitcher's motion, with the influence of the pitcher's motion more pronounced in the fast ball-speed condition when ball-flight information was presumably less reliable. Moreover, exploratory analyses suggested that the more skilled batters were increasingly likely to integrate the two sources of information according to their relative reliability when making judgements of ball speed. The results provide important insights into how skilled performers may make judgements of speed and time to contact, and further enhance our understanding of how the ability to make those judgements might improve when developing expertise in hitting.


This paper describes two self-optimisation techniques that have been employed in the design of two exemplar agent-based mobile computing systems, namely Gullivers Genie and the agents channelling context sensitive services (ACCESS) architecture. Specifically, we describe how agent cloning is used within Gullivers Genie as a basis for delivering a scalable architecture. Additionally, we describe the concept of collaborative agent tuning, a process in which multiple agents negotiate in order to optimise their overall performance while residing on a personal digital assistant (PDA).


Worldwide the prevalence reports documented that nearly 40 million people needed palliative care, but only 10% of the population receives palliative care treatment. Many have asked for the palliative care, but only a few receive it. It requires a team of professional to deliver good quality palliative support and care for the people who required it. It doesn't aim to cure any particular set of symptoms, but it aims at the quality of life of the people who were at the end of their life. It supports them physically as well as psychologically. Majority of the researchers in occupational therapy were aimed at analyzing the impact of intervention over the patients in palliative care. But there is a need to examine what patients in palliative care want to prioritize. The review aims to explore the needs of patients in palliative care, which are considered vital for them. The review was conducted with the specific criteria of articles selected from the year 2018 to 2020. Articles which were published in the English language were analyzed, and participants of age greater than 20 years were focused, and their experience was documented. Twenty articles were selected, and all these articles were used one to one interview method. The concept of "occupational therapy and its importance for people at the end of their life" is identified. The study concludes that continued occupational therapy is vital for everybody in palliative care.


2. Models, High-Energy Theoretical Physics and Realism. James T. Cushing. Examples of theory development in quantum field theory and in S-matrix theory are related to three questions of interest to the philosophy of science. The first is the central role of highly abstract, mathematical models in the creation of theories. Second, the process of creation and justification actually used make it plausible that a successful theory is equally well characterized as being stable against attack rather than as being objectively correct. Lastly, the issue of the reality of theoretical entities is discussed in light of this representation of theory generation and selection.


Three new proposed based on real data sets and proposed models. Abstract In this paper, we exhibit a general family of distributions called alpha power odd generalized exponential family of distributions. The new family is very flexible with increasing, decreasing, J, reversed-J, bathtub shapes. Statistical properties of the family such as quantile, expansion of density function, moments, incomplete moments, mean deviation, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves are proposed. The method of maximum likelihood to estimate the model parameters is used. Three applications based on real data sets are the importance and flexibility of the three proposed models.


Stiffened structures excited by the turbulent boundary layer (TBL) occur very frequently in engineering applications; for instance, in the wings of airplanes or the pressure hulls of submarines. To improve knowledge of the interaction between stiffened structures and TBL, this paper deals with the modeling of infinite periodically stiffened plates excited by TBL. The mathematical formulation of the problem is well-established in the literature. The originality of the present work relies on the use of a wavenumber-point reciprocity technique for evaluating the response of the plate to convected harmonic pressure waves. It follows a methodology for estimating the vibro-acoustic response of the plate excited by the TBL from the wall pressure spectrum and its displacements in the wavenumber space due to point excitations located at the receiving positions. The computing process can be reduced to the numerical integration of an analytical expression in the case of a periodically stiffened plate. An application to a naval test case highlights the effect of Bloch-Floquet waves on the vibrations of the plate and its radiated pressure in the fluid.


A good understanding of strong interactions at low energies is key in the precision frontier of Particle and Hadron Physics, since most hadronic observables end up in final states involving pions and kaons, the lightest mesons in the Hadron Spectrum. In particular, the pion–pion and pion–kaon scattering lengths are the lowest energy observables for these interactions, and hence a fundamental quantity for understanding hadron interaction at low energies. In this talk we review the current status of their determination. After discussing the predictions expected from chiral symmetry at different orders in the chiral expansion, we review current experimental and lattice determinations. We then focus on the dispersive determination of pion-pion and pion-kaon interactions, based on the analysis of Roy and Roy-Steiner equation, and continue discussing in detail the current tension between the chiral symmetry and dispersive predicition for the pion- kaon scattering lenthgs. We finish this talk providing an explanation of this disagreement.


Polymerization inhibition of poly(vinyl siloxane) impression materials has been reported with the use of latex gloves. This study evaluated the effect on polymerization of a poly(vinyl siloxane) impression material in both direct and indirect contact with 25 brands of latex gloves, two brands of vinyl gloves, and two weights of rubber dam. Use of all but one of the latex products (96%) resulted in inhibition of polymerization with direct contact. Forty percent of the latex gloves tested inhibited polymerization with indirect contact. The vinyl gloves tested had no effect on polymerization. The implications of inhibited polymerization were discussed.


A radiative transfer model has been used for estimating the radiative forcing due to land-use changes. Five global datasets for current vegetation cover and three datasets of preagriculture vegetation have been adopted. The vegetation datasets have been combined with three datasets for surface albedo values. A distinct feature in all the calculations is the negative radiative forcing at the northern midlatitudes due to the conversion of forest to cropland. Regionally the radiative forcing is likely to be among the strongest of the climate forcing mechanisms. A wider range is estimated for the global mean radiative forcing due to land-use changes than previously reported. The single most important factor yielding the large range in estimated forcing is the cropland surface albedo values. This underlines the importance of characterizing surface albedo correctly.


During the discrete event simulation of complex systems based on many active/passive objects , the eeciency of the algorithm and data structure used to manage the events of the process is crucial. Both runtime and space used are relevant for the study of large systems. A main issue in the simulation of these systems are the interactions between pairs of objects. These interactions are treated as events that take place at discrete instants. The event management is performed by using a priority queue in which sequences of events are inserted/deleted in an eecient manner. In this paper we introduce and analyze a new priority queue { called Local Minima { which resembles a hybrid structure between the classical heap and linked lists. We also present empirical results showing that our priority queue is more eecient and stable than other alternatives in the simulation of molecular uids. Systems with many moving objects { such as molecular uids { are an important class of applications for our priority queue.


Upper cervical cord injury was produced in fetal rabbits at 22-26 days' gestation. In 11 setuses with severe cord injury delivered at 28-29 days' gestation there was a median reduction in lung weight (expressed as a proportion of body weight) of 43% and a median reduction in estimated total lung DNA of 16% in comparison with paired operated littermates with intact cords. The hypoplastic lungs showed collapse on histology; if cord damage had been inflicted before 24 days' gestation there was retarded maturation. We conclude that the central nervous system plays a vital role in fetal lung growth and maturation, probably by maintenance of fetal respiratory movements.


We investigate the Hawking radiation of massive spin-1 vector particles, which are coupled to vacuum fluctuations of a quantum field, from a Rindler modified Schwarzschild black hole. Rindler acceleration is used to produce the post-general relativistic theory of gravity for the distant field of a point mass. The gravitational lensing problem of the Rindler modified Schwarzschild black hole is also studied. We compute the deflection angle for the IR region (large distance limit as infrared) by using the Gaussian curvature of the optical metric of this back hole. Our investigations clarify how the Rindler acceleration plays a role on the Hawking radiation and gravitational lensing.


We used binding assays and other approaches to identify fragments of the Escherichia coli RNAP beta subunit involved in the obligatory interaction with the alpha subunit to form the stable assembly intermediate alpha2beta as well as in the interaction to recruit the beta' subunit into the alpha2beta sub-assembly. We show that two regions of evolutionarily conserved sequence near the C terminus of beta (conserved regions H and I) are central to the assembly of RNAP and likely make subunit-subunit contacts with both alpha and beta'.


Recommender systems are web-based systems which help in the reduction or eradication of information overload in an information system. Recommender systems study the characteristics of a system user by identifying their ratings, purchases or other demographic attributes and then use the information gathered on the user to subsequently provide recommendation of items to the user. The design of the recommender system has to do with the use of various techniques such as the collaborative filtering technique, the content-based technique, and the hybrid technique. The collaborative filtering technique involves knowing the similarity between users and how they correlate with each other as a result of their activities on the platform. The content based filtering involves the identification of the contents and attributes of various items provided to the users while the hybrid technique involves the combination of both the collaborative and content based filtering techniques. The application of any of these techniques depends on the dataset available, area of application and also the performance expected of the design. This paper provides an extensive study on these techniques, stating their applications, their advantages and disadvantages. The outcome presented researchers with choices while implementing recommender systems.


The recent researches on primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) in China were reviewed. The prevalence of PACG (0.41%) in chinese is between the Caucasian and Eskimos, and chronic type is the dominant type in PACG. However, with the economic development and medical care improvements, the prevalence condition of PACG may change; several researches discovered that the mechanism of PACG, especially the chronic type, is not only because of pupil-blocking but also closely related to the mechanism of crowding of peripheral iris and the anterior location of the ciliary body. We supposed that PACG can be divided into several subtypes based on this mechnism. Also, we believe that the use of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and ophthalmic laser in China has promoted the research of PACG and improved the level of prevention and treatment of PACG.


The need for improved aquaculture productivity has led to widespread pressure to introduce the Genetically Improved Farmed Tilapia (GIFT) strains of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) into Africa. However, the physical and regulatory infrastructures for preventing the escape of farmed stocks into wild populations and ecosystems are generally lacking. This study characterized the genetic background of O. niloticus being farmed in Ghana and assessed the genetic effects of aquaculture on wild populations. We characterized O. niloticus collected in 2017 using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers from 140 farmed individuals sampled from five major aquaculture facilities on the Volta Lake, and from 72 individuals sampled from the wild in the Lower Volta River downstream of the lake and the Black Volta tributary upstream of the lake. Our results revealed that two farms were culturing non-native O. niloticus stocks, which were distinct from the native Akosombo strain. The non-native tilapia stocks were identical to several GIFT strains, some of which showed introgression of mitochondrial DNA from non-native Oreochromis mossambicus. We also found that the non-native cultured tilapias have escaped into the wild and interbred with local populations, and also observed potentially admixed individuals on some farms. Our results highlight aquaculture as a vector in the spread of invasive non-native species and strains, and underscore the importance of genetic baseline studies to guide conservation planning for wild populations.


In this study, Characteristics of colors on Chinese traditional costume in Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty were compared. And general colors of Chinese traditional costume and the viewpoint of them were considered. The purpose of this study were to apt colors of Chinese traditional costumes to the sensory appetite of modern people for new things, and make the recreation inspired by new senses be applied into the fashion industry effectively. The results were as followed : Firstly, colors distribution of 5 dynasties were different. In the Tang, R(red) was highest, YR(yellow red) and Y(yellow) followed. In the Song, YR was highest, Y and R followed and PB(purple blue) was increased, In the Yuan, R, YR, PB, B were concentrated at low rates, and other colors were increased, In the Ming, Y, R and B were concentrated at low rates orderly, and other colors were increased, In the Qing, PB was highest and Y, R, YR, B, P(purple) were increased. Secondly, tons distribution of 5 dynasties were different. In the Tang, L(light) was highest, P(pale) and Lgr(light grayish) followed. In the Song, P(pale) was highest, Lgr, Gr(grayish) and Dl(dull) followed In the Yuan, Dp(deep) was highest , P and Lgr followed, and other tones were increased, In the Ming, S(strong) was highest, DI and V(vivid) followed. Thirdly, The general colors of 5 dynasty were R, YR, Y, B, PB colors with vivid, deep and light tones. Forth, the viewpoint of color on Chinese traditional costume was based on the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements theory. Based on results of this study, the successive researches will be carried out about the unique colors of each nation and application traditional colors to modern fashion industry in oder to the unique cultural sense.


The objective of this study was to develop a low-density multi-breed selected reduced panel (MSRP) that could capture most of the predictive ability of a 50K panel for efficient low-cost genomic prediction in purebred and commercial crossbred beef cattle. More than 15,000 animals from six beef cattle breed associations and genotyped with a 50K panel were used to select 1,029 markers highly associated with 10 target traits. An additional 1,278 evenly spaced markers were selected for imputation purposes. The final MSRP comprised 2,307 markers. Accuracies of direct genomic breeding values (DGV) were calculated for 3 independent validation populations using either 50K or MSRP. Accuracies of DGV obtained from MSRP were comparable with those obtained from 50K (>80% predictive ability of 50K) while the size of MSRP is <5% of 50K. These results demonstrate the efficiency of MSRP for low-cost genomic prediction in beef cattle.


Despite an increasing interest in studying creativity in sport, previous research has primarily focused on in-game creative performance and employed research designs neglecting sport participants' perspectives. Hence, this study explored professional athletes' developmental experiences involving creativity. Semistructured retrospective interviews were conducted with eight ice hockey players performing in or retired from the National Hockey League, Kontinental Hockey League, or Swedish Hockey League. Players described 15 modalities of creative actions emerging when playing, practicing, and performing. Based on the players' experiences, creativity led to augmented levels of enjoyment (i.e., elicited passion), development (i.e., enhanced potential), achievement (i.e., enriched in-game qualification), and fulfillment (i.e., extended career progression). Findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of creativity in sport and provide novel insights on the role of creativity in the development and maintenance of expertise in sport and the nature and role of deliberate play and deliberate practice in developing creativity.


Long Range (LoRa) is a popular low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology which operates in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency band transmitting information over ranges in excess of 20 km and 5 km in rural and urban landscapes respectively. This is of significance in applications where LoRa may be used as a terrestrial navigation system, or in any wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. A key system performance parameter for network planning and coverage prediction in ranging applications is the horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP). HDOP, is dependent on transmitter geometry and can amplify the position errors depending on how the transmitters are placed with respect to one another. Despite the importance of HDOP, there is no prescribed transmitter or gateway placement technique in the literature that has been combined with HDOP to obtain good position fixes within the coverage area. We propose a gateway placement technique called imaginary triangular tessellation technique to be used in conjunction with HDOP. The HDOP performance of our proposed technique is compared against three other placement techniques, namely naive, Deluany and random placement for the same number of gateways using the total average HDOP score of the area where a method has been deployed, as well as statistical significance and effect size as tests. The goal of our experiment is to find a placement technique that results in a better HDOP score (values between 0 and 1) in most parts of the coverage area. The HDOP scores for the random, Delauny, naive and our proposed technique are 30%, 50% 47% and 70% respectively for 8 gateways. The results also suggest that at least 8 LoRa gateways are needed to service our chosen geographical area of 2500 hectares or 6175 federation football fields. The results demonstrate that our proposed method can be used to set up and plan a LoRa network for use in scenarios such as tracking of animals, vehicles and navigation.


This thesis describes an experimental investigation of the resonant injection of carriers into self-assembled indium arsenide (InAs) quantum dots incorporated in the intrinsic region of gallium arsenide (GaAs) p-i-n resonant tunneling diodes, and of the resulting electroluminescence spectrum associated with carrier recombination in the quantum dots, wetting layer and GaAs matrix.

A series of devices of different designs have been measured and it is shown that bipolar resonant injection, i.e. resonant injection of both electrons andholes, into the zero-dimensional states provided by the InAs quantum dots is possible. It is shown that bias-tunable tunneling of carriers into the dots provides a means of controlling injection and light emission from a small number of individual dots within a large ensemble. Magnetotunneling spectroscopy is used to investigate the possibility that fluctuations in the potential profile of the GaAs emitter layer play a significant role in the carrier dynamics of such devices. We also show that the extent of carrier energy relaxation prior to recombination can be controlled by tailoring the morphology of the quantum dot layer.

Additionally, a study into the phenomenon of low-temperature up-conversion electroluminescence (UCEL) is presented. Injection of carriers into the quantum dot states at an applied bias well below the GaAs flat-band condition results in near-band-edge GaAs electroluminescence, i.e., emission of photons with energies much larger than that supplied by the applied bias and the thermal energy. The origin of this UCEL is discussed and is attributed to carrier excitation resulting from (non-radiative) Auger recombination of electron-hole pairs in the quantum dot ground states.


A capacitive pressure sensor with digital output for low-pressure measurements has been fabricated using CMOS technology. The sensor output has been compensated and adjusted by a newly developed method. The sensor has the hybrid configuration of a sensor chip and a digital IC chip. The sensor chip consists of a sensor capacitor, a reference capacitor, and two capacitance-to-frequency converter circuits. The digital IC chip consists of a clock generator, a timing circuit, and a 12-b up/down counter. The thermal sensitivity shift and the thermal zero shift of the output were compensated at the sensor chip. The offset and full scale span of the output were compensated at the sensor chip. By using the novel compensation and adjustment technique, a thermal sensitivity shift of 0.026%F.S./ degrees C and a thermal zero shift of 0.013%F.S./ degrees C for a pressure range of 0-200 mmH/sub 2/O and a temperature range of 25-75 degrees C were obtained.<<ETX>>


Photocatalytic degradation of wastewater and the simultaneous production of hydrogen (H2) is a green and efficient method to solve energy and environmental problems. In this paper, coal-based SiO2/GO with a stable structure was prepared by a modified Hummers oxidation method, and then, a lotus-shaped composite photocatalyst, MoS2/SiO2/GO, was prepared by in situ loading of flower cluster MoS2 from sodium molybdate reduction onto SiO2/GO. Its photocatalytic degradation of wastewater and H2 production properties were investigated while characterizing the material structure. The results show that SiO2/GO as a carrier not only ensures adequate dispersion of MoS2 but also enhances the visible-light response of the composite catalyst. In addition, it can also hinder the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes in MoS2 and act as an electron transport channel in composite catalysts. MoS2/SiO2/GO exhibits much higher photocatalytic degradation of wastewater and H2 production capacity than MoS2: after 180 min of reaction, the CODcr removal of wastewater increased from 45.6% for MoS2 to 84.2% for MoS2/SiO2/GO and the H2 yield reached 233.4 μmol. The goal of degrading wastewater while producing H2 more economically has been tentatively achieved, although not to the extent required for industrialization.


Cases of multidrug resistant tuberculosis are on the rise in many regions; therefore prevention programs are fundamental to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis. Knowledge of the risk factors and understanding of the mechanisms which underlie the acquired resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains can contribute to the implementation of prevention and control strategies. This paper reviews the main risk factors and mechanisms involved in the acquisition of resistance to first and second line anti-tuberculosis drugs.


Elongated nanoparticles have recently been shown to have distinct advantages over their spherical counterparts in drug delivery applications. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have rodlike shapes in nature and have demonstrated biocompatibility in a variety of mammalian cell lines. In this report, CNCs are put forward as a modular platform for the production of multifunctional rod-shaped nanoparticles for cancer imaging and therapy. For the first time, PEGylated metal-chelating polymers containing diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) (i.e., mPEG-PGlu(DPTA)18-HyNic and PEG-PGlu(DPTA)25-HyNic) are conjugated to CNCs to enable the chelation of radionuclides for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The entire conjugation is based on UV/vis-quantifiable bis-aryl hydrazone-bond formation, which allows direct quantification of the polymers grafted onto the CNCs. Moreover, it has been shown that the mean number of polymers grafted per CNC could be controlled. The CNCs are also fluorescently labeled with rhodamine and Alexa Fluor 488 by embedding the probes in the polymer corona. Preliminary evaluation in a human ovarian cancer cell line (HEYA8) demonstrated that these CNCs are nontoxic and their penetration properties can be readily assessed in multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) by optical imaging. These findings provide support for biomedical applications of CNCs, and further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted to evaluate their potential as imaging and therapeutic agents for cancer treatment.


Abstract : This thesis investigates active mirror alignment systems of a free electron laser (FEL) for future integration as a ship self-defense weapon. An issue with this integration is the effect of low-frequency shipboard vibrations on the optical cavity mirrors. Alignment of the cavity mirrors is required for the proper operation of any type of laser. Mirror alignment is especially critical for an FEL because the electron beam and optical mode must substantially overlap. Laboratory FEL facilities, along with other laboratory high energy facilities that employ active mirror alignment systems, are investigated. In addition, a model theory for controlling the vibrations of a single-degree-of-freedom system is developed, and experiments with a simple mirror alignment system are described. Reduction of an impressed vibration amplitude by a factor of five is achieved, compared to a factor of fifteen that is achieved in major laboratory systems with sophisticated control systems. The purpose of these efforts is to understand the underlying physics of vibration control. The knowledge forms a basis for follow-on research towards the development of a prototype shipboard active mirror alignment system.


Backgound: The virulence factors of the Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139 strains are not clearly known. The strain of septicemic origin NN1 Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139 was sequenced previously by the Illumina platform. A fragment of the pathogenicity island VPaI-7 of V. parahaemolyticus was detected in its genome.

AIM
To detect the virulence genes vcsN2, vcsC2, vcsV2, vspD, toxR2 y vopF in Chilean strains of V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139.

METHODS
A total of 9 Chilean strains of clinical origin of Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139 isolated between 2006-2012 were analyzed by conventional PCR assays for type III secretion genes encoded on that island: vcsN2, vcsC2, vcsV2, vspD, toxR2 and vopF. Additionally, the presence of the virulence genes hylA and rtxA was determined. In addition, REP-PCR and ERIC-PCR assays were performed.

RESULTS
most (6/9) Chilean V. cholerae non-O1, non-O139 strains contain the type III secretion genes vcsN2, vcsC2, vcsV2, vspD, toxR2 and vopF, encoded in an island of pathogenicity. In addition, all (9/9) the strains contain the virulence genes hylA and rtxA.

CONCLUSION
These results strongly suggest the possibility that those strains possess an important virulence potential in humans.


Pediatric Acute Care: A Guide for Interprofessional Practice is an ideal reference for practice and a resource for training health care professionals who care for pediatric patients in emergency, transport, inpatient, or critical care settings. With contributions from more than 200 practicing clinicians and experts from the US and Canada, it represents a wide-variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, child life, nutrition, law, oriental medicine, education, public health, and psychology. Each chapter begins with a section on physiology and breaks out into topic subsections outlining pathophysiology, epidemiology and etiology, presentation, differential diagnosis, diagnostic study, therapeutic management, consultation, patient and family education, and disposition and discharge planning. Written with the entire interprofessional team in mind, the authors provide an evidence-based approach to practice exemplifying the depth and diversity necessary for this complex and dynamic health care environment.


We propose a local type of B-bar formulation, addressing locking in degenerated Reissner-Mindlin plate and shell formulations in the context of isogeometric analysis. Parasitic strain components are projected onto the physical space locally, i.e. at the element level, using a least-squares approach. The formulation allows the flexible utilization of basis functions of different order as the projection bases. The present formulation is much cheaper computationally than the classical $\bar{B}$ method. We show the numerical consistency of the scheme through numerical examples, moreover they show that the proposed formulation alleviates locking and yields good accuracy even for slenderness ratios of $1 \times 10^5$, and has the ability to capture deformations of thin shells using relatively coarse meshes. In addition it can be opined that the proposed method is less sensitive to locking and mesh distortion.


Structural and optical properties of InAlAs/GaAlAs quantum dots grown by molecular beam epitaxy are studied using transmission electron microscopy and temperature- and time-resolved photoluminescence. The control of the recombination lifetime (50 ps-1.25 ns) and of the dot density (5.10–8-2.1011 cm–3) strongly suggest that these material systems can find wide applications in opto-electronic devices as focusing non-linear dispersive materials as well as fast saturable absorbers.


We consider the nonlinear Schr{o}dinger-Langevin equation for both signs of the logarithmic nonlinearity. We explicitly compute the dynamics of Gaussian solutions for large times, which is obtained through the study of a particular nonlinear differential equation of order 2. We then give the asymptotic behavior of general energy weak solutions under some regularity assumptions. Some numerical simulations are performed in order to corroborate the theoretical results.


Abstract Social networks have been found to have a valuable role in supporting the management of long‐term conditions. However, the focus on the quality and how well self‐management interventions work focus on individualised behavioural outcomes such as self‐efficacy and there is a need for understanding that focuses on the role of wider collective processes in self‐management support. Collective efficacy presents a potentially useful candidate concept in the development and understanding of self‐management support interventions. To date it has mainly been utilised in the context of organisations and neighbourhoods related to social phenomena such as community cohesion. Drawing on Bandura's original theorisation this meta‐synthesis explores how studies of collective efficacy might illuminate collective elements operating within the personal communities of people with long‐term conditions. A qualitative meta‐synthesis was undertaken. Studies published between 1998 and 2018 that examined collective efficacy in relation to health and well‐being using qualitative and mixed methods was eligible for inclusion. Timing of engagement with others, building trust in the group, and legitimising ongoing engagement with the group arised as central elements of collective efficacy. The two themes forming third order constructs were related to the presence of continuous interaction and ongoing relational work between members of the group. Collective efficacy can develop and be sustained over time in a range of situations where individuals may not have intense relationships with one another and have limited commitment and contact with one another. Extending this to the personal communities of people with long‐term conditions it may be the case that collective efficacy enables a number of engagement opportunities which can be oriented towards assisting with support from networks over a sustained length of time. This may include negotiating acceptable connections to resources and activities which in turn may help change existing practice in ways that improve long‐term condition management.


The issues presented in this paper are the phenomenon of earnings manipulation within a company and the way in which the term managerial myopia can be related to such methods.
In the first and second chapters of the paper there is an extensive reference both to the definitions of earnings manipulation and managerial myopia and to the methods-techniques used to achieve such practices. In addition, reference is made to the motivations that lead an entrepreneur or even a manager to engage in such actions, while at the end of the two chapters there is a presentation of some cases where manipulation techniques have been applied.
In the third chapter of the paper there is a theoretical development and analysis of the fixed investment model and then two more models are analyzed where they are based on the fixed investment model and combine different manipulation methods, as well as different reasons why entrepreneurs and managers were led to these actions. Finally, some basic models of manipulation recognition techniques are analyzed, as well as some general examples of manipulation.
In the fourth chapter of the paper, one of the above models is selected to which a variable is added in two different cases: 1) As an exogenous factor and 2) as a function of one of the existing variables. In conclusion, the changes caused by the addition of the additional variable are examined in both the cases we mentioned, and we draw our conclusions through a numerical example.


The objective of this paper is to examine the current institutional arrangements for governance of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve (ASFR) and show their major contribution in the ASFR co-management business of conserving the forest and providing livelihoods to the poor forest-dependent communities. Despite the fact that funding from non-governmental organizations ended, the ASFR co-management business did not stall. The institutional arrangements for co-management were deemed to be the major component that contributed to the continuation of the ASFR co-management business. To demonstrate this hypothesis, the paper explores four main areas that shape the institutional arrangement of the ASFR co-management regime, informed by common property theories: (1) how governance arrangement structures for the ASFR are organized; (2) villagers' perceptions and awareness of the co-management structure; (3) co-management arrangement for access, ownership and use of the various forest resources; and (4) importance of the forest resources to the households. The co-management piloting and non-piloting communities adjacent to the forest and who have been depending on the forest as a source of their livelihoods are compared in order to understand the role of the ASFR co-management institutional arrangements in the sustainability of its business.


Abstract Herbivory by deer is one of the leading biotic disturbances on forest understories (i.e., herbs, small shrubs, and small tree seedlings). A large body of research has reported declines in height, abundance, and reproductive capacity of forbs and woody plants coupled with increases in abundance of graminoids, ferns, and exotic species due to deer herbivory. Less clear is the extent to which (and the direction in which) deer alter herbaceous layer diversity, where much of the plant diversity in a forest occurs. We examined the effect of 15 y of deer exclusion on the understory of a suburban hardwood forest in Connecticut exposed to decades of intensive herbivory by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We compared species richness (at subplot and plot scale), individual species and life form group abundance (% cover), and community composition between grazed and exclosure plots, as well as between mesic and wet soil blocks. Forb cover was more than twice as abundant in exclosure as in grazed plots, whereas sedge (Carex spp.) cover was 28 times more abundant, and exotic species cover generally higher in grazed than in exclosure plots. Native and exotic species richness were both higher in grazed than exclosure plots at the subplot scale, and native herbaceous richness was higher in grazed plots at both spatial scales. In contrast, native shrub richness increased with deer exclusion at the plot scale. Our results suggest that deer exclusion had contrasting effects on species richness, depending on plant life form, but that overall richness of both exotic and native plants declined with deer exclusion. In addition, site heterogeneity remained an important driver of vegetation dynamics even in the midst of high deer densities.


SimRank is a powerful model for assessing vertex-pair similarities in a graph. It follows the concept that two vertices are similar if they are referenced by similar vertices. The prior work [18] exploits partial sums memoization to compute SimRank in O(Kmn) time on a graph of n vertices and m edges, for K iterations. However, computations among different partial sums may have redundancy. Besides, to guarantee a given accuracy ε, the existing SimRank needs K = [log C alterations, where C is a damping factor, but the geometric rate of convergence is slow if a high accuracy is expected. In this paper, (1) a novel clustering strategy is proposed to eliminate duplicate computations occurring in partial sums, and an efficient algorithm is then devised to accelerate SimRank computation to O(Kd'n2) time, where d' is typically much smaller than mn. (2) A new differential SimRank equation is proposed, which can represent the SimRank matrix as an exponential sum of transition matrices, as opposed to the geometric sum of the conventional counterpart. This leads to a further speedup in the convergence rate of SimRank iterations. (3) In bipartite domains, a novel finer-grained partial max clustering method is developed to speed up the computation of the Minimax SimRank variation from O(Kmn) to O(Km'n) time, where m' (≤m) is the number of edges in a reduced graph after edge clustering, which can be typically much smaller than m. Using real and synthetic data, we empirically verify that (1) our approach of partial sums sharing outperforms the best known algorithm by up to one order of magnitude; (2) the revised notion of SimRank further achieves a 5X speedup on large graphs while also fairly preserving the relative order of original SimRank scores; (3) our finer-grained partial max memoization for the Minimax SimRank variation in bipartite domains is 5X-12X faster than the baselines.


Due to environmental concerns, terminal operators at seaport container terminals are increasingly looking to reduce the time a truck spends at the terminal to complete a transaction. For terminals that stack their containers, the solution may seem obvious: add more yard cranes to reduce trucks' wait time in the yard. However, the high cost of these cranes often prohibits terminal operators from freely buying more. Another reason is because there is no clear understanding of how the yard cranes' availability and service strategy affect truck turn time. This study introduces an agent-based approach to model yard cranes for the analysis of truck turn time with respect to service strategy. It is accomplished by modeling the cranes as utility-maximizing agents. This study has identified a set of utility functions that properly capture the essential decision making process of crane operators in choosing the next truck to provide service to. The agent-based model is implemented using NetLogo, a cross-platform multi-agent programmable modeling environment. Simulation results show that the distance-based service strategy produces the best results in terms of average waiting time and the maximum waiting time of any truck.


Recsk became central in the non-ferrous metal mining of the Mátra hill. The change of regime in Hungary and shutdown of the ore mine had a lot of negative impacts on social and economic sectors. Unemployment is high in this area and there are only a few profitable companies. The mining had affected significantly on community spirit. Nowadays mining is very uncertain development opportunity in the life of the settlement. In my recent study I strive to explore new ways and chances, which clearly point to the complexity of the situation. I used several research methods of social sciences. In my study I compare the concept of miner spirit before deterioration of mining, its presence and role in the settlement development. I formulated a few preliminary assumptions. The mining spirit has less prominent force in community shaping. According to changing social environments, future visions of the settlement and community have been transformed. Recsk is located at Northern Hungary, Heves County, Pétervására small region. In my study I made practical and complex surveys (individual and focus group interviews, widespread questionnaire examination, calculations, field trips, overview of professional studies) Changes generated negative economic and social situations, but Recsk has important role in the neighbourhood. The interviews also confirmed deep social and existensial crisis in the life of people. The mining such as future potential possibility is far from younger age group. The mining spirit still lives by the traditions of the village. Based on my variance and other calculations, experience, binding to the settlement had a positive result, but it is not in relationship with miner spirit in the local community. Based on the results, the miner mentality concerned several society groups. It is necessary to stabilize community and social circumstances. Nowadays mining spirit is existing in local population, but mostly in cultural field. Recsk needs to wide community cooperation and develop its partnership interactions