Abstract 30MnB5 boron alloyed steel surface is coated using different coating techniques, namely 60(Ni-15Cr-4.4Si-3.5Fe-3.2B 0.7C)-40(WC 12Co) metallic powder plasma spray, Fe-28Cr-5C-1Mn alloy wire arc spray, WC-10Co-4Cr (thick) powder high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF), and WC-10Co-4Cr (fine) diamond jet HVOF. The microstructure of the crude steel sample consists of ferrite and pearlite matrices and iron carbide structures. The intermediate binders are well bonded to the substrate for all coated surfaces. The arc spray coated surface shows the formation of lamellae. The cross-section of HVOF and diamond jet HVOF coated surfaces indicates the formation of WC, W2C Cr, and W parent matrix carbide structures. The corrosion characteristic of the coated steel has been investigated in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) techniques. The results reveal that the steel corroded in the medium despite the coatings. However, the extent of corrosion varies. HVOF coated sample demonstrated the highest corrosion resistance while arc spray coated sample exhibited the least. EDAX mapping reveals that the elements in the coatings corroded in the order of their standard electrode potential (SEP). Higher corrosion resistance of HVOF coated sample is linked to the low SEP of tungsten.


Quantitative lactate determinations were performed on cerebrospinal fluids to assess their value in the rapid diagnosis of bacterial and mycotic meningitis and to evaluate their value in assessing the prognosis in these patients. Cerebrospinal fluid lactate concentrations were elevated in all patients with untreated bacterial or fungal meningitis. Lactate concentrations proved very valuable in following patients with mycotic meningitis and in differentiating aseptic from bacterial meningitis. Elevated cerebrospinal fluid lactate is not specific for meningitis. Lactate is also elevated in situations where there is central nervous system ischemia and necrosis and in patients with brain tumors. Lactate concentration is normal in chronic degenerative brain diseases. Thus, the clinical situation must be taken into account when interpreting the lactate concentrations.


PURPOSE
Anthracyclines and taxanes are the most active agents in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer (BC). They can be used simultaneously or sequentially. The optimal schedule and duration for their administration is unknown. We analyzed the efficacy of sequential adjuvant anthracycline and docetaxel administration in node positive BC patients.

METHODS
Node positive BC patients (N=539) from 6 medical oncology centers in Turkey who received sequential adjuvant anthracycline-based regimens and taxane chemotherapy were included in this study between 2006 - 2010. One-hundred and thirty-eight (25%) patients received 3 cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by 3 cycles of docetaxel (3+3) and 401 (75%) patients received 4 cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy followed by 4 cycles of docetaxel (4+4). Prognostic factors analyzed were estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2, tumor grade, and nodal status in relation to disease free survival (DFS) and HER2 status in relation to overall survival (OS).

RESULTS
The patient median age was 48 years (range 18-79). Most common grade 3-4 toxicities were neutropenia, mucositis and arthralgia. No treatment-related toxic deaths were seen. With a median follow up of 26 months (range 1-115) 61 (11.3%) recurrences and 11 (2%) deaths were registered. Three-year DFS was 81% and OS 96% for all patients. There was no statistically significant difference between 3+3 and 4+4 groups in terms of survival (3-year DFS 88% and 79% [p=0.28] and OS 97% and 95% [p=0.60), respectively).

CONCLUSION
Sequential chemotherapy with 4+4 cycles of anthracycline and docetaxel every 3 weeks is an acceptable regimen for adjuvant treatment of node positive BC patients. Duration of chemotherapy should be planned depending on prognostic factors. In this study there was no difference between 3+3 and 4+4 groups in DFS and OS despite the presence of good prognostic factors in the 3+3 group.


Among the various genomic abnormalities associated with cancers, fusion genes and transcripts are particularly notable due to their cancer-specific nature and translational potential as diagnostic and therapeutic targets. In pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), assays detecting the AML-ETO and PML-RAR fusion genes are routinely used to diagnose particular clinical subtypes, and treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a disease once associated with extremely poor prognosis, has been revolutionized by imatinib, an inhibitor of the BCR-ABL fusion gene. While fusion genes are well- known in hematological malignancies, our knowledge of recurrent fusion events in solid epithelial tumors is far less mature. To date, only two fusion genes have been identified in solid tumors, including TMPRSS2-ERG in prostate cancer, and EML4-ALK in non-small cell lung cancer. No recurrent fusion genes have been so far identified in common gastrointestinal cancers such as stomach, colon and esophageal adenocarcinoma. In this study, to identify genes affected by genome rearrangements in gastric cancer (GC), which is the second highest cause of global cancer mortality, we analyzed chromosomal imbalances in a cohort of 123 primary GCs and cell lines, and discovered several tumors exhibiting recurrent genomic breakpoints in the SLC1A2/EAAT2 glutamate transporter. 5' RNA ligase mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM-RACE) analysis of a GC cell line with SLC1A2 breakpoints (SNU16) revealed expression of a CD44-SLC1A2 fusion transcript, computationally predicted to result in a truncated but functional SLC1A2 protein. In an independent tumor panel, CD44-SLC1A2 gene fusions were detected in 4% to 5% of GCs (2/43), but not in adjacent matched normal gastric tissues. Using custom-designed fusion-specific siRNAs, we show that silencing of CD44-SLC1A2 in fusion-positive SNU16 cells significantly reduced cellular proliferation, invasion, and colony formation, but not in cell lines lacking CD44-SLC1A2 expression. CD44-SLC1A2 silencing also significantly reduced intracellular glutamate levels and sensitized SNU16 cells to cisplatin. Fusions of SLC1A2 to upstream CD44 regulatory elements likely causes SLC1A2 transcriptional dysregulation, as tumors expressing abnormally high SLC1A2 levels also tended to be CD44-SLC1A2 positive. CD44-SLC1A2 gene fusions may be one mechanism used by cancers to establish a pro-oncogenic metabolic milieu favoring tumor growth and survival. We believe that our study will be of great interest to the gastric cancer community, as it represents the first recurrent fusion transcript identified in this disease (and for that matter any common gastrointestinal cancer). Citation Information: Clin Cancer Res 2010;16(14 Suppl):PR1.


To increase storage capacity, an advanced magneto-optical recording technology using high numerical aperture (NA) optics (NA>0.8) in combination with a micro coil creating a local magnetizing field has been investigated. For data recording, a beam of blue laser light locally heats up the magneto-optical storage layer, which is then magnetized by the micro coil. The micro coil therefore needs to be located at a very small working distance (<50 /spl mu/m) from the disks, which requires the magnetic coil to be mounted between the lens and the disk. Furthermore, the substrate has to be transparent to allow the laser beam to pass through the center of the magnetizing coil. The microcoil that has been developed has proven capable of creating the magnetic field required for magneto-optical recording, could operate at the required recording frequencies, and promises sufficient heat dissipation.


The present study examined the effects of pulse exposures of the insecticide imidacloprid on the mayfly, Epeorus longimanus Eaton (Family Heptageniidae), and on an aquatic oligochaete, Lumbriculus variegatus Müller (Family Lumbriculidae). Pulse exposures of imidacloprid are particularly relevant for examination, because this insecticide is relatively soluble (510 mg/L) and is most likely to be at effect concentrations during runoff events. Experiments examined the recovery of organisms after a 24‐h pulse exposure to imidacloprid over an environmentally realistic range of concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 μg/L). Effects on feeding were measured by quantifying the algal biomass consumed by mayflies or foodstuffs egested by oligochaetes. Imidacloprid was highly toxic, with low 24‐h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) in early mayfly instars (24‐h LC50, 2.1 ± 0.8 μg/L) and larger, later mayfly instars (24‐h LC50, 2.1 ± 0.5 μg/L; 96‐h LC50, 0.65 ± 0.15 μg/L). Short (24‐h) pulses of imidacloprid in excess of 1 μg/L caused feeding inhibition, whereas recovery (4 d) varied, depending on the number of days after contaminant exposure. In contrast to mayflies, oligochaetes were relatively insensitive to imidacloprid during the short (24‐h) pulse; however, immobility of oligochaetes was observed during a 4‐d, continuous‐exposure experiment, with 96‐h median effective concentrations of 6.2 ± 1.4 μg/L. Overall, imidacloprid reduced the survivorship, feeding, and egestion of mayflies and oligochaetes at concentrations greater than 0.5 but less than 10 μg/L. Inhibited feeding and egestion indicate physiological and behavioral responses to this insecticide.


Global warming, or more precisely global climate change, has garnered increasing recognition in the last few decades. However, what may not be immediately apparent are its local effects; the local manifestations of climate change in Cook County, Illinois are alarming. Observed changes in the climate have been persistent for decades or even longer. Projected temperatures are expected to rise, and consequently, flooding will increase. This study aims to correlate these climatic changes to the exacerbation of environmental injustices inherent due to the historical redlining practices of Cook County. The evidence suggests that climatic factors, such as flooding and rising temperatures, have played a compounding role in the obstacles faced by disadvantaged communities residing in Cook County.


We discuss 16 days of intensive International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observations of the Si iv doublet (lambda1400) in the spectrum of the O4 I(n) f star zeta Pup. The data show continuous variability throughout the greater part of the blueshifted absorption. Time series analysis of these data reveals significant power at periods of 19.2 hr and 5.2 days, which we identify with the mean recurrence time of Discrete Absorption Components (DACs) and the photospheric rotation period, respectively. These results indicate that the wind has a global longitudinal asymmetry (approaching a factor 2 in optical depth), possibly associated with large-scale magnetic structures, but suggest that the DACs are not directly associated with specific stellar longitudes in this star. There is no significant power in the lines at the 8.5 hr period identified in photospheric absorption-line variability, nor at the 16.7 hr period reported in X-ray observations.


An embedded graph G in the 3-sphere S3 is called 2-irreducible if there are no separating spheres, cutting spheres, singular separating spheres, singular cutting spheres or 2-cutting spheres of G. Let D be a 2-disk in S3 that is very good for G. Let G′ be an embedded graph in S3 obtained from G by contracting D to a point. We show that if G′ is 2-irreducible then G is 2-irreducible. By this criterion certain graphs are easily shown to be 2-irreducible. As an application we show a pair of embedded graphs in the 3-sphere which is distinguished by 2-irreducibility.


The retired portion of the population will increase in the next two decades and its demographic composition will change. Newly eligible retirees are increasingly better educated, but that will level off after 2012. Larger shares will be divorced or never-married and smaller shares married or widowed. The share of whites will decline, while shares of other groups, especially Hispanics, will increase. The changing demographics of the retiring population will affect Social Security financing and retirement policies. In particular, while economic growth will reduce poverty, there will be more retirees in groups who have historically been at higher risk of poverty. [View the corresponding press release ]


The eukaryotic genome is divided into functional domains defined in part by local differences in chromatin structure and delimited in many cases by boundary elements. The HML and HMR loci in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are transcriptionally silent chromosome domains. Each locus is bracketed by two cis-acting sequences, designated E and I, that serve to establish and maintain repression of genes within each locus. We show that repression at HML is uniformly high between E and I but decreases sharply beyond I. The region of repression at HML generally correlates with the domain of histone hypoacetylation. Despite the sharp definition of the boundaries of HML, no sequence capable of blocking the spread of heterochromatin resides in the sequences flanking HML. We find, though, that inverting the orientation of I increases silencing outside of HML while weakening silencing within HML. These results indicate that the HML I silencer establishes a boundary between active and inactive chromatin at HML, but does so by organizing inactive chromatin in only one direction. This represents a different mechanism for delimiting the boundaries of a eukaryotic chromosome domain.


Photonic technologies play a leading innovative role of research in the fields of Cultural Heritage (CH) conservation, preservation and digitisation. In particular photonic technologies have introduced a new indispensable era of research in the conservation of cultural artefacts expanding from decorative objects, paintings, sculptures, monuments to archaeological sites and including fields of application as diverse as materials characterisation to restoration practices and from defect topography to 3d artwork reconstruction. Thus the last two decades photonic technologies have emerged as unique answer or most competitive alternative into many long-term standing disputes in conservation and restoration of Cultural Heritage. Despite the impressive advances on the state-of-the-art ranging from custom-made system development to new methods and practises, photonic research and technological developments remain incoherently scattered and fragmented with a significant amount of duplication of work and misuse of resources. In this context, further progress should aim to capitalise on the so far achieved milestones in any of the diverse applications flourished in the field of CH. Embedding of experimental facilities and conclusions seems the only way to secure the progress beyond the existing state of the art and its false use. The solution to this embedment seems possible through the new computing environments. Cloud computing environment and remote laboratory access hold the missing research objective to bring the leading research together and integrate the achievements. The cloud environment would allow experts from museums, galleries, historical sites, art historians, conservators, scientists and technologists, conservation and technical laboratories and SMEs to interact their research, communicate their achievements and share data and resources. The main instrument of this integration is the creation of a common research platform termed here Virtual Laboratory allowing not only remote research, inspection and evaluation, but also providing the results to the members and the public with instant and simultaneous access to necessary information, knowledge and technologies. In this paper it is presented the concept and first results confirming the potential of implementing metrology techniques as remote digital laboratory facilities in artwork structural assessment. The method paves the way of the general objective to introduce remote photonic technologies in the sensitive field of Cultural Heritage.


Aim: Endometriosis is a chronic gynaecological disorder with manifold symptoms and psychosocial effects on the lives of affected women. The prevalence of endometriosis is estimated to be up to ten percent of women of reproductive age. As a result of its unclear aetiology, only limited treatment options are available. The treatment and care of affected women is therefore a challenge for their doctors. There is a need for healthcare services to provide affected women with support to cope with the disorder better. The aim of the study was to identify supporting and inhibiting factors on disease management to develop new support ideas. Materials and Methods: The results are based on a content analysis evaluation of text responses from 135 women with confirmed endometriosis. Open questions about disease management were posed in a patient questionnaire. A classification system was developed according to Mayrings Qualitative Content Analysis, which allowed the main topics to be identified and summarised qualitatively using a quantitative intermediate step. Results: Social support, treatment, as well as professional and healthcare system performance were found to be particularly supportive by patients. However, when questioned about inhibiting factors, healthcare system professionals and their performance were most commonly criticised. Just over 50 % of women expressed their criticism of doctors. Quality of care and empathy towards the patients were especially criticised. There is also a need for improvement with regard to communication and general support from doctors. The results illustrate the importance of doctors for women affected by endometriosis, but make it clear that there is a great need for improvement with regard to the profession. Conclusion: The results provide the first indication of problem areas in the management of endometriosis from which approaches could be developed to improve care. However, it must be pointed out that the perspective of affected women was solely investigated. For a comprehensive analysis, it would be necessary to include the perspective of care providers and the influence of society as well as the healthcare system.


Near the beginning of the century, Wright and Fisher devised an elegant, mathematically tractable model of gene reproduction and replacement that laid the foundation for contemporary population genetics. The Wright-Fisher model and its extensions have given biologists powerful tools of statistical inference that enabled the quantification of genetic drift and selection. Given the utility of these tools, we often forget that their model - for mathematical, and not biological reasons - makes assumptions that are violated in most real-world populations. In this paper, I consider an alternative framework that merges P. A. P. Moran's continuous-time Markov chain model of allele frequency with the density dependent models of ecological competition proposed by Gause, Lotka and Volterra, that, unlike Moran's model allow for a stochastically varying -- but bounded -- population size. I require that allele numbers vary according to a density-dependent population process, for which the limiting law of large numbers is a dissipative, irreducible, competitive dynamical system. Under the assumption that this limiting system admits a codimension one submanifold of attractive fixed points -- a condition that naturally generalises the weak selection regime of classical population dynamics -- it is shown that for an appropriate rescaling of time, the finite dimensional distributions of the original process converge to those of a diffusion process on the submanifold. Weak convergence results are also obtained for a related process.


Introduction/Background Maintenance therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer is intended to extend progression-free survival (PFS) without compromising patient quality of life; therefore, the clinical benefits of prolonged PFS should be evaluated in the context of toxicities that may compromise patients' wellbeing. In ARIEL3 (CO-338-014; NCT01968213), rucaparib significantly improved PFS vs placebo in all predefined patient cohorts regardless of biomarker status (Coleman et al. Lancet. 2017;390:1949-61) or age (Ledermann et al. Presented at SGO 2019; abst 4). This post hoc exploratory analysis examined quality-adjusted PFS (QA-PFS) and quality-adjusted time without symptoms or toxicity (Q-TWiST) in patients from ARIEL3, including the subgroup of patients with a BRCA mutation and subgroups based on patient age. Methodology Patients were randomised 2:1 to oral rucaparib (600 mg BID) or placebo. QA-PFS and Q-TWiST were analysed in patients with a BRCA mutation (germline, somatic, or origin unknown), the ITT population (ie, all randomised patients), and subgroups of the ITT population defined by patient age at baseline (<65, 65–74, or ≥75 years). Q-TWiST was performed using 2 sets of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs): all grade ≥3 TEAEs and grade ≥2 TEAEs of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and asthenia only. Results The visit cutoff date for these analyses was 15 April 2017. QA-PFS, Q-TWiST considering grade ≥3 TEAEs, and Q-TWiST considering select grade ≥2 TEAEs were significantly longer with rucaparib than placebo in patients with a BRCA mutation and in the ITT population (table). Across all age subgroups, QA-PFS and Q-TWiST (both analyses) were significantly longer with rucaparib than placebo (table 1). Abstract – Table 1 Conclusion In the ITT population, BRCA-mutant subgroup, and age subgroups analysed, the quality-adjusted analyses, which incorporated patient-centred perspectives, confirmed the benefit of rucaparib vs placebo. Disclosure NC: Clovis, Advaxis, AstraZeneca, BIOCAD, MSD, Pfizer, PharmaMar, Roche, Takeda, Tesaro AMO: Clovis, Amgen, Immunovaccine, Verastem, AstraZeneca, WebRx DL: Clovis, AstraZeneca, ImmunoGen, Merck, PharmaMar, Roche, Takeda, Tesaro CA: Clovis, Mateon, Bayer, Cerulean, Tesaro, VentiRx AO: Clovis, AstraZeneca, ImmunoGen, Genmab/Seattle Genetics, PharmaMar, Roche, Tesaro AD: Precision Oncology Australia, Shire, Specialised Therapeutics Australia JIW: AbbVie, AstraZeneca ARC: AstraZeneca, Roche, Clovis GS: Clovis, AstraZeneca, PharmaMar, Roche, Tesaro AL: Clovis, Pfizer, PharmaMar, GamaMabs, Merus, AstraZeneca RWH: Clovis, AstraZeneca, Tesaro MAG: Clovis, AstraZeneca, PharmaMar, Roche PCF: Clovis, AstraZeneca JCG: AstraZeneca, BMS, Janssen, Ipsen, MSD, Astellas DMO'M: Clovis, AstraZeneca, Gynecologic Oncology Group, Janssen, Myriad, Tesaro, Amgen, ImmunoGen, AbbVie, Ambry, Health Analytics, Agenus, Ajinomoto, Array, BMS, ERGOMED Clinical Research, Exelixis, Genentech, GSK, INC Research, inVentiv Health Clinical, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Novartis, PRA International, Regeneron, Serono, Stemcentrx, TRACON DKA: Morphotek, Clovis, Advaxis, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Syndax, Tesaro SB: Clovis, AstraZeneca, ImmunoGen, GamaMabs, Merck Serono, PharmaMar, Roche, Seattle Genetics, Tesaro JG-D: AstraZeneca, Clovis, Genentech/Roche, Janssen EMS: nothing to disclose JM: Modus Outcomes TC, LM, SG, JB: Clovis RLC: Clovis, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Esperance, Janssen, Merck, Millennium, OncoMed, Roche/Genentech, Bayer, GamaMabs, Genmab, Gradalis, Millennium, Pfizer, Tesaro JAL: Clovis, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Artios Pharma, Cristal Therapeutics, Merck/MSD, Regeneron, Roche, Seattle Genetics, Tesaro.


Eight female patients with contact allergy to Mercury were studied with the L. T. T. and the Histamine degranulation test of basophiles. In the eight cases the L. T. T. was specific. P. H. A. (an inspecific lymphocyte stimulator lectin) and the Histamine degranulation basophile test, were used as controls. Thirty subjects were used as controls. All of them were negative to the patch test with mercury at 0,5% in petrolatum. No atopic antecedents were among them and their families. No once case of lymphocyte activity to mercury was observed. Mercury acetate solutions at: 12,5 ng/ml. 25 ng/ml and 5 ng/ml were employed. This salt was the unique useful for the L. T. T. practice. Extremely difficulties for the solubilization of mercury bichloride, mercury oxide, phenyl mercury and ammoniated mercury, impaired the L. T. T. with these salts.


Our aim was to test the effects of prey frequency and background composition on selection by free-ranging birds. We did three series of experiments with populations of grey and orange pastry prey scattered among coloured stones that made the prey either conspicuous or inconspicuous. Series I tested whether the predicted equilibrium frequency of the two prey types was influenced by the frequency of matching grey and orange stones. Birds at a single site were given a random sequence of combinations of prey frequency and stone frequency. Selection was dependent on background and the effect of prey frequency also varied with background. In series 2, we explored the frequency-independent effect of background: birds at five sites were given equal numbers of the two prey in three frequencies of matching stones and two of non-matching. There was a higher risk of predation for prey that matched rarer stones. In series 3 we attempted to measure, at a single site, the actual equilibrium prey frequencies in three different backgrounds: two extreme stone frequencies and one intermediate. Each experiment started with a population of equal numbers of grey and orange prey. After half the prey had been eaten we calculated the frequencies of the survivors and presented a new population of the original size but with the new prey frequencies; each experiment ran for 25 such 'generations'. The results suggested that at equilibrium the commoner 'morph' was the one that resembled the commoner colour of stone. Overall, our findings support the idea that visual selection can result in morph frequencies becoming related to the proportions of their matching background components and that this equilibrium will 'track' temporal or spatial changes in the background.


This paper examines the history of command and control in amphibious operations. It explores a number of case studies in order to identify and illustrate some enduring challenges and to analyse the extent to which alternative approaches to command may have mitigated or exacerbated these. The case studies focus on examples from the Anglo-American experience in the twentieth century, but the aim is to draw conclusions with wider relevance. The paper identifies that three general approaches to command and control developed over the centuries; namely, co-equal command without the appointment of a commander in chief, unified command with one overall commander, and command by one service. The impact of these different systems is explored with reference to operations at Narvik (1940), Guadalcanal (1942), Normandy (1944) and the Falklands/Malvinas (1982). The paper examines the notion of 'paramount interest' and explores how this relates to the current concept of supported and supporting commanders.  It concludes by discussing current NATO doctrine and noting the importance of an in-theatre joint commander with the authority and understanding to enable them to control and coordinate the activities of different force elements.


The occurrence of pregnancy in a patient with mitral stenosis measurably increases the demands on the heat. In handling this situation a place exists for medical therapy, therapeutic abortion, and surgical intervention, depending on the individual case. The results of mitral valvuloplasty during pregnancy in 27 patients are here reported. There were 3 maternal deaths, 1 failure to improve, and 23 moderate to marked improvements. Analysis of the causes of maternal death suggested more stringent criteria for the selection of patients, especially the elimination of patients with free mitral insufficiency. There were six fetal deaths. Twenty children, including one set of twins, were born by pelvic delivery, and one was delivered by cesarean section because of breech presentation; in addition, six normal children have been born in subsequent pregnancies. The twins were born spontaneously at term to a mother who, having miscarried in four previous pregnancies, underwent a valvuloplasty in the third month of her fifth pregnancy.


SEB421 Strategic Issues in Engineering is a final-year engineering management study unit at Deakin University in which the enrolled student population has grown to include significant numbers of international students. Given this change, it was considered timely to conduct a review of the unit, with regard to principles of international and culturally inclusive curricula. Despite the historically white Anglo-Saxon male culture of engineering education in Australia, there are a wide range of international and cultural aspects related to engineering education. A review of the literature reveals a diversity of interpretations of 'internationalisation' and 'cultural inclusiveness'. From a pragmatic perspective, it is noted that organisational policy can provide guidance for academic staff seeking to make courses more inclusive. From a review of the literature and relevant university policies, a list of 'international and culturally inclusive curricula' guidelines for engineering management education was developed. Comparing a prior audit of SEB421 to these guidelines revealed progress on international and culturally inclusive curricula, but, identified opportunities for improvement. The guidelines were applied to the curriculum/syllabus, content/study materials, conduct and assessment of the unit, to identify further opportunities for improvement. A plan for improvement of the unit and an associated timetable for this work were developed. It was noted that some changes can be made immediately, while others are contingent upon the timetable imposed by university systems. It was further noted that issues of change within a single study unit intersect with wider issues of program curriculum, and, while pilot activities can provide a start, eventually the wider issue of international and culturally inclusive curricula across the entire undergraduate engineering program needs to be considered.


The purpose of this study was to discover the relative effectiveness of different types of reading strategies on measures of reading comprehension performance for students with different learning styles. Students were separated into four learning style groups (active, sensitive, visual and sequential) based on their scores on the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire. The results indicated that students with varying learning styles responded differently to the reading strategies tested in the study. Active learners performed better than other groups when using the keyword and question and answer strategy but performed significantly worse than other groups with the rereading strategy. Sensitive and sequential learners on the other hand performed better than other groups with the rereading strategy. Visual learners did well with the keyword strategy.Of the strategies tested, only the keyword strategy showed consistently positive results for all learning style groups. Each group scored higher on the keyword condition than on the control condition. Hence use of the keyword strategy is highly recommended in classroom environments and incorporating the keywords into texts to make texts easier to understand is a viable method for improving comprehension. The question and answer strategy should be used with caution as it results in sub-par comprehension for learning styles other than the active learning style. Similarly the rereading strategy which works well for sensitive and sequential learners should also be used only for these learners as it confuses active learners. In a nutshell, a student's learning preference will influence the way information is processed and thus selecting and using appropriate reading strategies is essential to ensure the best possible results.


This paper investigates the possibility of the motion control of a ball with a pendulum mechanism with non-holonomic constraints using gaits - the simplest motions such as acceleration and deceleration during the motion in a straight line, rotation through a given angle and their combination. Also, the controlled motion of the system along a straight line with a constant acceleration is considered. For this problem the algorithm for calculating the control torques is given and it is shown that the resulting reduced system has the first integral of motion.


Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is characterized by the production of high affinity autoantibodies against various nuclear antigens. To gain insight into the mechanisms of autoantibody generation during the course of SLE, we performed single cell PCR analysis and obtained about 200 IgH genes with paired Igκ or Igλ genes from the plasma cells (CD19lowCD27high) and naïve B cells (CD19+CD27−) of three SLE patients. The SLE derived IgH genes have longer CDR3 regions with enriched Arg residues, which are the common features of autoantibodies. SLE plasma cells derived IgH and IgL genes are highly mutated, indicating their positive selection and active involvement in the abnormal immune responses. Interestingly, analyses of the IgL and IgH genes derived from SLE patients showed signs of excessive secondary recombination when compared with those from healthy donors, such as elevated usages of downstream Jκ4, Jκ5, and Jλ3 genes in the IgL genes and concurrently, significantly elevated frequencies of VH replacement products in the IgH genes derived from SLE patients. All the VH replacement "footprints" preferentially contribute charged amino acids into the IgH CDR3 regions. Initial testing of 12 recombinant antibodies derived from SLE plasma cells showed seven of them recognize peri-nuclear antigens. Importantly, the identified VH replacement products directly encode autoantibodies. These findings revealed for the first time that excessive secondary recombination occurred on both IgL and IgH genes in SLE patients and the enriched VH replacement products in SLE plasma cells directly encode autoantibodies.


Loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in optic neuropathies results in permanent partial or complete blindness. Myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors have been shown to play a pivotal role in neuronal systems, and in particular MEF2A knockout was shown to enhance RGC survival after optic nerve crush injury. Here we expanded these prior data to study bi-allelic, tri-allelic and heterozygous allele deletion. We observed that deletion of all MEF2A, MEF2C, and MEF2D alleles had no effect on RGC survival during development. Our extended experiments suggest that the majority of the neuroprotective effect was conferred by complete deletion of MEF2A but that MEF2D knockout, although not sufficient to increase RGC survival on its own, increased the positive effect of MEF2A knockout. Conversely, MEF2A over-expression in wildtype mice worsened RGC survival after optic nerve crush. Interestingly, MEF2 transcription factors are regulated by post-translational modification, including by calcineurin-catalyzed dephosphorylation of MEF2A Ser-408 known to increase MEF2A-dependent transactivation in neurons. However, neither phospho-mimetic nor phospho-ablative mutation of MEF2A Ser-408 affected the ability of MEF2A to promote RGC death in vivo after optic nerve injury. Together these findings demonstrate that MEF2 gene expression opposes RGC survival following axon injury in a complex hierarchy, and further support the hypothesis that loss of or interference with MEF2A expression might be beneficial for RGC neuroprotection in diseases such as glaucoma and other optic neuropathies.


Background
Canada has maintained a low incidence of toxigenic diphtheria since the 1990s, supported by continued commitment to publicly funded vaccination programs.

Objective
To determine whether hospitalization data, complemented with notifiable disease data, can describe the toxigenic respiratory and cutaneous diphtheria burden in Canada, and to assess if Canada is meeting its diphtheria vaccine-preventable disease-reduction target of zero annual cases of locally transmitted respiratory diphtheria.

Methods
Diphtheria-related hospital discharge data from 2006 to 2017 were extracted from the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), and diphtheria case counts for the same period were retrieved from the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS), for descriptive analyses. As data from the province of Québec are not included in the DAD, CNDSS cases from Québec were excluded.

Results
A total of 233 diphtheria-related hospitalizations were recorded in the DAD. Of these, diphtheria was the most responsible diagnosis in 23. Half the patients were male (52%), and 57% were 60 years and older. Central region (Ontario) accounted for the most discharge records (61%), followed by Prairie region (Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; 23%). Cutaneous diphtheria accounted for 43% of records, and respiratory diphtheria accounted for 3%, with the remainder being other diphtheria complications or site unspecified. Two records with diphtheria as the most responsible diagnosis resulted in inpatient deaths. Eighteen cases of diphtheria were reported through CNDSS. Cases occurred in all age groups, with the largest proportions among those aged 20 to 59 years (39%) and those aged 19 years and younger (33%). Cases were only reported in the Prairie (89%) and West Coast (British Columbia; 11%) regions.

Conclusion
Hospital administrative data are consistent with the low incidence of diphtheria reported in CNDSS, and a low burden of respiratory diphtheria in Canada. Although Canada appears to be on track to meet its disease-reduction target, information on endemic transmission is not available.


Non-growing season soil greenhouse gas emission may play an important role in the forest ecosystem carbon and nitrogen cycle. However, it is not clear about the effects of the cutting distur-bance on soil greenhouse gas emissions during non-growing season. The CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes and related environmental factors (soil temperature, water content, carbon and nitrogen, etc.) were monitored in the Korean pine plantation (fifty year-old) under different light-felling manners (control, no cutting; the half light-felling, cutting 50% of broad-leaved trees in canopy; the whole light-felling, cutting 100% of broad-leaved trees in canopy), using static chamber technique and gas chromatography during non-growing season in Maoer Mountains of China. The main aim was to reveal the influence of cutting disturbance on soil greenhouse gases emission during non-growing season and its controlling factors. The results showed that the whole and half light-felling manners significantly decreased CO2emission flux by 21.0% and 22.8%, and N2O by 23.5% and 11.2%, and decreased CH4uptake by 16.0% and 16.4%. The contribution of non-growing season CO2, CH4 and N2O emission to annual total was 11.7%-14.2%, 13.1%-17.0% and 63.9%-72.6%, respectively. Light-felling manners decreased annual cumulative contribution of CO2 by 1.4%-2.5%, that of CH4 by 0.7%-3.9%, but increased that of N2O by 2.4%-8.7%. Furthermore, light-felling increased the correlations of soil CO2 fluxes with soil temperature, soil water content, nitrate and ammonium, and decreased its correlation with soil organic carbon content. Light-felling increased the correlations of soil CH4 flux with soil water content, soil pH, soil organic carbon, ammonium, and decreased its correlation with nitrate. Light-felling increased the correlations between soil N2O flux and soil temperature, decreased the correlations with nitrate and ammonium, and changed the positive correlation with soil pH to negative. Therefore, light-felling had significant effects on the emission fluxes of the greenhouse gas during non-growing season, with the whole light-felling decreased more soil N2O emission flux than the half light-felling.


Radiation therapy prescribed as an adjuvant to surgery is an effective treatment of many cancers but has not been universally accepted for treatment of rectal cancer. Since 1969, preoperative radiation therapy of rectal carcinoma has been proposed in a curative intent, both at Centre Paul Lamarque in Montpellier and at Centre Claudius Regaud in Toulouse, France. Megavoltage radiotherapy was used in all patients and doses ranges from 35 to 40 Gy during 2.5 to 3 weeks. Among the 344 patients treated between 1969 and 1981, the ratio of abdominoperineal excision to anterior resection was 239/105, the percentage of pelvic recurrence was 7,8 per cent, and the 5-year survival rate, including postoperative mortality (5.2%) was 78 per cent in the Centre Claudius Regaud series and 64 per cent in the Centre Paul Lamarque series. The 10-year survival rate was 50 per cent. There was no evidence of an increased morbidity following irradiation. Pathologic staging showed no residual tumour in the excised specimen in 5.2 per cent of the cases. The number of Dukes'C cases was smaller than according to the clinical pre-treatment assessment of the tumours (16%). Ultrasonography of the liver and plasmatic CEA determination avoid irradiation of metastatic patients. Further development of this curative approach should include a postoperative boost of 25 Gy for patients who are at high risk for local failure in the pelvis, and an adjuvant chemotherapy for Dukes'C patients.


There is a small group of spinal arteriovenous malformations which differ from all of the others. They receive their blood supply from the anterior spinal artery but are located outside of the spinal cord and its pia mater. Six such malformations from our series of 150 spinal arteriovenous malformations 1,4 are reported. They differ in their clinical manifestations from the others. They can be extirpated with improvement in the patient's clinical manifestations.


Haze removal is important for computational photography and computer vision applications. However, most of the existing methods for dehazing are designed for daytime images, and cannot always work well in the nighttime. Different from the imaging conditions in the daytime, images captured in nighttime haze condition may suffer from non-uniform illumination due to artificial light sources, which exhibit low brightness/contrast and color distortion. In this paper, we present a new nighttime hazy imaging model that takes into account both the non-uniform illumination from artificial light sources and the scattering and attenuation effects of haze. Accordingly, we propose an efficient dehazing algorithm for nighttime hazy images. The proposed algorithm includes three sequential steps. i) It enhances the overall brightness by performing a gamma correction step after estimating the illumination from the original image. ii) Then it achieves a color-balance result by performing a color correction step after estimating the color characteristics of the incident light. iii) Finally, it remove the haze effect by applying the dark channel prior and estimating the point-wise environmental light based on the previous illumination-balance result. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve illumination-balance and haze-free results with good color rendition ability.


It has been proved that surgery is essential both for therapy and for diagnostic staging of gynaecological cancer. We have studied 131 patients who underwent pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy. Out of the cases of the 1st clinical stage, the staging error was 16.4%. 10 cases were understage: 3 belonged to the 2nd surgical stage, 6 to the 3rd one and 1 to the 4th one. Out of 61 patients at the 2nd clinical stage, 44.2% were overstaged and 36.1% were understaged; in fact 16 belonged to the 3rd and 6 to the 4th surgical stage. 1 woman of the 6 belonging to the 3rd stage was at the 4th surgical stage. All 3 patients of the 4th stage had both clinical and surgical correct staging. The results show the determinant meaning of node metastases and their spreading for a correct surgical staging. According to the regular distribution of metastases, it has been shown that in 81.1% there is a regular rule while in 18.9% there is not a metastatic regular distribution. This study confirms the reliability of our surgical statement based on lymph nodal radical excision.


Optical studies of starbursts, AGN and their connections usually leave out galaxies whose emission lines are too weak to warrant reliable measurement and classification. Yet, weak line galaxies abound, and deserve a closer look. We show that these galaxies are either massive, metal rich star-forming systems, or, more often, LINERs. From our detailed stellar population analysis, we find that these LINERs have stopped forming stars long ago. Moreover, their ionizing radiation field is amazingly consistent with that expected from their old stellar populations alone. The black-hole in the centers of these massive, early-type galaxies is not active enough to overwhelm stellar ionization, and thus, despite their looks, they should not be called AGN.


Power efficient design of real-time embedded systems based on programmable processors becomes more important as system functionality is increasingly realized through software. This paper presents a power optimization method for real-time embedded applications on a variable speed processor. The method combines off-line and on-line components. The off-line component determines the lowest possible maximum processor speed while guaranteeing deadlines of all tasks. The on-line component dynamically varies the processor speed or brings a processor into a power-down mode according to the status of task set in order to exploit execution time variations and idle intervals. Experimental results show that the proposed method obtains a significant power reduction across several kinds of applications.


A design is proposed for a high-Q rf band-pass filter whose active element is a micromachined mechanical resonator. The device is located in a large magnetic field created by a miniature permanent magnet and can be configured to operate at frequencies extending into the low GHz regime.


Pyrochlore and betafite were investigated from several types of Canadian occurrences. Nine new analyses for 20 constituents and 11 analyses for 8 constituents are presented. A general formula A 16 -xB 16 (O,OH) 48 (F,OH) 8 is proposed for the pyrochlore-betafite series with x representing vacant sites in the unit cell. Differential thermal and thermogravimetric curves indicate 2 states of water. Betafite and thorian pyrochlore are metamict, but recrystallization can begin well below the exothermic reaction indicated on D.T.A. curves. The cell edge of ignited minerals tends to decrease as Ti and Fe increase. Molecular weights derived from density-cell edge data correspond qualitatively to those calculated from analyses. Observed X-ray intensities agree with calculated values, but the role of Fe is uncertain. Frequency diagrams suggest a natural division of pyrochlore and betafite at 15% U.


In this article, we propose an alternative way of testing spatial clustering for common diseases. In order to detect a hot spot, we treat a global cluster statistic from a localized perspective, and define an area with positively correlated neighboring regions as a cluster. The proposed test uses the maximum likelihood method to detect the existence of a cluster, and it does not require the calculation of the mean and variance as most spatial statistic tests do. Using the spatial chi-square test of Rogerson (R) as a benchmark, our subsequent simulations and case study show that when the existence or nonexistence of spatial clusters are apparent, our test result is consistent with R. However, when a low value region surrounded by high value neighbors is considered, the result from R finds a cluster, while our result finds no cluster.


Sudoku is a very popular puzzle which consists on placing several numbers in a squared grid according to some simple rules. In this paper we present an efficient family of P systems which solve sudokus of any order verifying a specific property. The solution is searched by using a simple human-style method. If the sudoku cannot be solved by using this strategy, the P system detects this drawback and then the computations stops and returns No. Otherwise, the P system encodes the solution and returns Yes in the last computation step.


The interaction, KRM, between the rare earth 4f moment and the transition metal 3d moments in the series RFe2 (R=Gd-Yb) is shown to depend upon the R-5d moment, which is due to 3d-5d hybridization and local 4f-5d exchange integrals. KRM is calculated ab initio from density functional theory and is in excellent agreement with values extracted from inelastic neutron scattering experiments.


A 29-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for further evaluation of left sided paresis, cyanosis, clubbing finger. The laboratory data revealed polycythemia and hypoxemia. Cerebralarteriogram showed right middle cerebral artery occulusion. Cardiofunctional test showed atrial fibrillation, lower left ventricular function. Cardiac catheterization, pulmonary arteriography and three dimensions CT were performed. Right to left shunt rate was 20.4%. A single large pulmonary arteriovenous fistura with a feeding artery (A10) and a draining vein (V10) was found clearly. In this cases, arteriovenous fistula was large, blood flow was thought to be rapid. We thought transcatheter embolization was not useful. And we performed right lower lobectomy. Postoperative course was not eventful. Cyanosis disappeared, clubbing finger was cured.


for the more descriptive (and, therefore, less mathematical) sciences, such as natural history. An outline of the theses of these papers clearly casts doubt on the concept of 'naive empiricism'. James S. Ackerman's article, "Early Renaissance 'Naturalism' and Scientific Illustration", focuses upon two main issues: the dichotomy between visual depiction of individuals (or 'accidents') and species (or 'ideals'); and the circumvention of this problem by the copying of illustrations from other pictures (rather than from nature itself). This (latter) persistence among artists for copying prototypes is also the theme of Paul Hulton's essay, "Realism and Tradition in Ethnological and Natural History Imagery of the 16th Century". In their depictions of North American native Indians and flora, artists relied heavily upon European conventions (or 'schemata', to borrow a term from E.H. Gombrich). For zoological illustrations, artists copied Renaissance illustrations throughout the seventeenth century, according to William Ashworth, Jr., in "The Persistent Beast". Wolfgang Harms reveals that emblematics were still employed in sixteenth-century natural history books; in "On Natural History and Emblematics in the 16th Century", he argues that, despite the lip service given to the rise of empiricism, "the objectives and the content of works on natural history and interpretative emblematic treatments of natural phenomena are not strictly to be distinguished" (p. 83) . And in a study of nineteenth-century natural history, "Scientific Theory and Visual Language", David Knight shows how such illustrations depended upon scientific theories about the flora and fauna represented. Again, 'naive empiricism' is displaced by a 'visual rationalism'; or, to borrow a phrase from the philosophy of science, one may speak of scientific illustrations as 'theory-laden'. Of course, the viewpoint thus presented is not unfamiliar to art theorists. For they are well aware that artists often rely more upon pre-existing schematic forms than direct visual experience, a fact which Gombrich has referred to as the 'tenacity of convention'. On an issue perhaps more directly related to the adscience interface, David E. Allen in "Natural History and Visual Taste" declares that there was a parallel between Victorian natural history and the depiction of fashionable plants in design art. Allan Ellenius' essay on "Ecological Vision and Wildlife Painting towards the End of the 19th Century" focuses upon the Swedish artist Bruno Liljefors, and maintains that the artist's "ecological vision" is revealed in the manner in which he depicted the "intimate connection between the animal and its surrounding" (p. 158)-a 'vision' possibly influenced by the contemporary scientific study of mimicry and protective coloration in animals. In "Natural History Frontispieces and Ecology" of the eighteenth century, Gunnar Broberg asserts that the organic world-view still prevailed; at least in frontispieces a residue of organicism remained amidst the mechanical worldview of the Enlightenment. And BengtOlof Landin's essay covers "Entomological Illustrations and Illuminations with Special Reference to Swedish Treatises: A Bibliographical Survey". The remaining two essays also relate to the art and science issue. "The Bearing of the Scientific Study of Vision on Painting in the 18th Century: Pieter Camper's De visu (1746)" by Michael Baxandall is a study of the painter's treatise on perception. Baxandall argues that Camper's theory of vision was influenced by his practice of art; in particular, his theory of perception of distant objects was based upon his experience of depicting objects in depth. Finally, Martin Kemp presents an overview of color theory in "Yellow, Red and Blue: The Limits of Colour Science in Painting, 1400-1730". His specific concern is the development of the modern system of pigments, consisting of primary and secondary colors-a system which did not appear until the seventeenth century, when it was quickly adopted. Kemp's main point is that color theory since ancient times had virtually no relationship to how artists actually used color in practice. In essence he argues that there was very little interrelationship between art and science, and where art did borrow from science, the exchange was often based upon a misunderstanding or a distortion of the actual science. Kemp's essay is part of a book in progress on the history of color science (The Science of Art), a work which, in light of this essay, should be of interest to many readers of this journal.


The article investigates the peculiarities of the implementation of the mixed method of teaching English in Bukovyna in the 1930-s highlighting the prerequisites of its application. The analysis of such aspects of the language as phonetics, vocabulary, grammar and types of speaking activity (speaking, reading and writing) is carried out based on curricula and textbooks. The paper presents the comparative characteristic of teaching methods of foreign languages in Bukovyna and Halychyna. The approaches and principles of teaching English have been singled out. The basic principles of implementing the mixed method of teaching English in the region have been proved. There have been discovered the interconnected teaching of speech abilities and skills along with, the use of the native language and the importance of teaching grammar and applying intuition and understanding in combination. Theprospects of further research on methods of teaching foreign languages in the territory of Bukovyna have been outlined.


Several routing protocols have been designed in the recent years to support different wireless sensor networks requirements. In this paper, we introduce a new on demand routing protocol, Reliable Fault-Tolerant Multipath (RFTM), to improve the reliability of data routing in wireless sensor networks. RFTM is a multi objective routing protocol that meets diverse application requirements by considering the changing conditions of the network. The protocol takes into account both reliability demand and link quality to determine the number of desired multiple disjoint paths between the sink and source nodes. With the advantage of data splitting method based on erasure coding the packets are encoded at source nodes and the sink node obtains the data by decoding. Moreover, the sink node can make intelligent decisions based on the node's available resources, hop count to the source and delay to lengthen the network lifetime, provides fault-tolerance and achieves the desired reliability that meets the network state and the different application requirements.


A new method to compute the shortest path over polyhedral surfaces is presented. Based on the consensus plane constrained subdivision of the initial surface, a discrete geodesic approximation is generated with respect to both metric and shape criterion optimization.


A general solution method for the automatic generation of decision (or classification) trees is investigated. The approach is to provide insights through in-depth empirical characterization and evaluation of decision trees for one problem domain, specifically, that of software resource data analysis. The purpose of the decision trees is to identify classes of objects (software modules) that had high development effort, i.e. in the uppermost quartile relative to past data. Sixteen software systems ranging from 3000 to 112000 source lines have been selected for analysis from a NASA production environment. The collection and analysis of 74 attributes (or metrics), for over 4700 objects, capture a multitude of information about the objects: development effort, faults, changes, design style, and implementation style. A total of 9600 decision trees are automatically generated and evaluated. The analysis focuses on the characterization and evaluation of decision tree accuracy, complexity, and composition. The decision trees correctly identified 79.3% of the software modules that had high development effort or faults, on the average across all 9600 trees. The decision trees generated from the best parameter combinations correctly identified 88.4% of the modules on the average. Visualization of the results is emphasized, and sample decision trees are included. >


The brain is composed of disparate neural populations that communicate and interact with one another. Although fiber bundles, similarities in molecular architecture, and synchronized neural activity all represent brain connectivity, a comprehensive study of how all these connectivity modes jointly reflect brain structure and function remains missing. Here we systematically integrate seven multimodal, multiscale brain connectivity profiles derived from gene expression, neurotransmitter receptor density, cellular morphology, glucose metabolism, haemodynamic activity, and electrophysiology. We uncover a compact set of universal organizational principles through which brain geometry and neuroanatomy shape emergent connectivity modes. Connectivity modes also exhibit unique and diverse connection patterns, hub profiles, dominant gradients, and modular organization. Throughout, we observe a consistent primacy of molecular connectivity modes—namely correlated gene expression and receptor similarity—that map well onto multiple phenomena including the rich club and patterns of cortical abnormalities across 13 neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, we fuse all seven connectivity modes into a single multimodal network and show that it maps onto major organizational features of the brain including structural conenctivity, intrinsic functional networks, and cytoarchitectonic classes. Altogether, this work contributes to next-generation connectomics and the integrative study of inter-regional relationships.


Caesarean delivery will cause mother to experience anxiety. It can cause interference to the physiological
processes in the body. This research aims to find effectiveness of classical music therapy on anxiety level
of casarean section mother at Syekh Yusuf Regional General Hospital, Gowa district, by using Hamilton
Rating Scale (HARS). This research was an experimental research with a pre-experimental design of one
group pre-test and post-test design. The sample was 30 caesarean mothers who met the criteria.
Based on the results of Wilcoxon rank statistical analysis test, p value = 0,000 and smaller than the ? value
determined at 0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that classical music therapy is effective to reduce anxiety
level of caesarean mothers.


Protection of marks is relied on first to file principle, which means that mark protection will only be given by registration. The marks registration can be done through both national and international registration. The Madrid Protocol is an international marks registration within Madrid System, which is one of several international marks registration systems in the world. Indonesia now is still studying the benefits and detriments that would be reached if it joined in the Madrid Protocol. The research found that, first; the Madrid Protocol has both advantages and disadvantages. Second; Indonesia would gain much benefit by joining in this system. However, many things should be prepared well in order to minimize the detriment that would occur.


The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between objective masticatory function with respect to masticatory performance and food mixing ability, patients' perception of chewing ability and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Partially dentate patients with removable partial dentures (n = 131, mean age 67·1 year) participated in the study. Four tests were performed to evaluate objective and subjective masticatory function and OHRQoL. Masticatory performance and food mixing ability were assessed using peanuts or a two-coloured wax cube as test items. Patients' perception of chewing ability was rated using a food intake questionnaire. OHRQoL was measured using the Japanese version of the oral health impact profile. A structural equation model was constructed based on hypothesis in which objective masticatory function would be related to OHRQoL via perceived chewing ability as a mediator. Structural equation modelling analysis found a statistically significant medium effect of perceived chewing ability on OHRQoL and statistically significant medium or small effects of masticatory performance on perceived chewing ability and OHRQoL (P < 0·05); however, the effect of food mixing ability on perceived chewing ability or OHRQoL was not statistically significant (P > 0·05). A fit index indicated that the model fitted well to the data (Goodness-of-fit index = 0·99). These results suggest that perceived chewing ability is a critical factor for OHRQoL and that masticatory performance rather than food mixing ability is important for perceived chewing ability and OHRQoL in patients with removable partial dentures.


Laser flash photolysis of an o-diazonaphthoquinone traced by monitoring infrared in parallel with ultraviolet revealed the dynamic behavior of ketene intermediate, which appeared immediately after the laser pulse and changed swiftly to next intermediate. The fact that the conversion of ketene did not correspond to the formation of ketene hydrate suggested the existence of another intermediate between ketene and ketene hydrate.


The language modeling approach to information retrieval is a new framework that has been proposed and developed within the past five years. In NTCIR4, we focus our experiments on evaluating the effectiveness of the LM based IR method. In C-C run, we observe that the average precision of two-stage smoothing language modeling IR increase about 10.09% compared with VSM method when "DESC" field is used as query while decrease nearly 7.81% when query is "TITLE" field. This proved that the two-stage language modeling IR method could increase the performance in longer query effectively. In E-C run, the average precision of two-stage smoothing LM IR decreases about 38.09% compared with VSM method when "DESC" field is used as query while decreases nearly 32.60% when query is "TITLE" field. We think the two-stage smoothing LM IR method is more sensitive to the noise words introduced by wrongly translated query than SVM method.


Abstract. Carbonaceous aerosol is a major contributor to the total aerosol load and
being monitored by diverse measurement approaches. Here, 10 years
(2005–2015) of continuous carbonaceous aerosol measurements collected at the
Centre of Atmospheric Research Experiments (CARE) in Egbert, Ontario, Canada,
on quartz-fiber filters by three independent networks (Interagency
Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments, IMPROVE; Canadian Air and
Precipitation Monitoring Network, CAPMoN; and Canadian Aerosol Baseline
Measurement, CABM) were compared. Specifically, the study evaluated how
differences in sample collection and analysis affected the concentrations of
total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC). Results
show that different carbonaceous fractions measured by various networks were
consistent and comparable in general among the three networks over the 10-year period, even with different sampling systems/frequencies, analytical
protocols, and artifact corrections. The CAPMoN TC, OC, and EC obtained from
the DRI
model 2001 thermal–optical carbon analyzer following the IMPROVE-TOR
protocol (denoted as DRI-TOR) method were lower than those determined from the
IMPROVE_A TOR method by 17 %, 14 %, and 18 %,
respectively. When using transmittance for charring correction, the
corresponding carbonaceous fractions obtained from the Sunset-TOT were lower
by as much as 30 %, 15 %, and 75 %, respectively. In comparison, the
CABM TC, OC, and EC obtained from a thermal method, EnCan-Total-900 (ECT9), were higher than
the corresponding fractions from IMPROVE_A TOR by 20 %–30 %,
0 %–15 %, and 60 %–80 %, respectively. Ambient OC and EC concentrations were
found to increase when ambient temperature exceeded 10 ∘C. These
increased ambient concentrations of OC during summer were possibly
attributed to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and forest fire
emissions, while elevated EC concentrations were potentially influenced by
forest fire emissions and increased vehicle emissions. Results also show
that the pyrolyzed organic carbon (POC) obtained from the ECT9 protocol could provide additional information on SOA although more
research is still needed.


The development of High Speed Rail (HSR) services throughout the last decades have gradually blurred the concept of competition and cooperation with air transportation. There is a wide range of studies on this subject, with a particular focus on single lines or smaller regions. This article synthesizes and discusses recently published studies in this area, while aiming to identify commonalities and deviations among different regions throughout the world; covering services from Europe, Asia, and North America. Our meta-analysis reveals that the literature is highly controversial and the results vary substantially from one region to another, and a generalization is difficult, given route-specific characteristics, such as, demand distribution, network structure, and evolution of transportation modes. As a major contribution, we propose a list of five challenges as a future research agenda on HSR/air transport competition and cooperation. Among others, we see a need for the construction of an open-source dataset for large-scale multi-modal transport systems, the comprehensive assessment of new emerging transport modes, and also taking into account the resilience of multi-modal transport systems under disruption.


PROGRESSIVE PARTIAL MEMORY LEARNING Marcus A. Maloof George Mason University, 1996 Dissertation Director: Ryszard S. Michalski A learning methodology called Progressive Partial Memory Learning (PPML) is presented. PPML takes a partial memory approach to progressive inductive learning problems in which training examples are distributed over time. The partial memory approach retains and uses representative examples and induced concept descriptions for future learning. Representative examples are those training examples that maximally expand and constrain concept descriptions in the representation space. Mechanisms such as the selection of representative examples, forgetting, and aging allow the system to efficiently learn concepts over time and to track changing concepts through a representation space. Key components of the methodology are implemented in an experimental system called AQ-Partial Memory (AQ-PM), which is based on the AQ15c inductive learning system. AQ-PM is experimentally validated against a baseline AQ15c learning algorithm using both synthetic and real-world data sets. Synthetic data sets include problems in which concepts change or drift in the representation space. Real-world problems include applications to dynamic knowledge bases (i.e., computer intrusion detection), intelligent agents (i.e., email sorting), and computer vision (i.e., blasting cap detection in x-ray images). Results demonstrate that the methodology is able to perform well on a variety of problems. Specifically, the method considerably improves memory requirements and learning time with slight decreases in predictive accuracy when compared to the baseline learner. Furthermore, the method is also able to track concept drift. Results are presented for the STAGGER concepts in which AQ-PM achieves predictive accuracies comparable to the FLORA systems, but requires much less memory. Comparisons are made to the AQ11 and GEM incremental learning systems using the blasting cap detection and computer intrusion detection problems in which they learned more predictive, but more complex concept descriptions than AQ-PM. Partial memory learning is also conducted using the incremental learning algorithms of AQ11 and GEM for the blasting cap detection and computer intrusion detection problems. Results for the partial memory versions of these learners, when compared to the unmodified versions, show slight decreases in predictive accuracy and concept complexity with considerable decreases in learning time.


Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are differentiated into megakaryocytes (Mks), terminating in proplatelet formation and release of platelets [1-3]. Mks and platelets express specific receptors of extracellular proteins on their surface. Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is one of extracellular proteins that binds to platelets. VWF binds to glycoprotein Ib (GPIb) on the surface of platelets under high shear forces, subsequently platelet αIIbβ3 is activated and VWF and fibrinogen bind to activated αIIbβ3 resulting in platelet aggregation [4]. Thus interaction between VWF and platelet is important in hemostasis and patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD), those who are quantitative or qualitative deficient in VWF, have mild to moderate bleeding diathesis [5]. Mks also express both GPIb and αIIbβ3 [6], and VWF may bind to Mk GPIb and αIIbβ3.


The goal of the research is to develop and to test methods for detecting people, parametric points for their hands and their current working tools in the video frames. The following algorithms are implemented: humans bounding boxes coordinates detection in video frames; human pose estimation: parametric points detection for each person in video frames; detection of the bounding boxes coordinates of the defined tools in video frames; estimation of which instrument the person is using at the certain moment. To implement algorithms, the existing computer vision models are used for the following tasks: Object detection, Pose estimation, Object overlaying. Machine learning system for working time detection based on computer vision is developed and deployed as a web-service. Recall, precision and f1-score are used as a metric for multi-classification problem. This problem is defined as what type of tool the person uses in a certain frame of video (Object Overlaying). Problem solution for action detection for the railway industry is new in terms of work activity estimation from video and working time optimization (based on human action detection). As the videos are recorded with a certain positioning of cameras and a certain light, the system has some limitations on how video should be filmed. Another limitation is the number of working tools (pliers, wrench, hammer, chisel). Further developments of the work might be connected with the algorithms for 3D modeling, modeling the activity as a sequence of frames (RNN, LSTM models), Action Detection model development, time optimization for the working process, recommendation system for working process from video activity detection.


Thiourea can effectively inhibit the formation of highly toxic chlorinated aromatics in postcombustion zone. However, the inhibition mechanism was still not adequately understood. In this study, naphthalene was adopted as a model aromatic compound to investigate the inhibition effect and mechanism of thiourea on the formation of chlorinated aromatics via electrophilic chlorination over Cu and Fe chlorides. Thiourea addition resulted in the reductions of 77.6-99.8% and 36.4-98.1% in the yield of polychlorinated naphthalenes from naphthalene chlorination mediated by CuCl2 and FeCl3 at 150-300 °C, respectively. The inhibition efficiency of chlorination presented a decreasing tendency with increasing reaction temperature and O2 content in flue gas. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the thiourea-induced reduction of highly active Cu (II) and Fe (III) chlorides to less active Cu (I) and Fe (II) chlorides was a primary mechanism for inhibiting aromatic chlorination. [thiourea-Cu]+ complex generated during the reduction process could be transformed into CuS and Cu2S, and isomeric reaction product NH4SCN could react with Cu2+ to produce Cu(SCN)2 and then also form Cu sulfides, suggesting sulfidization of Cu chloride was another important inhibition mechanism. Chlorination inhibition induced by the volatile decomposition products of thiourea might only play a minor role.


Introduction: Tetanus, a disease that is easily preventable by vaccination continues to be a public health problem in Nigeria and other developing countries. This study reviewed the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of children admitted with tetanus in NAUTH over a 10-year period. Materials and Methods: This is hospital based 10-year retrospective study. Medical records of all the children admitted with tetanus in both neonatal and post-neonatal wards of NAUTH between January 2003 and December 2012 were retrieved and studied. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 and a P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: There were 26 cases of neonatal and post-neonatal tetanus. Three out of the 26 were from the neonatal group, while remaining 23 were from the post-neonatal group. All the patients in the neonatal group were males aged 2-10 days, with a mean of 5.66 ± 4.04 days. Fourteen (60.9%) of the post-neonatal group were males while nine (39.1%) were females. Their age ranged from 2 to 16 years with a mean of 9.8 ± 4.5 years. Eleven (47.8%) were aged 6 years and above, 9 (39.1%) were aged 5-10 years. Majority of the patients 21 (91.3%) among the post-neonatal group and all the patients in the neonatal group were from the rural area. Twenty-one (91.3%) of all post-neonatal patients were either not immunized at all or were not sure of their immunization status during infancy. Lower limb injury was the most common source of infection accounting for 56.5% of cases in the post-neonatal group while infected cord accounted for 66.6% of cases in the neonatal group. Thirteen (56.5%) of all the post-neonatal cases were discharged home, nine (39.1%) died while one was discharged against medical advice. Mortality was very high at 100% in the neonatal group. There was no statistical association between portal of entry and outcome. Conclusion: Tetanus remains a significant contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. There is strong need to strengthen the present immunization coverage especially in the rural communities of our country.


. The polytopes U I,J were introduced by Ceballos, Padrol, and Sarmiento to provide a geometric approach to the study of ( I, J )-Tamari lattices. They observed a connection between certain U I,J and acyclic root polytopes, and wondered if M´esz´aros' subdivision algebra can be used to subdivide all U I,J . We answer this in the affirmative from two perspectives, one using flow polytopes and the other using root polytopes. We show that U I,J is integrally equivalent to a flow polytope that can be subdivided using the subdivision algebra. Alternatively, we find a suitable projection of U I,J to an acyclic root polytope which allows subdivisions of the root polytope to be lifted back to U I,J . As a consequence, this implies that subdivisions of U I,J can be obtained with the algebraic interpretation of using reduced forms of monomials in the subdivision algebra. In addition, we show that the ( I, J )-Tamari complex can be obtained as a triangulated flow polytope.


A novel technique to suppress stimulated Raman scattering in a high power narrow-band fiber amplifier is reported. By seeding with a combination of a broadband amplified spontaneous emission seed and a narrowband master oscillator seed, the Raman Stokes components can be reduced about 16 dB at a total output power of 1 kW. Raman suppression results are depicted in a different wavelengths seeding case and the same wavelength seeding case, respectively, with different seed power ratios.


In the present study wound healing efficiency of green apple alcoholic extract of the whole fruit in the form of ointment , using one type wound model ( full thickness incisional  wound )was evaluated in twelve female rabbits. ethanol solvent was used to prepare the extract. chemical analysis of  green apple alcoholic extract   reveals  the presence of alkaloid, saponin ,tannin in Flavonoid, Glycosides, polysaccharides , proteins, Triterpens  and Carbohydrates. tow Circular wounds were inflicted on the animals which ,divided into three groups , four animals in each group. the ointment of green apple was applied topically with 5mg twice daily. Wound area was measured  and the percentage of wound reduction ( wound contraction rate) per a day was calculated. The effects were studied on excissional wound were hyperemia , exudation ,   were percent of wound contraction and length of wound macroscopically, and infiltration of inflammatory cell (macrophage ,neutrophils),granulation tissue formation  microscopically. Treated wounds induced complete wound healing in shortest period (11 days) while control wounds show non complete  healing till the end of experiment ( 14 days). Keywords: rabbits, wound healing, green apple


In this paper, we define a family of syntactic kernels for automatic relational learning from pairs of natural language sentences. We provide an efficient computation of such models by optimizing the dynamic programming algorithm of the kernel evaluation. Experiments with Support Vector Machines and the above kernels show the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach on two very important natural language tasks, Textual Entailment Recognition and Question Answering.


The black spot disease which causes extensive mortality of shirmp. Metapenaeus monoceros in Bangladesh has been studied from January to December 1981. The disease was caused by a Pathogenic bacteria, Pseudomonas sp. The sensitivity of this bacterium to four antibiotics was tested and tetracycline was found to be most effective in controlling this disease in shrimps


A study on variables influencing the gastric secretory response of pylorus-ligated Wistar rat, shows that: 1. 24 h is a sufficient fasting period for satisfactory emptying of the stomach, periods of up to 48 h yielding no advantage; 2. between 2 and 4 h is the most appropriate pyloric ligation time because in this range there are no variations in volume of gastric secretion, concentration and output of acid per unit of ligation time; 3. sex has no influence on any of the parameters; 4. animals should be age-selected because only above a given age threshold the gastric secretory response per unit of bodyweight is constant.


We present our Monte Carlo results of the random-bond Potts ferromagnet with the Olson–Young self-dual distribution of quenched disorders in two dimensions. By exploring the short-time scaling dynamics, we find the universal power-law critical behavior of the magnetization and Binder cumulant at the critical point, and thus obtain estimates of the dynamic exponent and magnetic exponent , as well as the exponent . Our special attention is paid to the dynamic process for the Potts model.


Abstract Among the hard ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), many species in the section Metastriata have intricate ornamentation on the scutum that is often used as a taxonomic character. However, the biological function(s) of this ornamentation remains unknown. Here, we summarize the main functions of color patterns recognized in the animal kingdom— thermoregulation, aposematism, camouflage, aggregation, mate recognition, and sexual signaling—and evaluate the potential of each of these to explain ornamentation in hard ticks. We also note the challenges and uncertainties involved in interpreting ornamentation in ticks as well as potential approaches for future research.


Background Differences in carcinogen exposure from different cigarette products could contribute to differences in smoking-associated cancer incidence among Chinese compared with US smokers. Methods Urine concentrations of metabolites of nicotine, the tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites (PAHs) were compared in 238 Chinese and 203 US daily smokers. Results Comparing Chinese versus US smokers, daily nicotine intake and nicotine intake per cigarette smoked were found to be similar. When normalised for cigarettes per day, urine NNAL excretion was fourfold higher in US smokers, while the excretion of urine metabolites of the PAHs fluorene, phenanthrene and pyrene metabolites was 50% to fourfold higher in Chinese smokers (all, p<0.0001). Similar results were seen when NNAL and PAHs excretion was normalised for daily nicotine intake. Conclusions Patterns of carcinogen exposure differ, with lower exposure to TSNA and higher exposure to PAHs in Chinese compared with US smokers. These results most likely reflect country differences in cigarette tobacco blends and manufacturing processes, as well as different environmental exposures. Trial registration number NCT00264342.


The entrepreneurial labour is appraised as a special commodity, the creative characteristics of which fully determine the efficiency of the competitive economy, possibilities for producing goods of high quality and convenient services, and scales and tempo of scientific, technical and organizational changes. Any entrepreneurial activity is always entrepreneurial labour, but not all entrepreneurial labours can be registered as entrepreneurial activity. Both the development of the market for entrepreneurial labour, which shows itself in a degree of entrepreneurial activity, and the presence of entrepreneurial potential let one judge about the entrepreneurial climate of either a definite country or region. This article analyzes correlations between the market for entrepreneurial labour and that for entrepreneurial activity, and estimates the level of development of Russia's market for entrepreneurial labour on the basis of both the level of entrepreneurial activeness and the capacity of entrepreneurial potential.


A Kerr black hole with mass parameter m and angular momentum parameter a acting as a gravitational lens gives rise to two images in the weak field limit. We study the corresponding magnification relations, namely, the signed and absolute magnification sums and the centroid up to post-Newtonian order. We show that there are post-Newtonian corrections to the total absolute magnification and centroid proportional to a/m, which is in contrast to the spherically symmetric case where such corrections vanish. Hence we also propose a new set of lensing observables for the two images involving these corrections, which should allow measuring a/m with gravitational lensing. In fact, the resolution capabilities needed to observe this for the Galactic black hole should in principle be accessible to current and near-future instrumentation. Since a/m>1 indicates a naked singularity, a most interesting application would be a test of the cosmic censorship conjecture. The technique used to derive the image properties is based on the degeneracy of the Kerr lens and a suitably displaced Schwarzschild lens at post-Newtonian order. A simple physical explanation for this degeneracy is also given.


Aim Adolescents form a significant cohort within paediatric practice, with unique needs and specific challenges associated with delivery of good quality care. Dedicated adolescent wards or areas are associated with the highest levels of patient satisfaction. There is little available data benchmarking current patterns of UK service provision. We set out to ascertain standards of current practice within units accepting adolescent inpatients in the UK. Methods The RCPCH provided a list of clinical leads for paediatric departments in all acute trusts in the UK and Northern Ireland. They were each contacted by email and a link provided to a Google docs survey. This survey addressed aspects such as service delivery, staffing, infrastructure and departmental policies. Results We received a response from 56/167 acute trusts (33.5%). Number of inpatient beds ranged from 4 to 193. Most trusts had a maximum age for admission to paediatric services of 16 years, 8 n =18 (32%) or 18 years, n = 16 (29%). Educational status was considered for admission location by 27 trusts (48%). Choice of admission between paediatric and adult services was offered to 16–17 year olds in 28 trusts (50%). Separate adolescent accommodation was provided in 20 trusts (36%). Of these 5 had a separate ward. Minimum age for admission to these areas varied from 11–14 years old. Dedicated recreation space for adolescent patients was provided by 36 trusts (64%). A consultant with a special interest in adolescent medicine was employed by 5 trusts. Discussion Little improvement in adolescent inpatient provision has been shown since 2000 when around 26% of hospitals had specific adolescent inpatient services.1 It is encouraging that over half of responding trusts provide separate entertainment space for young people. A significant number of trusts have rigid admission policies that do not offer the chance of paediatric care to all those under 18 years. This data would suggest that the UK still lags behind North America, Scandinavia and Australia in providing specific tailored inpatient care to young people with medical and surgical conditions. Reference Suresh S, Doull IJM, Thomas P. Adolescent inpatient units. Arch Dis Childhood. 2000;82:266


Numerical simulations were conducted on the gerotor type oil pump. Three oil pump models having different port and groove shape were considered. Firstly, two original models (baseline & variant.1 model) were simulated in order to validate the accuracy of the simulation results and to better understand the flow characteristics in the pump. It was found that the cavitation phenomenon as well as the teeth tip leakage is most important parameter on the pump performance. Based on the simulation results of the original models, final model (variant.2 model) which has improved port shape and pressure relief valve is suggested to enhance pump performance and to reduce driving torque. The volumetric efficiency and the hydraulic torque of the Variant.2 model is improved 4% and reduced 6.1% each at 2000RPM in experiment


Internet users such as individuals and organizations are subject to different types of epidemic risks such as worms, viruses, spams, and botnets. To reduce the probability of risk, an Internet user generally invests in traditional security mechanisms like anti-virus and anti-spam software, sometimes also known as self-defense mechanisms. However, such software does not completely eliminate risk. Recent works have considered the problem of residual risk elimination by proposing the idea of cyber-insurance. In this regard, an important research problem is the analysis of optimal user self-defense investments and cyber-insurance contracts under the Internet environment. In this paper, we investigate two problems and their relationship: 1) analyzing optimal self-defense investments in the Internet, under optimal cyber-insurance coverage, where optimality is an insurer objective and 2) designing optimal cyber-insurance contracts for Internet users, where a contract is a (premium, coverage) pair.


The present study investigated the effects of reward structure and environmental conditions (i.e., context) on integrated motivation for an accounting task using 101 undergraduate accounting students. A computer-simulated task in which students were asked to estimate allowance for doubtful accounts was used to create and manipulate reward structure (i.e., performance-contingent vs. task-contingent) and context (i.e., selfdetermined vs. controlled). It was hypothesized that a self-determined context would create greater motivation than a controlled context when motivation was measured by response intensity, response persistence, integrated response intensity, and integrated response persistence. An ordinal interaction was also hypothesized such that in a selfdetermined context, performance-contingent rewards would create more motivation than task-contingent rewards, and in a controlled context, performance-contingent rewards would create less motivation than task-contingent rewards. Results indicated that response intensity, as measured by time on task, did not support the hypothesized main effect or the ordinal interaction; however, when selfreported effort was used as a measure of response intensity, support for both hypotheses was found. Similarly, when response persistence was measured by time on task, support for the hypotheses was not found; however, when number of problems worked during the free choice period was used to assess response persistence, hypothesized effects were supported. For integrated response intensity and persistence, support for the hypotheses was not found.


This paper examines the contention that, as a result of their cultural and educational backgrounds, students from east Asia lack the critical thinking skills required when they study abroad at Western universities. It begins by highlighting the broad nature of the term 'critical thinking', which includes a wide range of both cognitive skills and psychological dispositions. From a comprehensive review of the literature, it finds that many, though not all, of these skills and dispositions can be found in equal or greater measure in Asian culture and education, particularly when the factor of language proficiency is taken into account. It advocates, therefore, a reframing of the debate on the issue, moving away from general, and potentially misleading, statements about criticality towards a more specific analysis of what assistance international students require when they enter Western universities.


Background and Objective: Low back pain is one of the major causes for disability and absenteeism at workplace. The anterior innominate dysfunction is a common type of dysfunction leading to low back pain in which the joint adapts to an abnormal position locking it in an anterior pelvic tilt thus leading to low back or buttock pain that may radiate to lower extremity pain. Mulligan mobilization particularly helps restoration of joint movement in a pain free manner and has reported to be effective in increasing range of motion and reducing pain. Manipulation, on the other hand has also proved to be effective in inhibiting pain receptors causing relaxation of muscle and increasing range of motion. Since there is a dearth of literature stating the comparative effects of both techniques, the current study has aimed at finding out the effectiveness of both techniques on anterior innominate dysfunction. Materials and Methods: A clinical trial conducted on 30 subjects with a mean age of 37.57±10.32 years were randomly assigned into two groups, Group A (n = 15) received Postero-medial SI Mulligan mobilization and Mulligan taping technique + Conventional Therapy and Group B (n = 15) received SI Manipulation and Mulligan taping technique + Conventional Therapy. Patients were assessed at baseline and on 6th day of therapy using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Modified Oswestery Disability Questionnaire (MODQ), Modified Schober's lumbar range of motion and Pelvic Inclinometer scale Results: Pre and post mean difference in group A were 6.56±1.01 cm for VAS, 27.33±7.76 for MODQ, 1.90±0.68° for lumbar flexion range, 2.19±0.45° for lumbar extension range and 2.00±1.46 mm for pelvic tilt. While the pre and post mean difference in group B were 6.56±1.01 cm for VAS, 27.33±7.76 for MODQ, 1.90±0.68° for lumbar flexion range, 2.19±0.45° for lumbar extension range and 2.00±1.46 mm for pelvic tilt. The intra-group comparison was statistically significant with P = 0.0001 (VAS, MODQ, Lumbar flexion and extension ROM) and P Conclusion: The present study concluded that Mulligan mobilization with Mulligan taping technique showed superior effects than Manipulation with Mulligan taping technique.


Closed form expressions to calculate the exponential of a general multivector (MV) in Clifford geometric algebras (GAs) Cl(p,q) are presented for n=p+q=3. The obtained exponential formulas were applied to find exact GA trigonometric and hyperbolic functions of MV argument. We have verified that the presented exact formulas are in accord with series expansion of MV hyperbolic and trigonometric functions. The exponentials may be applied to solve GA differential equations, in signal and image processing, automatic control and robotics.


On 25 October 2016, the European Commission released two proposals: one on a Common Corporate Tax Base (COM (2016) 685 Final.) ('the CCTB Draft') and one on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (COM (2016) 683 Final.) ('the CCCTB Draft'). If these draft directives ('the CC(C)TB Drafts') were to be adopted, they would significantly change the tax landscape for companies operating throughout the European Union as well as for companies which are established in a third country but perform activities within the EU.
 The goal of this article is not to provide for an overall description of the features of the CCTB and the CCCTB Drafts. It is rather to give an overview of the main provisions containing a cross-border element and to assess to what extent these new instruments may possibly collide, not only with EU primary law, but also with bilateral (or even multilateral) conventions on double taxation.
 As a matter of fact, the CC(C)TB drafts do not only cope with the definition of new base rules for taxation of corporations acting within the European Union. Many corporations established in the European Union have branches and subsidiaries in other EU Member States as well as in third countries. Conversely, many corporations established outside the European Union perform their activities on the European market through branches and subsidiaries. It is therefore clear that by changing the rules applying to the definition of corporate income and to cross-border activities, the CC(C)TB Directives would indirectly impact the tax burden of multinational enterprises.
 Besides, important provisions contained in the CC(C)TB drafts apply explicitly to income which have their source outside the European Union. The question how these new European territoriality rules will coexist with international tax treaties is therefore crucial to assess the impact of the harmonization process within the European Union.
 The relationship between CC(C)TB and international taxation is however a very complex matter to study, as it raises both general questions regarding the interaction between different sources of normativity (treaties vs directives; treaties vs fundamental freedoms; directives vs fundamental freedoms) and very technical questions linked to the way the proposed provisions are worded.
 Potential problems of incompatibility are all the more numerous as one of the major feature of CCTB and CCCTB consists in the enactment of new rules regarding territoriality and tax avoidance, which may worsen the taxpayer's situation compared to existing rules (even compared with the anti-tax avoidance directive). Provisions affecting international taxation are spread in different sections of the CCTB and CCCTB drafts, with the effect that a coherent vision of the global impact of these drafts on international taxation is not easy to unveil.
 This complexity of the topic explains why the authors of this article consider that a necessary preliminary step in the study consists in displaying, in a first section, a broad overview of the relationships between the CC(C)TB Drafts and the EU and international legal orders. This will provide an opportunity to assess how these draft directives interact, not only with fundamental freedoms, but also with double taxation treaties. The authors will refer to those principles throughout the article, when potential conflicts are identified.
 A second section will be devoted to the scope of the CC(C)TB Drafts and to the analysis of their impact on situations involving a third country. The goal of this section will be to determine to what extent corporations which are either established in a third country or perform their activities in such a country are actually covered by the provisions of the draft directives.
 The third section will provide more details on the territoriality rules which are laid down by


Digital fabrication — including additive manufacturing (AM), rapid prototyping and 3D printing — has the potential to revolutionize the way in which products are produced and delivered to the customer. Therefore, it challenges companies to reinvent their business model — describing the logic of creating and capturing value. In this paper, we explore the implications that AM technologies have for manufacturing systems in the new business models that they enable. In particular, we consider how a consumer goods manufacturer can organize the operations of a more open business model when moving from a manufacturer-centric to a consumer-centric value logic. A major shift includes a move from centralized to decentralized supply chains, where consumer goods manufacturers can implement a "hybrid" approach with a focus on localization and accessibility or develop a fully personalized model where the consumer effectively takes over the productive activities of the manufacturer. We discuss some of the main implications for research and practice of consumer-centric business models and the changing decoupling point in consumer goods' manufacturing supply chains.