Some European regulators have decided to force competition in their nationalmarkets. They have decided to go beyond the second directive and apply asymmetric regulation. Gas release programs and market shares constraints are the two asymmetric decisions imposed to incumbents. When a regulator imposes a gas release program to an incumbent, this operator is compelled to release quantities of its long term contracts to its competitor. In this paper, we will focus on gas release and its impact on welfare, consumer surplus and on the level of released quantities set by regulators. The aim of a gas release program is to give access to natural gas to competitors. They become actives on the market and are in competition with the incumbent. These programs are time limited. They only help competitors in expecting the development of hubs or new investments in importation infrastructures. If competitors want to stay active after the program, they may find others supply sources to increase security of supply. The gas release can induce Raising Rival's Costs or "Self-Sabotage" strategies. We use a Cournot model with capacity constraints to answer two questions. First, we will study the impact of these strategies on consumer surplus and welfare. We will show that there are no impact on consumer surplus but the welfare decreases. The gas release program introduces a transfer of profit between competitor and incumbent, reduces welfare because of the increase in costs of supply, but has no impact on total consumed quantities. Then, we will suppose that the regulator is setting released quantities maximising welfare. Gas release price is often based on costs plus a bid or a fixed premium. Quantities are set with a less obvious process. We will demonstrate that the regulator must set released quantities :- that would not be so high if incumbent's supplies are small to avoid Self- Sabotage or RRC strategies ;- as a function of incumbent's supplies if they are in intermediate values to avoid strategies seen above and to optimise quantities sold on the market ;- at a sufficient level to let the two operators playing their Cournot best reply function. Finally, we will conclude that the regulator can avoid RRC or Self-Sabotage strategies in maximising the welfare when it decides gas released quantities. Gathering from empirical studies, these quantities should not be so high in order to let a significant difference between the capacities of both competitor and incumbent to avoid collusive behaviours.


We investigate the energy-saving potential of transport protocols. We seek an answer to strategic issues of maximizing energy and bandwidth exploitation, without damaging the dynamics of multiple-flow equilibrium. We claim that (i) an energy-saving strategy of the transport level needs to be associated with some energy potential index which, unlike energy expenditure, is not device-specific and (ii) system-wise an energy-efficient system of flows is not always a better choice: we show that a less energy-efficient system may be more reliable in terms of packet multiplexing and, in turn, may reduce the probability that some flows may expend their energy with zero gain. We present results using a real testbed


Abstract:  Animals may be responsible for an array of potentially lethal injuries. Blunt force injuries characteristically involve larger animals such as cattle or horses that may kick, crush, or trample a victim causing head and facial injuries. Farm workers in particular are at high risk of lethal injuries involving the head and torso. Significant blunt trauma may be found in vehicle occupants after collisions with large animals such as camels or moose. Rarely, zookeepers may be crushed by particularly massive animals such as elephants. Sharp force injuries usually involve carnivore bites, most often from dogs with a "hole and tear" pattern of wounding. Injuries from animals such as alligators and sharks may have a significant component of crushing. Incised wounds may result in death from exsanguination and air embolism. On occasion, blunt or sharp trauma from animal activity may be confused with postmortem damage or with inflicted injury from an assault.


Background: Isolated trigeminal neuropathy is uncommon; causes include trauma, inflammation, or neoplasm. Methods: We report a patient who fell and struck his head during a myocardial infarction, was treated with streptokinase, and developed symptoms and signs of an isolated trigeminal sensory neuropathy. Results: Imaging showed hemorrhage in the trigeminal nerve root; follow-up imaging showed resolution of the hemorrhage, but no underlying structural lesion. Conclusion: A combination of head trauma plus thrombolysis resulted in an isolated trigeminal neuropathy.


This article surveys the demographic research of the past 35 years concerning the impact of women's school attainment on mortality, fertility and health practices. The empirical findings are remarkably consistent across Asia, Africa and Latin America, and in the 20th and 21st centuries, with evident associations between female primary and secondary school attainment and child mortality in the Gakidou et al. (2010) study of 175 countries. Associations with fertility and health practices are also consistent. What are the processes that account for these associations? I propose, based on a study assessing maternal literacy in four diverse countries (Mexico, Nepal, Venezuela and Zambia), that literacy skills and teacher-pupil interaction in the classroom are central to the processes by which school experience changes maternal behavior in developing countries. Basu and Stephenson (2005) arrived at similar conclusions independently from their analysis of the 1992/93 Indian National Family Health Survey, but final conclusions concerning the causal processes involved are not possible without longitudinal research.


ABSTRACT Proteins of the Ras superfamily, Ras, Rac, Rho, and Cdc42, control the remodelling of the cortical actin cytoskeleton following growth factor stimulation. A major regulator of Ras, Ras-GAP, contains several structural motifs, including an SH3 domain and two SH2 domains, and there is evidence that they harbor a signalling function. We have previously described a monoclonal antibody to the SH3 domain of Ras-GAP which blocks Ras signalling in Xenopus oocytes. We now show that microinjection of this antibody into Swiss 3T3 cells prevents the formation of actin stress fibers stimulated by growth factors or activated Ras, but not membrane ruffling. This inhibition is bypassed by coinjection of activated Rho, suggesting that the Ras-GAP SH3 domain is necessary for endogenous Rho activation. In agreement, the antibody blocks lysophosphatidic acid-induced neurite retraction in differentiated PC12 cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate that microinjection of full-length Ras-GAP triggers stress fiber polymerization in fibroblasts in an SH3-dependent manner, strongly suggesting an effector function besides its role as a Ras downregulator. These results support the idea that Ras-GAP connects the Ras and Rho pathways and, therefore, regulates the actin cytoskeleton through a mechanism which probably does not involve p190 Rho-GAP.


BACKGROUND
Charcot arthropathy, also known as neuropathic arthropathy, is a rare disease whose early diagnosis and treatment are very difficult. Generally, diabetes is considered the most common cause of Charcot arthropathy. Although Charcot arthropathy of other secondary etiology has been reported, in most cases only a single joint is accumulated, and rarely involving the feet and shoulders. Clinically, Charcot arthropathy due to delayed diagnosis leads to joint destruction and severe cases abound.

CASE PRESENTATION
What we report is an unprecedented case, in which the patient was diagnosed as left shoulder joint, interdigital joint Charcot arthropathy caused by cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and left knee and right ankle Charcot arthropathy caused by adult degenerative scoliosis (ADS) complicated by syringomyelia. The 82-year-old male patient was admitted to the hospital for complaining of pain in the left knee joint. Except for scoliosis that was discovered 10 years ago, the patient denied any other obvious past medical history. Clinical/surgical manifestations, detailed physical examinations and auxiliary examinations all indicated the presence of polyarticular Charcot arthropathy, but common causes of Charcot arthropathy such as diabetes and syphilis have not been detected. After making a comprehensive differential diagnosis, we finally made the above diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS
This previously unreported case describes the complexity and etiological diversity of Charcot arthropathy. We recommend that patients with CSM and/or scoliosis, spinal deformity undergo further examination and regular follow-up. A detailed medical history and careful physical examination are necessary for the correct diagnosis of Charcot arthropathy. Although the early diagnosis of Charcot arthropathy cannot change the natural course of the disease, it is beneficial to alleviate symptoms and prevent serious complications.


Innovation has become an important competitive tool as it increases the efficiency and profitability of enterprises and provides the opportunity to enter new markets and grow in the existing market area. The important thing is not to harm the environment while the businesses continue their activities. Therefore, the innovations and activities carried out are happened to be environmentally friendly and have an aspect that will reduce the negative effects on the environment. However, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) cannot adopt green practices due to various barriers. In this context, this study aims to analyze and solve the factors that hinder green innovation and green initiatives in SMEs. In the study, firstly, the literature was searched, and six main barriers were determined as "economic barriers", "market barriers", "political barriers", "lack of information", "technological barriers" and "administrative barriers". Barriers were analyzed using Fuzzy ISM-MICMAC and Fuzzy DEMATEL methods by taking expert opinions from 18 SMEs in the Electrical and Electronics sector. The structural relationship model between the barriers was revealed with the Fuzzy ISM-MICMAC analysis methods. The effect-importance degree of the barriers was determined by the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, and their weights were calculated. As a result of the research, the most influential barriers to other barriers were determined as "economic barriers", "political" barriers" and "lack of information".


We present profiles of temperature, gas mass, and hydrostatic mass estimated from new and archival X-ray observations of CLASH clusters. We compare measurements derived from XMM and Chandra observations with one another and compare both to gravitational lensing mass profiles derived with CLASH Hubble Space Telescope and Subaru Telescope lensing data. Radial profiles of Chandra and XMM measurements of electron density and enclosed gas mass are nearly identical, indicating that differences in hydrostatic masses inferred from X-ray observations arise from differences in gas-temperature measurements. Encouragingly, gas temperatures measured in clusters by XMM and Chandra are consistent with one another at ∼100–200 kpc radii, but XMM temperatures systematically decline relative to Chandra temperatures at larger radii. The angular dependence of the discrepancy suggests that additional investigation on systematics such as the XMM point-spread function correction, vignetting, and off-axis responses is yet required. We present the CLASH-X mass-profile comparisons in the form of cosmology-independent and redshift-independent circular-velocity profiles. We argue that comparisons of circular-velocity profiles are the most robust way to assess mass bias. Ratios of Chandra hydrostatic equilibrium (HSE) mass profiles to CLASH lensing profiles show no obvious radial dependence in the 0.3–0.8 Mpc range. However, the mean mass biases inferred from the weak-lensing (WL) and SaWLens data are different. As an example, the weighted-mean value at 0.5 Mpc is 〈b〉 = 0.12 for the WL comparison and 〈b〉 = −0.11 for the SaWLens comparison. The ratios of XMM HSE mass profiles to CLASH lensing profiles show a pronounced radial dependence in the 0.3–1.0 Mpc range, with a weighted mean mass bias value rising to 〈b〉 ≳ 0.3 at ∼1 Mpc for the WL comparison and 〈b〉 ≈ 0.25 for the SaWLens comparison. The enclosed gas mass profiles from both Chandra and XMM rise to a value ≈1/8 times the total-mass profiles inferred from lensing at ≈0.5 Mpc and remain constant outside of that radius, suggesting that Mgas × 8 profiles may be an excellent proxy for total-mass profiles at ≳ 0.5 Mpc in massive galaxy clusters.


Owing to increased detection rates, the diagnosis and management of incidental pancreatic cysts has become a common predicament. Up to 13% of patients undergoing cross-sectional imaging studies for other indications are found to have pancreatic cystic lesions. Although most cystic lesions are benign, the malignant potential of several types of pancreatic cysts makes accurate classification vital to directing therapy. To this end, advances in the last decade led to better characterization of pancreatic cyst morphology and hence enhanced the ability to predict underlying histopathology, and biological behavior. Although accurate classification remains a challenge, the utilization of complementary diagnostic tools is the optimal approach to dictate management. The following review includes a description of pancreatic cysts, a critical review of current and emerging diagnostic techniques and a review of recent guidelines in the management of incidental pancreatic cysts.


CoNi films were grown on thin Gd layers at room temperature using dc magnetron sputtering. A large increase in the coercivity of CoNi/Gd bilayer, compared to the coercivity of CoNi film, was observed. The increase in coercivity was not significant when the order of film growth was reversed for the same thicknesses and identical deposition conditions. The large increase in coercivity is attributed to the pinning of the CoNi layer by the magnetically compensated ferrimagnetic alloy forming at the CoNi (top)/Gd (bottom) interface due to the diffusion of Co and Ni into Gd. Due to the large coercivity in this system, it can be used to pin soft ferromagnetic layers in spin valve structures.


Heat flow studies on the exposed part of the Trans-Hudson Orogen (THO) in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan allow constraints on crustal composition and lithosphere structure. The average of all heat flow values in the THO is the same as in other geological provinces of the Canadian Shield. However, where juvenile crust is exposed, heat flow is on average lower than in the Superior and Grenville provinces (37 vs. 41 mW m −2 ). Heat flow increases towards the surrounding Archean provinces, Rae-Hearne to the west, Sask to the south, and Superior to the east. There are strong differences in heat flow within and between the belts of the THO. The poor correlation between heat flow and heat production in the rocks exposed at the surface implies that these differences involve a large fraction of the crustal column. One new heat flow determination confirms the existence of a "cold spot" around the town of Lynn Lake in the northern part of the THO. Heat flow data in the Kisseynew and Glennie domains remain sparse, but they indicate that this low heat flow region extends as far south as the Flin Flon - Snow Lake Belt. The Lynn Lake Belt is underlain by poorly radiogenic rocks, possibly Kisseynew-type crust with oceanic basement. Northward increase in heat flow along the Thompson Belt is consistent with the view that the belt is thrust over Kisseynew-type basement only in the south. Heat flow increases southward in the Paleozoic basin because of higher heat production in basement rocks, probably from the Sask craton. We used the low heat flow regions to obtain an upper bound of 15 mW m −2 for the mantle heat flow in the THO. The effective elastic thickness of the lithosphere can be determined from the coherence between the topography and the Bouguer gravity. The effective elastic thickness is high (>40 km) thoughout the Canadian Shield and is highest in the central part of the shield, in particular in the Lynn Lake region. There seems to be a negative correlation between elastic thickness and heat flow in the central and western Canadian Shield. This indicates that, even in stable continents, the elastic thickness is largely controlled by the lithospheric temperatures that depend strongly on crustal heat generation and hence crustal structure.


Background: Healthcare provision is one of the key strategic Development Goals to be achieved by the year 2030. Governments have directed a lot of financial resources towards this purpose in an effort to meet the threshold set out by the WHO to ensure provision of quality healthcare and access by all citizens.
Objectives: To measure the technical efficiency levels in the public health system in Meru County in Kenya and investigate determinants of the technical efficiencies among the Decision Making Units (DMUs).
Data analysis: Analysis reported in this paper is based on the data from Meru County health centres. It consisted of 17 Decision Making Units (DMUs) with inputs as clinical staff and other staff while outputs were maternal care visits and other visits. Dummy variables considered were; education, training, gender of head nurse and laboratory. Analysis was done by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).
Results: The analysis revealed that average technical efficiency in the sample was 45.2%. This findings suggest that the existing health care services can be increased by up to 54.8% without providing additional resources to the frontline health facilities- a near replication of findings originally reported earlier. Tobit regression results show that gender of the facility manager and the availability of a laboratory at a facility are the main determinants of efficiency.
Conclusion and recommendation: Policies designed to improve health care delivery should focus on upgrading laboratory services and skills of facility heads, especially managerial abilities of female nurses. Efforts need to be directed towards enhancing efficiency such as training staff in management practices, maintenance of laboratory equipment, gender composition of staff should equally be considered. Focus on preventive healthcare such as regular check-ups would lower risks of severe or resistant cases that are difficult to treat in order to increase efficiency. Creation of conducive waiting and smooth flow of patient cues in the health facility would also increase technical efficiency of the facility.


An ad hoc network is a dynamically reconfigurable wireless network with no fixed infrastructure or central administration. Each host is mobile and must act as a router. Routing and multicasting protocols in ad hoc networks are faced with the challenge of delivering data to destinations through multihop routes in the presence of node movements and topology changes. Most of the proposed algorithms assume physically flat network architecture with mobile hosts having homogenous capability in terms of network resources and computing power. In practice however, this assumption often may not hold true since there exists various types of mobile hosts with different role and mobility pattern. Here we consider mobile ad hoc network that have physically hierarchical architecture where different types of mobile hosts form an ad hoc network hierarchy. A way for automatically organizing the hierarchical architecture is provided by the self-organizing map (SOM). The self-organizing map is one of the most prominent artificial neural network models adhering to the unsupervised learning paradigm. The simulation of the hierarchical ad hoc networks using neural concepts yields better performance.


High frequency power transformer (HFPT) is a key component of solid state transformer, namely power electronic transformer. The voltage applied on HFPT is high frequency (HF) repetitive impulses, generally the frequency of which is several kHz to tens of kHz. Under such HF voltage, premature insulation failure occurs more easily compared with power frequency. In order to study the evolution of creeping discharge on gas-solid interface under HF voltage, variations of discharge pattern and characteristics, surface charge distribution, surface morphology and molecular structure during discharge process under 20 kHz and 30 kHz are analyzed in this paper, as well as their interactions. Experiment results show that discharge behaviors in positive and negative half cycle are different, which can be called asymmetry phenomenon. The reason for this is the consecutive accumulation of negative surface charges on gas-solid interface. Continuous increase in physical and chemical defects on material surface resulted from material pyrolysis supports the continuous surface charge accumulation.


observational studies of exposures (ROBINS-E) tool: concerns arising from application to observational studies of exposures. Syst Rev 2018;7:242. 8. Hill AB. The environment and disease: association or causation?ProcRSoc Med 1965;58:295–300. 9. Fedak KM, Bernal A, CapshawZA,Gross S. Applying the Bradford Hill criteria in the 21st century: how data integration has changed causal inference in molecular epidemiology. Emerg Themes Epidemiol 2015;12:14. 10. Hume D. A treatise on human nature. London: Clarendon Press; 1739. 11. GershonAS, Jafarzadeh SR,Wilson KC,Walkey AJ. Clinical knowledge fro observational studies everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2018;198:859–867. 12. Ioannidis JPA. Contradicted and initially stronger effects in highly cited clinical research. JAMA 2005;294:218–228. 13. MacMahon S, Collins R. Reliable assessment of the effects of treatment on mortality and major morbidity, II: observational studies. Lancet 2001;357: 455–462. 14. Deeks JJ, Dinnes J, D'Amico R, Sowden AJ, Sakarovitch C, Song F, et al.; International Stroke Trial CollaborativeGroup; EuropeanCarotid Surgery Trial Collaborative Group. Evaluating non-randomised intervention studies. Health Technol Assess 2003;7:iii–x, 1–173. 15. Bosco JLF, SillimanRA, Thwin SS, Geiger AM, Buist DSM, Prout MN, et al. A most stubborn bias: no adjustment method fully resolves confounding by indication in observational studies. J Clin Epidemiol 2010;63:64–74. 16. Vandenbroucke JP. When are observational studies as credible as randomised trials? Lancet 2004;363:1728–1731. 17. Vandenbroucke JP. Why do the results of randomised and observational studies differ? BMJ 2011;343:d7020. 18. Sox HC, Greenfield S. Comparative effectiveness research: a report from the Institute of Medicine. Ann Intern Med 2009;151:203–205.


Results of two experiments reveal that the use of probability markers in advertisements affects brand attitude and purchase intentions, and that this is moderated by the type of service, customers' involvement, and their level of tolerance for ambiguity. Services in the study were classified as more or less hedonic/utilitarian, and more or less involving. Probability markers affect consumers' brand attitude and purchase intentions for less-involving services, while this effect is not significant for more-involving services. In addition, higher tolerance for ambiguity results in preference of hedges over pledges or no probability markers, while for consumers with lower tolerance for ambiguity the opposite holds. With regards to service type, for more-hedonic, less-involving services the use of hedges in advertising copy increases brand attitude and purchase intentions, while for more-utilitarian, less-involving services pledges result in highest levels of brand attitude and purchase intentions.


Diabetes mellitus is a serious public health problem, S. aureus and MRSA are the most common bacteria isolated from ulceration of diabetic patients. The aim of the study was to estimation rate of S. aureus and MRSA carrier in diabetes type-2 and determine the antimicrobial effect of Gliotoxin on the previous bacterial carriage in type-2 diabetes. The study was conducted on 450 diabetics' patients, attended the outpatients clinic in Baquba Teaching Hospital, their ages ranged from 15-65years, with mean age of 36.15, and 150 healthy group, who were randomly selected, during the period from May 2016 to April 2017, patients were classified into two groups according to the type of diabetes, group1 included: 184 with type1-diabetes, and group2: included 266 with type2-diabetes, 97 patients with foot ulcers. Swabs were taken from anterior nares, toe and axillae for each diabetic patient type-2, identified based on standard bacteriological methods. Using the Kirby -Bauer method for detection the antibacterial effect of Gliotoxin. The results showed rates of the bacterial carriage in anterior nares of type-2diabetic patients without complications were (11.4%), (4.4%), respectively for S. aureus and MRSA, in type-2 diabetes with complications were (8.6%), (2.1%) respectively for S. aureus and MRSA. In the toe of type-2diabetic patients without complications were (6.7%), (2.5%) respectively for S. aureus and MRSA. In with complications were (9.2%), (5%) respectively. In the axillae of diabetic patients, type-2 without complications was (5.5%), (4.5%) respectively. Aspergillus fumigatusGliotoxin was effective against bacterial carriage in diabetes type-2 with the foot ulcer, for S. aureus inhibition diameter was (20.50, 16.40, 12.20) mm for different concentrations of Gliotoxin, to MRSA was (8.25, 6.1, 4.20) mm. Increasing rate of S. aureus and MRSA carrier in diabetic patient's type-2 which lead to a significantly increased risk of bacterial infections. Gliotoxin was effective as an antibacterial agent against S. aureus and MRSA in type-2diabetis with the foot ulcer.


OBJECTIVES
Based on the fact that Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) occurs in approximately 5% of persons with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), we assessed the prevalence and significance of FMF gene mutations in children with one or more episodes of HSP.

STUDY DESIGN
Thirty-four boys and 18 girls treated for HSP at Rambam Medical Center were interviewed and asked to donate blood. Mean age at disease onset was 6.7+/-2. 4 years, and mean follow-up was 3.8+/-1.3 years. Six predominant mutations (M694V, M680I, M694I, V726A, K695R, E148Q) in the MEFV gene were studied.

RESULTS
Nine heterozygotes, three homozygotes and two compound heterozygotes, were identified. Altogether, five persons (10%) carried two mutated MEFV alleles, a number significantly exceeding that determined for the general Israeli population (1%-2%). Of these, three displayed genotypes associated with a mild form of disease (M694V/E148Q and V726A/V726A), and two had genotypes normally observed in disease-free persons (E148Q/K695R and E148Q/E148Q).

CONCLUSIONS
Occult FMF cases much more numerous than expected were identified among children presenting with HSP. Such children should be closely monitored for renal complications, and treatment with colchicine should be considered.


The rising world energy demand has led to exploration for oil and gas in increasingly difficult environments. Exploration is now extending into sensitive regions, in particular, offshore fields. Drilling in deep water in increasingly deviated and extended wells and borehole instability in challenging geological formations are some of the obstacles encountered. Oil-based drilling fluids are widely used in drilling, especially in highly technical wells. This is because oil-based drilling mud systems perform much better than water-based muds in bore hole stabilization and providing lubricity thereby give faster rates of penetration. However, they are a cause for environmental concern and with the potential long-term liability for damage caused by mud spills and problems in disposal of the oil-contaminated drill cuttings, changes are afoot. The industry has been replacing highly aromatic oils (e.g. diesel) with low aromatic mineral oils as well as synthetic oils. However, as environmental legislation and controls become more stringent, even the newer and less polluting mineral and synthetic oils in vogue now may be adjudged unsuitable because of their non-biodegradability. Indeed, today, in many parts of the world, including countries like the USA, United Kingdom, Holland, Norway, Nigeria and Australia, the use of diesel and mineral oil-based drilling fluids in offshore operations is already either severely restricted or banned because of their toxicity, persistency and bio-accumulation.


Two methods of botanical prospecting for uraniferous deposits on the Colorado Plateau are useful in semiarid country in prospecting for ore-bearing beds at depths as much as 70 feet. By one method, tips of tree branches are sampled and analyzed for uranium content. Generally more than 1 part per million of uranium in the ash indicates favorable ground for further geologic exploration. The second method, that of mapping indicator plants, is used in semiarid parts of the Plateau at low altitude. The distribution of indicator plants is controlled by the availability of chemical constituents of the ore, such as selenium, sulfur, and calcium. Plants of the genus Astragalus are most useful in prospecting for uranium deposits of high selenium content; plants of the genera Allium and Eriogonum are most useful as indicators of deposits with a high sulfur content. Fifty indicator plants commonly associated with carnotite deposits and plants tolersnt of mineralized ground are described and illustrated. (auth)


This thesis argues that a crucial resource of Critical Theory, the diagnosis of social pathologies, is being rendered impotent through its troubling and unnecessary marriage with a restrictive, recognition-derived approach to social theory. There is a growing literature arguing that contemporary Critical Theory has become philosophically, politically and social-theoretically unsound, increasingly blind to the meritorious insights of earlier generations of Frankfurt School scholars. This thesis argues that exactly such a development can be traced within contemporary social pathology scholarship. As a means of rejuvenating the Critical Theoretical tradition, this project serves to outline the utility of the many framings of social pathology which have been needlessly, and problematically, displaced by the ascendant recognition-based approaches to diagnosing social pathologies. This thesis seeks to champion a 'polycentric and multilateral' approach to social pathology scholarship, pointing beyond the myopically recognitive nature of contemporary Critical Theory.


M-government applications are a vital channel in the communication between public and government. They play an important role in fast delivery of government services and have been adopted by many governments around the world including the Kingdom of Bahrain. The purpose of this research is to examine citizens' satisfaction with m-government applications in the Kingdom. A model of the factors that measure satisfaction with m-government applications was developed based on the existing models in the literature. A questionnaire was distributed and 100 responses were collected from m-government application users in the Kingdom. The findings revealed that factors that directly determine customer satisfaction include public expectation perceived quality and government image. Customer satisfaction also has a significant influence on public trust. The contribution of this research resides in its application of a developed a model of satisfaction with mobile applications, given that little research has yet been conducted to measure mobile platforms for service delivery for e-government.


The Information Age is characterized by new ways of information generation, managing, and dissemination because of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) (Moahi, 2003; Paul, 2007). Institutional Repositories (IRs) play a fundamental role in centralizing, preserving, and making accessible institution's intellectual capital and, at the same time, they form part of a global system of distributed and interoperable repositories that provide the foundation for a new disaggregated model of scholarly publishing (Johnson, 2002; Nagahban, 2010). A study of nine libraries in the National Capital Region of India was conducted to: identify benefits of IRs, learn the satisfaction level of users with respect to IR facilities, identify the incentives for publication in IRs, and identify the appropriate policies to be adopted by institutions for implementing IRs. The results of the responses from the 496 respondents indicate that: 1) Most Faculty members and Research scholars in this study indicated that they do not publish their research in IRs. 2) Opinions about benefits of IRs are user-specific. For instance, a substantially large percentage of those Faculty members and Research scholars in the study who do use IRs are Most satisfied with potential benefits of IR while a relatively higher percentage of Students fall in the Satisfied category. 3) The benefits of IRs ranked most highly, although this varied by the different user groups was wider readership. Students ranked this and "quality aspect" – the opportunity to improve the quality of one's work through the provision of feedback from other researchers. 4) A serious concern about publishing in IRs is the potential for plagiarism and overall lower control over one's work. A second concern is the potential loss of content in IRs, which are often not archived as well as scholarly journals are. The findings suggest that institutions need to give due attention to policies related to two aspects of publication, especially those related to quality and copyright issues and to the academic value of research output. Other policy-related topics include citation in other publication with due acknowledgement, inclusion in indexing systems for retrieval, interoperability with other IRs, and Permanent storage.


Does the spread of democracy present a bright future, with peace among nations? The theoretical foundation for expecting peace to flow from democracy was set forth by Immanuel Kant. According to the interpretation in this article, Kant's notion of a pacific union of democracies rests on three pillars; first, the mere existence of democracies with their culture of peaceful resolution of conflict; second, the common moral bonds which are forged between democracies on this basis; third, the democracies' economic cooperation towards mutual advantage. The paper analyses each of the three conditions in the light of recent processes of democratization. It concludes that the emergence of a global pacific union embracing all the new and old democracries cannot be taken for granted. Success for the pacific union demands that the three basic conditions laid down by Kant are met by all members. Presently, this is far from the case. A pacific union is a reality among the industrialized democracies in the West; it may expand to include several of the new democracies in the East. Yet most of the democracies in the South fail to meet at least two of Kant's conditions, and instead of further democratic progress, they may backslide towards authoritarian rule. Finally, the article argues that it is possible to accept Kant's vision without rejecting basic insights of neorealism. The distance between Kant's idealism and neorealism is often overdone, as in Mearsheimer's analysis. A pacific union is the type of anarchy called a security community. It is only the extreme vision of Mearsheimerian neorealism with its one-sided emphasis on raw anarchy, and patterns of alliance and threat between anonymous state-units as the only sources of peace and war, which creates an insurmountable gulf between neorealism and Kantian thinking.


Natural killer T (NKT) cells play a central role in the interface between innate and adaptive immunity, and alpha-galactosylceramide was recently shown to be an endogenous antigen for these cells. The source of alpha-galactosylceramide has not yet been determined; however, in vivo degradation of alpha-galactosylceramide involves generation of alpha-psychosine (alpha-galactosylsphingosine). Alpha-psychosine stimulates cytokine release from NKT cells and constitutes an endogenous antigen for these cells. Alpha-psychosine contains a single lipid chain, while most antigens for NKT cells have two lipid chains, and we have investigated if other glycolipids with one lipid chain, derived from know antigens for NKT cells, stimulate cytokine release from NKT cells. Only psychosine variants derived from the most potent NKT cell antigens cause stimulation, and this stimulation occurs in vitro as well as in vivo. Truncated forms of weak antigens for NKT cells are not stimulatory.


Software testing is an important and time consuming part of the software development cycle. While automated testing frameworks do help in reducing the amount of programmer time that testing requires, the onus is still upon the programmer to provide such a framework with the inputs on which the software must be tested. This requires static analysis of the source code, which is more effective when performed as a peer review exercise and is highly dependent on the skills of the programmers performing the analysis. Thus, it demands the allocation of precious time of highly skilled programmers. An algorithm that automatically generates inputs to satisfy test coverage criteria for the software being tested would therefore be valuable, as it would imply that the programmer no longer needs to analyze code to generate the relevant test cases. This paper explores a hybrid evolutionary strategy with an evolutionary algorithm to discover such test case synthesis, in an improvement over previous methods which overly focus their search without maintaining the diversity required to cover the entire search space efficiently.


Velichko V.Ye., Fedorenko O.G. and Kasím D.A. Conceptual Bases of Use of Free Software in the Professional Training of Pre-Service Teacher of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science.
The development of education is associated primarily with the use of ICT. A significant experience is already gained in how to use educational computer systems while new forms and methods of learning based on modern information technology are being developed and used. In relation to free software, a period when the quantity should translate into quality and an indicator of such translation is development of the concept of the introduction of free software in educational activities of universities. The proposed concept, let's take Ukraine as an example, determines the main aim of introduction of free software in the training of pre-service of Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science; defines the objectives, measures, principles, the role and value of free software in the informatization process and results of its implementation.


It is critical to retain high quality and qualified teachers to provide high quality education in schools. Turnover intentions of teachers in schools have a negative impact on student satisfaction and on their educational development as well. The retention and performance of school teachers is possible through their job satisfaction to which reduces their turnover intentions and lead to their higher performance. Therefore, it is vital to consider all possible factors that impact on the teacher's performance and on their turnover intentions. Thus, due to the importance of teacher's turnover issue, the purpose of this paper is to review the literature relevant to teacher's performance and factors that reduce teacher's turnover intentions from schools. This study also aims to review the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors to assess teacher's performance and their staying intentions. Dimension for intrinsic motivation is the satisfaction derived from teaching, recognition, enjoying teaching, career development, the challenging and competitive nature of teaching, teaching as one goal in life and control over others. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation mainly includes the award applied externally as a salary or wages, free accommodation, educational progress in paying premiums, meals, additional payments in case of financial problems, paid leave and free medical assistance. The existing literature has identified major influential factors such as working conditions, administrative support and student behavior impacting teacher's performance and their retention. This study also provides some directions for future research in this regard as well. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1p233


The High Energy Physics (HEP) [1] – often called Particle Physics – is one of the research areas where the accomplishment of scientific results is inconceivable without the infrastructure for distributed computing, the Computing Grid. The HEP is a branch of Physics that studies properties of elementary subatomic constituents of matter. It goes beyond protons and neutrons to study particles which existed only a fraction of a second after the Big Bang and quarks and gluons in the so-called Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) [2]. These studies are based on experiments with particles colliding at very high energies, at speeds almost equal to the speed of light.


Renewable polymers with excellent stretchability and self-healing ability are interesting for a wide range of applications. A novel type of wholly biobased, self-healing, polyamide-based thermoplastic elastomer was synthesized using a fatty dimer acid and a fatty dimer amine, both containing multiple alkyl chains, through facile one-pot condensation polymerization under different polymerization times. The resulting elastomer shows superior stretchability (up to 2286%), high toughness, and excellent shape recovery after being stretched to different strains. This elastomer also displays high room-temperature autonomous self-healing efficiency after fracture and zero water uptake during water immersion. The highly entangled main chain, the multiple dangling chains, the abundant reversible physical bonds, the intermolecular diffusion, and the low ratio of amide to methylene group within the elastomer are responsible for these extraordinary properties. The polymerization time influences the properties of the elastomer. The use of the optimal self-healing thermoplastic elastomer in anticorrosion coating, piezoresistive sensing, and highly stretchable fibers is also demonstrated. The elastomer coating prevents stainless-steel products from corrosion in a salty environment due to its superhydrophobicity. The elastomer serves as a robust flexible substrate for creating self-healing piezoresistive sensors with excellent repeatability and self-healing efficiency. The elastomer fiber yarn can be stretched to 950% of its original length confirming its outstanding stretchability.


Adaptive IIR (infinite impulse response) filters are particularly beneficial in modeling real systems because they require lower computational complexity and can model sharp resonances more efficiently as compared to the FIR (finite impulse response) counterparts. Unfortunately, a number of drawbacks are associated with adaptive IIR filtering algorithms that have prevented their widespread use, such as: convergence to biased or local minimum solutions; requirement of stability monitoring; and slow convergence. Most of the recent research effort on this field is aimed at overcoming some of the above mentioned drawbacks. In this paper, a number of known adaptive IIR filtering algorithms are presented using a unifying framework that is useful to interrelate the algorithms and to derive their properties. Special attention is given to issues such as the motivation to derive each algorithm and the properties of the solution after convergence. Several computer simulations are included in order to verify the predicted performance of the algorithms. >


The space of topological decompositions into triangulations of a surface has a natural graph structure where two triangulations share an edge if they are related by a so-called flip. This space is a sort of combinatorial Teichmüller space and is quasi-isometric to the underlying mapping class group. We study this space in two main directions. We first show that strata corresponding to triangulations containing a same multiarc are strongly convex within the whole space and use this result to deduce properties about the mapping class group. We then focus on the quotient of this space by the mapping class group to obtain a type of combinatorial moduli space. In particular, we are able to identity how the diameters of the resulting spaces grow in terms of the complexity of the underlying surfaces.


The purpose of this research  was to know of the role of farmers group in the implementation of Sapta Usahatani Programs lowland rice farming by farmers in the Bunga Jadi Village, Muara Kaman District, Kutai Kartanegara Regency.   The method sampling that used is proportional stratified random sampling method with the number of respondents 41 families (KK). This research use chi kuadrat (X 2 ) analysis method, who the first variable is he role of farmer groups and the second variable  is the level of implementation of Sapta Usahatani programs, Based on the research results, it can be concluded that a group of farmers in Desa Bunga Jadi it has been classified as farmer groups are quite advanced, it is seen from the data obtained both for planning element, the element of dooperation in implementing the plan, as wele as elements of the development and utilization of facilities belonging to the group, initiatives and agreements as well as elements of the groups, already implemented in the high category.  Except on the elements of teaching and learning is still in the moderate category.  Implementation of the program Sapta Usahatani lowland rice from 7 element have been categorized held on high criteria, namely the use of improved seed, tillage, fertilization, pest and disease control, irrigation, and post harvest handling.  Except on the elements of marketing activity results which are still in the moderate category in the village of Bunga Jadi, who X 2 count of 11,16 compared with 9,49 X 2 table.  The results showed that farmers group have role of very effective to the implementation of Sapta Usahatani program lowland rice farming in Bunga Jadi Village.


Uterine lipoleiomyoma and pure lipoma are uncommon and extremely rare benign lipomatous tumors. Reported incidence is 0.03%–0.25%. Pure cervical lipoma is exceptionally rare. These tumors commonly arise in postmenopausal women. Ultrasonography and computed tomography finding may be nonspecific. Although magnetic resonance imaging can be useful in identifying the fatty nature of the lesion preoperatively, most of the cases postoperatively on histopathological examination. Although various theories of histogenesis of these tumors have been proposed, histogenesis remains to be enigma. These lesions may have coexistent malignancy in uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes or may have other metabolic disorders and abnormal estrogen status. Immunohistochemical studies have played an integral role in understanding its complex histogenesis. We did not find any case study in medical literature in which uterine lipoleiomyoma and cervical lipoma have been described in hysterectomy specimen. We report a unique case of a 43-year-old premenopausal woman with complaints of irregular vaginal bleeding and lower abdomen pain. Lipoleiomyoma in uterus corpus and cervical lipoma were diagnosed in hysterectomy specimen.


Climatic conditions affect animals but range-wide impacts at the population level remain largely unknown, especially in migratory species. However, studying climate-population relationships is still challenging in small migrants due to a lack of efficient and cost-effective geographic tracking method. Spatial distribution patterns of environmental stable isotopes (so called 'isoscapes') generally overcome these limitations but none of the currently available isoscapes provide a substantial longitudinal gradient in species-rich sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, sulfur (δ34 S) has not been sufficiently explored on a larger scale. We developed a δ34 S isoscape to trace animal origins in sub-Saharan Africa by coupling known-origin samples from tracked migratory birds with continental remotely-sensed environmental data building on environment-δ34 S relationships using a flexible machine learning technique. Furthermore, we link population-specific non-breeding grounds with interannual climatic variation that might translate to breeding population trends. The predicted δ34 S isotopic map featured east-west and coast-to-inland isotopic gradients and was applied to predict non-breeding grounds of three breeding populations of Eurasian Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) with two distinct migratory phenotypes. Breeding populations as well as migratory phenotypes exhibited large-scale segregation within the African non-breeding range. These regions also differed substantially in the interannual climatic variation, with higher interannual variability in the eastern part of the range during 2001-2012. Over the same period, the eastern European breeding population seemed to have experienced a more steep decline in population size. The link between migratory patterns and large-scale climatic variability appears important to better understand population trajectories in many declining migratory animals. We believe animal tracing using sulfur isotopes will facilitate these efforts and offers manifold ecological and forensic applications in the biodiversity hotspot of sub-Saharan Africa.


Evolutionary success depends on our ability to adapt to changing circumstances. The neuroendocrine response to stress is an excellent example of a plastic system that responds to threats to homeostasis and alters its output to meet current and expected future demands. At the level of the hypothalamus, the corticotroph secretagogues corticotrophin‐releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) respond rapidly to an acute stressor but, following chronic stress, they adapt with a reduction of CRH but a major increase in AVP. The release of CRH and AVP activates pro‐opiomelanocortin in anterior pituitary corticotroph cells and the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone into peripheral blood from where it targets receptors in the adrenal cortex to release glucocorticoid hormones. These hormones (i.e. corticosterone in the rat and cortisol in man) are released in a pulsatile ultradian pattern which defines the normal circadian rhythm. The frequency of the pulses is increased under states of chronic stress, and in rats with genetically determined hyper‐responsiveness of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis. Interestingly, neonatal influences can also programme alterations in ultradian rhythmicity, implicating epigenetic factors in its regulation. At the level of tissue receptors, the alteration in pattern of glucocorticoid ultradian rhythm has differential effects on mineralocorticoid receptor and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) binding to DNA and offers a mechanism for tissue specific responses to altered glucocorticoid dynamics. The effects of neonatal experience are not only seen at the level of CRH and GR regulation, but also are evident in behavioural responses to stress and in the responsiveness of brain stem serotonergic pathways, as measured by tryptophan hydroxylase mRNA in the brain stem.


In addition to the canonical function of charging tRNALys with lysine, Lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) associates with the HIV-1 proteins Gag and Gag-Pol in a process that enables selective incorporation of tRNALys3 into budding HIV-1 virions (1), where tRNALys3 primes reverse transcription upon infection by HIV.  Mutant LysRS studies have shown tRNALys is incorporated significantly less in LysRS mutants lacking the N-terminal domain, demonstrating the N-terminal domain's contribution to tRNALys binding as well as apparent cooperative binding of the synthetase's domains (2, 3). The goal of this research is to quantitate the affinity of the N-terminal domain for tRNALys variants.  This is accomplished by cloning, over-expression and purification of recombinant forms of the N-terminal domain of human LysRS in E. coli (BL21 DE3).  Following the isolation of the N-terminal domain of LysRS, we demonstrated by comparative NMR studies that this N-terminal domain is primarily unstructured in the absence of RNA (3). We wish to quantify the N-terminal domain's affinity for tRNALys3 and derivatives, using techniques such as EMSA and FA. The results of these binding studies and our understanding of how this domain influences RNA binding by LysRS will be presented and discussed.


The high-gain effect of sliding mode control based on VSS (Variable Structure System) suppresses the uncertainties due to parametric variations, external disturbances and variable payloads. The resulting system is completely robust whereas the obtained control law is simple and easy to be applied to on-line computer control. In this paper, the sliding mode controller for MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) robot arm is realized using "Estimated Inertia Matrix" which has inevitably small uncertainties dependent on arm structure and inaccuracies of computation. This technique contributes to practical design of sliding mode for MIMO system compared with the well-known "Hierarchy Method". In addition, simple nonlinear compensation and proper continuous function (instead of relay type component) with "Integral Mode" are implemented to diminish chattering caused by switching input. The validity of this control is confirmed in simulations and experiments where the system shows the robust performances in spite of the existing nonlinear interactions and unknown parametric changes.


As sensor networks operate over long periods of deployment in difficult to reach places, their requirements may change or new code may need to be uploaded to them. The current state-of-the-art protocols (Deluge and MNP) for network reprogramming perform the code dissemination in a multihop manner using a three-way handshake where metadata is exchanged prior to code exchange to suppress redundant transmissions. The code image is also pipelined through the network at the granularity of pages. In this article we propose a protocol called Freshet for optimizing the energy for code upload and speeding up the dissemination if multiple sources of code are available. The energy optimization is achieved by equipping each node with limited nonlocal topology information which it uses to determine the time when it can go to sleep since code is not being distributed in its vicinity. The protocol to handle multiple sources provides a loose coupling of nodes to a source and disseminates code in waves each originating at a source with a mechanism to handle collisions when the waves meet. The protocol's performance with respect to reliability, delay, and energy consumed is demonstrated through analysis, simulation, and implementation on the Berkeley mote platform.


Post-starburst quasars (PSQs) are hypothesized to represent a stage in the evolution of massive galaxies in which the star formation has been recently quenched due to the feedback of the nuclear activity. In this paper, our goal is to test this scenario with a resolved stellar population study of the PSQ J0210−0903, as well as of its emitting gas kinematics and excitation. We have used optical integral field spectroscopy obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph instrument at a velocity resolution of ≈120 km s−1 and a spatial resolution of ≈0.5 kpc. We find that old stars dominate the luminosity (at 4700 Å) in the inner 0.3 kpc (radius), while beyond this region (at ≈0.8 kpc) the stellar population is dominated by both intermediate-age and young ionizing stars. The gas emission-line ratios are typical of Seyfert nuclei in the inner 0.3 kpc, where an outflow is observed. Beyond this region, the line ratios are typical of low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions and may result from the combination of diluted radiation from the nucleus and ionization from young stars. The gas kinematics show a combination of rotation in the plane of the galaxy and outflows, observed with a maximum blueshift of −670 km s−1. We have estimated a mass outflow rate in ionized gas in the range 0.3–1.1 M yr−1 and a kinetic power for the outflow of Ėout ≈ 1.4–5.0 × 1040 erg s−1 ≈ 0.03–0.1 per cent × Lbol. This outflow rate is two orders of magnitude higher than the nuclear accretion rate of ≈8.7 × 10−3 M yr−1, thus being the result of mass loading of the nuclear outflow by circumnuclear galactic gas. Our observations support an evolutionary scenario in which the feeding of gas to the nuclear region has triggered a circumnuclear starburst 100 Myr ago, followed by the triggering of the nuclear activity, producing the observed gas outflow which may have quenched further star formation in the inner 0.3 kpc.


Christological τόποι (places) in Matthew's Infancy Narrative In the infancy narrative, Matthew the evangelist describes specific places associated with the earthly life of Jesus: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Egypt, Ramah, and Nazareth. These places show Jesus and allow for deeper and more accurate descriptions of the Christology of the Gospel. Bethlehem is the place of the birth and worship of the Messiah. For this 31 Cf. A. Paciorek, Ewangelia według świętego Mateusza, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 140. 235 Christological τόποι (Places) in Matthew's Infancy Narrative reason, the small place is exalted, in opposition to Jerusalem, the place of death of the Messiah, which is deprived of its respect and rank in the Old Testament. The latter town embodies people who are reserved and hostile to Jesus. Meanwhile, Egypt and Ramah act as subjects: Egypt is the point to which Holy Family arrives and later leaves, repeating the journey of Israel, albeit in a perfect way. Ramah refers to the matriarch Rachel and her weeping over the Chosen People, who have rejected the Messiah. The primary city in Matthew's infancy narrative is Nazareth, which describes Jesus and points to his messianic dignity and dedication to God.


Adrienne Kennedy, in her oeuvre, has addressed the intersecting complications of gender and race. Most of her plays have examined and explored the ways in which these categories are constructed in American society. Through her focus on the experience of African American female characters, Kennedy's theatrical work has illuminated the ways in which African American women are doubly oppressed. From this perspective, Sarah of the Funnyhouse of a Negro presents one of the most significant issues discussed by contemporary African American literature, which is the intersectionality of oppression. Funnyhouse was written in 1964, and the theory of intersectionality was established in 1989. Therefore, investigating the play through the lens of intersectionality reflects that Funnyhouse had advanced the time in which it had been written. The present paper aims to illustrate alienation through the lens of intersectionality to examine oppression and suffering experienced by Sarah. To accomplish this aim, the paper will focus on three dimensions presented in the play: race, gender issues and hybridity. Approaching these intersectional dimensions in the play helps to provide a full image of the alienation that Sarah was facing and suffering from the perspective of intersectionality..


OBJECTIVE
To provide a synopsis of current haemophilia care in Hong Kong.

DESIGN
Retrospective survey.

SETTING
All haematology units of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong.

PATIENTS
All patients with haemophilia A and haemophilia B.

RESULTS
To date, there were 222 mild-to-severe haemophilia patients (192 type A, 30 type B) under regular public care in Hong Kong (43% were considered severe, 33% moderate, and 24% mild), which gave a crude prevalence of 6.8/100 000 male inhabitants. A total of 12.8 million units of Factor VIII and 3 million units of Factor IX were prescribed annually. This amounts to 1.83 units of FVIII per capita of the population, which is comparable to that of other developed countries. Leading causes of mortality were human immunodeficiency virus-related complications (10 cases) and cerebral bleeding (2 cases). The life expectancy of patients with severe haemophilia in Hong Kong is improving; currently the oldest patient is 60 years old. Such improved survival may be due to enhanced factor availability, prompt treatment of bleeding episodes at home, safer factor products, and better antiviral treatment. Primary prophylaxis is the accepted standard of care for severe and moderate cases, and "Factor First" has become hospital policy. However, 12 patients continue to present treatment challenges, due to the documented presence of factor inhibitors. In all, 28, 100, and 14 cases respectively were positive for human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C virus, and hepatitis B virus; the youngest patients with the corresponding infections being 28, 13, and 22 years old. Comprehensive care with dedicated physiotherapy, surgical support, and radionucleotide synovectomy may reduce morbidity further.

CONCLUSION
A multidisciplinary approach can further improve the future care for haemophilia patients in Hong Kong.


Abiotrophia defectiva , a nutritionally variant streptococci can cause bacteremia, brain abscess, septic arthritis and in rare cases, infective endocarditis, which accounts for 5-6% of all cases. A. defectiva is characteristically difficult to diagnose and the mortality, morbidity and complication rates are high. Here, we discuss a case of infective endocarditis caused by A. defectiva. A 62-year-old female had previously undergone prosthetic valve replacement 6 years prior to admission. She developed infective endocarditis after tooth extraction. Her endocarditis was successfully treated with antimicrobial therapy and mitral valve replacement surgery. This is the first case of infective endocarditis caused by A. defectiva reported in Korea. This case shows that A. defectiva could be considered as a causative organism of infective endocarditis in Korea.


The application of knowledge is fundamental to human problem solving. In health disciplines, knowledge utilization commonly manifests through evidence-based decision making in practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of the evidence-based practice (EBP) movement in health professions in general, and dental hygiene in particular, and to examine its relationship to the professionalization agenda of dental hygiene in Canada. EBP means integrating practitioner expertise with the best available external evidence from research. Proponents of EBP believe that it holds promise for reducing a research-practice gap by encouraging clinicians to seek current research results. Both the Canadian and American Dental Hygienists Associations support practice based on current research evidence, yet recent studies show variation in practice. Professionalization refers to the developmental stages through which an organized occupation passes as it develops traits that characterize it as a profession. The status conferred by professionalization privileges a group to make and monitor its own decisions relative to practice. Dental hygiene's success in acquiring attributes of a profession suggests that transformation to a profession is occurring. This paper compares the assumptions and challenges of both movements, and argues the need for a principal focus on the development of a culture of evidence-based dental hygiene practice.


BACKGROUND
Telangiectasias (spider veins) and reticular veins on the lower limbs are very common, increase with age, and have been found in 41% of women. The cause is unknown and the patients may be asymptomatic or can report pain, burning or itching. Treatments include sclerotherapy, laser, intense pulsed light, microphlebectomy and thermoablation, but none is established as preferable.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of sclerotherapy, laser therapy, intensive pulsed light, thermocoagulation, and microphlebectomy treatments for telangiectasias and reticular veins.

SEARCH METHODS
The Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist searched the Cochrane Vascular Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, AMED and CINAHL databases, and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov trials registers to 16 March 2021. We undertook additional searches in LILACS and IBECS databases, reference checking, and contacted specialists in the field, manufacturers and study authors to identify additional studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs that compared treatment methods such as sclerotherapy, laser therapy, intensive pulsed light, thermocoagulation, and microphlebectomy for telangiectasias and reticular veins in the lower limb. We included studies that compared individual treatment methods against placebo, or that compared different sclerosing agents, foam or laser treatment, or that used a combination of treatment methods.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Three review authors independently performed study selection, extracted data, assessed risks of bias and assessed the certainty of evidence using GRADE. The outcomes of interest were resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias, adverse events (including hyperpigmentation, matting), pain, recurrence, time to resolution, and quality of life.

MAIN RESULTS
We included 3632 participants from 35 RCTs. Studies compared a variety of sclerosing agents, laser treatment and compression. No studies investigated intensive pulsed light, thermocoagulation or microphlebectomy. None of the included studies assessed recurrence or time to resolution. Overall the risk of bias of the included studies was moderate. We downgraded the certainty of evidence to moderate or low because of clinical heterogeneity and imprecision due to the wide confidence intervals (CIs) and few participants for each comparison. Any sclerosing agent versus placebo There was moderate-certainty evidence that sclerosing agents showed more resolution or improvement of telangiectasias compared to placebo (standard mean difference (SMD) 3.08, 95% CI 2.68 to 3.48; 4 studies, 613 participants/procedures), and more frequent adverse events: hyperpigmentation (risk ratio (RR) 11.88, 95% CI 4.54 to 31.09; 3 studies, 528 participants/procedures); matting (RR 4.06, 95% CI 1.28 to 12.84; 3 studies, 528 participants/procedures). There may be more pain experienced in the sclerosing-agents group compared to placebo (SMD 0.70, 95% CI 0.06 to 1.34; 1 study, 40 participants; low-certainty evidence). Polidocanol versus any sclerosing agent There was no clear difference in resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias (SMD 0.01, 95% CI -0.13 to 0.14; 7 studies, 852 participants/procedures), hyperpigmentation (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.43; 6 studies, 819 participants/procedures), or matting (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.27; 7 studies, 859 participants/procedures), but there were fewer cases of pain (SMD -0.26, 95% CI -0.44 to -0.08; 5 studies, 480 participants/procedures) in the polidocanol group. All moderate-certainty evidence. Sodium tetradecyl sulphate (STS) versus any sclerosing agent There was no clear difference in resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias (SMD -0.07, 95% CI -0.25 to 0.11; 4 studies, 473 participants/procedures). There was more hyperpigmentation (RR 1.71, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.64; 4 studies, 478 participants/procedures), matting (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.14 to 3.85; 2 studies, 323 participants/procedures) and probably more pain (RR 1.49, 95% CI 0.99 to 2.25; 4 studies, 409 participants/procedures). All moderate-certainty evidence. Foam versus any sclerosing agent There was no clear difference in resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias (SMD 0.04, 95% CI -0.26 to 0.34; 2 studies, 187 participants/procedures); hyperpigmentation (RR 2.12, 95% CI 0.44 to 10.23; 2 studies, 187 participants/procedures) or pain (SMD -0.10, 95% CI -0.44 to 0.24; 1 study, 147 participants/procedures). There may be more matting using foam (RR 6.12, 95% CI 1.04 to 35.98; 2 studies, 187 participants/procedures). All low-certainty evidence. Laser versus any sclerosing agent There was no clear difference in resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias (SMD -0.09, 95% CI -0.25 to 0.07; 5 studies, 593 participants/procedures), or matting (RR 1.00, 95% CI 0.46 to 2.19; 2 studies, 162 participants/procedures), and maybe less hyperpigmentation (RR 0.57, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.80; 4 studies, 262 participants/procedures) in the laser group. All moderate-certainty evidence. High heterogeneity of the studies reporting on pain prevented pooling, and results were inconsistent (low-certainty evidence). Laser plus sclerotherapy (polidocanol) versus sclerotherapy (polidocanol) Low-certainty evidence suggests there may be more resolution or improvement (or both) of telangiectasias in the combined group (SMD 5.68, 95% CI 5.14 to 6.23; 2 studies, 710 participants), and no clear difference in hyperpigmentation (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.99; 2 studies, 656 participants) or matting (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.21 to 3.28; 2 studies, 656 participants). There may be more pain in the combined group (RR 2.44, 95% CI 1.69 to 3.55; 1 study, 596 participants; low-certainty evidence).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Small numbers of studies and participants in each comparison limited our confidence in the evidence. Sclerosing agents were more effective than placebo for resolution or improvement of telangiectasias but also caused more adverse events (moderate-certainty evidence), and may result in more pain (low-certainty evidence). There was no evidence of a benefit in resolution or improvement for any sclerosant compared to another or to laser. There may be more resolution or improvement of telangiectasias in the combined laser and polidocanol group compared to polidocanol alone (low-certainty evidence). There may be differences between treatments in adverse events and pain. Compared to other sclerosing agents polidocanol probably causes less pain; STS resulted in more hyperpigmentation, matting and probably pain; foam may cause more matting (low-certainty evidence); laser treatment may result in less hyperpigmentation (moderate-certainty evidence). Further well-designed studies are required to provide evidence for other available treatments and important outcomes (such as recurrence, time to resolution and delayed adverse events); and to improve our confidence in the identified comparisons.


This paper introduces the kernel mixture network, a new method for nonparametric estimation of conditional probability densities using neural networks. We model arbitrarily complex conditional densities as linear combinations of a family of kernel functions centered at a subset of training points. The weights are determined by the outer layer of a deep neural network, trained by minimizing the negative log likelihood. This generalizes the popular quantized softmax approach, which can be seen as a kernel mixture network with square and non-overlapping kernels. We test the performance of our method on two important applications, namely Bayesian filtering and generative modeling. In the Bayesian filtering example, we show that the method can be used to filter complex nonlinear and non-Gaussian signals defined on manifolds. The resulting kernel mixture network filter outperforms both the quantized softmax filter and the extended Kalman filter in terms of model likelihood. Finally, our experiments on generative models show that, given the same architecture, the kernel mixture network leads to higher test set likelihood, less overfitting and more diversified and realistic generated samples than the quantized softmax approach.


A method was developed for analyzing broad spectrum small molecule metabolites in the serum of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients based on ultrafast liquid chromatography–ion trap–time of flight tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-IT-TOF MS). Serum samples were collected from 80 HCC patients and healthy persons. After pretreatment process for protein precipitation, the supernatant was analyzed with the UFLC-IT-TOF MS to obtain information on the metabonomics of small molecules. The eight compounds of glycocholic acid, choline glycerophosphate, acetyl-Lphenylalanine, oleamide, tetradecanamide, acetylcarnitine, lysolecithin and glycochenodeoxycholic acid in the HCC group were identified with significant differences from those in the health group (P <0.01). By using multidimensional analysis of variation coefficient and principal component analysis for the repeatability and 48 h stability, the method was demonstrated to have good repeatability, excellent precision, and high stability, which can satisfy the metabonomics research requirement. The high throughput and practical usability of the method further shows perspective for metabonomic analysis of large-batch serum samples.


The management and estimation of agile projects are challenging tasks for software companies due to their high failure rates. This paper emphasizes how to improve management and estimation challenges in the context of scrum, which is an agile process widely used for the development of small to medium size software projects. The scrum emphasis on code results in spending inadequate time on the estimation process. Mostly, the scrum master, along with the scrum team, estimates the upcoming software projects based on experience or historical data. Many issues can arise in a case where expert judgment is not available or historical data are not properly organized. In this paper, an Intelligent Recommender and Decision Support System (IRDSS) is proposed that can help the scrum master to better estimate an upcoming software project in terms of cost, time, and recommendations of human resources. Formal specification of IRDSS is also performed using the formalism known as Z language. Furthermore, an experiment on fifteen web projects was performed to validate the proposed approach and compared it with Delphi and Planning Poker estimation methods. The overall results indicate that the proposed system can produce better estimation than Planning Poker and Delphi methods by applying MMRE and PRED evaluation. This research opens new directions for the scrum community for the development of software projects within the allocated time and cost.


A majority of United States citizens reside in states that allow voters to directly decide questions of public policy through an initiative or referendum process. Although originally instituted as a check on elitist legislatures, the initiative process has generated its own set of electoral problems. Voters may find themselves under informed or confused about complex public policy issues, while interest groups attempt to manipulate the public with misinformation campaigns. In an examination of research findings from a 2006 statewide poll of likely voters in Washington, this article explores public perceptions, misperceptions and choices in initiative and referendum elections. The authors also discuss a proposal to reform direct democratic elections: the Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR), which would create a citizen panel to deliberate on proposed initiatives and give voters recommendations on the initiatives. The CIR could help make initiative elections more thoughtful and deliberative, and lead to the enactment of better public policy in states practicing direct democracy.


The old-new theory of differences between European groups in their adaptation and assimilation in the United States is applied to the large-scale immigration in Australia after World War 11. Since Australia, unlike the United States, first received sizable numbers of many northwestern and southeastern European groups at the same time, it is possible to test the validity of the theory when the groups are established at comparable periods in a society otherwise similar to the United States. As many as 9 old and 19 new groups are studied in terms of 14 indicators of work force characteristics, spatial segregation, amalgamation, and social problems. With the exceptions of urban segregation, location in rural areas, and intermarriage, the Mann-Whitney test fails to support the hypothesis when extraneous factors such as length of residence and age distributions of the groups are taken into account through standardization. These findings suggest both severe limitations in the generality of the old-new theory as well as the possibility that much of the old-new variance in the United States reflected differences in the groups' timing of arrival rather than cultural differences.


A randomized prospective comparison of treatment with cyclophosphamide and that with cyclophosphamide and cisplatinum, each in 21 patients with advanced ovarian cancer, has shown that the time to progression of tumor and the duration of survival were markedly improved in the patients receiving the combination chemotherapy. Cytoreductive surgery was performed in most of the patients in the study before the chemotherapy regimen was initiated. Secondlook surgery was performed after a year of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was administered on an outpatient basis, without excessive toxicity. At 2 years, 52.4% of the patients receiving combination therapy had no progression of tumor, whereas 9.5% had no progression of tumor in the group of patients receiving a single alkylating agent. Survival at 2 years was 61.9% for the combination chemotherapy group and 19.0% for those treated with cyclophosphamide alone. The study demonstrates a striking superiority of combination chemotherapy over single-agent chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.


COVID-19 and consequent changes in mobility have altered informal trading as a significant livelihood activity for many unemployed people in South Africa. Emerging evidence shows that informal traders were severely affected by this health and economic crisis. We analyse a representative sample of 15 informal traders from Gauteng and show that transitions to reduced working hours and to working from home have resulted in enhanced business skills, increased social bonds, and using digital platforms for trading. Despite lockdown and social distancing measures, we demonstrate three facilitating themes: human capital benefits and sustaining trading, social capital benefits, financial benefits and using digital platforms to enhance trading. The article concludes with suggestions to strengthen associations and business forums for informal traders in the second economy. Keywords: Economic Growth, Informal Trading, Social Capital, Sustainable Livelihood, COVID-19


Speech enhancement under highly non-stationary noise conditions remains a challenging problem. Classical methods typically attempt to identify a frequency-domain optimal gain function that suppresses noise in noisy speech. These algorithms typically produce artifacts such as "musical noise" that are detrimental to machine and human understanding, largely due to inaccurate estimation of noise power spectra. The optimal gain function is commonly referred to as the ideal ratio mask (IRM) in neural-network-based systems, and the goal becomes estimation of the IRM from the short-time Fourier transform amplitude of degraded speech. While these data-driven techniques are able to enhance speech quality with reduced artifacts, they are frequently not robust to types of noise that they had not been exposed to in the training process. In this paper, we propose a novel recurrent neural network (RNN) that bridges the gap between classical and neural-network-based methods. By reformulating the classical decision-directed approach, the a priori and a posteriori SNRs become latent variables in the RNN, from which the frequency-dependent estimated likelihood of speech presence is used to update recursively the latent variables. The proposed method provides substantial enhancement of speech quality and objective accuracy in machine interpretation of speech.


New records of the frog Hyla meridionalis have been reported on the Iberian Central mountain range, although it is not clear if those records correspond to an expansion process or to a lack of sampling. The species' global distribution was modelled to identify possible areas of expansion in the current environment and in a near future environment. To verify the effects of modelling a dynamic situation, the hypothetical expansion process from south to north was simulated in the current scenario. The species records were partitioned in four different datasets and modelled iteratively over a study area enclosing all records: records only from North Africa, from North Africa and South Iberian Peninsula, from North Africa and all the Iberian Peninsula, and from the entire distribution. The complete dataset was also used to extrapolate the model to a current and future global environmental scenarios. The models were compared by subtraction per pairs and by Cohen's Kappa. No spatio-temporal trends were detected in species records; therefore, the hypothesis of a recent expansion is nor supported. The species spread only to the Mediterranean part of the Iberian Peninsula when modelling only with African records, and to Europe when modelling also with Iberian records. The extrapolation models were moderately similar: large suitable areas were predicted in all the continents. Temperature variables contributed more to models. The species can expand to new suitable areas, although it is not possible to know if it would expand outside the biogeographical regions where the species is present.


The spiritual crisis is so much engulfed by the urban community with its materialistic life, this leads to a vacuum of heart and leads to serious stress and turmoil. This turmoil mobilized everyone to overcome it, including Café Rumi worshipers. A spiritual café that offers spiritual needs that are being sought by the urban community. Through the application of routine zikir rituals, it can be a solution to this problem This study aims to find out whether the typical ritual remembrance activities at Café Rumi can have a significant impact and influence on the sobriety of the pilgrims who regularly attend zikir activities that are there. This study uses qualitative methods with descriptive analysis approach through direct observation, in-depth interviews and documentation process. After that, it is done with the data analysis process, compared, described later until the final conclusions are obtained. The target of being a researcher is the Cafe Rumi congregation, most of whom are city residents. This study yields conclusions in the form of the meaning of remembrance in Café Rumi is not merely a ritual but rather a zikir in an act of sharing with others. And from the reading side there is a modification of the addition and subtraction of the number of zikir. Zikir activities are carried out in three forms, namely spiritual meditation with zikir together led by kiyai, culture through sholawatan and Sufi dances accompanied by hadrah music, and social activities in the form of sharing food to people in need at a crossroads. The ritual of the typical Sufi ritual of remembrance is also able to increase the sobriety for worshipers at Café Rumi.


The regular seasonality of influenza in temperate countries is recognized, but regional differences in patterns of influenza-related mortality are poorly understood. Identifying patterns could improve epidemic prediction and prevention. The authors analyzed the monthly percentage of deaths attributable to pneumonia and influenza among people aged 65 or more years in the contiguous United States, 1968-1998. The local Moran's I test for spatial autocorrelation and correlograms assessing space-time synchrony within each influenza season were applied to detect and to characterize mortality patterns. Western US regions experienced epidemics of greater magnitude than did eastern regions. Positive spatial autocorrelation (two-sided p = 0.001) revealed the similarity in influenza mortality of neighboring states, with several western states forming a focus of high mortality. In transmission seasons dominated by virus subtype A(H3N2), mortality was correlated at a high and consistent level across the United States (mean correlation = 0.56, standard deviation = 0.134). However, when subtype A(H1N1) or type B dominated, the average synchrony was lower (mean correlation = 0.23, standard deviation = 0.058). These novel analyses suggest that causes of spatial heterogeneity (e.g., large-scale environmental drivers and population movement) have impacted influenza-associated mortality.


The human T-cell leukemia virus type II (HTLV-II) regulatory protein Rex augments cytoplasmic levels of unspliced gag-pol mRNA by acting through a Rex-responsive element (RxRE) in the long terminal repeat. Purified Rex protein binds to long terminal repeat mRNA. Here, using an immunobinding assay to measure the binding of Rex protein to mutated RxRE RNAs, we show that efficient Rex binding requires a stem-bulge-loop RNA secondary structure (nucleotides [nt] 465 to 500) and specific sequences both within the stem-bulge (nt 470 to 476) and within a conserved upstream splice donor site (nt 449 to 455). Rex function in a transient transfection expression system correlates with Rex protein-RxRE RNA binding. The ability of HTLV-II Rex to interact directly with the HTLV-II splice donor site suggests that HTLV-II Rex may increase expression of unspliced gag-pol mRNA, in part, by inhibiting splicing.


6,10-Diphenylbenz[a]azulene (3) was reacted with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (ADM) in the presence of 2 mol-% of [RuH2(PPh3)4] in MeCN at 100° to yield a 7:1 mixture of dimethyl 2,6-diphenyl-9,10-benzotricyclo[6.2.2.01,7]dodeca-2,4,6,9,11-pentaene-11,12-dicarboxylate (4) and dimethyl 8,12-diphenylbenzo[d]heptalene-6,7-dicarboxylate (5; Scheme 2). The tricycle 4, when heated in DMF at 150° for 1 h led to the formation of 81.5% of the heptalene-6,7-dicarboxylate 5 and 15% of the starting azulene 3. No rearrangement of tricycle 4 was observed, when it was heated at temperatures up to 180° in pseudocumene. The heptalene-6,7-dicarboxylate 5 was easily separated into its antipodes (PM)-and (MP)-5 on a Chiracel column (cf. Fig. 2). On heating at 150° for 1 h, (MP)-5showed no racemization at all. The Ru-catalyzed reaction of benz[a]azulene (6) with ADM led to the formation of dimethyl 9,10-benzotricyclo[6.2.2.01,7]dodeca-2,4,6,9,11-pentaene-11,12-dicarboxylate (7; Scheme 3). However, the formation of the corresponding heptalene-6,7-dicarboxylate could not be observed.


The number of cases of meningococcal disease reported to the Meningitis Reference Laboratory in Athens rose dramatically in 1996-1997. The aims were (1) to determine if the increase was due to introduction of new strains, (2) to assess the geographic and age distribution of the cases, (3) to compare antibiotic sensitivity patterns of the current isolates with strains from the early 1990s. In 1993-1994, 15/19 (74%) of the cases for which information on age was available were in children < or = 5 years; in 1995-1997, 80/179 (45%) of cases were in children < or = 5 years and 99 (55%) in the older age range (P < 0.02). From 593 cases in 1993 1997, 214 (36%) isolates were available for characterisation. Serogroup B was predominant in the early 1990s, but by 1997, serogroup C accounted for 46/72 (64%) of isolates and serogroup B for 25/72 (35%). Serogroup B was predominant in children < or = 5 years (44/78, 56%) but only 19/99 (18%) of older children and adults (P=0.0000005). Sulfonamide resistance decreased from 10/22 (45%) in 1993-1994 to 27/192 (14%) in 1995-1997 (P<0.01). Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis of 70 strains obtained during this period identified the epidemic ET-15 clone in 24 (34.3)%. The profiles of the Greek ET-15 isolates were identical to C:2a:P1.2(P1.5) strains responsible for the epidemic in the Czech Republic which began in 1993. This genotype was not found in Greek strains isolated prior to 1993. We conclude that the increase in meningococcal disease is due to introduction of the epidemic serogroup C:2a:P1.2(P1.5) strain responsible for disease in the Czech Republic and Canada.


The paper introduces a new control system that's fast, accurate and intelligent. Unlike traditional techniques used to date, this system works in the optical domain i.e. it is run on optical computers which are faster than the existing computers. The control system is a merger of optical computers, fuzzy logic, and neural networks. Possible application of genetic algorithms are also proposed which are very good at finding an optimal solution. This paper deals with the advantages of optical computing, need of fuzzy logic and essential merger with neural nets.


This paper considers the regulation of executive pay practices in listed companies in the European Union and the empirical evidence of pay practices, based on the FTSE Eurotop 300 membership's annual report for 2001. The analysis is placed in the context of the dispersed ownership/blockholding ownership faultline which runs across EU corporate governance, and in light of recent EU initiatives, particularly the Commission's May 2003 Company Law Action Plan. The outstanding feature of executive pay in the EU is the extent to which it reflects the interconnection between pay and corporate governance or ownership structures. Executive pay, regarded as a management incentive contract, is a key agency-cost control mechanism in dispersed ownership systems. Legal controls on pay are accordingly at their most sophisticated, in terms of promoting the adoption of an optimal contract for shareholders, in those EU Member States where dispersed ownership dominates. These systems also see the heaviest reliance in practice on high-powered, equity-based, incentive-driven pay contracts. In blockholding systems, controlling shareholders can, in theory, monitor management directly without the need for an incentive contract. Pay controls are accordingly less sophisticated and, as revealed by the FTSE Eurotop 300 evidence, the prevalence of high-powered equity-based incentive contracts is reduced. Different concerns arise, however, as to the protection of minority shareholders from controlling blockholders. At present, notwithstanding a growing pan-EU concern with executive pay, it cannot be regarded in a monolithic fashion for pan-EU reform purposes. A shift to more pervasive equity ownership across the EU may, however, bring the problems currently associated with pay practices in dispersed ownership systems. The governance and disclosure matrix proposed by the Commission's Company Law Action Plan to address the conflicts of interests inherent in executive pay setting may, therefore, be important as a precautionary measure. The Action Plan's executive pay proposals also reflect the growing convergence among Member States, on both sides of the governance faultline, as to the importance of full, individualized disclosure of executive pay and of the remuneration committee in managing conflicts of interests in the executive pay process.


Sennius Bridwell is a New World genus of Bruchinae. Most species are placed in eight groups. In this study the species of the S. abbreviatus group are reviewed based on characters of the external morphology and the male genitalia. The group includes 14 species, two of which are new: Sennius abbreviatus (Say, 1824), S. bondari (Pic, 1929), S. durangensis Johnson & Kingsolver, 1973, S. lawrencei Johnson, 1977, S. lebasi (Fåhraeus, 1839), S. leucostauros Johnson & Kingsolver, 1973, S. lojaensis (Pic, 1933), S. medialis (Sharp, 1885), S. nappi Ribeiro-Costa & Reynaud, 1998, S. rufomaculatus (Motschulsky, 1874), S. transversesignatus (Fåhraeus, 1839), S. trinotaticollis (Pic, 1930), S. vivi sp. nov. and S. flinte sp. nov. The S. abbreviatus group differs from other groups by the pattern of sclerites and the shape of the internal sac of the male genitalia, and has three subgroups, defined here. The lectotype of S. lebasi is designated. New host plant records are presented for S. lojaensis and S. transversesignatus, and new distribution records for S. lawrencei, S. lojaensis and S. trinotaticollis.


In practice, conditional variational autoencoders (CVAEs) perform conditioning by combining two sources of information which are computed completely independently; CVAEs first compute the condition, then sample the latent variable, and finally concatenate these two sources of information. However, these two processes should be tied together such that the model samples a latent variable given the conditioning signal. In this paper, we directly address this by conditioning the sampling of the latent variable on the CVAE condition, thus encouraging it to carry relevant information. We study this specifically for tasks that leverage with strong conditioning signals and where the generative models have highly expressive decoders able to generate a sample based on the information contained in the condition solely. In particular, we experiments with the two challenging tasks of diverse human motion generation and diverse image captioning, for which our results suggest that unifying latent variable sampling and conditioning not only yields samples of higher quality, but also helps the model to avoid the posterior collapse, a known problem of VAEs with expressive decoders.


Purpose. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the implications that the initial application of the highest and best use concept (IFRS 13) means for the information policy of listed European property companies with regard to the fair value determination of their property investments. Within this scope we aim to reply the question if these companies have changed their valuation policy, as a consequence of the first mandatory application of this concept and we also test the existence of national disparities. Methodology. Research work starts with the analysis of the question "how the highest and best use concept has been accepted and applied in a cross-national sample of listed European property companies?" To do this, we examine their financial statements and we quantify the impact of this concept on the fair value of their property investments. Afterwards, empirical analysis is done by applying some novel approaches which focus the valuation procedure of their real estate assets. The following regression models are used to test the two hypotheses that focus the questions "which part of the annual variation of the fair value of property investments can be explained by the application of the highest and best use concept" and "which part of them can be explained by national valuation habits". Results. The survey of the financial statements gives evidence that the interpretation and application of this concept in practice varies a lot from company to company, but also from country to country.  Explanatory power of the applied models is reduced, without taking into account the national location of the company, but increases significantly by the aggregation of a variable which includes the information about geographical factors. Depending on the national location of each property company, we found evidence that the application of the highest and best use concept contributes significantly to explain the changes in fair value of their investment properties. The theoretical contribution. Initial results suggest the existence of significant cultural differences among European property companies with regard to the initial application of the highest and best use concept. The highest and best use concept must be taken into account from now on as a new factor to determine the fair value of investment properties.  The complexity in fair value measurement of non-financial assets has increased by the introduction of this concept and fair value has now a higher fictitious component. On the other hand, the consideration of the prudence principle has become even less important in the context of this new IFRS rule. Practical implications (if applicable). The results of this research paper contribute to achieve a better understanding of the complexity that the highest and best use concept means for the accounting based valuation of property investments. This information also can be used by companies or appraisers to improve the valuation procedure of these assets. Keywords: IFRS 13, highest and best use concept, fair value, property companies Paper type : Research paper.