This literature review critically synthesizes 10 years of international teacher expectations research using a simplified "expectation effect process" model. New developments in teacher expectation research are outlined, including effects of teacher expectations on students, teachers' development of expectations, teachers' differential treatment of students, and students' reactions to teacher expectations. A brief overview of pre-2008 research presents the foundations of the post-2008 research using the same "expectation effect process" model. A separate section about Australian research is also included. Results of the literature review show that while qualitative research on the topic has increased from 2008 to 2018, quantitative studies still prevail and qualitative studies on the topic—particularly those which consider students' perspectives—are rare. Hence, this article argues that the development of a more holistic, in-depth understanding of how teacher expectations affect student outcomes is possible through contextually embedded qualitative research that includes exploration of students' reactions to teacher expectations. In this way, further understandings about how and why expectation effects vary between students could be gained.


The design of a block floating-point hardware CORDIC unit intended for use in large single-chip systems of CORDIC processors is described. More than 100 of these processors should be able to fit onto a single chip in today's CMOS technology. This processor is fully programmable in function. That is, by modifying a few programming bits, one may evaluate any of the operations native to the CORDIC algorithm plus others such as square root, exponential, and logarithm. Connections between these CORDIC units in a single-chip system would also be programmable. From this basic operations set, small networks of CORDIC processors may be constructed to implement a wide range of mathematical functions including roots and powers, as well as the inverse trigonometrics and hyperbolics.<<ETX>>


This paper is concerned with the problem of designing switched state feedback H infin controllers for discrete-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems. New types of state feedback controllers, namely, switched parallel distributed compensation (PDC) controllers, are proposed, which are switched based on the values of membership functions. Switched quadratic Lyapunov functions are exploited to derive a new method for designing switched PDC controllers to guarantee the stability and H infin performances of closed-loop nonlinear systems. The design conditions are given in terms of solvability of a set of linear matrix inequalities. It is shown that the new method provides better or at least the same results of the existing design methods via the pure PDC scheme with a quadratic Lyapunov function or switched constant controller gain scheme. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Serious concern about the differences that exist between the performance of female and male students in mathematics, science, and by extension, information technology (IT), has led researchers to attempt to identify why female students have inferior performance. This paper first reviews the relevant literature in order to isolate the age group in which the difference is most prevalent, and then identifies the learning strategies that seem to cause the largest difference. The results of students taking a second-year college theoretical mathematical course are then compared to those of students in a third-year college IT course, so as to explain why female students performed better in the mathematical course than in the IT course. Possible causes for the differences are isolated to inform the learning strategy that has subsequently been adopted for the IT course. The main difference between the courses was predicted to be that students may have not been aware of all that was expected of them or that they needed guidance to overcome initial obstacles faced in learning programming. Statistical analysis of the results reveals that female student distributions among the different grade sectors are positively affected by the new approach. Results are applicable to theories of pedagogy of teaching information technology courses.


In this paper, a photonic crystal-based structure for an all-optical full-subtractor has been proposed. The structure includes six nonlinear resonant rings to transmit the incoming optical waves toward the output ports. Using the different radii for nonlinear rods made the possibility of the dropping operation for different amounts of optical intensities. The nonlinear rods are made of a doped-glass with an optical Kerr coefficient of 10–15 m2/W. To calculate the components of the optical waves throughout the structure, the finite-difference time-domain method has been used. The simulation results prove the correct functionality of the proposed structure. Besides, the maximum rise time of the device is equal to 2 ps. The contrast ratio and the area of the structure are around 8.08 dB and 2790 µm2, respectively.


This paper examines the role played by valuers in choosing the right viability appraisal technique for an investment appraisal. Structured questionnaire was administered on Twenty one (21) registered and practicing Estate Surveying and Valuation firms in Akure out of which fourteen (14) were retrieved and found good for analysis. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency tables and weighted mean score 3 and 4-point likert formats. The result of the analysis revealed that Valuers mostly make use of Payback Period, NPV and IRR, which are deterministic in nature. This is as a result of the valuers basing their appraisals mostly on economic and financial criteria only without fully analyzing the various factors such as the prevailing inflation rate in the economy and the level of risk tolerance of their client. The outcome of a good investment appraisal forms the basis upon which any investment decision is based. A good investment is an offset of a good viability appraisal, and the valuers' role is to give such advice that will maximize the benefit's objective of the investor. Key Words: Investment, Practice, Risk Tolerance, Valuer, Appraisal Technique, Viability Criteria


The obstetrician/gynecologist frequently serves as the primary care physician for women. Specialty-specific guidelines vary in screening recommendations for lipid disorders; women's health practitioners often follow recommendations to screen at age 45 in the absence of other risk factors. However, 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol guidelines recommend screening at age 21 to capture those at risk of cardiovascular disease and allow for early intervention with lifestyle and, in the most severe cases, evidence-based statins. We discuss the care of women who primarily benefit from screening: those with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), those with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) or polycystic ovary syndrome, and those with hypertriglyceridemia. Those with FH have elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol from birth and a propensity for premature coronary heart disease. Early recognition of FH can allow risk-reducing interventions, as well as identification of additional affected relatives. Early detection of metabolic variables, such as in the MetS and hypertriglyceridemia, can lead to an enhanced focus on physical activity and heart-healthy diet. Finally, we discuss a practical approach to lipid management and review concerns regarding drug safety. Our objective is to provide a current overview of cardiovascular risk factor optimization that women's health practitioners can use in identifying and/or treating patients at risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.


RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
New therapies are increasingly approved by regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based on testing in non-randomized clinical trials. These treatments have typically displayed "dramatic effects" (ie, effects that are considered large enough to obviate the combined effects of biases and random errors that may affect the study results). The agencies, however, have not identified how large these effects should be to avoid the need for further testing in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We investigated the effect size that would circumvent the need for further RCTs testing by the regulatory agencies. We hypothesized that the approval of therapeutic interventions by regulators is based on heuristic decision making whose accuracy can be best characterized by the application of signal detection theory (SDT).

METHODS
We merged the EMA and FDA database of approvals based on non-RCT comparisons. We excluded duplicate entries between the two databases. We included a total of 134 approvals of drugs and devices based on non-RCTs. We integrated Weber-Fechner law of psychophysics and recognition heuristics within SDT to provide descriptive explanations of the decisions made by the FDA and EMA to approve new treatments based on non-randomized studies without requiring further testing in RCTs.

RESULTS
Our findings suggest that when the difference between novel treatments and the historical control is at least one logarithm (base 10) of magnitude, the veracity of testing in non-RCTs seems to be established.

CONCLUSION
Drug developers and practitioners alike can use the change in one logarithm of effect size as a benchmark to decide if further testing in RCTs should be pursued, or as a guide to interpreting the results reported in non-randomized studies. However, further research would be useful to better characterize the threshold of effect size above which testing in RCTs is not needed.


LBA266 Background: Although single intravesical instillation chemotherapy immediately after transurethral resection (TUR) is the standard treatment for non-muscle-invasive bladder tumors, 40% to 80% of tumors show intravesical recurrence. In this prospective randomized controlled study, we try to evaluate the prophylactic efficacy and safety of twice intravesical instillation using pirarubicin (THP) administered immediately after TUR and on the next day following TUR by comparison with single instillation immediately after TUR.

METHODS
Between 2005 and 2009, 250 patients with Ta and T1 solitary bladder carcinoma were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized into two groups. Group A patients were treated with two intravesical instillations of THP 30 mg/50 ml saline immediately after TUR and within 24 hours. Group B patients were treated with single instillation of the same dose immediately after TUR as a control group. The primary endpoint was duration to the first recurrence, and the secondary endpoint was safety.

RESULTS
The enrollment was closed on 2009, and the follow-up phase is in process. Of the 250 patients, 125 in Group A and 125 in Group B could be evaluated as full analysis set. One hundred eight male and 17 female were in Group A, on the other hands, one hundred five male and 20 female were in Group B. Eighty-six cases (69%) in group A, and 88 cases (70%) in group B were primary tumor. Fifty-seven cases (46%) in group A, and 56 cases (45%) in group B were small tumor (less than 10mm). There was no difference between backgrounds of both groups. The randomization worked well. In this ad interim report, median follow up was 48 months. Two-year recurrence-free rates were 76.8% in group A and 67.5% in group B. Adverse reactions related to instillation were observed in about 20% of the patients. These toxicities were mild and transient. Only the incidence of frequency in group A was higher than that in group B (20% vs. 8%, p=0.0106).

CONCLUSIONS
Intravesical instillation of THP 30 mg twice within 24 hours after TUR was effective as prophylactic therapy for non-muscle-invasive cancer with tolerable toxicity problems.


It was studied the influence of 20 amino acids on beta-adreno- and M-cholinoreactivity of longitudinal strips (n = 268) of rat uterus horn (n = 46) with the help of adrenaline (10(-8) g/ml) and acetilcholine (10(-6) g/Ml) accordingly. It is shown, that 3 amino acids from 20, including L-histidine (3 x 10(-8) - 3 x 10(-5) g/ml), L-triptophan (10(-8) - 10(-5)) and D-, L-tyrosine (2 x 10(-8) - 2 x 10(-5)), not changing M-cholinoreactivity of uterus smooth muscles, everyone or complexly essentially raised their beta-adrenoreactivity, i.e. expressed their beta-adrenosensibilisatory activity. It allows to consider that this amino acids are possible components of endogenic sensibilisator of beta-adrenocepters. It is discussed the question about using this amino acids in a dietary meal and complex therapy at insufficiency of beta-adrenergic influences on visceral organs.


Remdesivir (RDV) is a direct-acting antiviral agent that is used to treat patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). RDV targets the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV-2). We have previously shown that incorporation of the active triphosphate form of RDV (RDV-TP) at position i causes delayed chain termination at position i + 3. Here we demonstrate that the S861G mutation in RdRp eliminates chain termination, which confirms the existence of a steric clash between Ser-861 and the incorporated RDV-TP. With WT RdRp, increasing concentrations of NTP pools cause a gradual decrease in termination and the resulting read-through increases full-length product formation. Hence, RDV residues could be embedded in copies of the first RNA strand that is later used as a template. We show that the efficiency of incorporation of the complementary UTP opposite template RDV is compromised, providing a second opportunity to inhibit replication. A structural model suggests that RDV, when serving as the template for the incoming UTP, is not properly positioned because of a significant clash with Ala-558. The adjacent Val-557 is in direct contact with the template base, and the V557L mutation is implicated in low-level resistance to RDV. We further show that the V557L mutation in RdRp lowers the nucleotide concentration required to bypass this template-dependent inhibition. The collective data provide strong evidence to show that template-dependent inhibition of SARS–CoV-2 RdRp by RDV is biologically relevant.


Consistently high reliability and low latency are twin requirements common to many forms of distributed processing; for example, server farms and mirrored storage access. To address them, we consider replication of requests with canceling - i.e. initiate multiple concurrent replicas of a request and use the first successful result returned, canceling all outstanding replicas. This scheme has been studied recently, but mostly for systems with a single central queue, while server farms exploit distributed resources for scalability and robustness. We develop an approximate stochastic model to determine the response-time distribution in a system with distributed queues, and compare its performance against its centralized counterpart. Validation against simulation indicates that our model is accurate for not only the mean response time but also its percentiles, which are particularly relevant for deadline-driven applications. Further, we show that in the distributed set-up, replication with canceling has the potential to reduce response times, even at relatively high utilization. We also find that it offers response times close to those of the centralized system, especially at medium-to-high request reliability. These findings support the use of replication with canceling as an effective mechanism for both fault- and delay-tolerance.


A model for describing radar sea clutter is proposed. It consists of two parts, an oceanographic and an electromagnetic one. The former contains swell, small capillary and gravity waves as well as breaking wave events. The latter combines ray tracing, Bragg scattering and the Method of Moments. It is shown that the combination of the two models is capable of well reproducing several key aspects of radar sea clutter.


This letter presents a novel and sensitive frequency response analysis (FRA) technique for off/on-line condition monitoring of expensive power apparatus. The main objective is to investigate the applicability of this predictive maintenance technique to diagnosing power transformer failures, to characterize the transformer in a frequency plane for safe operation, and to develop on-line monitoring technique. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated on a 2.5 MVA transformer housed at the High Voltage Laboratory of Pacific Power International (PPI) and then tested on three field transformers. The on-line technique is verified on a single-phase high voltage transformer. This study shows that FRA results are very sensitive to faults. The configuration of the measurement set up, frequency range and terminations play a greater role in getting reproducible, fault-indicating results. The interpretation of the voluminous data and analysis relevant to the faults opens a gateway to develop smart power apparatus.


Buffer Overflow Attacks that exploit memory overruns in a variety of ways have been the most effective and difficult to prevent, methods of compromising system security. The root cause for exploitation of these vulnerabilities is the lack of availability of allocated size information of buffers at runtime. Consequently no bound checking is done in standard C library functions that are the most common interfaces for buffer manipulation leaving most C programs vulnerable to buffer overflow attacks. Ensuring proper bound checking at these interfaces can help prevent buffer overflow attacks. Pure static approach to bounds checking does not work, as it is not possible to know the allocated size of dynamically allocated buffers at compile time. On the other hand, relying on pure dynamic approaches for collecting allocated size information incurs high runtime overhead. A hybrid approach that collects buffer bound information using static and dynamic methods and ensures enforcement of these boundaries at runtime can be very effective in preventing buffer overflows. Such a hybrid approach lowers the overhead of obtaining bound information while improving the accuracy of the information obtained. Tests on the implemented hybrid defense method promise efficient prevention and complete coverage of various buffer overflow attacks.


We introduce a formalism for the Kauffman model which allows one to introduce a temperature parameter. We calculate the critical temperature in a Bethe lattice approximation and by computer simulations in 2D. Our formulation allows us to treat a large class of problems within the same framework.


Tumor cells produce urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in an enzymatically inactive proenzyme form (pro-uPA). Secreted pro-uPA can immediately bind to the specific uPA receptors (uPAR) on tumor cell surface with high affinity. The uPAR specifically recognizes enzymatically inactive pro-uPA and active high molecular weight-uPA (HMW-uPA) by their growth factor-like terminal domain. uPAR is a glycoprotein of approximately 55 kDa; the affinity for uPA is high (0.2 nM) and the rate of dissociation is low. Receptor-bound uPA catalizes the formation of plasmin on the cell surface to generate the proteolytic cascade that contributes to the breakdown of basement membrane and extracellular matrix. The plasma membrane uPAR has attracted considerable attention because of its role in migration and tissue invasion by mononuclear phagocytes and malignant cells. In some cell types uPAR localizes uPA to cell-cell and cell-substratum contact sites, providing the possibility of a directional proteolysis that may be involved in cell migration and invasion. Recently it has been reported that competitive displacement of uPA from uPAR resulted in decreased proteolysis, suggesting that the cell surface is the preferred site for uPA-mediated protein degradation. Various very different approaches to interfere with the expression or reactivity of uPA or uPAR at the gene or protein level were successfully tested including antisense oligonucleotides, antibodies, inhibitors and recombinant or synthetic uPA and uPAR analogues. Recently we have reported that a highly purified urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI) efficiently inhibits soluble and tumor cell-surface receptor-bound plasmin. UTI inhibits not only tumor cell invasion in an in vitro assay but also production of experimental and spontaneous lung metastasis in an in vivo mouse model. The anti-invasive effect is dependent on the anti-plasmin activity of UTI. UTI peptide, which inhibits plasmin activity, synthesized by an automated peptide synthesizer showed mouse 3LL cell invasion inhibitory activity. UTI and the effective peptide inhibited tumor cell invasion through Matrigel. UTI did not inhibit tumor cell proliferation or the binding of the cells to Matrigel. Also, UTI did not inhibit chemotactic migration of tumor cells to fibronectin. It is likely that UTI acts as a protease inhibitor. We attempted to synthesize conjugates between ATF and UTI. Thus, conjugating a physiological plasmin inhibitor to ATF might target it to reduce cell-associated proteolytic activity to the close environment of the uPAR-expressing tumor cell surface and subsequently may effectively inhibit tumor cell invasion and metastasis, because the cell surface uPAR might be a critical component of the metastatic machinery. A method of conjugation of the UTI domain II (HI-8), to the receptor-binding amino-terminal fragment (ATF) of uPA has been developed utilizing the heterobifunctional cross-linking reagent, N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithio) propionate (SPDP). The conjugate retained its protease inhibiting activity and showed a binding reactivity to uPAR on the surface of tumor cells. We have shown that the conjugate exhibits plasmin inhibition to the close environment of the cell surface and subsequently inhibits the tumor cell invasion through Matrigel in an in vitro invasion assay. In order to extend our idea, we attempt to produce a novel hybrid molecule consisting of the ATF of uPA placed at the N-terminus of UTI domain II (HI-8) by protein engineering techniques. Exogenously applied ATFHI hybrid protein can immediately bind to the specific uPAR on cell surfaces with high affinity. The receptor-bound hybrid protein focuses the protease-inhibiting activity to the tumor cell surface. This is effectively a bifunctional molecule which, in addition to inhibiting trypsin and plasmin activities directly, is able toblock unoccupied uPAR, thereby preventing localization of uPA activity.


Teenage pregnancy is a global public health problem, which results in inevitable interruptions in their education. In some instances, dropping out of school is temporary, but some of teenagers do not return to school. The dual responsibility of parenting and school work often results in poor scholastic performance, adding to the burden of a limited education and scarce employment opportunities. Since 2004, schools in Soshanguve have been requesting urgent preventive interventions regarding teenage pregnancy, which prompted the need for this study. The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of relationships, perceptions and the socio-cultural environments of pregnant teenagers in Soshanguve.
A qualitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was used for the study. Participants comprised teenagers from Soshanguve secondary schools, who visited the clinic for ante-natal or post-natal care. A purposive sampling method was used and the sample size was determined by saturation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants. Tesch's approach, using open coding and a template analysis system, was utilised for data analysis.
Teenagers lacked information about menarche and menstruation, leaving them unprepared for their pregnancies. Participants did not realise the consequences of their love and sex relationships. Circumstances around their lives and the socio-cultural environments contributed to their pregnancies, resulting in teenagers showing regret, shame, denial and some accepting their pregnancies. Communication about sexuality was lacking and teenagers had no risk perceptions regarding their pregnancies. A community-specific and evidence-based intervention to prevent teenage pregnancy is urgently needed.


Supervision over the suppliers of packaging as well as suppliers of raw materials for packaging production is important to ensure the quality and safety of meat products. The aim of this study was to verify the remote evaluation procedure of quality, processing and economic criteria in qualification of raw materials suppliers to the meat packaging foil producer during the Covid-19 pandemic. The evaluation was done remotely in terms of meeting some of the requirements of the quality management system (QMS) in conditions where regular audit could not be carried out. The survey was conducted in one of the biggest packaging foil producers in Greece via its supplier evaluation. The evaluation consisted of: 1/ economic criteria and 2/ quality and processing criteria. The highest and the lowest rated economic criteria were procedural compliance and price of raw materials. Among the quality and processing criteria, the highest score was given to warranties and claims policies and material quality, and the lowest one to lead time. The highest ratings obtained suppliers of raw materials directly involved in production, suppliers from Greece, the USA and Denmark, as well as suppliers to the R&D department. The results of the study showed that the quality of the raw materials directly used in the production of packaging foil was adequate. Therefore, their use ensure production of packaging foil and finally packaged meat products of adequate quality and safety. The presented procedure occurred to be useful for remote evaluation of quality, processing and economic criteria in qualification of suppliers during the Covid-19 pandemic. It may inspire other producers of food packaging materials to continuing supervision over their suppliers while regular methods of control are limited.


Objective. To study, in a real-life setting, the construct validity, the reliability, and the interpretability of the 12-item Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID-12) questionnaire in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods. In 144 consecutive patients with PsA (81 men and 63 women, mean age of 51.4 ± 12.8 yrs, and 77 receiving biologic treatment), the PsAID-12 and other patient-reported outcomes (PRO) were collected, such as the Dermatology Life Quality Index. Each patient underwent articular and skin assessment. Results. Construct validity: Factor analysis revealed a 2-factor result defined as the PsAID Symptom Score and the PsAID Skin Score. In determining convergent validity, significant correlations were found between the PsAID-12 and the clinical Disease Activity index for Psoriatic Arthritis (cDAPSA; ρ = 0.867, p < 0.0001). Multivariable analysis showed that the PsAID-12 is determined by the articular disease activity (cDAPSA, p < 0.0001), severity of psoriasis (PsO; physician's global assessment, p < 0.0001), and the presence of a coexisting fibromyalgia (FM; p < 0.0001). Reliability: Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.93 for the total PsAID-12. Interpretability: Applying the cDAPSA categorization of disease activity states, the PsAID-12 cutoff values resulted in 1.4 between remission and low disease activity (LDA), 4.1 between LDA and moderate disease activity (MDA), and 6.7 between MDA and high disease activity. Conclusion. The PsAID-12 is an excellent PRO to evaluate the effect of PsA. It should be carefully handled in patients with coexisting FM.


This paper presents a new joint space-time interpolation technique (STINT) to improve the small sample support performance of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) with distorted linear monostatic arrays and linear bistatic array configurations. Brennan's rule for the space-time clutter covariance matrix rank is extended to monostatic linear arrays with arbitrary intersensor spacing, distorted linear arrays and bistatic geometries. It is shown that both distortion in the array geometry and bistatic operation increase the clutter rank and cause the space-time clutter covariance matrix to become range dependent. This results in lower output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for the same number of adaptive degrees of freedom and reduced available sample support. This motivates the development of the STINT technique aimed at compensating for the clutter rank inflation, while also making the clutter statistics appear more stationary across range. More specifically, a linear transformation is designed that maps the received clutter across space and time to that which would be received by a "virtual" monostatic side-looking ULA. By mapping the data to form a reduced rank clutter covariance matrix, fewer snapshots are needed for a statistically stable matrix inversion as required in STAP, thereby improving the short observation time performance. Simulation results for a typical airborne radar scenario indicate up to 10-dB SINR improvement can be obtained using STINT with limited sample support.


A product is not useful unless it is usable. This statement can be universally applied to any products designed for human use including software systems. Unfortunately, we still see many common applications in our daily lives that are not so user-friendly. anyOCRWeb and anyTrain are web-based applications which offer users with many great features. Both are exceptional attempts strived for better user experience of anyOCR, a high-accuracy commandline interface Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system. Nevertheless, the effort must be continued. This thesis aimed to further improve the user experience of both systems by applying User-Centered Design approach. I focused primarily on OCR pipeline creation and visualization, as well as, output preview in anyOCRWeb, and clustering annotation for unsupervised OCR training in anyTrain. I began with the analysis of the context of use to grasp a good understanding of the very people who would be using the systems. I then specified the requirements, generated design solutions, and implemented them. Throughout the process, evaluation played an important role to ensure that this master's thesis was moving in the right direction. Frequent usability testing was conducted, both formally and informally, regardless of the tested articles: sketches, prototypes, or real systems. Formal usability experiments were organized to quantify the improvement in usability. In a cross-over withinsubjects experiment, System Usability Scale (SUS) was chosen as a tool to measure perceived usability of the old and the new design. It was found that, on a scale of 0 to 100, there was a statistically significant rise in usability from 45.83 points in the old version to 75.14 points in the new version. In comparison with other web interface systems, the new user interface was also considered above average in terms of usability.


Family factors can influence vulnerability to suicide in the general population as well as among Aboriginal communities. This research compares First Nations families living in three contexts – on a reserve, in a small town, and in a metropolitan area – to verify if children on a reserve appear to have higher family vulnerability, as indicated by a measure of negligence/indifference. An interview was conducted with three non-random samples of Quebec First Nations parents. The first sample was selected from a reserve, the second from families living in small towns near a reserve, and the third from two metropolitan areas. The negligence score was based on the criteria of the Childhood Experience of Care  and Abuse interview. Aboriginal families from the metropolitan areas obtained a lower rate of negligence than the reserve group, with an intermediate rate for the small town group. However, rates were high in all three settings. Informants from groups outside the reserve perceived the reserve as presenting more challenges to raising children than where they lived. Vulnerability of children is likely to remain high in this reserve in the near future. Initiatives that have the intention of empowering parents should be undertaken at the family level. Prevention should also focus on ecological factors such as housing, continuing education, and job creation, as well as family intervention.


This paper reports on development of X-band microwave oscillators incorporating recently developed sapphire resonators. Two resonators have been constructed for oscillator development. One resonator is a room temperature thermoelectric (TE) stabilized sapphire resonator operating at 9.00000 GHz and configured as a two port device with an unloaded Q factor of 187000 and port couplings of 0.74 and 0.17. The second resonator is a liquid nitrogen cooled sapphire resonator with two stale temperature control operating at 8.95 GHz with an unloaded Q factor of about 40 million. The single sideband phase noise of a free running loop oscillator incorporating the room temperature resonator has been measured to be -104 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz with a f/sup -3/ dependence and is limited by the resonator Q and the flicker noise of the active components. By incorporating specially designed feedback electronics we have measured a reduced single sideband phase noise of -125 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz with a f/sup -3/ dependence. For this oscillator configuration the phase noise was limited by the flicker noise of the phase detector in the feed back electronics. Based on the room temperature results we predict that we will obtain better than -155 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz with the liquid nitrogen cooled resonator-oscillator.<<ETX>>


This paper described a wafer-level compressive flow underfill process and its involved materials for a novel SMT transparent flip-chip technology. In this flip-chip technology, a liquid fluxable wafer level compressive flow underfill (WLCFU) material is coated on the active side of an entire patterned and bumped wafer at first. The WLCFU layer is dried up at an elevated temperature to form a solid layer. The coated bumped wafer is then diced into individual chips. The diced individual chips are then placed on to a carrier film with their active side to the tacky side of the carrier film. These diced individual chips are picked from the tacky carrier film and placed on a substrate such as a PWB board using standard SMT equipment. At an elevated temperature (100-180/spl deg/C) during solder reflow, the solid WLCFU layer can be re-melted and easily fill in the gaps between chip and substrate. After solder reflow (190-200/spl deg/C), the WLCFU material can be fully cured. A B-stage epoxy technology was used to develop this WLCFU material and the tacky material on the carrier film. A properly selected fluxing agent was added to both the WLCFU and tacky materials to provide sufficient fluxing capability for good solder interconnection. Thermo-gravimetrical analyzer (TGA) was used to investigate the drying kinetics and material weight loss during reflow process. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was used to study the curing kinetics of the prepared formulations. Thermo-Mechanical Analyzer (TMA) was used to investigate the heat distortion temperature (TMA Tg) and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Dynamic-Mechanical Analyzer (DMA) was used to measure the storage modulus (E') and cross-linking density (/spl rho/) of the cured material. Rheometer was used to investigate viscosity (/spl eta/) change with the temperature increase during solder reflow process. Preliminary results demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed novel flip-chip technology with the developed WLCFU and tacky materials. The basic qualifications of the WLCFU material were examined. Some technical barriers related to this technology are also discussed.


Dendritic Cells (DC) play a pivotal role in the initiation of T-cell-mediated immune responses, making them an attractive cellular adjuvant for use in cancer vaccines. The interaction of T cell with DC is crucial for directing T cell differentiation towards the Th1, Th2 or Th17 type, and several factors determining the direction of the T cell polarization. IL-12 plays a central role in the immune system, not only by augmenting the cytotoxic activity of T cells and NK cells and regulating IFN-γ production, but also by the capacity of IL-12 to promote the development of Th1. Some plant-derived terpenes regulate differentiation of DC from human monocytes. Terpene compounds-primed DC enhances the differentiation of naive T cell towards the Th1 type, which is dependent on IL-12 secretion. Some patents on terpene compounds, which may lead to the development of effective immunotherapy for cancer, are also discussed in the review.


The strengthening of reinforced concrete members with prestressed fibre-reinforced polymer laminates has been investigated by researchers due to major improvements in member serviceability characteristics. Currently, analytical models generally employ mostly empirical procedures in predicting member behaviour, and as a result, the analytical results exhibit poor correlation to experimental investigations. In this article, an analytical model is developed using new and existing theoretical techniques to critically analyse strengthened reinforced concrete beams for a range of loading scenarios to generate moment–rotation and load–deflection relationships. The prestress level and the intermediate crack debonding strain of the prestressed fibre-reinforced polymer laminate with the inclusion of mechanical end anchorage were highlighted as key parameters within the model. The proposed model adopts closed-form solutions to allow for a wide range of beams with varying steel and fibre-reinforced polymer reinforcement ratios and dimensions. The model incorporates calibrated crack spacing theory to predict the crack width and spacing as well as the length of the cracked region in the beam. The models have good correlation with collected experimental data and thus can be used for the analysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with prestressed fibre-reinforced polymer, throughout all stages of loading from serviceability to failure.


This thesis contributes to our understanding of the role of European Union policy in national level governance of the audiovisual media sectors in small states in South East Europe. It compares the Republics of Slovenia and Macedonia, two countries of similar size and population that emerged from the same former-Yugoslav media system. Slovenia is a new EU member state and Macedonia is a candidate country, therefore both are formally bound by EU audiovisual media policy. Europeanization research, particularly in new Member States and candidate countries, has focused on compliance with transposition deadlines and the implementation of specific EU Directives. This study takes a bottom-up approach, making media governance its object of study based on a conceptualisation of governance by Jan Kooiman (2003), but still focused on identifying the role of the EU within that national level governance. It draws on interviews with stakeholders in both countries, examination of secondary data available on the respective media markets, and accounts from civil society actors and regulators to arrive at an overall picture of media governance.
It finds that in these two cases the role of Europeanization, defined in this thesis in relation to the EU, centres on the use of EU rules by domestic actors in order to forward their strategic interests. It argues that the media sectors in these two cases are largely resistant to Europeanization because of their small size and the particular relations between media and political elites. This thesis suggests that the media sector may be different from other sectors such as transport, environmental protection, or labour in terms of Europeanization and governance because the role of media in domestic politics. However, this is not a simple story of the democratic and governance failures often attributed to Southern European countries. This thesis shows the complexity in which Europeanization takes place, and highlights the importance of market conditions and market players to this process.


To reconstruct environments 3D point clouds acquired by laser scanners are registered. This is an important but also time consuming part of any mapping system for mobile robots. The time needed for mapping is drastically reduced when the size of the input data is reduced. This paper examines different ways of reducing the size of point clouds without losing vital information for the matching process. We present novel point cloud reduction methods on the basis of panorama images. It is shown that the reduced point clouds are ideally suited for feature based registration on panorama images. We evaluate the presented reduction methods based on their effect on the performance of the registration algorithm.


The advent of inexpensive, high-speed processing and storage has fueled interest in new ways to process and display 3D images. This new discipline of 3D imaging promises to produce a wealth of exciting applications in many fields. For three years, engineers at Linkoping University have experimented with algorithms and methods to display 3D images obtained from a variety of sources, including computer-aided tomography, transmission electron microscopy, and laser microscopy. This article reviews the applicability of different display methods for different types of volumes, the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques, and the results of experiments when image processing techniques were applied before the images were displayed.


The background of this study originated from yet effective implementation of primary health programs in Garut District Health Office. This is indicated by the low life expectancy (AHH). This condition is thought to have successful implementation of health policy particularly in health policy implementation of SPM. The purpose of this study is to reveal the influence of SPM in health policy implementation of the effectiveness of the implementation of primary health programs. This study used an explanatory research design using quantitative approaches and statistical analysis techniques using SEM . Technique of data collecting is done through study of documentation and field study through observation , questionnaires and interviews . The results showed that in health policy implementation of SPM significantly influence the effectiveness of basic health programs. Dimensional attitude of the implementers have the smallest value and less able to measure or reflect the implementation of the policy variables, can therefore be argued that the attitude of the implementers have not shown a good attitude. Therefore, the results of this study can be put forward a new concept that the attitude of the implementers that are less disciplined and less responsible in carrying out tasks can lead to failure of policy implementation.


Four different Trichoderma strains, T. harzianum CECT 2413, T. asperellum T53, T. atroviride T11 and T. longibrachiatum T52, which represent three of the four sections contained in this genus, were transformed by two different techniques: a protocol based on the isolation of protoplasts and a protocol based on Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Both methods were set up using hygromycin B or phleomycin resistance as the selection markers. Using these techniques, we obtained phenotypically stable transformants of these four different strains. The highest transformation efficiencies were obtained with the T. longibrachiatum T52 strain: 65-70 transformants/microg DNA when transformed with the plasmid pAN7-1 (hygromycin B resistance) and 280 transformants/107 spores when the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation was performed with the plasmid pUR5750 (hygromycin B resistance). Overall, the genetic analysis of the transformants showed that some of the strains integrated and maintained the transforming DNA in their genome throughout the entire transformation and selection process. In other cases, the integrated DNA was lost.


The kinetics of the hydroformylation of 3,3-dimethyl-1-butene with a rhodium monophosphite catalyst has been studied in detail. Time-dependent concentration profiles covering the entire olefin conversion range were derived from in situ high-pressure FTIR spectroscopic data for both, pure organic components and catalytic intermediates. These profiles fit to Michaelis-Menten-type kinetics with competitive and uncompetitive side reactions involved. The characteristics found for the influence of the hydrogen concentration verify that the pre-equilibrium towards the catalyst substrate complex is not established. It has been proven experimentally that the hydrogenolysis of the intermediate acyl complex remains rate limiting even at high conversions when the rhodium hydride is the predominant resting state and the reaction is nearly of first order with respect to the olefin. Results from in situ FTIR and high-pressure (HP) NMR spectroscopy and from DFT calculations support the coordination of only one phosphite ligand in the dominating intermediates and a preferred axial position of the phosphite in the electronically saturated, trigonal bipyramidal (tbp)-structured acyl rhodium complex.


Turner syndrome, characterized by the presence of a monosomy X cell line, is a common chromosomal disorder. Patients with Turner syndrome are usually phenotypically female, and male cases are rarely reported. Here, we report a fetus with a mosaic karyotype: mos 45,X/46,X,del(Y)(q11.21). The fetus was initially misdiagnosed as female with Turner syndrome by both noninvasive prenatal testing and cytogenetic analysis of amniotic fluid and was subsequently found to have male anatomy by antenatal ultrasonography at 24 weeks gestational age. Through single nucleotide polymorphism‐array and fluorescence in situ hybridization testing, we found that there was a truncated Y chromosome with sex‐determining region Y (SRY) present in some cells of the fetus, which caused the male features in the fetus.


BACKGROUND
Regular aspirin is beneficial after myocardial infarction (MI). Community-based surveys appear to show unsatisfactory uptake of aspirin after MI. This could be due to over-the-counter (OTC) use not being recorded. In a pilot study in one practice, 39% of patients on aspirin after MI used OTC preparations. In addition, women and older patients were less likely to use aspirin.

OBJECTIVES
We aimed to describe aspirin use following MI in general practices in West London, including regimens and OTC use, and to demonstrate any association between aspirin use and gender, age or social class.

METHODS
We used a postal questionnaire survey. The setting was a random sample of six general practices in Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority who use Egton Medical Information Systems (EMIS) to store morbidity data. The subjects were registered patients with a history of MI. The main outcome measures were questionnaire data on aspirin use, regimen, OTC use, prescription charge exemption, age, gender, ethnic group and social class.

RESULTS
The prevalence of previously recorded MI in all age groups was 0.64%. The response rate was 89%. Regular aspirin was used by 80%. Of these, 22% use OTC aspirin. OTC use was significantly more common in those paying prescription charges. Aspirin use was not associated with gender, age or social class.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrated a high uptake of aspirin among patients with previous MI as recorded by computer. OTC aspirin use was significant, and should be inquired about and recorded.


The authors describe an analysis network that has been successfully applied to redundancy extraction in speech coding and for classification purposes in speech recognition. The network is designed as a two-level hierarchical structure with one building block. This building block performs a DCT (discrete cosine transformation) followed by magnitude and phase-derivative time trajectory computation. A combined short- and long-term analysis is obtained as well as energy compaction to a very small number of characteristic parameters. The parameters reflect both formant and pitch structure of voiced speech signals. The analysis applies to any quasi-stationary signal and is not dependent on any speech production model.<<ETX>>


The geochemical modeling based on thermodynamic equilibrium has become a well recognized tool for understanding the processes of water-rock interaction and its mechanisms. However, in the last 40 years, has paid little attention to rock-water-gas interaction (heterogeneous multi-component systems) in geothermics (perhaps due to the complexity of the calculations), where the water is only one of these components of the vapor-liquid phases containing a mixture of reactive and inert gases. In this sense, this book is useful for modeling geothermal reservoirs and geochemical interactions through thermodynamics of liquid-vapor phase equilibria, particularly with the development of an equation for Poynting correction that can correct the deviation from ideality that show at high pressures the liquid-vapor systems. The objective of this book is present a speciation and thermodynamic equilibrium calculations method of vapor-liquid multicomponent phases below the critical temperature of water (647 K) and pressures up to 2 kilobar with computational tools.


In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed for unsupervised segmentation that incorporates a local trinary pattern (LTP) operator representation of textures under a geometric active contour framework. First, by combining the gray levels of pixels with texture information of an image, this method can be used for segmentation of a texture image or a nontexture image. And then, the method is modified to avoid the additional computation problem without re-initialization repeatedly. The simulation experiments show that the proposed segmentation method is more efficient, accurate and fast.


Agriculture is the most direct route to improving the diet of a person ensuring year-round access to adequate, safe and diverse nutrient-rich food. However, a resilient agricultural production system is the sine-qua-non to sustain food security amidst extreme climate change consequences. The present study made an attempt to imply multinomial logistic regression model to identify the factors which determined the decision on technology adaptation for nutrition-sensitive climate change vulnerable agriculture. The study was conducted with proportionate randomly selected 60 farmers of Neemuch and Mandsaur districts representing respectively moderate and high climate change vulnerable Malwa Plateau Agro-Climatic Zone of Madhya Pradesh respectively. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that the Cox & Snell R2 and the Nagelkerke R2 values of 0.389 and 0.485 respectively determined that between 38.9% and 48.5% of the variability in dependent variable namely 'Decision on technology adaptation for nutrition-sensitive climate change vulnerable agriculture' is explained by the set of independent variables viz., 'Age', 'Level of Education', 'Operational Land Holding', 'Annual Income', 'Awareness on Consequences of Climate Change in Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture', 'Knowledge of Mitigation and Adaptation of Nutrition-sensitive Climate Change Practices in Agriculture', 'Perception on Climate Change in Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture', 'Fatalism', 'Risk Orientation' and 'Social Cohesiveness' used in the model. The overall predictive accuracy for the present model was 71.7%, suggesting that the model was useful.


Road extraction from aerial and satellite imagery is of fundamental importance in the context of spatial data capturing and updating for GIS (Geographic Information System) applications. This article proposes a semiautomatic methodology for 3D road extraction from digital images. The dynamic programming (DP) algorithm is used to carry out the optimisation process in the object-space, instead of doing it in the image-space such as the DP traditional methodologies. This means that road centrelines are directly traced in the object-space, implying that a mathematical relationship is necessary to connect road points in objectand image-space. This allows the integration of radiometric information from images into the associate energy function. Although the methodology can operate in different modes (mono-plotting or stereo-plotting), and with several image types, including multisensor images, this paper presents details of our stereo-based approach involving a stereo pair of aerial images. In order to initialise the extraction procedure, a few seed points are necessary to be supplied in the object-space to sparsely and coarsely describe the roads. We visually identify these points on the stereo images and project them onto the object-space. Each road is extracted separately by an iterative scheme based on the DP optimisation algorithm. Each iteration cycle is carried out by means of a polyline densification followed by a DP optimisation. The polyline densification is carried out by linearly interpolating middle points between every adjacent vertices of the current polyline. Preliminary results have shown that the proposed methodology works properly.


To analyze the contents validity, reliability,the item difficulty, the discriminating power, the item distractor of the final test for the third grade students of MTS Darul Ulum Karangpandan Rejoso Pasuruan. The research design which is applied in this research is a qualitative focused on content analysis and descriptive quantitative. Content analysis to analyze the content validity and descriptive quantitative to analyze the reliability, the item difficulty, the discriminating power, the item distractor.The subject of the study are the third grade students of MTs.Darul Ulum Karangpandan, Rejoso Pasuruan, there are 4 classes for the third grade in this school, it is consist of 2 classes of man and 2 classes of woman.The instrument use to collect the data were: documentation and human instrumen.Based on the finding, there were 50 items which are related to the syllabus (KTSP) curriculum in seven grade, eight grade and nine grade. So the content validity is good.From the score of coeficient reliability by using K-R 20, the reliability of the English final test is low because the result is 0,37. The result of the item difficulty is good because most of the items is moderate. The final test has a easy level it means that the final test has a poor discriminating power. Item distractor is efficient because many item are excellent disctractor. The conclusion from the anlysis: content validity is good, reliability is low, the item difficulty is good, discriminating power is poor and item distractor is efficient. Keywords : content validity, discriminating power,item difficulty, item distractor, reliability


The present work illustrates the potential of a new diagnostic technique that allows the measurement of the coronal magnetic field strength in solar active regions by utilizing a handful of bright Fe x and Fe xi lines commonly observed by the high-resolution Hinode/EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). The importance of this new diagnostic technique is twofold: (1) the coronal magnetic field is probably the most important quantity in coronal physics, being at the heart of the processes regulating space weather and the properties of the solar corona, and (2) this technique can be applied to the existing EIS archive spanning from 2007 to 2020, including more than one full solar cycle and covering a large number of active regions, flares, and even coronal mass ejections. This new diagnostic technique opens the door to a whole new field of studies, complementing the magnetic field measurements from the upcoming DKIST and UCoMP ground-based observatories, and extending our reach to active regions observed on the disk and until now only sampled by radio measurements. In this work, we present a few examples of the application of this technique to EIS observations taken at different times during the EIS mission, and we discuss its current limitations and the steps to improve its accuracy. We also present a list of EIS observing sequences whose data include all of the lines necessary for the application of this diagnostic technique, to help the solar community navigate the immense set of EIS data and to find observations suitable for measuring the coronal magnetic field.


An important step in tumorgenesis is the acquisition of cellular immortality. Tumor cells accomplish this by activating the enzyme telomerase, and thereby avoiding replicative senescence. The aim of this thesis was to study the activity and regulation of telomerase in a panel of malignant cell types.We found that TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor-β1) mediated differential effects on telomerase activity in five ATC (anaplastic thyroid carcinoma) cell lines. Cells that harbored a p53 mutation responded by up-regulation of telomerase activity after TGF-β1 treatment, whereas cell lines displaying wt p53 responded by down-regulation of telomerase activity. Thus, these results indicate a possible connection between p53 genotype and telomerase response to TGF-β1 treatment. Furthermore, the decreased telomerase activity appeared to be due to transcriptional repression of the hTERT promoter and the increased activity possibly involved hTERT activation via phosphorylation. We have previously shown that IFNs (interferons) sensitize MM (multiple myeloma) cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis. In the present investigation both IFN-α and IFN-γ down regulated telomerase activity in the MM cell line U-266-1970. The mechanism underlying the reduction of telomerase activity by IFN was shown to be transcriptional repression of the hTERT gene. We suggest that one potential mechanism whereby IFN sensitize MM cells to Fas-mediated apoptosis is by repressing hTERT activity at the transcriptional level. In the next study we demonstrated that basal telomerase activity is not a key determinant of sensitivity to cytotoxic drugs in ESCC (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma) cell lines. Furthermore, we observed no correlation between c-Myc amplification, p53 mutations and high telomerase activity levels in these cell lines. Finally, neuroblastoma cell lines were shown to up-regulate telomerase activity in response to hypoxic exposure and the main regulatory mechanism was not mediated by increased hTERT mRNA expression. This finding might constitute an adaptive stress response of tumor cells exposed to hypoxia.


The early stages of iron precipitation in p-type float-zone silicon have been studied by means of Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy, DLTS, for iron concentrations in the range of 1014 – 3 × 1015 cm3. A DLTS line showing the signatures of extended localized states is observed. The emission characteristics of the associated defect is very similar to that of the interstitial iron donor. It is concluded that large clusters consisting of interstitial iron atoms give rise to the observed DLTS line. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


"There is a space of highly complex systems for which we lack deep understanding because few techniques exist for visualization of data whose structure and content are continually changing." -Benjamin Fry, http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/As the quote suggests, there is a need for new techniques to visualize both emerging and accumulated data in complex fields such as the biological sciences. This paper reports on the early exploration of visualization techniques through the interdisciplinary development of a research data visualization tool at the University of Cincinnati. Undergraduate Digital Design students under the combined instruction of design and biomedical faculty formed collaborative teams to develop a prototype visual-verbal, web-based, dynamic information model (DISPLAY) for extracting, comparing and manipulating research findings related to Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Although the initial prototype focused on AD, the goal was to identify principles and techniques applicable to all types of biological data.


Water injection (WI) to improve oil production and increase reserves had been practiced in Malaysia since 1990s. Currently, around 27 fields are producing with water injection. To better manage these WI fields and gauge the relative performance of these fields, certain Key Performance Area (KPA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) were identified. Measurement of these KPA and KPIs serves as a yardstick to compare performance of WI fields and thus provide measures to improve collective performance by promoting replication of best practices and sharing lessons learnt.
 In the era of digital technology, the periodic measurement of KPA and KPI has been automated using the existing online platform which can remain accessible to all related parties. It provides a platform for data visualization with simple look forward analysis. The WI data is stored in company databank and the performance dashboard can be viewed from existing software. The team managed to overcome the challenges in completing the historical data gap and data hygiene which previously were managed manually and were not integrated. This resulted in historical evaluation of KPAs and KPIs of certain fields.
 This automation initiative will enable practicing engineers to identify the value leakages and proposed mitigation efforts. Some of the best practices identified such as pipeline pigging optimization, correct biocide dosage, periodic calibration of flow meter and chemical optimization already helped to reduce operating cost in certain WI fields.
 With these efforts, the company could reduce the operating cost significantly in year 2018. Other than data visualization, the tool provides diagnostic plots such as Hall Plot, Chan's Plot etc. for quick analysis of signs of well/ reservoir health deviations and thus solutions could be provided proactively. On seeing the initial positive results, this tool is being tried for the rest of the WI fields.
 This paper details how this tool tries to diagnose all sub-optimal areas within various WI project simultaneously, which leads to operational excellence and improvement in oil recovery, by identifying value leakages, providing proactive solutions with replication of thus identified best practices. Additionally, usage of this tool to rank WI performance of different projects can potentially help to initiate competition between different operators for improvement.


Control of a flexible launcher during the atmospheric flight phase is a highly challenging control problem involving multiple and concurrent design requirements: stability (stabilization of unstable rigid dynamics, sloshing modes and flexible structural modes), performance (guidance tracking, structural load minimization) and robustness (physical parameter uncertainties and accommodation to multiple vehicle configurations) on a non-stationary system. This paper focuses on co-funded AG/CNES research activities on the development of an advanced modular control strategy using recent advances in structured control design. We demonstrate here that structured H∞ synthesis could give a gain scheduling solution to full timevarying flexible launcher control problems during the non-stationary ascent phase, enabling load performance improvement between complex sets of requirements, and, design cost improvements through simplification of the tuning process. We also present a generic framework for rapid control design that is now applicable both for European launcher families already in activity (with existing S/W and fixed controller structure) and for future expendable and reusable launchers.


We have previously observed that the antimalarial drug amodiaquine impairs the human polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) oxidative burst in vitro. However, the drug acted at a concentration of 100 micrograms/ml, far higher than that which is achievable therapeutically. Since amodiaquine is extensively metabolized into monodesethyl amodiaquine, we investigated whether the metabolite modified PMN functions at lower concentrations than amodiaquine does. Monodesethyl amodiaquine strongly depressed PMN chemotaxis and phagocytosis at concentrations as low as 10 micrograms/ml. This inhibition was reversed by washing out the drug. The PMN oxidative burst was markedly depressed by monodesethyl amodiaquine, whatever the assay technique (luminol-amplified chemiluminescence, lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence, myeloperoxidase activity) or stimulus used (opsonized zymosan, phorbol myristate acetate, formylmethionyl leucyl phenylalanine). There were extreme interindividual variations in sensitivity to the depressive effect of monodesethyl amodiaquine when the PMN oxidative burst was assayed in terms of luminol-amplified chemiluminescence or lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence. PMN samples were divided into two groups on the basis of the MIC of the drug: 60% of the samples were "highly sensitive," being strongly inhibited at concentrations as low as 0.1 micrograms/ml (obtained during therapy), whereas the "moderately sensitive" samples were inhibited at concentrations of 10 micrograms/ml and above. The difference between the two groups was highly significant. This PMN sensitivity to the inhibitory effect of the drug was not related to intrinsic oxidative metabolism. Our data indicate that monodesethyl amodiaquine, the main metabolite of amodiaquine, has a far stronger inhibitory effect on various PMN functions in vitro than the parent drug, warranting relevant in vivo studies.


Variation in age and size at life-history transitions is a reflection of the diversifying influence of biotic or abiotic environmental change. Examples abound, but it is not well understood how such environmental changes influence the age structure of a population. I experimentally investigated the effects of water temperature and food type on age and body size at metamorphosis in larvae of the salamander Hynobius retardatus. In individuals grown at a cold temperature (15 °C) or given Chironomidae as prey, the time to metamorphosis was significantly prolonged, and body size at metamorphosis was significantly enlarged, compared with individuals grown at a warmer temperature (20 °C) or fed larvae. I also examined whether larval density (a possible indicator of cannibalism in natural habitats) generated variation in the age structure of natural populations in Hokkaido, Japan, where the climate is subarctic. Natural ponds in Hokkaido may contain larvae that have overwintered for 1 or 2 years, as well as larvae of the current year, and I found that the number of age classes was related to larval density. Although cool water temperatures prolong the larval period and induce later metamorphosis, in natural ponds diet-based enhancement of development translated into a shorter larval duration and earlier metamorphosis. Geographic variation in the frequency of cannibalism resulted in population differences in metamorphic timing in H. retardatus larvae. It is important to understand how environmental effects are ultimately transduced through individual organisms into population-level phenomena, with the population response arising as the summation of individual responses. Without a thorough comprehension of the mechanisms through which population and individual responses to environmental conditions are mediated, we cannot interpret the relationship between population-level and individual-level phenomena. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 102, 100–114.


OBJECTIVE
Using a conceptual model of collaborative working relationships between pharmacists and physicians, a measure for physician-pharmacist collaboration from the physician perspective was developed. The measure was analyzed for its factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, and other psychometric properties.

METHODS
An initial 27-item Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration Instrument (PPCI) was developed to assess seven themes about professional relationships using Likert scales. The PPCI was mailed to a random sample of 1000 primary care physicians. Principal component analysis was used to assess the structure and uncover underlying dimensions of the initial instrument. Items were evaluated for inclusion or exclusion into a refined instrument. Internal consistency was assessed by calculating Alpha coefficients for each identified factor. Convergent validity was assessed using Spearman correlations between the identified factors and a previous measure of collaborative care. After measure refinement, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the fit of both versions of the instrument.

RESULTS
Three hundred forty usable surveys were returned for a response rate of 34%. Almost 70% of the respondents were male with a mean age of 45.8. A majority were family practice physicians (72.1%) in private practice (67.3%). Three unique factors were identified during principal component analysis and utilized in a confirmatory factor analysis. Both a full and a 14-item reduced model were constructed and tested. Cronbach's alpha for the three factors of the full model ranged from 0.91 to 0.97, while the reliability for the reduced model ranged from 0.86 to 0.96. Comparative fit indexes of 0.97 and 0.98 were obtained, indicating good fit for the models.

CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate good reliability and validity of the refined (14-item) PPCI. This instrument can be useful as a research tool for assessment of the physicians' perspective about a physician-pharmacist relationship. Further research is warranted to examine if the extent of relationship development, as measured with the PPCI, can affect patient care outcomes.


The western Calabria continental margin forms the transition between the Pliocene to Recent Marsili spreading center and continental Calabria, all parts of the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone. Integrating high‐resolution and crustal seismic images constrained by gravity modeling, we provide a detailed reconstruction of the architecture of the margin and develop a new scheme for its Miocene to present evolution. This time span encompasses the continent‐continent collision between Africa and Eurasia, subsequent orogenic collapse and rifting apart between the two continental masses, and the Pliocene to Recent emplacement of oceanic crust in the Vavilov and Marsili basins. The crust of the margin thins from the Calabria coast (∼25 km) to the Marsili continent‐ocean transition (∼12 km). On the whole, upper and lower crusts thin proportionally with pure shear geometry. The continental margin is covered by an Oligocene(?) to present sedimentary succession reaching a maximum thickness of ∼6.0 km in the Paola Basin. During the Miocene the continental margin experienced regional shortening accommodated by a large number of mainly west vergent thrusts possibly associated with the late stages of the Kabilo‐Calabrian chain. Shortening continued through Pliocene to Recent but was accommodated by a limited number of west vergent thrust faults located in the western part of the margin and by a few tens of kilometers wide syncline located in the eastern part of the profile. The accommodation space created in the syncline core hosted a ∼4.5 km thick, Plio‐Quaternary sedimentary succession, the Paola Basin. No significant extensional fault is observed along the profile. Miocene to Recent subsidence was controlled by (1) a short‐wavelength component related to shortening and responsible for the formation of the Paola Basin syncline and, possibly, contributing to the uplift of onshore Calabria and (2) a long‐wavelength component responsible for the regional subsidence and oceanward tilting of the Calabria margin. Short‐wavelength subsidence ended in the late Pliocene, but long‐wavelength downward movements persisted and even accelerated during late Pliocene(?) to Quaternary times when the present‐day bathymetry was achieved. Both horizontal deformations and vertical movements are difficult to explain in the context of a normal back‐arc basin without taking into consideration patterns of secondary mantle flow generated by the retreat of the subducting slab.


Gabrielly could go unnoticed, but she inscribed her story in the Brazilianness of studies on the trans universe. With the peculiar beauty of her femininity, we aim to bring issues pertinent to the philosophy of education. We propose to access their memories of schooling whose formative itinerary took place, according to Gabrielly in two moments, in public educational units in Western Sao Paulo. We anchor the methodological approach in post-critical studies in education because it is a theme dear to the studies of difference articulated with the use of education as a project to expand the survival capacity for trans women, whose data, cruelly, point out that they represent a group doomed to death policies. As an instrument for collecting memories, we used Foucault's archeology to understand Gabrielly's female construction. There were no conclusions, but philosophical concerns that promote new educational practices more concerned with responsibility, preservation and commotion for trans lives whose reflection affects the school environment as a place of ethical-political concern with trans lives. Therefore, we propose the possibility of rupture with the precarious conditions of transvestite, transsexual and transgender lives.


Background: The harmful vascular effects of smoking are well established, but the effects of chronic use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) on endothelial function are less understood. We hypothesized that e-cigarette use causes changes in blood milieu that impair endothelial function. Methods: Endothelial function was measured in chronic e-cigarette users, chronic cigarette smokers, and nonusers. We measured effects of participants' sera, or e-cigarette aerosol condensate, on NO and H2O2 release and cell permeability in cultured endothelial cells (ECs). Results: E-cigarette users and smokers had lower flow-mediated dilation (FMD) than nonusers. Sera from e-cigarette users and smokers reduced VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor)-induced NO secretion by ECs relative to nonuser sera, without significant reduction in endothelial NO synthase mRNA or protein levels. E-cigarette user sera caused increased endothelial release of H2O2, and more permeability than nonuser sera. E-cigarette users and smokers exhibited changes in circulating biomarkers of inflammation, thrombosis, and cell adhesion relative to nonusers, but with distinct profiles. E-cigarette user sera had higher concentrations of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) ligands S100A8 and HMGB1 (high mobility group box 1) than smoker and nonuser sera, and receptor for advanced glycation end product inhibition reduced permeability induced by e-cigarette user sera but did not affect NO production. Conclusions: Chronic vaping and smoking both impair FMD and cause changes in the blood that inhibit endothelial NO release. Vaping, but not smoking, causes changes in the blood that increase microvascular endothelial permeability and may have a vaping-specific effect on intracellular oxidative state. Our results suggest a role for RAGE in e-cigarette-induced changes in endothelial function.


Climate change is virtually certain and efforts for adaptation is essential not only to decrease the negative consequences but also to increase the opportunities. To achieve the goal, we need to address emerging research topics in the field of agricultural meteorology with regard to climate change adaptation. We touch upon how harvesting insights from crop models with different complexities can be improved, the detection and attribution of impacts on agricultural ecosystems associated with climate and technological changes, and how crop and weather datasets can be improved. We conclude by discussing important knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future research.


The importance of the haemoglobinopathies, mainly thalassaemia, as a public health problem has been emphasized. The establishment of methods for detection and diagnosis of haemoglobinopathies is the major step in laboratories dedicated to screening anemias. Tables for the diagnosis of alpha and beta thalassaemia are proposed, the methods to identify abnormal haemoglobins are discussed and a map with the relative mobilities of 115 abnormal haemoglobins by electrophoresis in alkaline buffer is shown.


The implementation of the numerical analysis for any flow problem required good knowledge of the physical boundary associated with the case to be studied. This knowledge will help to simplifying the numerical analysis in order to solve the problem approximately as a real case. Numerical grid generation has now become a fairly common tool for use in the numerical solution of partial differential equations on arbitrary shaped regions. This is especially true in computational fluid dynamics, from which came much of the impetus for the development of this technique. But the procedures are equally applicable to all physical problems in flow field solution. The role of numerical simulation in engineering is so vital that it has been accepted as an emerging subject which has its own standing based on analytical and experimental knowledge of the engineering disciplines concerned and numerical analysis. The objective of this book is prediction of the physical properties of the flow field along the distance of the convergent–divergent nozzle for one–dimensional flow with and without existing normal shock by using analytical solution and by solving the time dependent Euler governing equation.


The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of onion juice on semen values of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and total antioxidant status (TAS) compared to Zn sulfate in rats. One hundred and sixty-two Wistar male rats were randomly allocated into 9 treatment groups (each including 3 groups and 6 replicates). Group 1 served as control and received distilled water. In group 2, animals received 1 cc fresh onion juice. In group 3, rats were offered 2 cc fresh onion juice. Group 4 drenched 15 mg/kg zinc (Zn) sulfate. In group 5, rats were treated with 30 mg/kg Zn sulfate. Group 6 was offered 1cc fresh onion juice + 15 mg/kg Zn sulfate to experimental animals. In group 7, 1 cc fresh onion juice + 30 mg/kg Zn sulfate was provided to rats. Group 8 consumed 2 cc fresh onion juice + 15 mg/kg Zn sulfate. In group 9, animals provided 2 cc fresh onion juice + 30 mg/kg Zn sulfate. All groups were given treatments orally and ad libitum access to chow pellets and fresh water. After 4 weeks semen samples in cauda epididymis were used to determine MDA, SOD, GPx and TAS levels. According to the data, sole onion juice significantly decreased semen MDA level (P < 0.05). Also, a combination between the administration of onion and Zn significantly attenuated sperm MDA (P < 0.05). Sperm GPx level in the co-administration of onion and Zn was significantly altered (P < 0.05). Results suggest that presumably onion juice protects from semen oxidation in rat testes.


The ubiquitous IEEE 802.11 standard exhibits a significant amount of MAC protocol overhead inherent to contention-based random access protocols. To alleviate this overhead and improve protocol performance, a dynamic protocol timing adaptation scheme is proposed whereby the fundamental 802.11 slot time and inter-frame spacing are reduced based on techniques that exploit the actual maximum propagation distance within a wireless LAN, in addition to advances in PHY layer technologies that facilitate faster MAC processing and carrier sensing. We show through numerical analysis that the proposed scheme has the theoretical potential to increase system throughput and improve the performance of both current and emerging high-throughput 802.11 wireless LAN standards.


In order to assess the value of immunocytochemical staining as a method of discriminating between benign reactive mesothelial cells and malignant epithelial cells in serous effusions, we have studied the reactions of a panel of commercially available antibodies on cells harvested from 83 pleural and peritoneal fluids and compared the results with the clinical and cytological diagnoses. The antibodies used were raised against cytokeratin (PKK1), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), carcino‐embryonic antigen (CEA), pregnancy specific B1‐glycoprotein (SP1) and leucocyte common antigen (LCA). Anti‐CEA was positive in 16 of 39 effusions (41%) containing carcinoma cells. Pregnancy specific Bl‐glycoprotein (SP1) was positive in 33% of the same samples. Mesothelial cells did not stain with these antibodies. Thus anti‐CEA and SP1 can be used to discriminate between benign mesothelial and malignant epithelial cells in effusions. Anti‐PKK1 stained both benign reactive mesothelial cells and malignant epithelial cells and cannot be used to discriminate between these two cell types. Strong positive staining of malignant cells was noted with anti‐EMA. However, as occasional weak staining of mesothelial cells was also noted, strong staining with this antibody may be regarded as suspicious but not conclusive of malignancy.


In this paper, "Gyeonggi-Do household weekend travel survey" is used in order to analyze activity participation and travel behavior for the people who go to work on Saturday(workers) and those who do not go to work(non-workers). To find out causal relationship between activity participation and travel behavior, Structural Equation Models are developed. Examination of the causal relationship between activity participation and travel behavior identifies three stages. Firstly, subsistence activities and leisure activities are generated. Secondly, each activity participation produces trip volumes and travel times. Finally, the sum of travel times forms trip volumes. Looking into the activity participation stages for the workers, their subsistence activies have a tendency to take place first, and leisure activities usually follow. Non-workers generate more simple trip chains and most of their first stage activities are leisure related.


Maize (Zea mays L.) hybrids resistant to Striga hermanthica (Del) Benth and tolerant to drought are vital to the sustainability of productivity of the maize-based farming systems of West and Central Africa (WCA). Thirty-six diallel crosses derived from nine early maturing white maize inbreds were evaluated under drought, well-watered, striga-infested, and striga-free conditions at five locations in Nigeria between 2007 and 2009. The objective was to examine the combining ability, performance and stability of the inbreds, and to identify the heterotic groups. Additive and nonadditive gene actions were important in the control of the inheritance of drought tolerance and striga resistance in the inbreds. General combining ability (GCA) mean squares of grain yield and other traits were larger than those of specific combining ability (SCA), indicating that additive gene action was more important in the inheritance of drought tolerance. The GCA mean squares for striga damage rating at 8 and 10 weeks after planting (WAP) were about six and five times greater than those of the SCA, indicating that additive gene action played a major role in the inheritance of the striga traits. The GGE biplot analysis revealed that TZEI 4 and TZEI 5 were the most promising inbreds in yield performance and stability across the test environments. Two heterotic groups were identified; [TZEI 7, TZEI 19, TZEI 2, TZEI 4] and [TZEI 5, TZEI 3]. Tester TZEI 3 was the closest to the ideal tester. Entry TZEI 7 had the highest GCA effects and TZEI 2 the lowest.


Granulomas have been defined as inflammatory infiltrates formed by recruitment of macrophages and T cells. The three-dimensional spherical structure typically consists of a central core of tissue resident macrophages which may merge into multinucleated giant cells surrounded by T cells at the periphery. Granulomas may be triggered by infectious and non-infectious antigens. Cutaneous and visceral granulomas are common in inborn errors of immunity (IEI), particularly among patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), combined immunodeficiency (CID), and common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). The estimated prevalence of granulomas in IEI ranges from 1%–4%. Infectious agents causing granulomas such Mycobacteria and Coccidioides presenting atypically may be 'sentinel' presentations for possible underlying immunodeficiency. Deep sequencing of granulomas in IEI has revealed non-classical antigens such as wild-type and RA27/3 vaccine-strain Rubella virus. Granulomas in IEI are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The heterogeneity of granuloma presentation in IEI presents challenges for mechanistic approaches to treatment. In this review, we discuss the main infectious triggers for granulomas in IEI and the major forms of IEI presenting with 'idiopathic' non-infectious granulomas. We also discuss models to study granulomatous inflammation and the impact of deep-sequencing technology while searching for infectious triggers of granulomatous inflammation. We summarize the overarching goals of management and highlight the therapeutic options reported for specific granuloma presentations in IEI.


The endometrium, lining the uterine lumen, is highly essential for human reproduction. Its exceptional remodeling plasticity, including the transformation process to welcome and nest the embryo, is not well understood. Lack of representative and reliable study models allowing the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying endometrium development and biology to be deciphered is an important hurdle to progress in the field. Recently, powerful organoid models have been developed that not only recapitulate endometrial biology such as the menstrual cycle, but also faithfully reproduce diseases of the endometrium such as endometriosis. Moreover, single-cell profiling endeavors of the endometrium in health and disease, and of derived organoids, start to provide deeper insight into cellular complexity and expression specificities, and in resulting tissue processes. This granular portrayal will not only help in understanding endometrium biology and disease, but also in pinning down the tissue's stem cells, at present not yet conclusively defined. Here, we provide a general overview of endometrium development and biology, and the efforts of modeling both the healthy tissue, as well as its key diseased form of endometriosis. The future of modeling and deciphering this key tissue, hidden inside the womb, looks bright.


Purpose – To provide an improved version of SIMPLER algorithm which can enhance the convergence rate of the iterative solution procedure in the field of computational fluid dynamics analysis. Design/methodology/approach – The improved version of SIMPLER algorithm is developed by modifying the coefficients of the velocity correction equation and implementing the correction of pressure within an iteration cycle. Findings – The CSIMPLER algorithm (the improved version) can enhance the convergence rate for almost all cases tested, especially for the low under-relaxation factor situations. The pressure correction term even can be overrelaxed to further enhance the convergence rate. Research limitations/implications – The CSIMPLER algorithm can enhance the rate of convergence to different degree for different problems. It can only be adopted to solve the incompressible fluid flow and heat transfer. Practical implications – CSIMPLER is a simple and effectual method to enhance the convergence rate of the iterative process for the computational fluid dynamics analysis. The existing code of SIMPLER can be easily changed to CSIMPLER. Originality/value – The paper developed an improved version of SIMPLER algorithm with some minor changes in the existing SIMPLER code.


This theoretical analysis of an elastoplastic cantilever examines the effects of linear strain-hardening and the development of partial elastic unloading when deflections become large. For a vertical force at the tip, unloading modifies the distribution of curvature in a substantial internal segment after the deflections become very large, but it has a negligible effect on the tip displacement. The analysis uses a bilinear stress-strain constitutive relation that results in slightly better agreement with previous experiments than a corresponding bilinear approximation for the moment-curvature reltion


Because of headways in deep learning and clinical imaging innovation, a few specialists are presently utilizing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to extricate profound level properties from clinical pictures to all the more exactly classify Alzheimer's disease (AD) and expect clinical scores. A limited scale profound learning network called PCANet utilizes principal component analysis (PCA) to make multi-facet channel banks for the incorporated learning of information. Blockwise histograms are made after binarization to get picture ascribes. PCANet is less versatile than different frameworks since the multi-facet channel banks are made involving test information and the produced highlights have aspects during the many thousands or even many thousands. To conquer these issues, we present in this study a PCANet-based, information free organization called the nonnegative matrix factorization tensor decomposition network (NMF-TDNet). To deliver the last picture highlights, we first form higher-request tensors and utilize tensor decomposition (TD) to achieve information dimensionality decrease. Specifically, we foster staggered channel banks for test getting the hang of utilizing nonnegative matrix factorization(NMF) as opposed to PCA. These properties serve as input to the support vector machine (SVM) that our technique employs to diagnose AD, forecast clinical score, and categorise AD.


There has been a remarkable expansion in the use of executive coaching as an executive development technique over the past two decades. The widespread popularity of executive coaching has been based largely on anecdotal feedback regarding its effectiveness. The small body of empirical research has been growing but conclusive outcomes are rare. This investigation has focused on the factors of executive coaching that contribute to its effectiveness with the perceptions of both executives and coaches being sought. Six major themes were identified, each comprising a collection of meanings. The findings of this study add value to the field by identifying factors contributing to coaching effectiveness, and providing for the coaching practitioner a basis for enhancing their practice of executive coaching.


Hong Kong is a high‐density sub‐tropical city with 7 million people living in an urban area of just over 260 km2. Tall and closely packed buildings are the common urban morphology. How the urban geometry influences the microclimate in summer daytime is a primary planning concern. The sky view factor (SVF) has been commonly used to indicate the impact of urban geometry on air temperature differences in cities. However, only limited discussions in this aspect have been addressed for daytime course in high‐rise and high‐density urban environment such as Hong Kong. This paper firstly provides a comprehensive review of SVF analysis in urban climatology studies and then presents a simulation approach to investigate the role of SVF in determining summer daytime intra‐urban air temperature differences in urban Hong Kong. An ArcGIS‐embedded computer program is developed for calculating continuous SVF values for an entire urban environment and an SVF map is generated. The result is evaluated against meteorological data observed in field measurements. The regression analysis shows that the spatial average of SVF values has a close negative relationship with daytime intra‐urban temperature differences. The study indicates that SVF is a significant factor for understanding the microthermal climate in Hong Kong's street canyons. The paper further raises discussions on the application of SVF analysis to urban planning. The study demonstrates that the SVF analysis is a useful and effective tool for planners and urban climatologists conducting studies on high‐rise and high‐density sub‐tropical cities. The understanding can provide support for the development of planning standards and good practice. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society


High nitrogen steels are known for their combination of good strength, toughness and high plastic work capacity which makes these steels suitable for wear applications. If the hardness of the steels can be improved further, by precipitation hardening, the wear properties of the steel may be enhanced, provided that the plastic work capacity of the steels is not compromised. Niobium and vanadium are known to form a fine dispersion of precipitates in low alloy steels and it is the aim of the present work to imitate this process in high nitrogen stainless steels and thereby improve hardness. It is shown that various forms of precipitation are possible in high nitrogen steels, including the formation of niobium and vanadium carbonitrides at high temperatures and chromium nitrides at lower temperatures. The formation of fine niobium and vanadium carbonitrides results in an improvement of the hardness of the steel, but at the expense of the plastic work capacity which decreases. It is shown that appropriate selection of niobium and vanadium levels and heat treatment is fundamental to balance improved hardness of the steel with a good plastic work capacity.


PURPOSE
Malnutrition in hospitalized children has been reported since the late 1970s. The prevalence of acute and chronic malnutrition was examined in hospitalized patients in a general pediatric unit, and the impact and management of malnutrition were assessed.

METHODS
The nutritional risk score (NRS) and nutritional status (NS) (weight, height, body mass index, and skinfold thickness) of children aged zero to 18 years were assessed upon hospital admission. Growth and energy intake were monitored every three days until discharge.

RESULTS
A total of 173 children (median age three years, 88 girls) participated; 79.8% had a moderate to severe NRS and 13.3% were acutely and/or chronically malnourished. A high NRS was associated with a longer hospital stay in children older than three years (P<0.05), while a poor NS (weight for height percentile) was correlated with prolonged hospitalization in children aged three years or younger (P<0.05). Although weight did not change during hospitalization, a decrease in skinfolds was documented (n=43, P<0.05). Patients with a high NRS had lower energy intake than those not at risk. However, children with abnormal NS received 92.5% of recommended energy intake.

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that all children admitted to hospital should have an evaluation of their NRS and NS, so that they can receive appropriate nutrition interventions provided by a multidisciplinary nutrition team.


Background In end-stage kidney disease the dialytic cycle relates to the rate of sudden cardiac death. We hypothesized that circadian, dialytic cycles, paroxysmal arrhythmias, and cardiovascular risk factors are associated with periodic changes in heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) in incident dialysis patients. Methods We conducted a prospective ancillary study of the Predictors of Arrhythmic and Cardiovascular Risk in End Stage Renal Disease cohort (n=28; age 54±13 y; 57% men; 96% black; 33% with a history of structural heart disease; left ventricular ejection fraction 70±9%). Continuous ECG monitoring was performed using an ECG patch (Zio Patch, iRhythm) and short-term HRV was measured for three minutes every hour. HRV was measured by root mean square of the successive normal-to-normal intervals (rMSSD), high and low frequency power, Poincaré plot, and sample and Renyi entropy. Results Arrhythmias were detected in 46% (n=13). Non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) was more frequent during dialysis or within 6 hours post-dialysis, as compared to pre-or between-dialysis (63% vs. 37%, P=0.015), whereas supraventricular tachycardia was more frequent pre-/ between-dialysis, as compared to during-/ post-dialysis (84% vs. 16%, P=0.015). In adjusted for cardiovascular disease and its risk factors autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity panel (ARCH) model, VT events were associated with increased heart rate by 11.2 (95%CI 10.1-12.3) bpm (P<0.0001). During regular dialytic cycle, rMSSD demonstrated significant circadian pattern (Mesor 10.6(0.9-11.2) ms; Amplitude 1.5(1.0-3.1) ms; Peak at 02:01(20:22-03:16) am; P<0.0001), which was abolished on a second day interdialytic extension (adjusted ARCH trend for rMSSD −1.41(−1.67 to −1.15) ms per 24h; P<0.0001). Conclusion Cardiac arrhythmias associate with dialytic phase. Regular dialytic schedule preserves physiological circadian rhythm, but the second day without dialysis is characterized by parasympathetic withdrawal and a steady increase in sympathetic predominance. Subject Terms Arrhythmias, Autonomic Nervous System, Electrocardiology (ECG), Treatment.


The use of repeated measures, where the same subjects are tested under a number of conditions, has numerous practical and statistical benefits. For one thing, it reduces the error variance caused by between-group individual differences; however, this reduction of error comes at a price because repeated-measures designs potentially introduce covariation between experimental conditions (this is because the same people are used in each condition and so there is likely to be some consistency in their behaviour across conditions). In betweengroup ANOVA we have to assume that the groups we test are independent for the test to be accurate (Scariano & Davenport, 1987, have documented some of the consequences of violating this assumption). As such, the relationship between treatments in a repeatedmeasures design creates problems with the accuracy of the test statistic. The purpose of this article is to explain, as simply as possible, the issues that arise in analysing repeated-measures data with ANOVA: specifically, what is sphericity and why is it important?