The objective of this thesis is to present the concept of Risk Measurement as it is achieved
by using the Value-at-Risk (VaR) method. According to this technique, the user can estimate
the risk by a single number which represents the worst expected loss of an asset for a given
horizon at a fixed confidence level. The estimate of VaR is obtained by using a sophisticated
econometric approach based on Time Series Analysis, which combines and matches
AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models based on Box-Jenkins
methodology with Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH)
models.
The application of these models will provide VaR as one-step-ahead forecast of the
process. Thus, an efficient econometric approach based on ARIMA-GARCH models is
applied to log returns of major European stock market indices with the aim to estimate
volatility, as it is captured on them. Finally, the estimates of VaR will be measured for indices
in total and Backtesting technique for verifying the accuracy of VaR models will be
performed.


ABSTRACT Deinococcus geothermalis is an extremely radiation-resistant thermophilic bacterium closely related to the mesophile Deinococcus radiodurans, which is being engineered for in situ bioremediation of radioactive wastes. We report that D. geothermalis is transformable with plasmids designed for D. radiodurans and have generated a Hg(II)-resistant D. geothermalis strain capable of reducing Hg(II) at elevated temperatures and in the presence of 50 Gy/h. Additionally, D. geothermalis is capable of reducing Fe(III)-nitrilotriacetic acid, U(VI), and Cr(VI). These characteristics support the prospective development of this thermophilic radiophile for bioremediation of radioactive mixed waste environments with temperatures as high as 55°C.


Barb goatgrass is an invasive annual grass from the Mediterranean region that negatively affects both native plant biodiversity and the forage quality of grasslands. Prescribed burning may be the best landscape-level tool available to manage invasive species like barb goatgrass while also enhancing biodiversity, but few studies have quantified the long-term effects of fire on goatgrass and the rest of the plant community. We assessed the effects of fire on an invading front of barb goatgrass on a private ranch in Sacramento County, CA. We established burned and unburned treatment plots within the goatgrass-infested area and used prescribed fire to burn the treatment plots in June 2005. We monitored plant-community composition before burning and for 7 consecutive yr following the burn. Additionally, we tested the viability of goatgrass seeds in both burned and unburned plots. One year after the burn, goatgrass cover in burned plots was 3% compared with 21% in unburned plots. This reduction in goatgrass cover was still strong 2 yr after the burn (burned, 6%; unburned, 27%) and weaker but still statistically significant for 4 of the next 5 yr. The burn also reduced germination of goatgrass seed by 99% as indicated by seed-viability tests conducted in the laboratory. The native plant community responded positively to the burn treatment in the first year following the burn with an increase in native diversity in burned plots vs. unburned plots, but the effect was not detectable in subsequent years. Nonnative annual forb species cover also increased in the first year following the burn. Our study shows that a single springtime burn can result in a short-term boost in native species diversity, reduced seed germination of barb goatgrass to near zero, and reduced cover of barb goatgrass for at least 7 yr after the burn. Nomenclature: Barb goatgrass, Aegilops triuncialis L. Management Implications: We studied the long-term effects of a single, prescribed burn on barb goatgrass control and on native and nonnative species diversity in a grassland community in California. A single, late-spring burn reduced the cover of goatgrass for at least 7 yr following the burn. The burn had short-lived, positive effects on the native plant community with an increase in native plant cover and richness for a single year following the burn. The long-lasting effect of a single burn on the goatgrass was unexpected, given other research, which suggests that 2 consecutive yr of fire treatment are required for significant control. We suspect that this burn was particularly effective because it was conducted during a year with high fuel loads, which allowed ground temperatures to reach levels necessary to effectively kill the goatgrass seeds as they fell to the ground in the inflorescence. Our germination study confirmed that the fire effectively reduced the germination rate of seeds contained within intact, but burned, spikelets to near zero. It is rare for a study to track a management treatment for more than 2 to 3 yr, but our results demonstrate that there is great value in doing so. Prescribed burning is a very costly and risky treatment to implement, so understanding how well it works and how often a site should be burned to control the target species is very useful for decision makers. We were also able to document a distinct trend in goatgrass and native species cover over that period and to evaluate how that trend aligned with climatic data like rainfall. In fact, we believe total rainfall amounts may have affected the goatgrass in two ways: high rainfall in the year of the burn produced above-average biomass, which fed a hotter and more-complete burn, and low rainfall starting 3 yr after the burn may have reduced the cover of goatgrass in both burned and unburned plots, potentially prolonging the fire's effect.


Lyocell fibers have excellent properties, but they show a distinct tendency to fibrillate with wetting and mechanical stress. Chemical modification by esterification of these fibers could be a good means of solving this problem. A scanning electron microscopy analysis shows that treatment with polycar oxylic acids can effectively reduce the fibrillation tendency of lyocell fibers. A revised wet abrasion test method is used to measure fibrillation tendency. Wet abrasion time and mechanical property measurements reveal that fibers treated with 5-6% 1,2,3,4-butanetetra-carboxylic acid or 13-14% polymaleic acid exhibit satisfactory fibrillation resistance and mechanical properties.


Diced quarter anterior pituitaries from mature females Wistar rats were cultured in synthetic medium with or without added serum. Using each culture as its own control, the thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH) dose-thyrotrophin (TSH) response characteristics of both media were similar; significant TSH secretion being stimulated at TRH doses around 1-5 X 10(-9) mol/l. During days 1-3 of culture, basal TSH secretion fell significantly but TRH responsiveness was unchanged. Neither tri-iodothyronine (T3) nor thyroxine (T4) influenced basal TSH secretion. In both culture media inhibition of TRH responsiveness was demonstrated with concentrations of T3 and T4 within the ranges 1-5 X 10(-12) to 1-5 X 10(-9) mol/l for T3 and 6-5 X 10(-10) to 6-5 X 10(-7) mol/l for T4. Equivalent inhibition was accompanied by similar T3 concentrations whether T3 or T4 supplements were used, suggesting that T4 itself has no feedback action. The similar concentrations of T3 required to inhibit TRH responsiveness in media either with or without serum suggest that the pituitary is responsive not only to free but also to total thyroid hormone concentrations, since serum-free medium contains no thyroid hormone-binding protein.


This work reports on processing, analysis and characterization of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS)used as a photosensitive layer for sensors such as sun angle detectors in space applications. CIGS-based solarcell devices with different CIGS layer thicknesses and the pn-junction located on the opposite side of theincidence of light were illuminated through their ultra-thin transparent molybdenum back contacts. Theresults from the current density versus voltage and quantum efficiency measurement indicate that the CIGSabsorber layer may not exceed 750 nm at backside illumination, due to the limited CIGS diffusion length.


This research adapts experimental design to investigate the effect of conditioning or not and pre-exposure or not on brand attitude, so it is a 2×2 4 factorial design. The results show that the brand attitude of conditioning group is significantly higher than that of unconditioning group. The brand attitude with pre-exposure is significantly higher than that without pre-exposure. Conditioning or not and pre-exposure or not have significant interaction. No matter the celebrity is pre-exposure or not, the brand attitude is higher under conditioning process. Keywords—Celebrity, Multiple endorsements, Pre-exposure, Classical condition, Second-order conditioning


APPLICATION OF METALLACYCLES FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF SMALL MOLECULES ! A method for the nickel-catalyzed hydrocarboxylation of styrene derivatives has been developed that affords exclusively the branched carboxylic acids in moderate to excellent yields. The reaction scope is tolerant of a variety of electron-deficient ortho-, meta-, and para-styrene analogues containing ester, ketone, nitrile, and halide functionalities. The reaction is remarkably efficient, proceeding well with as little as 1 mol% Ni(acac)2 and 2 mol% Cs2CO3. ! A system for carbon dioxide sequestration and release in organic polymers has been investigated. Although evidence supporting successful carbon dioxide fixation has been found, the envisioned system is not a practical means of sequestration and release. ! A rapid approach for the synthesis of Abyssomicin C has been developed utilizing the desymmetrization of meso-dimethylglutaric anhydride. Closely modeled after Sorensen's synthesis, our route bypasses the more inefficient beginning steps to intercept the completed synthesis at the Diels-Alder precursor.


The resignation of President Soeharto 1998 opened a new era in Indonesia. The time to reform the Indonesian political system, to protect human rights and press and press freedom, and to eliminate systematic and systemic corruption, had arrived. This book traces the process of major law reforms which took place in Indonesia during the habibie era, from May 1998 to October 1999, arguably as a critical period in the history of Indonesia's moves toward becoming a democratic country. The book also provides final chapter on 12 years of Indonesian transition and examines the new structure of Indonesian state after the Amandements of the 1945 Constitution in 2002-2004, and the issue of national security and the rule of law after 9/11 and Bali bombing in 2002.


It has been several times suggested that the cultivation of the Silkworm should be introduced amongst the cottagers of this country, with a view to improve the condition and diversify the occupation of our agricultural population. This would afford an industrious employment for their children, and thus add very considerably to the general income of the family, with little or no outlay, and also be the means of increasing our commercial products.

The first period when this branch of national industry was attempted in England was, I believe, in the sixth year of the reign of James I., who was extremely anxious to promote the breeding and rearing of Silkworms in England, and in 1608 he issued a royal edict, despatched official circular letters, also to persons of influence throughout the country, recommending the subject to their consideration; and arrangements also were made for the distribution of mulberry trees in different counties. The experiment was unsuccessful in consequence, it was said, of the climate being unsuited to the Silkworm. About a century later, 1718, a Company was incorporated, which obtained a lease for 122 years of Chelsea Park, where mulberry trees were extensively planted, and large buildings erected for managing the business of breeding Silkworms. This scheme also failed. The last attempt to introduce this trade in the United Kingdom on a large scale was made in 1835, by a Company which commenced its operations by planting 80 acres in the county of Cork with 4,000 mulberry trees, but the ...


The composition of detrital minerals of the sediments from Huanghe mainstream and major tributaries are similar in general,albeit certain variation between different rivers.The main assemblages of heavy minerals are opaque minerals-garnet-epidote-carbonate and altered minerals.It is difficult to delineate the source area by using the source index of light minerals.The maturity index of light minerals also shows very complicated variations between different river samples,reflecting the combined controls of the sediment sources and sorting process during transportation and deposition.It is lower in the middle mainstream than in the upper and the lower reaches.The variations of garnet,opaque minerals and hornblende contents obviously suggest the differentiation of suspended loads and hydrodynamics changes of rivers.The regional distribution of ZTR index well corresponds to the provenance of the river sediments.A differentiation index was proposed in this study to reveal the differentiation of characteristic minerals caused by regional hydrodynamic sorting.The index can be used as a good indicator for study of sedimentary hydrodynamic environment and differentiation of detrital minerals.As a whole,the mineral compositions are not only controlled by their sources,but also constrained by seasonal hydrodynamic intensity of the river and the mineral gravity differentiation induced by sedimentary environment changes.It should be careful to identify sediment sources in the marginal sea just based on the mineral assemblages of the river,such as Huanghe.


Situated in one of the most complicated tectonic zones of the world, Palu is classified as one of the most susceptible places to earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. This study aim to develop near-field tsunami evacuation simulation, as the primary strategy to reduce casualties in disaster risk reduction, based on daytime and night-time population scenarios in a tsunami-prone area in Palu Bay, Central Sulawesi. Least Cost Distance, a geospatial evacuation analysis approach in ArcGIS, is applied involving three main variables, namely population exposure, the arrival time of tsunami and walking speed of evacuees. These variables were analysed to calculate distribution of populations in daytime and night-time scenario; to identify and calculate the capacity of potential existing evacuation shelter buildings (ESB); and to analyse suitable locations, and to calculate the number and capacity of additional ESBs based on the most effective evacuation route. This study found that of the population in the study area, about 62.60 % cannot be sheltered in the seven existing ESB in the daytime as well as 63.98% of total population in the night-time scenario. Meanwhile,only 60.13% and 61.83% of the population in the service area of existing ESBs, can be evacuated in daytime and night-time scenarios, respectively. Therefore, eleven and twelve additional ESBs are proposed to be established for daytime and night-time scenarios, respectively, to accommodate people who currently cannot be sheltered.


Background: Self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems provide a key technology to formulate challenging drugs. These formulations are commonly screened in early development by simple in vitro dilution tests. However, there is often a lack of rationale of how these tests are performed; so this article aims to improve this situation by studying critical concentrations in the dilution of self-microemulsifying formulations. Methods: Dynamic laser light backscattering, conductivity measurements, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy were conducted. Results: All model formulations exhibited profound changes at a similar aqueous dilution, which was interpreted as a percolation threshold of the formulation in water. It marked the change of a bicontinuous microemulsion to discrete micelles. The systems exhibited at this point maximal particle dispersion with a threshold of polydispersity. A marked change was also observed in the paramagnetic resonance spectra and with the conductivity measurements. This altered microenvironment can be relevant for solubilized drugs. Conclusions: Future dilution tests should include a formulation-to-water ratio of roughly 1:5 (w/w), which is in the proximity of the individual threshold concentration. Additional dilutions may be tested below and clearly above this value to reflect the physiological dilution process.


Disclosed herein are methods, systems and kits for the detection of, or monitoring the progression of, cancer by simultaneously detecting the presence of six fibrin and fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) in a biological sample in a single assay system.


WCB6F1 mice of the genotype S1/S1d did not form transient 5‐day endogenous spleen colonies following midlethal irradiation, either spontaneously or in response to postirradiation bleeding. Their hematologically normal (+/+) littermates produced colonies equivalent in number and morphologic type to a normal strain (D2B6F1), as evaluated by both macroscopic and microscopic criteria. Bone marrow cells from S1/S1d mice, when transplanted into lethally irradiated +/+ mice, were able to generate equivalent numbers of transient endogenous spleen colonies (TE‐CFUs), as compared to that obtained when syngeneic +/+ marrow cells were injected into lethally irradiated +/+ recipients. A defective growth of an early class of hematopoietic progenitor cells, resulting in the clinical course of the S1/S1d anemia is suggested and confirms previous reports on the microenvironmental nature of this abnormality.


Case Based Reasoning (CBR) is a problem-solving paradigm that uses knowledge of relevant past experiences (cases) to interpret or solve new problems. An evolvement to this paradigm is ontology-based CBR, an approach that combines, in the form of formal ontologies, case specific knowledge with domain one in order to improve the effectiveness of the CBR process. This effectiveness is further improved if ontologybased CBR systems were able to utilize knowledge that is vague or imprecise; to that end, we present in this paper a novel CBR approach that manages and utilizes imprecise knowledge through the integration of Fuzzy Algebra in the ontology-based CBR paradigm. The approach has been applied in real life and constitutes the core of a portal that provides the public with intelligent access to knowledge assets.


The use of black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is still controversial, especially in managed forests, due to its invasive nature. The black locust has been proven effective in reclamation of degraded lands when native species are not an alternative in the face of the climate change and desertification. Therefore, the importance of black locust in European ecosystems remains a matter of debate. Of course, it is an adventitious species originating from another continent. However, the ecological characteristics of the species in its natural range are very useful for ensuring the restoration of vegetation cover in areas that have experienced significant anthropogenic pressure. This species has a large number of important and useful features that make it an important agent in the forestry system and provide significant environmental and economic benefits. The status of black locust as an invasive species, i.e. one that is capable of uncontrolled spread, remains speculative. Such a conclusion requires various studies, including those identifying exact age of the plants based on morphometric parameters. In our study, we tested the hypothesis that plant height and trunk diameter will allow for an accurate assessment of black locust age. The plants of black locust were measured in the zone of spontaneous self-seeding of plants from a planted 60-years-old forest. The plants dispersed towards a fallow land, formed in the corner of an agricultural field. The spreading began 15 to 20 years ago. The plants are mainly propagated by seedlings. An expert estimated the age of the plants visually. The measured trees were cut to obtain cross sections to account for the number of annual rings. A total of 68 trees were examined for morphometric characters. Black locust communities during self-dispersal are represented by individuals of different ages. The spatial pattern of distribution of individuals of different ages can reveal the spatial and temporal dynamics of the formation of spontaneous populations of black locust. For this purpose, it is critical to accurately identify the age of a large sample. Expert estimation of age is fast and fairly accurate, but it depends greatly on the qualifications of the expert and oftentimes plant ages are underestimated, especially in the early stages of population development. Plant height is also a good predictor of plant age, but the model gives poor predictions for plants older than 10 years. The tree height ranged 2.3 to 16.0 meters. The diameter at breast height (DBH) ranged 1.0 to 17.5 cm. The diameter at the root collar (DRC) ranged 1.6 to 21.7 cm. The age of the studied trees, determined by the number of annual rings per transect, ranged 6 to 17 years. The age of the trees according to the expert estimates was 8.2 ± 4.8 years. The expert estimates of age and the age according to the number of annual rings were statistically significantly different. The expert estimates of tree age were linearly related to tree size, while estimates of the number of annual rings showed a logarithmic relationship with tree height. Expert estimates also showed a closer relationship with tree height, while the relationship of estimates based on the number of annual rings had a slightly lower dependence on the morphometric traits. Regression analysis showed that there is a linear relationship between morphometric traits of the black locust. The coefficient of determination for the dependence of diameter at breast height on tree height was 0.96, and for the dependence of diameter at the base of the trunk on diameter at breast height was 0.97. This indicates a high level of multicollinearity of these morphometric traits when considering them as predictors of plant age. Taking into account the diameter at breast height and the diameter at the level of the root collar significantly improved the predictive ability of the model for identifying the age of the black locust trees.


This study provides evidence on the existence of asymmetries in the metering of electricity by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) between January 2005 and November, 2013.Using Chiappori-Salanie correlation statistics and data from the response of 720 electricity consumers and 524 PHCN bills within the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, the study observed that the electricity bills were asymmetric. The asymmetries were observed for both the metered and unmetered consumers over the period. For the metered consumers, the asymmetry was more prevalent for the analogue than the prepaid meter users. The asymmetry existed mainly through procurement of meter in the case of the prepaid meter users. The study argues that estimated billings by the PHCN give room for asymmetry and overprices energy consumptions. The study suggests a prepaid metering of all electricity consumers in Nigeria.


The accuracy rates of board-registered pharmacy technicians and pharmacists in checking unit dose medication cassettes in the inpatient setting at two separate institutions were examined. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, both in Los Angeles county, petitioned the California State Board of Pharmacy to approve a waiver of the California Code of Regulations to conduct an experimental program to compare the accuracy of unit dose medication cassettes checked by pharmacists with that of cassettes checked by trained, certified pharmacy technicians. The study consisted of three parts: assessing pharmacist baseline checking accuracy (Phase I), developing a technician-training program and certifying technicians who completed the didactic and practical training (Phase II), and evaluating the accuracy of certified technicians checking unit dose medication cassettes as a daily function (Phase III). Twenty-nine pharmacists and 41 technicians (3 of whom were pharmacy interns) participated in the study. Of the technicians, all 41 successfully completed the didactic and practical training, 39 successfully completed the audits and became certified checkers, and 2 (including 1 of the interns) did not complete the certification audits because they were reassigned to another work area or had resigned. In Phase II, the observed accuracy rate and its lower confidence limit exceeded the predetermined minimum requirement of 99.8% for a certified checker. The mean accuracy rates for technicians were identical at the two institutions (p = 1.0). The difference in mean accuracy rates between pharmacists (99.52%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 99.44-99.58%) and technicians, (99.89%; 95% CI 99.87-99.90%) was significant (p < 0.0001). Inpatient technicians who had been trained and certified in a closely supervised program that incorporated quality assurance mechanisms could safely and accurately check unit dose medication cassettes filled by other technicians.


Class-incremental learning (CIL) aims to develop a learning system that can continually learn new classes from a data stream without forgetting previously learned classes. When learning classes incrementally, the classifier must be constantly updated to incorporate new classes, and the drift in decision boundary may lead to severe forgetting. This fundamental challenge, however, has not yet been studied extensively, especially in the setting where no samples from old classes are stored for rehearsal. In this paper, we take a closer look at how the drift in the classifier leads to forgetting, and accordingly, design four simple yet (super-) effective solutions to alleviate the classifier drift: an Individual Classifiers with Frozen Feature Extractor (ICE) framework where we individually train a classifier for each learning session, and its three variants ICE-PL, ICE-O, and ICE-PL&O which further take the logits of previously learned classes from old sessions or a constant logit of an Other class as a constraint to the learning of new classifiers. Extensive experiments and analysis on 6 class-incremental information extraction tasks demonstrate that our solutions, especially ICE-O, consistently show significant improvement over the previous state-of-the-art approaches with up to 44.7% absolute F-score gain, providing a strong baseline and insights for future research on class-incremental learning.


Summary. Forty laparoscopists were questioned as to their preferred site for introducing a Samaritan clip applicator during sterilization procedures. The introduction sites were compared with the location recommended by Lieberman (1976) and with the surface anatomy of the inferior epigastric vessels. Of those gynaecologists questioned, only 12% used a site within 1 cm of that recommended by Lieberman; 25% used a site within 1 cm of the epigastric vessels as suggested by surface anatomy. It is proposed that a second puncture site in the midline or at the lateral border of the rectus muscle should be used to avoid the complication of inferior epigastric vessel trauma at laparoscopic sterilization procedures.


The atomic-orbital close-coupling method (AO-CC) has been employed in calculations of electron capture and target excitation in collisions of fully stripped ions Aq+ (q=2-6) with Li(ns,p) atoms (n=2,3) at low and intermediate energies. Total and state selective single electron capture (SEC) cross sections have been determined. Data for SEC into nl sub-levels of the projectile have been used to calculate the related line emission cross sections, which are compared with available experimental and theoretical data. In addition cross sections for various target excitation processes, in particular the Li(2s-2p) resonance transition are presented. The scaling properties of the total SEC and target excitation cross sections are investigated, and their implication for lithium beam edge plasma spectroscopy is being discussed. For completion, scaling relations for ionization are also given.


The purpose of this study was to compare the amplitude and frequency of the gastrocnemius EMG during ramp and ballistic contractions in highly trained sprint athletes. Sixteen female sprinters performed ramp and ballistic isometric contractions on a Biodex dynamometer. RMS and median frequency of the gastrocnemius EMG signals were obtained at the following torque levels: 25 +/- 5 %, 50 +/- 5 %, 75 +/- 5 %, 100 % MVC. The average rate of force development (RFD), was 610.2 +/- 123.1 N . m/s and 212.3 +/- 155.6 N . m/s for the ballistic and ramp contractions, respectively. In the ramp contractions the EMG amplitude increased as a function of torque. In the ballistic contractions the EMG amplitude decreased from 25 % to 100 % MVC. The highest RFD of 889.45 N . m/s was generated in ballistic contractions by a muscular activation pattern with high EMG amplitude (475.7 microV) and low frequency (116.7 Hz) at 25 % MVC. The findings suggest that the CNS utilizes different muscular activation patterns to modulate RFD in ramp and ballistic contractions. In ramp contractions the EMG amplitude increased linearly with force. In ballistic contractions a high RFD is generated with a muscular activation pattern consisting of high amplitude and low frequency at the start of the contraction.


The technology of sheet-bulk metal forming provides numerous advantages in the field of manufacturing. Work pieces with filigree and complex structures can be formed by only a few forming steps. To ensure a sustainable and effective production, the forming process has to be controlled by a production-related measurement system. A measurement system, which meets the high requirements of a forming process like a short measuring time, a high measuring point density and the ability to measure different features at the same time, is a multi-scale fringe projection system with multiple sensors of different resolutions. However, an adapted definition of a measurement strategy is necessary in order to enable a rapid conformity decision of the manufactured work piece based on the evaluated measurement data and thus to be able to inspect as many work pieces as possible. It allows to correct the manufacturing during a primary forming process and to assure a sustainable forming process.


AIM
To evaluate the clinical outcome of Ivor Lewis subtotal esophagectomy with two-field lymphadenectomy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower thoracic esophagus.

METHODS
From January 1998 to December 2001, 73 patients with lower thoracic esophageal carcinoma underwent Ivor-Lewis subtotal esophagectomy with two-field lymphadenectomy. Clinicopathological information, postoperative complications, mortality and long term survival of all these patients were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTS
The operative morbidity and mortality was 15.1% and the mortality was 2.7%. Lymph node metastases were found in 52 patients (71.2%). Nodal metastases to the upper, middle, lower mediastini and upper abdomen were found in 13 (17.8%), 15 (20.5%), 30 (41.1%), and 25 (34.2%) patients, respectively. Postoperative staging was as follows: stage I in 5 patients, stage II in 34 patients, stage III in 32 patients, and stage IV in 2 patients, respectively. The overall 5-year survival rate was 23.3%. For N0 and N1 patients, the 5-year survival rate was 38.1% and 17.3%, respectively (c2 = 22.65, P < 0.01). The 5-year survival rate for patients in stages IIa, IIb and III was 31.2%, 27.8% and 12.5%, respectively (c2 = 29.18, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Ivor Lewis subtotal esophagectomy with two-field (total mediastinum) lymphadenectomy is a safe and appropriate operation for squamous cell carcinoma of the lower thoracic esophagus.


The case of a patient suffering from renal cell carcinoma and recurrent brain metastases shows how the survival period can be significantly prolonged by a combination of stereotactically guided percutaneous single-dose convergent beam irradiation and surgery. This 58-year-old man's left kidney was completely excised because of a renal cell carcinoma. After 18 months and 25 months, respectively, a right frontal brain metastasis was operated on. In the next 7 years, biannual MRI checks were carried out which successively showed five different brain metastases, each of which was immediately subjected to single-dose stereotactic irradiation (median dosage: 20 Gy prescribed to the 80% isodose). In the following 2 years, operations were carried out on two metastases which could not be treated by radiation because of their considerable size and partial compression of the ventricle. In the next 3 years, four more brain metastases were subjected to single-dose stereotactic irradiation. There were no metastases in the other organs. At present, the patient is in good clinical condition and mobile. A negative prognosis is usually delivered for patients suffering from renal cell carcinoma and brain metastasis. However, in individual cases, the survival period can be significantly prolonged by regular MRI examinations and a combination of neurosurgery and single-dose stereotactic irradiation.


Previous articles (Gray, 1954a, b) have shown that nitrifying bacteria and urea-hydrolyzing bacteria were partially or completely inhibited by benzenehexachloride (BHC) in culture media but not in soil. The effects of the BHC on nitrification of ammonium sulphate in solution media, inoculated with suspensions of different soils, brought out the fact that the bacteria of some soils were resistant to the BHC. It also appeared from the previous work that both oxidative .(nitrification) and hydrolytic (ureoclastic) systems might be affected. The present paper reports the results of tests made with various heterotrophic bacteria in the presence of benzenehexachloride or its gamma isomer. It has unfortunately been impossible to obtain samples of the other purified isomers, for comparison with the gamma isomer. Several groups of bacteria were studied: 1) common saprophytic bacteria grown on beef-extract peptone agar (Bacto nutrient agar), 2) those able to decompose specific sources of carbon such as phenol, starch, or cellulose, either in pure culture or in mixed culture in soil, 3) bacteria able to reduce nitrate in pure culture, and 4) sulphate-reducing bacteria of soil.


For all the monumental efforts involved, water rights adjudication is merely one piece of a larger water rights legal system that also includes permitting of new water uses, review of water use changes, and on-the-ground administration of water rights through distribution and enforcement. The integration of these processes is vitally important, because without comprehensive adjudication of historic water rights, it is difficult to determine whether water is available for new uses, whether changes may harm existing users, or whether water deliveries are correctly fulfilling legal rights to use water.As historic adjudications such as the Big Horn River and Snake River Basins reach finality, thoughts turn toward a post-adjudication world. One where emphasis shifts from determining the basic characteristics of water rights to creating nimble, predictable water rights systems that allow uses to adapt to the emerging needs of the West; one that fosters the accurate, efficient water delivery throughout complex, interconnected watersheds. And in places where adjudications are lagging (or languishing), the focus is on whether emerging lessons from these freshly-minted water decrees should trigger innovations in how future water courts approach their work. At bottom, these important and long overdue conversations center on how judicially driven water rights proceedings integrate with modern water rights permitting, record keeping, and distribution processes located predominantly within state agencies.This article provides a modest starting place for exploring how adjudications in various western states function together with modern permitting and administration of water rights. By locating adjudication within a state's broader water rights system, the hope is to elevate in our water law discourse the question of whether, at the end of the day, adjudication proceedings are meaningful in the day-to-day world of water use. Part I summarizes in broad strokes the way various western states approach the interrelated functions of adjudication, permitting, and administration. Part II then highlights some common, emerging issues among state water systems as well as some emerging ideas for integrating judicial and agency water rights functions. This article concludes that the time has come to design the next generation of water rights systems so that adjudication and regulation speak a common language and function more seamlessly to best meet the water use needs of the West.


The authors use the R-matrix formalism for the electron-molecule collision problem to calculate elastic scattering cross sections for the HeH+ ion as a function of internuclear separation. Vibrationally resolved elastic and inelastic cross sections are obtained within the adiabatic and the non-adiabatic nuclei approximation. These calculations give cross sections of similar magnitude but the non-adiabatic results show complicated series of 'nuclear-excited Feshbach' resonances. The lowest 2 Sigma resonances coincide with unexplained structures in the observed dissociative recombination cross section. The authors find that the vibrational excitation cross sections are considerably smaller than those calculated using the Coulomb-Born approximation, offering one explanation for why HeH+ has not so far been detected in planetary nebulae.


The soot and hydrocarbon generation behaviour from four common polymers has been investigated under different fire conditions using different bench scale apparatuses. While well-ventilated flaming typically has high CO2/CO ratios and high combustion efficiency, in under-ventilated flaming, higher yields of the many products of incomplete combustion are generally observed, including carbon monoxide, soot and hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbon and soot production from polyethylene, polystyrene, polyamide and polyvinyl chloride were investigated using the steady state tube furnace (ISO TS 19700) under well-ventilated, small under-ventilated and large under-ventilated fire conditions; and in the smoke density chamber (ISO 5659-2) under the three standard test conditions; and the results have been compared to published data from the fire propagation apparatus (ASTM E 2058). The steady state tube furnace and the fire propagation apparatus show good agreement, for hydrocarbon and soot yields. Conversely it proved impossible to identify correlations with these tests for the soot and hydrocarbon yields in the smoke density chamber. To investigate the soot generation further, the particle size distribution was determined using a cascade impactor. This showed the predominance of 1-5 ?m particulates for all polymers, except PVC, in under-ventilated conditions, and a smaller yield and a more even particle size distribution for well-ventilated burning. For PVC, no significant difference was observed for different fire conditions, with no clear trend of particle size distribution.


Utilizing hierarchical cluster analysis, a new measure of democracy, the DCC index, is proposed and constructed from five popular indices of democracy (Freedom House, Polity IV, Vanahanen's index of democratization, Cheibub et al.'s index of democracy and dictatorship, and the Cingranelli-Richards index of electoral self-determination). The DCC was used to classify the regime types for twenty-four countries in the Americas and thirty-nine countries in Europe over a thirty-year period. The results indicated that democracy is a latent class variable. Sensitivity and specificity analyses were conducted for the five existing democracy indices as well as the newly proposed Unified Democracy Scores index and a predicted DCC score. This analysis revealed significant problems with existing measures. Overall, the predicted DCC index attained the highest level of accuracy although one other index achieved high levels of accuracy in identifying nondemocracies.


Carboxylesterase‐based metabolic resistance to organophosphates (OPs) in insects has been shown to originate either from mutations in esterase‐encoding sequences or from amplification of esterase genes. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that mosquitoes can acquire OP resistance by functional changes in carboxylesterases. Mutations were introduced into the esterase B1 of mosquito Culex pipiens by site‐directed mutagenesis at positions 110 and 224. Three single mutants (G110D, W224L, and W224S) and two double mutants (G110D/W224L and G110D/ W224S) were expressed and purified. All five mutants lost native carboxylesterase activity. Mutation W224L converted esterase B1 to an OP hydrolase and increased its malathion carboxylesterase activity. No obvious OP hydrolysis was observed by G110D or W224S. Our data strongly support our hypothesis and suggest that mutation W224L might occur in natural populations of mosquitoes. Sequence comparison shows that the site 224 is especially highly conserved among various insect carboxylesterases. This leads to another hypothesis: that the position 224 plays a key role in insect carboxylesterases' switching from their native physiological functions to other functional niches un‐der selection pressure exerted by insecticides.—Cui, F., Qu, H., Cong, J., Liu, X.‐L., Qiao, C. L. Do mosquitoes acquire organophosphate resistance by functional changes in carboxylesterases? FASEB J. 21, 3584–3591 (2007)


369 (63%) of 586 consecutive patients with confirmed myocardial infarction were admitted to hospital within 6 h of symptom onset. Patients' arrival to hospital followed a characteristic circadian distribution with a marked morning increase between 0600 and 1200 hours, and a corresponding decrease in the late night hours. There were no differences in the occurrence of late potentials and in ECG data between early and late arrival group. The early group (less than 5.9 h) was, however, characterized by significantly higher cardiac enzyme levels than the late group (greater than 6.0 h); they also experienced more arrhythmic events in the acute phase (16.0% vs. 9.7%; p less than 0.032). Catecholamines were significantly more often necessary (26.4% vs. 10.3%; p less than 0.0001). Six-month prognosis after AMI was markedly worse. The time between symptom onset and hospital arrival was not affected by age and risk factors. In univariate analysis, pain history and recurrent infarction also had no influence on delay of admission to hospital. The time interval was, however, significantly shorter when the acute event occurred during the night (18.4% vs. 8.3%; p less than 0.0001). Absence of prodromi in the prehospital phase (18.5% vs. 12.0%; p less than 0.04) and a higher socio-economic level (68.3% vs. 61.0%; p less than 0.077) also shortened the admission time, whereas a hyperactive behavioral pattern prolonged the delay time (21.1% vs. 28.9%; p less than 0.05).


The WS-BPEL specification focuses on business processes the activities of which are assumed to be interactions with Web services. However, WS-BPEL processes go beyond the orchestration of activities exposed as Web services. There are cases in which people must be considered as additional participants to the execution of a process. The inclusion of humans, in turn, requires solutions to support the specification and enforcement of authorizations to users for the execution of human activities while enforcing authorization constraints.In this paper, we extend RBAC-WS-BPEL, a role-based authorization framework for WS-BPEL processes with an identity attribute-based role provisioning approach that preserves the privacy of the users who claim the execution of human activities. Such approach is based on the notion of identity records and role provisioning policies, and uses Pedersen commitments, aggregated zero knowledge proof of knowledge, and Oblivious Commitment-Based Envelope protocols to achieve privacy of user identity information.


The article analyzes the ways of adoption of the acquis communautaire by non-member states. In case of Switzerland, it is a polymorphic phenomenon achieved through international agreements as well as domestic legislation. In the agreements the following characteristics may be combined in various ways: the degree of integration provided for in the agreement (integration, cooperation or liberalization agreements are distinguished), the dynamic or static adoption of the acquis , the principle of direct applicability of EU law or the equivalence of legislations, the scope of the reference made (or lack thereof) to the case law of the Court of Justice. The Europeanization in Switzerland is partial and mostly static, which results in incompatibility between the constantly developing EU law and the rules applicable in EU's relations. Switzerland does not participate in the internal market and relies on the classical intergovernmental cooperation, without establishing any supranational bodies.


The present paper describes paraffin/polyethylene-based composites modified with functionalized carbon nanotubes with the ratio 'length : diameter" of "10:1...100:1". These composites possess electrical conductivity and are capable of generating heat under direct current supply conditions. The experiments performed showed that under the action of electric current, the composites are heated up to the stable temperature of 48.3 °C. The effect of maintaining such a temperature is associated with the availability of paraffin in the material composition.


There is a significant relationship between Taiwan's rapid economic development and indigenous Taiwanese social practices and ideas about law. This relationship has generally been misconstrued or overlooked by much of the academic literature discussing Taiwan's economic "miracle." Networks of interpersonal relationships have played a significant role in promoting economic development, while the ROC legal system has often been reduced to a role of enabling those relationships rather than establishing the kind of universal normative order often associated with the idea of a modern legal system. A substantial component of Taiwan's economic development has taken place in the informal sector, outside the purview of the ROC legal system. This study is the first attempt to develop a systematic account of the marginalization of Taiwan's modern legal system and the concomitant heightened significance of alternatives, such as networks of personal connections or informal surrogates for legal regulation, in contributing to Taiwan's rapid economic development. The role played by the ROC legal system in indirectly supporting relational practices is not one that can readily be expressed in terms of legal theories constructed to account for the relationship between law and development in Western nations. The conflict between contemporary Taiwanese social reality and liberal-democratic theory, when recognized, is usually followed by exhortations for the Taiwanese system to further modernize, thus resolving any conflict in favor of the Western model. If, however, Taiwan's system is not so much moving toward convergence with Western models as developing along alternative lines, then analyzing how formal legal institutions in Taiwan are marginalized may better explain processes of economic development and democratization in many nations outside the Western legal and political tradition.


Knowledge of the processes leading to the development of epimyoepithelial islands bears on histogenetic and morphogentic processes in salivary gland tumors. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural investigations of the cellular composition of epimyoepithelial islands were carried out on three examples of benign lymphoepithelial lesions with varying histologic features. The monoclonal anti-keratin antibody 312C8-1, which specifically decorates myoepithelial cells of the normal salivary gland, also stains the myoepithelial cells surrounding residual acini and intercalated ducts in benign lymphoepithelial lesions and the cell population of epimyoepithelial islands, with the exception of persisting luminal epithelial cells. Ultrastructurally, the myoepithelial cells of involuting acini and ducts and the modified myoepithelial cells of epimyoepithelial islands, identified in both locations by the monoclonal antibody 312C8-1, show an increasing complement of tonofilament bundles. In addition, persisting lumens (often distended with lymphocytes) and definite luminal epithelial cells can be seen in electron micrographs of some epimyoepithelial islands. The designation for this characteristic epithelial feature of benign lymphoepithelial lesions is therefore appropriate.


Nearly one third of the world's population live in coastal areas, and ten of the fifteen most populous cities in the world lie on a coast. Inhabitants of the Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) — defined as the contiguous area along the coast that is less than 10 meters above sea level — make up 10% of the world's population and 13% of the world's urban population. Sea level rise, coastal inundation and associated shoreline retreat have emerged as one of the primary threats to these populations and the resources located near the coastal fringe. To meet the needs of governments, planners and managers, researchers are continually faced with the challenge of integrating large volumes of complex environmental and spatial-temporal data. Typically the spatial and temporal components of data sets are underutilized because methods for effectively handling these data have not been available. To address these issues, Eonfusion, a 4-Dimensional software solution, is easily incorporated into the geospatial workflow to significantly enhance the ease with which we can now integrate and explore complex spatially and temporally variant data sets. This paper explores case studies along prominent coastal regions in which, as example, models are developed to predict the impact of rising sea levels on low-lying coastal areas focusing on: ✓ Coastal Inundation ✓ Coastal Vulnerability ✓ Property Devaluation The inundation is spatially modeled as a function of time and enables the visualization of sea level rise scenarios to assess the extent and impact. The coastal vulnerability mapping highlights the analytical power of Eonfusion, through the efficient integration of inundation and vulnerability models to demonstrate the universal application of the software to the field of climate change research. The third model fuses the cadastral layer and a simple property valuation model to complete the scenario, thus demonstrating a powerful pathway for the estimation and visualization of the impact of these climate change events. The data for these case studies include: • Sea level rise scenarios from IPCC stage 4 • LID AR Elevation Data • Cadastral Parcels and Value Indicators • Storm Surge Information • Vulnerability Mapping The processing steps required to integrate, analyze and visualize these models are: • Generation of 3D terrain model from LID AR data • Adjustments for any Height Data (AHD) discrepancies • Integrate IPCC sea level rises and storm surges into Sea level rise timeseries • Identification of sinks using Eonfusion API application • Calculate inundation levels and tipping points at which sinks get filled • Fuse Cadastre and value model with 3D surface — value decreases as % of title flooded • Airphoto drape • Set up visualization scene with integrated graph for all scenarios The outcomes from this work include the identification of powerful pathways through the employment of new visualization and spatial-temporal analysis tools for: • Dynamic scenario based modeling for assessing cost and environmental impacts from climate change; • The provision of a mechanism enabling the visualization of the complex spatial and temporal patterns from a wide range of data derived empirically and from models. This enables key stakeholders to rapidly assess scenarios and their likely impacts • Modeling of this type could be used in a number of areas including fire, flood, tsunami, hurricanes, etc


Background/Objectives During rheumatoid arthritis, anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) exhibit a specific, pro-inflammatory Fc glycosylation profile that is characterised by a low content of galactose and sialic acid residues. The absence of these sugars from the Fc-linked core glycan could influence the biological activity of ACPA during disease. As ACPA can be detected in sera several years before disease development, we hypothesised that a change in ACPA Fc-glycosylation might precede the onset of arthritis. Methods Serum samples (n = 300) of patients with ACPA positive arthralgia (n = 184) were obtained at various time points. In this cohort, 96 patients developed arthritis after an average duration of 14.7 months of arthralgia. At the time of the onset of arthritis, patients were defined as having rheumatoid arthritis (RA, n = 51) based on the 1987 ACR criteria for RA, or undifferentiated arthritis (UA, n = 45). ACPA were isolated from serum samples by affinity purification, using cyclic citrullinated peptides as antigen. Purified ACPA-IgG and total serum IgG were digested with trypsin and resulting IgG1 Fc glycopeptides were analysed by mass spectrometry. Results No significant change in Fc-glycosylation patterns was found between ACPA-specific and total serum IgG1 at the patients' first presentation with arthralgia (baseline). However, at diagnosis of arthritis, RA patients but not patients with UA exhibited increased hypogalactosylation of the ACPA and total IgG Fc fragments compared to healthy donors. The decrease of ACPA galactosylation levels at the Fc-tail occurred at 6 months before diagnosis and was significantly more pronounced at 3 months before diagnosis compared to total IgG. Conclusions A decrease in Fc-galactosylation levels of ACPA occurred around 6 months prior to RA onset. Of interest, this ACPA hypogalactosylation was more pronounced than that of total IgG1, indicating that a more pro-inflammatory Fc-glycosylation pattern could be one mechanism driving inflammation in RA.


Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard in the treatment of gallstones. This study was carried out to determine the technical difficulties that can be encountered during laparoscopic cholecystectomy and to evaluate the role of ultrasonography in identifying patients at risk of conversion returning to open surgery. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative ultrasonography in assessing technical difficulty faced during laparoscopic cholecystectomy in gallstone disease. This was an observational comparative study which was conducted in the Department of Surgery of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2016 to January 2017. A purposive sampling method was applied to select the study sample. A total of 160 patients were included this study. Data processing and analysis were done using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences), version 20. The summarized data were presented in the form of figures and tables with due statistical interpretation. In this study, there was a total of 160 cases, among which 90(56.25%) turned out to have undergone normal laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Seventy (43.75%) were difficult, among which 6(3.75%) were converted to open cholecystectomies. Among 160 patients, 120(75%) were female and 40(25%) were male. There is a total of 136/160 (85%) patients with gallbladder wall thickness <3mm and 24/160 (15%) patients >3mm. Among the 136 patients with gallbladder wall thickness <3mm, there was difficulty in holding the gallbladder in 28(25%) cases, 28(20.6%) had undergone gallbladder perforation, 32(23.5%) had undergone moderate bleeding and only 2(1.5%) had undergone severe bleeding. Among the 24 patients with gallbladder wall thickness >3mm, there was difficulty in holding the gallbladder in 22(91.7%) cases, 18(75%) had undergone gallbladder perforation, 18(75%) had undergone moderate bleeding and only 2(8.33%) had undergone severe bleeding. It shows a total of 124/160 (77.5%) patients with normal gall bladder, 26/160 (16.25%) patients with contracted gallbladder and 10/160 (6.25%) patients with distended gallbladder. Among the 124 patients with normal gallbladder, 16(12.9%) had undergone difficult Calot's dissection, 26(21%) had undergone difficult gallbladder bed dissection, 26(21%) had undergone moderate bleeding and none had undergone severe bleeding. Among 26 patients with contracted gallbladder, 20(76.9%) underwent difficult Calot's dissection, 24(92.3%) had undergone difficult gallbladder bed dissection, 18(69.2%) had undergone moderate bleeding and 4(15.4%) had undergone severe bleeding. Among 10 patients with distended gallbladder, 4(40%) underwent difficult Calot's dissection, 6(60%) underwent difficult gallbladder bed dissection, 6(60%) had undergone moderate bleeding and none had undergone severe bleeding. From this study, we conclude that preoperative ultrasonography is a good predictor of difficulty in laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the majority of cases and should be used as a screening procedure.


ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an integrated definition and a conceptual model covering the dimensions of disaster literacy. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the definitions and conceptual frameworks of disaster literacy. The content analysis of definitions and conceptual frameworks were conducted to identify the central dimensions of disaster literacy and to develop an integrated model. Results: In this study, 8 disaster literacy definitions and 4 conceptual model studies related to disasters were found. In line with these studies, a comprehensive definition of disaster literacy was presented. In addition, based on content analysis, a 16-matrix integrative conceptual model of the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery dimensions of disaster literacy, and the access, understanding, appraisal, and application areas of disaster information processing were developed. Conclusions: In this study, a comprehensive definition and conceptual framework of disaster literacy were presented in an integrated model. By using this model, practices that are special to the phases of a disaster can be identified and supported in society. In addition, the model can contribute to empirical studies by providing the basis for the development of tools to measure disaster literacy.


I am writing in response to Sue Haworth's letter in the Nursing Standard (week ending December 5) with regards to reduced RCN membership fees for undergraduate student nurses.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical presentations of patients diagnosed with ocular adnexal or orbital squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which possess features similar to feline restrictive orbital myofibroblastic sarcoma (FROMS).

PROCEDURES
A retrospective review of adnexal and/or orbital SCC was performed. Cases were collected from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin (COPLOW) (1990-2016). Data included signalment, ophthalmic clinical signs, nonophthalmic history and clinical signs, clinician suspicion of FROMS, advanced imaging results, and subsequent histopathologic diagnosis. FROMS cases from the COPLOW over the same time span were reviewed and compared statistically to the SCC cases with a significance threshold of 0.05.

RESULTS
Nineteen cases (20 eyes) were identified with adnexal SCC with features similar to FROMS, including keratitis and eyelid/third eyelid restriction and/or thickening. There were no statistically significant differences between clinical findings in the SCC cases and the identified and compared FROMS cases (57 cases; 67 eyes), except for exophthalmos and/or resistance to retropulsion, which was less common in SCC cases (20%) than in FROMS cases (47.8%) (P = 0.027); and clinical or imaged presence of an overt eyelid or orbital mass, which was more common in the SCC cases (30%) than in the FROMS cases (4.5%) (P = 0.0010).

CONCLUSIONS
SCC with adnexal involvement has many features similar to FROMS. In addition to FROMS, SCC should be considered a differential diagnosis in cats with restrictive adnexal or orbital signs and corneal changes.


Valence photoelectron (PE) spectra have been measured for ReO(3)Me using a synchrotron source for photon energies ranging between 20 and 110 eV. Derived branching ratios (BR) and relative partial photoionization cross sections (RPPICS) are interpreted in the context of a bonding model calculated using density functional theory (DFT). Agreement between calculated and observed ionization energies (IE) is excellent. The 5d character of the orbitals correlates with the 5p --> 5d resonances of the associated RPPICS; these resonances commence around 47 eV. Bands with 5d character also show a RPPICS maximum at 35 eV. The RPPICS associated with the totally symmetric 4a(1) orbital, which has s-like character, shows an additional shape resonance with an onset of 43 eV. The PE spectrum of the inner valence and core region measured with photon energies of 108 and 210 eV shows ionization associated with C 2s, O 2s, and Re 4f and 5p electrons. Absorption spectra measured in the region of the O1s edge showed structure assignable to excitation to the low lying empty "d" orbitals of this d(0) molecule. The separation of the absorption bands corresponded with the calculated orbital splitting and their intensity with the calculated O 2p character. Broad bands associated with Re 4d absorption were assigned to (2)D(5/2) and (2)D(3/2) hole states. Structure was observed associated with the C1s edge but instrumental factors prevented firm assignment. At the Re 5p edge, structure was observed on the (2)P(3/2) absorption band resulting from excitation to the empty "d" levels. The intensity ratios differed from that of the O 1s edge structure but were in good agreement with the calculated 5d character of these orbitals. An absorption was observed at 45 eV, which, in the light of the resonance in the 4a(1) RPPICS, is assigned to a 4a(1) --> ne, na(2) transition. The electronic structure established for ReO(3)Me differs substantially from that of TiCl(3)Me and accounts for the difference in chemical behavior found for the two complexes.


Abstract Green and Tao famously proved in 2005 that any subset of the primes of fixed positive density contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. Green had previously shown that, in fact, any subset of the primes of relative density tending to zero sufficiently slowly contains a three-term progression. This was followed by work of Helfgott and de Roton, and Naslund, who improved the bounds on the relative density in the case of three-term progressions. The aim of this note is to present an analogous result for longer progressions by combining a quantified version of the relative Szemerédi theorem given by Conlon, Fox and Zhao with Henriot's estimates of the enveloping sieve weights.


This session focuses on a current project that is in progress, which is the creation of a self directed digital course on mindfulness for learning. This was a Teach Brunel funded project which was aimed to help students cope with stress and transition successfully to university life. The materials were cohered and situated on the university VLE. This talk reviews how such content can be delivered in a digital and self directed way. Mindfulness is often taught and communicated in a very personal and face to face way – this session explores the challenges relating to the delivery of the content and strategies employed to engaging students through the use of online tools with the subject of developing their study soft skills.


A close correlation is postulated between tobacco chewing and the high incidence of oral cancer and precancer in many South East Asian nations. However, attempts to induce malignancy in laboratory animals by exposure to ingredients of betel quid are unsuccessful. This is another attempt to induce malignancy in the hamster cheek pouch epithelium by exposure to the ingredients of betel quid - lime and tobacco, for the total life span of the animals - 100 to 110 weeks. Parallel conditioning by exposure to vitamin A is also included. The cheek pouch epithelium of animals exposed to the test substances for total life span shows only epithelial dysplasia of a marked degree, but no evidence of malignancy. It is concluded that it is not possible to simulate the time-dose relationship in human addiction to tobacco or to betel chew in experimental animals due to their comparatively small life span.


Facilitation of fake face generation in recent years, thanks to advancements in computer graphics and artificial intelligence, raises concerns about malicious use of these techniques for personal or political gains. Media consumers are exposed to hours of audiovisual content daily, while their vulnerability to fake audiovisual content is not yet fully studied and understood. In contrast, many recent automated fake content generation techniques are readily accessible to the public. A first step to address this vulnerability is to study the effectiveness of existing methods in passing human judgment. To this end, we examined the performance of 30 participants in the detection of 48 real and fake videos. The fake videos were sourced from six different methods of generation and were collected from a public video sharing website1, ranging from prosthetic makeup to Deepfakes. Our results show that the participants failed to detect two different types of fake videos. However, participants' detection performance improves when they know of the displayed individual or when a biometric reference video (introducing the individual and its behavior) is available to them during the test.


In this communication, we use observations of solar flare duration for calculation of intensity of solar particles emitted at Pakistan atmospheric region over a period of 1979-2006, to predict local behavior with proper degree of accuracy. Actually short records not fully describe the diurnal cycle but different spectral technique like Periodogram and spectral density are helpful in disclosing the true picture behind any physical phenomena. We find hidden periodicities and pin-point the peak frequencies in the time series during active sun by applying confidence limits to the peaks of these spectral estimates. The Fourier coefficients and spectral energy for different portion of the time series have also been calculated.


A new optimization method called razor search is presented. The method, which is based on pattern search, was specifically developed for the automatic optimization by computer of networks for which the objective is to minimize the maximum deviation of some response from a desired ideal response specification. Minimax response objectives, which can lead to equal-ripple optima, will in general give rise to discontinuous partial derivatives of the objective function with respect to the network parameters. Otherwise efficient optimization methods may slow down or even fail to reach an optimum in such circumstances, particularly when the response hypersurface has a narrow curved valley along which the path of discontinuous derivatives lies. Another direct search method called ripple search is also presented. This method was developed to locate the extrema of multimodal functions of one variable in an efficient manner, and is used to determine the maximum deviation of the response from the desired response. Sufficiently detailed flow diagrams are available so that the methods can be readily programmed. The razor search strategy (with ripple search) has been successfully applied to the optimization of inhomogeneous waveguide transformers. It is illustrated in this paper by examples of cascaded commensurate and noncoummensurate transmission lines acting as impedance transformers for which the optima are known.


Formation of an iron chelate of glycated protein was demonstrated by the appearance of an absorption peak at approximately 270 nm after mixing glycated bovine serum albumin with FeCl3. This peak disappeared and a new peak appeared at approximately 420 nm to form an isosbestic point at approximately 340 nm by the addition of deferoxamine mesylate, an ironchelating agent, to the mixture, thus confirming the formation of the iron chelate of the glycated protein in the mixture. The lipid peroxide level was increased markedly in endothelial cells and slightly in smooth muscle cells from bovine aorta incubated in the medium containing glycated fetal bovine serum‐iron chelate. Morphological observation by phase‐contrast microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the glycated fetal bovine serumiron chelate caused intense damage to the endothelial cells. These results indicate that glycated protein‐iron chelate provokes lipid peroxidation, which explains at least in part the mechanism of atherogenesis found in diabetic patients.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

The omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), linoleic acid (LA), has been reported to have adverse affects in the growth and metastasis of a variety of cancer cell models. However, there has been some controversy over how much these models relate to human disease. In the current study, a novel cascade of actions behind the LA-induced upregulation of cell proliferation has been identified. It is well established that PUFAs serves as precursors for eicosanoids, and LA supplementation was found to significantly increase the levels of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in a variety of lung and breast cancer cell lines. These increases in PGE2 are associated with elevations in the activity of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), increased levels of Tumor Growth Factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) and specific pro-proliferative signaling pathways. These findings were corroborated in animal xenografts derived from the same cell lines used for the in vitro studies, with serum levels of PGE2 showing significant increases in PGE2 in animals fed diets high in LA. Moreover, the omega-3 PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), was found to have an opposing affect on PGE2 production by upregulating Thromboxane B2 (TXB2), a stable metabolite of Thromboxane A2 (TXA2), which inhibits COX-2 activity. These findings present specific mechanisms behind the upregulation of cancer cell growth due to LA supplementation that may contribute to a resolution in determining its role in human disease.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5440. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5440


The political evolution of Africa is replete with conflicts which have unfortunately gone beyond the capabilities of the continent to resolve without resort to foreign assistance especially in the critical field of military assistance. This study discussed the concept and practice of the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Africa, the challenges facing such operations as well as the prospects of resolving them. It conceptualized peacekeeping, adopted the collective security paradigm in discussing the changing operational environment that has transformed UN traditional peacekeeping operations to the contemporary peacekeeping methods and the challenges that have led to half-baked results in such African operations. Qualitatively driven with reliance on secondary sources of data, the paper recommended an improvement in the quality of preparation, planning, monitoring and evaluation of the processes by the Security Council, adoption of clear and actionable mandates by the UN, proper coordination between the Security Council and countries contributing troops, good risk analysis and transparency across the chain of command among others as necessary steps to address the challenges. It concluded that the UN has the capacity to surmount these challenges if adequate support is given to it by member countries. Keywords: Conflicts, Evaluation, Intervention, Mandates, Monitoring, Peace-keeping


Identification and purification of cancer stem cells (CSCs) should offer a clue of the therapeutic targets, but their heterogeneous expansion remains the significant obstacle of studies. One of the solutions might be establishment of real-time monitoring of CSC, based on fluorescence imaging with the intrinsically low proteasome activity. The monitoring system in human pancreatic cancer cells proved directly the asymmetric division of CSC to generate non-CSC. Real-time chemoresistance of the CSCs and remarkable tumorigenicity (as few as 10 cells) indicated their preclinical significance. The synthetic lethal screening was applied to identify a novel compound targeting specifically the pancreatic CSCs. It inhibited nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin in the pancreatic CSCs. Anti-CSC effects of the compound were confirmed by in vitro dynamic images and in vivo tumor analyses. The real-time monitoring system of CSCs is an innovative strategy providing a visible target that should lead to the discovery of successful therapies directed toward CSCs of aggressive cancers. Citation Format: Shinji Tanaka, Rama Adikrisna, Satoshi Matsumura, Daisuke Ban, Takanori Ochiai, Takumi Irie, Atsushi Kudo, Noriaki Nakamura, Shoji Yamaoka, Shigeki Arii. Real-time imaging of pancreatic cancer stem cells for identification of the selectively targeting therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4896. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4896 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


This demo presents our web-tool to access and visualize student attendance data obtained from instrumenting a pilot set of classrooms with people counting sensors in a large university campus in Sydney, Australia. We showcase two aspects: (1) how to access and process our open data-set containing time-stamped occupancy counts for 9 lecture rooms of varying size in which over 250 courses are conducted over a 12-week semester; and (2) visualizing occupancy at multiple spatial (per-room and per-course) and temporal (over a day, week, or semester) granularities, enabling new insights into student attendance and room usage patterns.


Due to the resemblance between Maxwell and the gravitomagnetic equations obtained in the weak field and slow motion limit of General Relativity, one can ask if it is possible to amplify a seed intrinsic rotation or spin motion by a gravitomagetic dynamo, in analogy with the well-known dynamo effect. Using the Galilean limits of the gravitomagnetic equations, the answer to this question is negative, due to the fact that a "magnetic" Galilean limit for the gravitomagnetic equations is physically inconsistent.


Magnetization behaviors of Ni-substituted LixMg0.5Ni0.5-2xFe2+xO4 ferrites, where x = 0.25, 0.20, 0.15, 0.10 and 0.00 synthesized by standard ceramic technology sintered at 1300°C in air for 5 hours has been presented in the present study. The bulk density and lattice constants of the samples found to be decreased with the increase in the Ni-content for the x values from 0.25 to 0.00. DC electrical resistivity has found to show highest magnitude at room temperature and decreases with further increase in temperature. Magnetization of the samples has been measured as a function of the field using hysteresis loop tracer at 30°C. It was observed that addition of nickel in polycrystalline Li-Mg ferrites plays an important role in modification of structural and magnetization characteristics.


This review reports on the functions and applications of nanoceramic oxides in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Such materials are mainly used as fillers to enhance the water uptake and proton conductivity of polymeric matrices at high temperatures under low relative humidity. To further enhance the mechanical property of proton exchange membranes (PEMs), the functionalized ceramic oxides with organic groups are introduced. Furthermore, the inorganic PEMs are developed to improve their proton conductivities at elevated temperatures. Due to the inherent disadvantages of polymeric PEMs, it is believed that the inorganic PEMs based on porous ceramic oxides are a promising new candidate as solid electrolyte membranes in PEMFCs at high temperatures and with low relative humidity.


While Transformer architectures have show remarkable success, they are bound to the computation of all pairwise interactions of input element and thus suffer from limited scalability. Recent work has been successful by avoiding the computation of the complete attention matrix, yet leads to problems down the line. The absence of an explicit attention matrix makes the inclusion of inductive biases relying on relative interactions between elements more challenging. An extremely powerful inductive bias is translational equivariance, which has been conjectured to be responsible for much of the success of Convolutional Neural Networks on image recognition tasks. In this work we show how translational equivariance can be implemented in efficient Transformers based on kernelizable attention - Performers. Our experiments highlight that the devised approach significantly improves robustness of Performers to shifts of input images compared to their naive application. This represents an important step on the path of replacing Convolutional Neural Networks with more expressive Transformer architectures and will help to improve sample efficiency and robustness in this realm.


Rifampicin which is a known antituberculous agent has been reported to induce both chromosomal breakage and numerical chromosomal abnormalities. This study was carried out to determine the mutagenicity of rifampicin and more importantly to investigate the protective roles of antioxidants-vitamin C and E individually and in-combination therapy against rifampicin mutagenicity using micronucleus assay. Therapeutic concentrations of rifampicin alone (9mg/kg), rifampicin plus vitamin E (5mg/kg), rifampicin plus vitamin C (8mg/kg) and rifampicin plus vitamin C plus vitamin E were administered orally for 28 consecutive days using 6 mice in each group. The negative and positive control mice received same volume of distilled water and cyclophosphamide (40 mg/kg) intraperitoneally 6 hours before sacrifice, respectively. The results showed rifampicin alone treated group to demonstrate significant ( P P ≤0.05) in the proportion of MPCE to PCE was demonstrated in the rifampicin plus vitamin E; rifampicin plus vitamin C plus E and rifampicin plus vitamin C groups compared with cyclophosphamide treated group and rifampicin treated group. These findings suggest that rifampicin has damaging effects on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). However, co-administration of rifampicin and antioxidants (vitamin C and E) has protective effect on the damaging potentials of rifampicin.


In this paper, new multi-objective optimization algorithm is proposed. It optimizes the execution time, the energy consumption and the cost of booked nodes in the grid architecture at the same time. The proposed algorithm selects the best frequencies depends on a new optimization function that optimized these three objectives, while giving equivalent trade-off for each one. Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) is used to reduce the energy consumption of the message passing parallel iterative method executed over grid. DVFS is also reduced the computing power of each processor executing the parallel applications. Therefore, the performance of these applications is decreased and so on the payed cost for the booking nodes is increased.  However, the proposed multi-objective algorithm gives the minimum energy consumption and minimum cost with maximum performance at the same time. The proposed algorithm is evaluated on the SimGrid/SMPI simulator while running the parallel iterative Jacobi method. The experiments show that it reduces on average the energy consumption by up to 19.7 %, while limiting the performance and cost degradations to 3.2 % and 5.2 % respectively.


During late autumn through early spring, extratropical regions on Mars exhibit profound mean zonal equator-to-pole thermal contrasts. The imposition of this strong meridional temperature variation supports intense eastward-traveling, synoptic weather systems (i.e., transient baroclinic/barotropic waves) within Mars' extratropical atmosphere. Such disturbances grow, mature and decay within the east-west varying seasonal-mean midlatitude jet stream (i.e., the polar vortex) on the planet. Near the surface, the weather disturbances indicated large-scale spiraling "comma"-shaped dust cloud structures and scimitar-shaped dust fronts, indicative of processes associated with cyclo-/fronto-genesis. The weather systems occur during specific seasons on Mars, and in both hemispheres. The northern hemisphere (NH) disturbances are significantly more intense than their counterparts in the southern hemisphere (SH). Further, the NH weather systems and accompanying frontal waves appear to have significant impacts on the transport of tracer fields (e.g., particularly dust and to some extent water species (vapor/ice) as well). And regarding dust, frontal waves appear to be key agents in the lifting, lofting, organization and transport of this particular atmospheric aerosol. In this paper, a brief background and supporting observations of Mars' extratropical weather systems is presented. This is followed by a short review of the theory and various modeling studies (i.e., ranging from highly simplified, mechanistic and full global circulation modeling investigations) which have been pursued. Finally, a discussion of outstanding issues and questions regarding the character and nature of Mars' extratropical traveling weather systems is offered.


Geographic clustering of haplotypes appears to have emerged in the UK as a result of differing patterns of immigration and drift in regions that have been relatively isolated from each other. However, until recently it has been unclear how such patterns of regional genetic differentiation might impact the protein-coding fraction of the genome. Here, we exploit UK Biobank (UKB) and Viking Genes whole exome sequencing data to study regional genetic differentiation across the UK and Ireland in protein coding genes, encompassing 20 regions of origin and 44,696 unrelated individuals. We rediscover the strong influence of genetic drift in shaping variation in the Northern Isles of Scotland and among those with full or partial Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) ancestry. For full AJ, almost half the known rare exonic variants (45%) are at least two-fold more or less frequent than in a Europe-wide reference sample, while the degree of variant frequency differences in Shetland and Orkney are comparable to part AJ (19%, 17%, 16%, respectively). We also demonstrate substantial genetic differentiation among several mainland regions of origin, particularly north and south Wales, SE Scotland and Ireland. With stringent filtering criteria we found 67 variants likely to have adverse biomedical consequences, enriched by at least five-fold in frequency in one or more British or Irish regions relative to a European reference group, and we calculate that this may lead to tens or hundreds of affected individuals. We conclude that regional genetic variation across the UK and Ireland should be considered in the design of genetic studies, and may inform effective genetic screening and counselling.


In this paper the morphology of the cavitation damage to heat-treated medium carbon steel was analyzed. The experiments were conducted using a modified vibratory cavitation test set up. The erosion rates were measured by an analytical method. The mor- phology of the cavitation damage was studied by the scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy techniques. The present work was aimed at understanding the cavita- tion erosion behaviour of heat-treated medium carbon steel under laboratory conditions. The results indicate that the heat-treated medium carbon steel is not to be recommended for the production of hydraulic machinery parts exposed to high hydrodynamic intensity.


Most cartilaginous tumors are formed during skeletal development in locations adjacent to growth plates, suggesting that they arise from disordered endochondral bone growth. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)3 signaling plays essential roles in this process; however, the role of FGFR3 in cartilaginous tumorigenesis is not known. In this study, we found that postnatal chondrocyte-specific Fgfr3 deletion induced multiple chondroma-like lesions, including enchondromas and osteochondromas, adjacent to disordered growth plates. The lesions showed decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activity and increased Indian hedgehog (IHH) expression. The same was observed in Fgfr3-deficient primary chondrocytes, in which treatment with a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MEK) inhibitor increased Ihh expression. Importantly, treatment with an inhibitor of IHH signaling reduced the occurrence of chondroma-like lesions in Fgfr3-deficient mice. This is the first study reporting that the loss of Fgfr3 function leads to the formation of chondroma-like lesions via downregulation of MEK/ERK signaling and upregulation of IHH, suggesting that FGFR3 has a tumor suppressor-like function in chondrogenesis.


This paper explains how local government disaster plans can foster disaster resiliency of socially vulnerable population groups in ways that are not fully addressed by the predominant disaster planning literature. The benefits of disaster planning aimed at building the capacity of socially vulnerable populations are discussed. We present two critical choices that must be considered in creating high quality disaster plans: choices among plan design options; and choices to support plan quality principles that provide guidance to account for socially vulnerable populations. Application of the design options and principles is illustrated based on a content analysis of three local disaster plans. The conceptual and practical implications of the options and principles are reviewed.


A growing number of studies have focused on identifying cognitive processes that are modulated by interoceptive signals. Here we investigated whether interoception affects self-processing, by assessing changes in self-voice perception as a function of respiratory and cardiac cycles. Considering the fundamental role interoception plays in bodily self-consciousness, we additionally applied conflicting sensorimotor stimulation inducing a state characterized by a loss of self and increased otherness, and investigated its effects in self-other voice perception. Our data reveal that breathing, but not heartbeat, affects self-voice perception, by showing that participants (N = 30) discriminated self-voice from other voices better during inspiration, while being in the state of increased otherness and especially when hearing voices of other people. Loudness judgement of equivalent self-related stimuli was unaffected by breathing. Combining interoception and voice perception with self-monitoring framework, these data extend recent findings on breathing-dependent cognition to self-processing.


Educational exchange between Malaysia and China has an important interaction with the Chinese education in Malaysia and the political relations between Malaysia and China. Chinese education in Malaysia is twisted with Malaysian ethnic politics. Malaysian Chinese students were lack of opportunities at the public institutions of higher learning due to the preferential and affirmative action policies implemented by Malaysian government under the egis of New Economic Policy (NEP).Thus, Malaysia NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) carried out educational exchange with China to open up a more spacious study channels for students. The objective of this article is to investigate the role of Malaysian NGOs towards educational exchange between Malaysia and China under Malaysian ethnic politics. Primary data were collected through interviews and the informants were selected based on purposive sampling and snowball sampling. Totally, fourteen informants were selected and interviewed based on evidence of data saturation. Secondary data were collected from journal articles, newspapers, website pages and online resources. Meanwhile, structuration theory was used to guide the researcher to get the suitable answer. Findings of this study indicate that, there are three main important NGOs that play a significant role in promoting educational exchange between Malaysia and China, which are Dong Jiao Zong (the collective name of Dong Zong and Jiao Zong), the Association of Graduates from Universities and Colleges in China, Malaysia (AGUCCM) and Malaysia-China Friendship Association (MCFA). As the purposive actors, they conduct their actions based on different levels, which are to develop Chinese education in Malaysia, to continue and inherit Chinese culture. Their unconsciousness reason is based on Malaysian Chinese's deep feeling to China. Moreover, the educational exchange in the aspect of Chinese education is conducted under the structure of Malaysian ethnic politics, which led to a dichotomy. Nowadays, with the rise of China and the promotion of "the Belt and Road", educational exchange between Malaysia and China will become better and better.


Sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma presentations are widely variable and non-specific initial features. We report a rare case of non-orbital sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma presented with optic neuropathy. A 15-year-old female patient initially presented with upper gum swelling and pain for 3 months. It was associated with loosening of teeth. Subsequently, the patient developed recurrent epistaxis follow by left facial swelling and blurring of vision. Examination showed marked left facial swelling with mild proptosis. Visual acuity in the left eye was no perception of light with the presence of relative afferent pupillary defect. Fundoscopy showed left optic atrophy. Neuroimaging showed large aggressive soft tissue mass on the left infratemporal, masticator, and parapharyngeal space with a local extension to the sphenoid sinus. There was also an intracranial extension to the left temporal lobe with the base of skull bone destruction. Transnasal endoscopic biopsy revealed sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma. Management was with chemotherapy. Sclerosing rhabdomyosarcoma may present with optic nerve involvement that may carry a guarded prognosis to the eyes.


Different conditions for neuraminidase activity inhibition test using ovomucine as the substrate were compared. The optimal results could be obtained after 1-hour contact of virus with antibody at 37 degrees C and after 18-hour contact of virus-antibody mixture with the substrate also at 37 degrees C. Antineuraminidase antibody titer may be calculated by the results of the test integration in comparison with virus control without correction for normal rabbit serum.


A bow shock is observed in a two-dimensional supersonic flow of charged microparticles in a complex plasma. A thin conducting needle is used to make a potential barrier as an obstacle for the particle flow in the complex plasma. The flow is generated and the flow velocity is controlled by changing a tilt angle of the device under the gravitational force. A void, microparticle-free region, is formed around the potential barrier surrounding the obstacle. The flow is bent around the leading edge of the void and forms an arcuate structure when the flow is supersonic. The structure is characterized by the bow shock as confirmed by a polytropic hydrodynamic theory as well as numerical simulation.


The neural fat‐body sheath surrounding the abdominal ventral nerve cord of Carausius morosus has been examined by light and electron microscopy. A perineural chamber between the ventral nerve cord and the sheath is present in the ganglionic regions, but in the interconnective regions the sheath directly covers the neural lamella. The sheath is differentiated into secretory cells with abundant granular endoplasmic reticulum and many mitochondria and storage cells with lipid droplets and granules presumed to be glycogen. The whole sheath is pervaded with tracheoblast cells and associated tracheal and tracheolar tubules. Recent evidence suggests that this sheath may have little power of ionic regulation. The function of the sheath, deduced from the fine structure described here, appears to be to serve the nutritional needs of the central nervous system. Why a sheath of this type appears to be confined to herbivorous insects with unusual haemolymph cationic balance is still unexplained.


Despite recent developments in the Bangladesh healthcare sector, there is still great concern about the quality of healthcare services in the country. This study compared the quality of healthcare services by different types of institutions, i.e. public and private hospitals, from the perspective of Bangladeshi patients to identify the relevant areas for development. A survey was conducted among Bangladeshi citizens who were in-patients in public or private hospitals in Dhaka city or in hospitals abroad within the last one year. About 400 exit-interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire that addressed the probable factors of the quality of healthcare services in 5-point interval scales. The results gave an overview of the perspectives of Bangladeshi patients on the quality of service in three types of hospitals. The quality of service in private hospitals scored higher than that in public hospitals for nursing care, tangible hospital matters, i.e. cleanliness, supply of utilities, and availability of drugs. The overall quality of service was better in the foreign hospitals compared to that in the private hospitals in Bangladesh in all factors, even the 'perceived cost' factor. This paper provides insights into the specific factors of the quality of hospital services that need to be addressed to meet the needs of Bangladeshi patients.


Background: Birth-related post-traumatic stress disorder occurs in 4.7% of mothers. No previous study focusing precisely on the stress factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic regarding this important public mental health issue has been conducted. However, the stress load brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic could have influenced this risk. Methods: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of traumatic childbirth and birth-related PTSD and to analyze the risk and protective factors involved, including the risk factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a prospective cohort study of women who delivered at the University Hospitals of Geneva between 25 January 2021 and 10 March 2022 with an assessment within 3 days of delivery and a clinical interview at one month post-partum. Results: Among the 254 participants included, 35 (21.1%, 95% CI: 15.1–28.1%) experienced a traumatic childbirth and 15 (9.1%, 95% CI: 5.2–14.6%) developed a birth-related PTSD at one month post-partum according to DSM-5. Known risk factors of birth-related PTSD such as antenatal depression, previous traumatic events, neonatal complications, peritraumatic distress and peritraumatic dissociation were confirmed. Among the factors related to COVID-19, only limited access to prenatal care increased the risk of birth-related PTSD. Conclusions: This study highlights the challenges of early mental health screening during the maternity stay when seeking to provide an early intervention and reduce the risk of developing birth-related PTSD. We found a modest influence of stress factors directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic on this risk.