Background Multiple pharmacological, mechanical and complementary methods are available to induce labour. and data from the literature suggest that most interventions have similar utility, differing mainly in cost. The decision to apply different techniques is linked to the availability of pharmacological treatments and medical devices at the centre. To introduce mechanical induction of labour with the cervical ripening balloon (CRB), a pilot test was conducted to locally assess the need and the feasibility of the new technology. Purpose The objective is to evaluate the introduction of CRB at the centre. Material and methods A clinical pilot test was conducted to compare CRB to the pharmacological method already used at the centre (slow-release vaginal PGE2 insert, Propess). The two induction methods were tested during 6 months in the delivery room (March to August 2018). Patients included were women with intact or ruptured membranes, at different gestational ages, with low (<3) Bishop score. The success of induction was defined as achievement of uncomplicated vaginal delivery. The number of vaginal deliveries within 24 hours and of caesarean sections were investigated and compared for both methods. Economic consequences for both methods were analysed. Results A total of 56 patients were included in two groups, homogeneous for indications to induction and obstetric characteristics. The success of induction was comparable in the two groups. The time needed to achieve delivery by the vaginal route was on average longer with CRB (25%>24 hours) than with Propess (7%>24 hours), (p<0.05). Caesarean sections were comparable in the two groups (14% with CRB; 14% with Propess), however the reasons were different (one case of uterine hyperstimulation with fetal heart rate changes in the CRB group). The CRB group was associated with lower costs directly related to the method (-€1,371.16), however associated hospitalisation costs were higher due to longer hospitalisation (5 days versus 4 days). Conclusion Even though CRB is an effective method to induce labour at a lower cost than Propess in our pilot test, a longer hospitalisation length was observed with this device. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy, safety and all direct costs involved in these techniques and also considering other available methods. References and/or acknowledgements None. No conflict of interest.


In this review, the function of water and the increasing role of water as a green solvent and co-extractant based on its application in ancient times and the need of environmental thinking have been discussed. A brief summary of various extraction methods for natural products, the application of conventional and innovative processes, based on water and future insights and perspectives considering water as an eco-friendly crossroad in green extraction have been reported. Taking into account also the issue of wastewater, this paper calls for-more effective use of water as a finite resource.


ABCG2/MXR/ABCP1/BCRP is a member of the ATP‐binding cassette membrane transporter, which consists of six transmembrane regions and one ATP‐binding cassette. The transporter is known to be involved in the efflux of various anticancer compounds such as mitoxantrone, doxorubicin and topoisomerase I inhibitor. In this study, we analyzed the effects of polymorphisms in ABCG2, V12M and Q141K on transporter function. When polarized LLC‐PK1 cells were transfected with variant ABCG2, drug‐resistance to topoisomerase I inhibitor of cells expressing V12M or Q141K was less than 1/10 that of wild‐type ABCG2 transfected cells, and was accompanied by increased drug accumulation and decreased drug efflux in the variant ABCG2‐expressing cells. We further elucidated the molecular mechanisms of the transport dysfunction by investigating membrane localization and ATPase activity. Confocal microscopic analysis revealed that apical plasma membrane localization of V12M was disturbed, while the localization of wild‐type transporters occurred specifically in the apical plasma membrane of polarized LLC‐PK1 cells. Also, ATPase activities measured in the membrane of SF9 cells infected with variant ABCG2 showed that Q141K decreased activity by 1.3 below that of wild‐type ABCG2. In addition, kinetic analysis of ATPase activity showed that the Km value in Q141K was 1.4‐fold higher than that of wild‐type ABCG2. These results indicated that naturally occurring SNPs alter transport functions of ABCG2 transporter and analysis of SNPs in ABCG2 may hold great importance in understanding the response/metabolism of chemotherapy compounds that act as substrates for ABCG2. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Phonology is the systematic study of the sounds used in language, their internal structure, and their composition into syllables, words and phrases. Computational phonology is the application of formal and computational techniques to the representation and processing of phonological information. This chapter will present the fundamentals of descriptive phonology along with a brief overview of computational phonology.


The NHS is critically short of doctors. The sustainability of the UK medical workforce depends on medical schools producing more future GPs who are able and willing to care for under-served patient populations. The evidence for how medical schools should achieve this is scarce. We know medical schools vary in how they attract, select, and educate future doctors. We know some medical schools produce more GPs, but it is uncertain whether those school recruit more students who are interested in general practice.This study seeks to explore how applicants' future speciality ambitions influence their choice of medical school.One-to-one semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with medical applicants and first year medical students at eight medical schools around the UK. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed through thematic analysis by one researcher. A sample of 20% of transcripts were analysed by a second researcher.Sixty-six individuals participated in 61 individual interviews and one focus group. Interviews lasted a mean of 54 minutes (range 22–113). Twelve expressed interest in general practice, 40 favoured other specialities, and 14 were unsure. Participants' priorities varied by speciality aspiration; those interested in general practice described favouring medical schools with early clinical experience and problem-based learning curricula, and were less concerned with cadaveric dissection and the prestige of the medical school.Many applicants consider future speciality ambitions before applying to medical school. Speciality aspiration appears to influence priority of medical schools' attributes.


The experiments in this thesis evaluated the proposal that GluR-1-/- mice display impairments in affective and motivational processes (Mead & Stephens, 2003a). The introductory experiments examined sensorimotor and affective aspects of behaviour in GluR-1-/- and wild-type control mice (Chapter 2). These studies attempted to evaluate any performance-based behavioural impairment which may have interfered with learning. Chapter 3 assessed BLA-dependent learning on a Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm (e.g., LeDoux, Sakaguchi & Reis, 1986). The simple nature of this learning task, and the large body of evidence implicating the amygdala in this form of learning provided an opportunity to examine the influence of the GluR-1 mutation on emotional learning (Maren, 2000a; Cardinal et al., 2002). Chapters 4 and 5 made use of separate Pavlovian and instrumental preparations which characterised different affective and sensory-specific associatively activated outcome representations (Blundell, Hall & Killcross, 2001; Balleine, Dickinson & Killcross, 2003; Corbit & Balleine, 2005). The results are discussed in respect to a failure of GluR-1-/- mice to attribute affective and motivational incentive value to the sensory-specific properties of a US an account which furthers that proposed by Mead and Stephens.


Mechanosensory hair cells within the zebrafish lateral line spontaneously regenerate after aminoglycoside-induced death. Exposure of 5-d-old larvae to 400 μm neomycin for 1 h results in death of almost all lateral line hair cells. Regeneration of new hair cells is observed by 24 h after neomycin treatment with nearly complete replacement by 72 h. Using bromodeoxyuridine incorporation, we show that the majority of new hair cells are generated from a transient increase in support cell proliferation that occurs between 12 and 21 h after neomycin damage. Additional observations reveal two distinct subsets of proliferating support cells within the neuromasts that differ in position, morphology, and temporal pattern of proliferation in response to neomycin exposure. We hypothesize that proliferative hair cell progenitors are located centrally within the neuromasts, whereas peripheral support cells may have a separate function. Expression of Notch signaling pathway members notch3, deltaA, and atoh1a transcripts are all upregulated within the first 24 h after neomycin treatment, during the time of maximum proliferation of support cells and hair cell progenitor formation. Treatment with a γ-secretase inhibitor results in excess regenerated hair cells by 48 h after neomycin-induced death but has no effect without previous damage. Excess hair cells result from increased support cell proliferation. These results suggest a model where Notch signaling limits the number of hair cells produced during regeneration by regulating support cell proliferation.


A number of wireless technologies have been developed in recent years to meet the increasing needs of high-speed wireless communications in civil and military applications. The advances include WiFi (IEEE 802.11), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16), sensor networks, wireless Mesh/Ad hoc networks, mobile IP, smart antenna, cognitive radio, and so on. These emerging technologies will significantly impact the design and operation of Intelligent Transportation Systems, which aims to effectively provide higher vehicles safety, traffic management, and communications among vehicles and transport infrastructure. Organized into three parts, 'Wireless Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems' provides readers a thorough technical guide covering various wireless technologies developed in the most recent years for Intelligent Transportation Systems applications. It presents key technologies of circuits and physical layer, network protocols, system designs and applications. The broad content covers topics of radar sensor, radio channel modeling, smart antenna, medium access control, routing protocol, data dissemination, handover, security, mesh networking, road traffic estimation and monitoring, and location-based services. This comprehensive book is a collection of basic concepts, major issues, design approaches, application examples, and future research directions of various advanced technologies developed for Intelligent Transportation Systems. With its broad coverage allowing cross reference, it serves as an essential reference for engineers, researchers, students, scientists, professors, designers and planners of Intelligent Transportation Systems.


Different blood saving methods are analyzed in 2000 cardiac surgical patients undergoing coronary and vascular bypass surgery in 1993 to 2000. The basic blood saving methods are as follows: intraoperative autoreinfusion (normovolemic thermodilution), reinfusion of the patient's blood, preoperative autologous plasma donation in combination with aprotinine, aminocapronic acid, etc. An analysis revealed a decrease in homologous blood components intraoperatively. Red blood cell transfusion decreased from 100% in 1993 to 44% in 2000, fresh frozen plasma and platelet transfusions did from 98 to 39% and from 96 to 1%, respectively. Intraoperative homologous blood transfusion could be avoided in 70% of those undergone coronary bypass surgery.


This paper proposes a quantum search based algorithm to improve the dynamic maximum network flow problem. First, we convert the time-dependent process into time-independent process. Second, we use the draining algorithm to find out the maximum flow and compare with classical algorithms. Third, the draining algorithm is speed up by utilizing quantum search. Finally, we also provide the analysis of time complexity.


Range of motion (ROM), the displacement between two limits, is one of the most common parameters used to describe joint kinematics. The ROM is a one-dimensional parameter, although the motion at many normal and pathological joints is three-dimensional. Certainly, the ROM yields vital information, but an overall measure of the three-dimensional mobility at a joint may also be useful. The volume of motion (VOM) is such a measure. The translational VOM is the volume defined by all possible ROMs of a point on a rigid body. The rotational VOM, although its interpretation is not as tangible as the translational VOM, is a measure of the three-dimensional rotational mobility of a rigid body. The magnitude of the VOM is proportional to mobility; the VOM is a scaler, which does not contain any directional information. Experimental determination of the VOM is not practical since it would require applying loads in an infinite number of directions. The mathematical derivation given here allows the VOM to be calculated, with the assumption of conservative elasticity, from the resultant displacements of three distinct load vectors of equal magnitude. An example of the VOM is presented in the comparison of the biomechanical stabilizing potential of various spinal fixation devices.


An overview of Bayesian statistical decision theory is presented in the tutorial spirit. A section on fundamental principles is followed by selected applications of the Bayesian approach to parameter estimation, pattern recognition, image processing, computer-aided medical diagnosis, optimal diagnostic test selection, and radiotherapy treatment planning.


Over a period of two years, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) was performed on 33 patients presenting with a parotid lump. Five patients were excluded as they were treated medically after FNAC report. The FNAC results of 28 cases were compared with histopathological diagnoses of surgically resected specimens. There were 8 true positive, 17 true negative, 1 false positive and 2 false negative cases. Sensitivity was 80%, specificity 94.4% and diagnostic accuracy 89.3%. FNAC is a simple quick, accurate and virtually complications free investigative modality. It is also helpful adjunct to assess preoperatively the suitability and extent of the surgical treatment.


Many simple experiments can be performed in the classroom to explore the physics of vision. Students can learn of the two types of receptive cells (rods and cones), their distribution on the retina and the existence of the blind spot.


Revocation problem is a critical issue for key management of public key systems. Any certificate-based or identity (ID)-based public key systems must provide a revocation method to revoke misbehaving/compromised users from the public key systems. In the past, there was little work on studying the revocation problem of ID-based public key systems. Most recently, Tseng and Tsai presented a novel ID-based public key system with efficient revocation using a public channel, and proposed a practical revocable ID-based encryption (called RIBE). They proved that the proposed RIBE is semantically secure in the random oracle model. Although the ID-based encryption schemes based on the random oracle model can offer better performance, the resulting schemes could be insecure when random oracles are instantiated with concrete hash functions. In this paper, we employ Tseng and Tsai's revocable concept to propose a new RIBE without random oracles to provide full security. We demonstrate that the proposed RIBE is semantically secure against adaptive-ID attacks in the standard model.


Mice infected with Plasmodium berghei served as donors of erythrocytes with a high level of parasitemia for the study of ferriprotoporphyrin IX (FP) polymerization. Six hours after treatment of these mice with 3 micromol of chloroquine per 25 g of body weight, there were significant losses of heme polymerase I (HPA I). For chloroquine-susceptible (CS) P. berghei, the rate of FP polymerization decreased from 541 +/- 42 (mean +/- standard deviation; n = 12) to 51 +/- 19 (n = 8) nmol of FP polymerized per h per ml of packed erythrocytes (normalized to represent 1,000 parasites per 1,000 erythrocytes). For chloroquine-resistant (CR) P. berghei, the rate decreased from 284 +/- 19 (n = 16) to 124 +/- 11 (n = 6) nmol per h per ml. The chloroquine-induced loss of HPA I was accompanied by the accumulation of unpolymerized FP in CS P. berghei but not in CR P. berghei, which is consistent with the hypothesis that FP mediates the antimalarial action of chloroquine. Quinine treatment partially reversed the effects of chloroquine in CS P. berghei but not in CR P. berghei. Cycloheximide treatment antagonized the effects of chloroquine in both lines of parasites. To explain these findings, we propose that chloroquine, quinine, and cycloheximide perturb a regulatory process for HPA I. Furthermore, we propose that when chloroquine engages its target in the regulatory process, it initiates a chain of events which culminates in increased production, accessibility, or reactivity of a regulator (inactivator) of HPA I.


Abstract. Fritz Redlich (1892‐1978) played a leading role in the development of the analytic approach in history and in establishing the new institutional history that combines entrepreneurial and business history and sociology. A member, in economics, of the German historical school, he spent 16 years in the chemical industry before the triumph of Nazism forced him to emigrate from Germany in 1936. After teaching at various colleges until 1942, he spent the rest of his life doing research in the libraries of Harvard University, producing several notable works in economic history, including a classical study of American banking, and pioneering in entrepreneurial history.


Genital infection with herpesvirus hominis type 2 was established in ten female cebus monkeys. Clinical and laboratory findings in the cebus mimic closely those observed in humans, thus providing an experimental model which may be used in the study of the possible role of genital herpetic infection in cervical cancer and in perinatal and chronic neurological diseases.


There is good evidence that higher global temperatures will promote a rise of greenhouse gas levels, implying a positive feedback which will increase the effect of anthropogenic emissions on global temperatures. However, the magnitude of this effect predicted by the available models remains highly uncertain, due to the accumulation of uncertainties in the processes thought to be involved. Here we present an alternative way of estimating the magnitude of the feedback effect based on reconstructed past changes. Linking this information with the mid‐range Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimation of the greenhouse gas effect on temperature we suggest that the feedback of global temperature on atmospheric CO2 will promote warming by an extra 15–78% on a century‐scale. This estimate may be conservative as we did not account for synergistic effects of likely temperature moderated increase in other greenhouse gases. Our semi‐empirical approach independently supports process based simulations suggesting that feedback may cause a considerable boost in warming.


We survey fluorescent H_2 emission in HST STIS spectra of the classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) TW Hya, DF Tau, RU Lupi, T Tau, and DG Tau, and the weak-lined T Tauri star (WTTS) V836 Tau. From each of those sources we detect between 41 and 209 narrow H_2 emission lines, most of which are pumped by strong Lyα emission. H_2 emission is not detected from the WTTS V410 Tau. The fluorescent H_2 emission appears to be common to circumstellar environments around all CTTSs, but high spectral and spatial resolution STIS observations reveal diverse phenomenon. Blueshifted H_2 emission detected from RU Lupi, T Tau, and DG Tau is consistent with an origin in an outflow. The H_2 emission from TW Hya, DF Tau, and V836 Tau is centered at the radial velocity of the star and is consistent with an origin in a warm disk surface. The H_2 lines from RU Lupi, DF Tau, and T Tau also have excess blueshifted H_2 emission that extends to as much as -100 km s^(-1). The strength of this blueshifted component from DF Tau and T Tau depends on the upper level of the transition. In all cases, the small aperture and attenuation of H_2 emission by stellar winds restricts the H_2 emission to be formed close to the star. In the observation of RU Lupi, the Lyα emission and the H_2 emission that is blueshifted by 15 km s^(-1) are extended to the SW by ~0".07, although the faster H_2 gas that extends to ~100 km s^(-1) is not spatially extended. We also find a small reservoir of H_2 emission from TW Hya and DF Tau consistent with an excitation temperature of ~2.5 × 10^4 K.


This article analyzes the effectiveness of an effort to assess the extent of student engagement at Fairfield University through the assistance of resident assistants (RAs) and the adaptation of a methodology used by the university's schools of engineering and education. Asking RAs to participate in an assessment of their residents provides several clear benefits: the assessment rubric sets clear expectations in plain language; the rubric sets out clear expectations to the residents; and the assessment data appear to be a valid indicator of student engagement and allow the institution to identify students who may benefit from additional counseling or attention.


This study was conducted in March-May 2014 held at the Village Canang Dry, EnvironmentalXX, Village Sicanang, District of Medan Belawan, Medan, North Sumatra Province. The aim of thestudy was to determine the effect of feeding frequency on the growth and survival of mud crab (Scyllaserrata)The method used is the experiment with 3 treatments and 3 replications of feeding 2 times aday (P1); feeding 3 times a day (P2); feeding 4 times a day (P3). Data were analyzed using ANOVA(P <0.05). Test materials were used as much as 36 crabs were maintained with the battery systeminside a plastic basket with size of 45.5 x 33 x 17 cm3. Plastic basket is divided into 4 sections byplacing bamboo as a divider so that the basket contains 4 crabs. The results showed that feedingtrash fish produces growth weight 108 g, daily growth rate 1,55 %, the growth in length 1,91cm and a higher 1,42 cm, survival rate 100%.


Automated driving is becoming a reality. In this new reality, High Definition (HD) Maps play an important role in path planning and vehicle localization. Lane boundary geometry is one of the key components of an HD Map. Such maps are typically created from ground level LiDAR and imagery data, which, while useful in many ways, have many limitations such as prohibitive cost, infrequent update, traffic occlusions, and incomplete coverage. In this paper, we propose a novel method to automatically extract lane boundaries from satellite imagery using pixel-wise segmentation and machine learning. We then convert these unstructured lines into a structured road model by using a hypothesis linking algorithm, which addresses the aforementioned limitations. We also publish a dataset consisting of satellite imagery and the corresponding lane boundaries for future authors to train, test, and evaluate algorithms.


The planarian Dugesia japonica tends to stay near the walls of its breeding containers and experimental dishes in the laboratory, a phenomenon called "wall preference". This behavior is thought to be important for environmental adaptation, such as hiding by planarians in nature. However, the mechanisms regulating wall-preference behavior are not well understood, since this behavior occurs in the absence of any particular stimulation. Here we show the mechanisms of wall-preference behavior. Surprisingly, planarian wall-preference behavior was also shown even by the head alone and by headless planarians. These results indicate that planarian "wall-preference" behavior only appears to be a "preference" behavior, and is actually an outcome of spontaneous behaviors, rather than of brain function. We found that in the absence of environmental cues planarians moved basically straight ahead until they reached a wall, and that after reaching a wall, they changed their direction of movement to one tangential to the wall, suggesting that this spontaneous behavior may play a critical role in the wall preference. When we tested another spontaneous behavior, the wigwag movement of the planarian head, using computer simulation with various wigwag angles and wigwag intervals, large wigwag angle and short wigwag interval reduced wall-preference behavior. This indicated that wigwag movement may determine the probability of staying near the wall or leaving the wall. Furthermore, in accord with this simulation, when we tested planarian wall-preference behavior using several assay fields with different curvature of the wall, we found that concavity and sharp curvature of walls negatively impacted wall preference by affecting the permissible angle of the wigwag movement. Together, these results indicate that planarian wall preference may be involuntarily caused by the combination of two spontaneous planarian behaviors: moving straight ahead until reaching a wall and then moving along it in the absence of environmental cues, and wigwag movements of the head.


This article deals with the modern cultural perception of the phenomenon of death. It attempts to describe the role that death plays in individual and social existencein the post-secular age. 'Based on a critical reading of Saul Bellow's novel Ravelstein the author analyzes the process of tabooization of death. Putting death under taboo is based on a new cultural paradigm which is connected with a new axiology where the highest values are the following: youth, vitality, strength, health and beauty. Death (which, obviously, is in contradiction to those values) appears as something ugly, cruel and shameful, and as something to be hidden from the public view. As death has been denaturalized and medicalized, it is no longer seen as something natural or as a kind of rite of passage. Without the religious context, death (understood as a kind of new taboo) becomes an individual and social trauma. Therefore, one looks for a "third path" and tries to place death between full acceptance and total rejection. Bellow's character, Ravelstein, also looks for that "third path".


Herpes zoster is a common diagnosis in the emergency department (ED). Caused by the reactivation of the varicellazoster virus (VZV), zoster usually presents as a painful dermatomal rash. In addition to skin or mucosal involvement, VZV reactivation commonly affects the ophthalmic division of the trigeminal nerve and subsequently the eye. This manifestation is termed herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). HZO is considered an ophthalmologic emergency, as sequelae often include severe chronic pain and vision loss. In order to ensure proper follow up and to minimize morbidity, the accurate and timely diagnosis of HZO in the ED is extremely important. While typically an easy diagnosis to make based on history and skin findings, occasionally HZO presents as an isolated ophthalmologic process that is difficult to distinguish from other more benign causes of a red eye.


Synchronization of relay nodes is an important and critical issue in exploiting cooperative diversity in wireless networks. In this paper, two asynchronous cooperative diversity schemes are proposed, namely, distributed delay diversity and asynchronous space-time coded cooperative diversity schemes. In terms of the overall diversity-multiplexing (DM) tradeoff function, we show that the proposed independent coding based distributed delay diversity and asynchronous space-time coded cooperative diversity schemes achieve the same performance as the synchronous space-time coded approach which requires an accurate symbol-level timing synchronization to ensure signals arriving at the destination from different relay nodes are perfectly synchronized. This demonstrates diversity order is maintained even at the presence of asynchronism between relay node. Moreover, when all relay nodes succeed in decoding the source information, the asynchronous space-time coded approach is capable of achieving better DM tradeoff than synchronous schemes and performs equivalently to transmitting information through a parallel fading channel as far as the DM tradeoff is concerned. Our results suggest the benefits of fully exploiting the space-time degrees of freedom in multiple antenna systems by employing asynchronous space-time codes even in a frequency-flat-fading channel. In addition, it is shown asynchronous space-time coded systems are able to achieve higher mutual information than synchronous space-time coded systems for any finite signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when properly selected baseband waveforms are employed.


CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2008 Abstracts

Abstract #2142

The taccalonolides are a novel class of microtubule stabilizing agents isolated from the tropical plant Tacca chantrieri . Their unique structure and inability to directly bind to or stabilize tubulin in vitro strongly suggest that the taccalonolides cause microtubule stabilization through a distinct mechanism of action. The ability of four taccalonolides, A, E, B and N, to circumvent multidrug resistance mechanisms associated with taxane resistance was studied. The four taccalonolides were able to overcome multidrug resistance mediated by expression of the P-glycoprotein ATP-binding cassette drug transporter in vitro . Furthermore, the taccalonolides A and E were highly active against tumors in a P-glycoprotein expressing Mam17/ADR murine model of breast cancer that is resistant to both doxorubicin and paclitaxel. In addition to P-glycoprotein, the expression of the βIII isotype of tubulin has also been linked with taxane treatment failure. HeLa cells expressing high levels of βIII-tubulin were resistant to paclitaxel, docetaxel, epothilone B and vinblastine. Interestingly, these βIII-tubulin expressing cells were more sensitive to each of the four taccalonolides than the parental cell line. These data demonstrate that the taccalonolides have advantages over the taxanes in clinically relevant drug resistant cell lines and tumor models. Therefore, the taccalonolides represent a novel family of microtubule stabilizing agents with clinical potential.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 2142.


Background: Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is a new prenatal screening technology that became commercially available in the United States in 2011. NIPT's increased accuracy and low false positive rate compared to previous screening methods enable many women to avoid invasive diagnostic testing and receive much desired reassurance. NIPT has received much attention for both its benefits and drawbacks. Methods: Observation of genetic counseling sessions and qualitative interviews with women offered NIPT at a large academic medical center were conducted. Two ethnographic cases studies derived from the overall data set are used to illustrate the study findings. Results: Many fundamental ethical questions about prenatal screening, such as abortion or the value of disabled children, often do not emerge during clinical sessions, enabling most women to defer thinking about these issues until the future, when and if the need should arise. It may only be in the rare case when a woman receives a positive test result that she may be forced to confront ethical issues that she had up until then been able to avoid. Conclusions: Women want, and are grateful to have, access to NIPT, which offers much desired reassurance. This desire for reassurance may come at the expense of having contemplated the potential negative outcomes and limitations of testing. In the rare circumstance where women do not receive reassuring results, they may be unprepared and shocked by what NIPT can and cannot reveal. The routinization of NIPT as the latest and best available prenatal screening test does not necessarily create new ethical issues, but this study highlights ethical continuities following its arrival. However, the continued expansion of NIPT to include more conditions and women will increase the number of women who receive positive results, including false positives, and who may be shocked and unprepared as a result.


In general, it has been shown that the economic benefits of industrialization have deleterious effects on the quality of the environment. Political regulation, however, often ameliorates the most serious problems, but at a substantial cost. In a study of this type, the effect of mercury emissions by China on North America (NA) and, in particular, the emissions from coal-fired power plants was investigated. A Hg inventory for China indicated that China emits ten times more total Hg than the US and as much as four times more Hg per ton of coal burned. The intercontinental transport of this mercury was shown to increase the flux of Hg over the US up to four times. Pollution control technologies were reviewed and their costs were estimated. In response to recent legislation that would cap US power plant mercury emissions, two scenarios were proposed: one where the US enhances its existing fluegas cleanup technology and one where the US invests in first-generation pollution control in China. It is concluded that the first scenario will cost $28 – 37 billion and could reduce Hg fluxes over the US by 25 tons / yr. The second scenario will cost $41 – 73 billion and could reduce Hg fluxes over NA by as many as 323 tons / yr.


Product/Service System (PSS) is a different way of fulfilling customer needs by providing a bundle of products and services. PSS is by nature an interdisciplinary field of research that needs collaboration across disciplines. This research paper investigates how much interdisciplinary research has been carried in terms of insights used between two important disciplines, namely, Engineering Design and Industrial Marketing. The results show that few insights have been used across disciplines which shows a gap for further research.


A novel approach in the design of high-frequency switched capacitor (SC) circuits is presented. It is based on the use of simple and fast amplifiers with low but precisely controlled gain value. The effect of the precisely known and stable opamp gain is compensated for by changing the capacitor values during the synthesis of the SC cell. An example of an opamp with these features and the synthesis of a biquadratic filter based on this approach are given.


In the past ten years, migraine has really entered the field of science, with a number of major advances Despite theses advances, a lot has still to be done to understand what migraine really is and to improve the management of migraine sufferers.


A comparative analysis on the performance of different scanning regimes in time domain optical coherence tomography is presented in terms of image size. Safety thresholds due to the different continuous irradiation time per transverse pixel in different scanning regimes are also considered. We present the maximum exposure level for a variety of scanning procedures, employing either A scanning (depth priority) or T scanning (transverse priority) when generating cross section images, en-face images or collecting 3D volumes. We present a comparison between such B-scan images, and different criteria to allow the user to choose the right mode of operation. Mainly, two criteria are detailed, a scanning criterion and a safety criterion. The scanning criterion depends on the number of pixels along the lateral and axial directions. The analysis shows that en-face scanning allows wider images while the longitudinal scanning is more suitable to deep cross sections. The safety criterion refers to safety levels to be observed in each scanning mode. We show that the flying spot OCT imaging has different safety limits for T- and A- based imaging modes. The analysis leads to maximum permissible optical power levels that favors T-scan imaging of wide objects. We then apply the analysis considering as object the eye.


Monte Carlo simulation is the technique to mimic a dynamic system or process using a computer program. Computer simulations, as an efficient and effective research tool, have been used virtually everywhere, including in biostatistics, engineering, finance, and other areas. To perform simulations, we often need to draw random samples from a certain probability distribution. Typically, the simplest and most important random sampling procedure is sampling from the uniform distribution over (0, 1), denoted by \(U\left (0,1\right )\). The computer-generated "random" number is not truly random because the sequence of numbers is determined by the so-called seed, an initial number. Random variates from other distributions can often be obtained by applying a transformation to uniform variates. There are usually several algorithms available to generate random numbers from a particular distribution. The algorithms differ in speed, accuracy, and the computer memory required. Many software packages have implemented various algorithms to generate random numbers with different probability distributions. Here we introduce a few commonly used algorithms.


www.ORTHOSuperSite.com Dr Bicos is from JRSI Sports Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind; Drs Carofi no, Fulkerson, and Mazzocca and Mr Andersen are from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Conn; and Dr Schepsis is from Boston University Medical Center, Boston, Mass. Reprint requests: James Bicos, MD, JRSI Sports Medicine, St Vincent Medical Center, 8402 Harcourt Rd, Ste 128, Indianapolis, IN 46260. Patellofemoral Forces After Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction


RIP2 kinase has been identified as a key signal transduction partner in the NOD2 pathway contributing to a variety of human pathologies, including immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Small-molecule inhibitors of RIP2 kinase or its signaling partners on the NOD2 pathway that are suitable for advancement into the clinic have yet to be described. Herein, we report our discovery and profile of the prodrug clinical compound, inhibitor 3, currently in phase 1 clinical studies. Compound 3 potently binds to RIP2 kinase with good kinase specificity and has excellent activity in blocking many proinflammatory cytokine responses in vivo and in human IBD explant samples. The highly favorable physicochemical and ADMET properties of 3 combined with high potency led to a predicted low oral dose in humans.


Objective of this paper is to examine the impact of globalisation on stock market development in India using commonly recognised indicators to test this impact. India implemented significant reforms to foster development in capital markets. These reforms were brought in with the objective of improving market efficiency, transparency, and preventing unfair trade practices. Indicators used in our study are good proxies for the test of market development and deepening. Results of this study show that the stock markets in India have experienced exponential growth over the study period. Our analysis finds that all selected indicators show significant improvement in stock markets of India. After liberalisation market capitalisation ratio, value traded ratio and turn-over ratio increases and volatility ratio has declined. Our results demonstrate overall development in stock markets and operational efficiency in stock markets of India.


OBJECTIVE
To correlate morphological features with mutations of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in lung adenocarcinomas.

METHODS
According to 2011 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society International Multidisciplinary Lung Adenocarcinoma Classification, a total of 72 surgically resected lung adenocarcinomas were collected and classified into different histological subtypes and different cell types (hobnail, columnar and polygonal). EGFR gene mutation was detected with the amplification refractory mutation method provided by the EGFR mutation test kit. The correlation between these subtypes and EGFR mutations were evaluated.

RESULTS
Mutations of EGFR were detected in 48.6% (35/72) of lung adenocarcinomas; 19del and L858R were major mutational types (88.6%, 31/35). EGFR mutations were associated with female gender, non-smoking status, and well to moderately differentiated tumor histology. EGFR mutation types were not associated with age, smoking index, lymph node metastasis, stage, status of whether have or not have inclusion bodies or psammoma bodies and mitotic level. Correlations were observed between acinar and papillary adenocarcinoma subtypes and EGFR mutations according to the new classification. EGFR mutation was rare in the subtype of solid adenocarcinoma with mucin production and almost never observed in special subtypes (mainly mucinous and colloid adenocarcinoma). In addition, EGFR mutation was associated with the hobnail cell type.

CONCLUSION
Lung adenocarcinomas of predominate acinar and papillary histological subtypes with hobnail cell morphology are good predictors for EGFR mutations.


The article responds to Daniele and Malanima's harsh criticism ("Perche il Sud e rimasto indietro? Il Mezzogiorno fra storia e pubblicistica", Ri vista di Storia Economica, 2014, n. 1) of my last book (Perche il Sud e rimasto indietro, il Mulino, 2013), about the reconstruction of regional disparities in Italy and the causes of the Italian North-South divide. For what concerns the estimates of regional GDP, it is shown that: my estimation procedure for 1871 was transparent; the interpolation procedure presented by Daniele and Malanima is not replicable, and its results look ambiguous; the procedure through which Daniele and Malanima claim to have converted regional estimates from historical to current borders is incompatible with their own results; nowadays, a new and more accurate estimate at current borders is available. Concerning the re-interpretation of the North-South divide, I find that Daniele and Malanima present my work in an unfair way, which leads them to a number of interpretative errors (as in reading the econometric results) and to specious controversies; furthermore, the two authors do not consider important or recent findings of the historical research (while at the same time supporting a historically unreliable popular literature on Southern Italy) and refer to economic models in a way that is not always correct, neither accurate. They also champion a view of history which looks to me short-sighted and contradictory.


In Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), the existing sensor positioning technique may result in increased cost, energy consumption, connectivity failure and less accuracy. In order to overcome these issues, in this paper, we propose a rangefree sensor positioning based on Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFO) in WSN. In this technique, initially the anchor nodes are placed using the coverage ratio. The coverage ratio depends on the network size. Then the anchor nodes use the BFO algorithm to estimate the distance between the unknown sensor nodes using neighbor density. BFO is a computational intelligence based technique that is not largely affected by the size and nonlinearity of the problem and can converge to the optimal solution in many problems where most analytical methods fail to converge. By simulation results, we show that the proposed technique enhances the accuracy and reduces the energy consumption.


What is white Witchcraft and how is it different to black magic? The books and practices of the purveyors of white Witchcraft are examined alongside other popular Witches oriented toward consumerism. White Witchcraft is also compared to traditional Witchcraft. I argue that white Witchcraft is a marketing label for a type of Witchcraft consistent with consumer Capitalism. White Witchcraft emphasises growth and success eliding the understanding of loss, death, and the dark that is found in traditional Witchcraft. White Witchcraft also celebrates individual pleasure and instrumental self-gratification at the expense of locating individuals in ecological and human networks of relationships. Consumer-oriented Witchcraft has popularised and facilitated the growth of Witchcraft, but consumer capitalism has also shaped Witchcraft to be consistent with consumer values and ethics. The purveyors of white Witchcraft do not challenge or question the goals and values of consumer capitalism, but explicitly celebrate them. The mass media and consumerism are central sites of ethical struggle for contemporary Witches.


Background: Tuberculosis is the oldest infectious disease and it is still the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Even though, several primary studies have been conducted on incidence of tuberculosis among HIV infected individuals in Ethiopia, national level TB incidence is unknown. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis study is aimed to study TB incidence rate and its predictors among HIV infected individuals in Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted extensive search of literature as indicated in the guideline of reporting systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). The databases used were PubMed, Google Scholar, HINARI and Scopus literature. Searching terms used were "incidence", "predictors", "Tuberculosis", "HIV infected patients", and "Ethiopia". We used Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument for critical appraisal of studies. The meta-analysis and Meta regressions were conducted using STATA 14 software. The pooled meta-analysis and Meta regression were computed to present the pooled incidence rate and predictors of tuberculosis among HIV infected patients after initiation of ART therapy with a 95% confidence interval Results: Among a total of 189 studies, 11 studies were included in this analysis. The estimated pooled incidence rate of TB per 100-person year observation (PYO) among HIV infected patients after initiation of ART therapy was 4.8(95% CI: 3.69–5.83). In subgroup analysis, the estimated pooled incidence of tuberculosis showed a slightly difference between Adults and children after initiation of ART treatment, which was 4.3 (95% CI: 2.96, 5.71) and 5.0 (95% CI: 3.51, 6.50), respectively. Significant predictor of pooled estimate of meta-analysis showed that being anemic patients (2.30, 95% CI: 1.75, 3.02); on WHO clinical stage III & IV (2.26, 95% CI (1.70, 3.02); and not on CPT (2.16, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.72) and a Meta regression revealed that CD4 <200 cells/mm 3 (2.12, 95% CI: 1.17, 3.86) was positively significant predictors among Adults. Conclusions: The current systematic review and meta-analysis showed that the pooled incidence of TB among HIV patients was found to lower than WHO 2018 national estimate. Being anemic, WHO stage III& IV, not on CPT, CD4 <200cells/µl and being male were significant predictors of Tuberculosis. Therefore, the existing strategies to decrease TB should be strengthening.


Sponges are an ecologically important component of modern Caribbean coral reefs. However, little is known about the structure of sponge communities prior to the large-scale degradation of Caribbean reef ecosystems. Here we explore changes in the sponge community over the past millennium by analyzing the composition of sponge spicules from a sediment core collected from a lagoonal reef within the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, Caribbean Panama. The analysis reveals a change in spicule composition that began approximately 400 yr ago. During this time, the share of monaxial spicules, belonging mostly to haplosclerid and axinellid sponges, decreased while the relative number of spherical spicules, found typically in Placospongia, Geodia, and some chondrillids, increased. These results were compared with previously published data on parrotfish, corals, and reef accretion rates obtained from the same core. The increased share of spherical spicules did not correlate with contemporaneous declines in the abundance of parrotfish (de termined from fish teeth) or with trends in the relative abundance of dominant coral species (determined from coral skeletal remains) but was weakly correlated with reef accretion rates (de termined from sediment accumulation rates). Spicule morphogroup diversity and evenness increased over the past ~400 yr, suggesting community changes were not due to reef environments becoming less habitable for reef sponges. Although not tested directly, the increase in spherical spicules may be due to declines in the abundance of sea turtles that preferentially feed on sponges that contain these spicule types.


The (1+1)-CMA-ES is an adaptive stochastic algorithm for the optimization of objective functions defined on a continuous search space in a black-box scenario. In this paper, an independent restart version of the (1+1)-CMA-ES is implemented and benchmarked on the BBOB-2009 noise-free testbed. The maximum number of function evaluations per run is set to 104 times the search space dimension. The algorithm solves 23, 13 and 12 of 24 functions in dimension 2, 10 and 40, respectively.


Abstract. Landscape mapping is concerned with space planning whereby it emphasized space use in terms of function, mobility space, social space, and also ecological space. To plan this space design to reflect its purpose, initial data collection is critically needed. Depending on the site's characteristics such as hard and soft landscape features, collecting all of this data will be tedious and time-consuming. This research aims to employ Terrestrial Laser Scanning to iteratively approach landscape mapping and provide a landscape map architectural standard. In this research, by adapting Terrestrial Laser Scanning, a geomatic instrument that enables surveyors to immediately deliver accurate terrain relief mapping, technical structural assessments will be utilized to scan a diverse terrain, with a particular emphasis on hard and soft landscapes. The method of data acquisition for Terrestrial Laser Scanning was the traverse method, with that location-specific data will then be processed to generate a 3D point cloud model with georeferenced and transform it into 2D hard and soft landscape mapping. Then, a comparison will be made between the landscape map created from this research and the conventional landscape architecture approach. As a result of the data validation, it shows that Terrestrial Laser Scanning can provide high accuracy data in terms of northing, easting, and heights. Moreover, it can be concluded that there are numerous advantages to providing efficient information and an accurate representation of the site in a 3D model/point cloud, which enables landscape designers or architects to design a landscape map to their fullest potential in terms of creativity, landscape placement strategies, and as-built survey for maintenance updates. In addition, promote the development of more efficient landscape mapping techniques.


Objective. Ozone (O3) has been suggested as an anti-microbial treatment in dentistry, with an ozone gas delivery system introduced for the treatment of fissure and root caries. The aim of this study was to investigate the sealing capacity of the novel delivery system and its re-suction capacity during accidental displacement of the cup at different stages of ozone delivery. Material and methods. Ozone leakage was studied in vitro after application on a flat metal surface and on buccal and occlusal tooth surfaces. An ozone analyzer was used to measure ozone gas concentrations adjacent to the delivering cups when adapted to the target surfaces during and after 10–20 s application cycles. The measured levels were compared with the background concentrations in the room. Measurements were performed 1) after complete ozone application cycles, 2) within the cycle before the start of the suction period, and 3) after displacements of the cup during the cycles. Results. Ozone air values varied between 8 and 166 µg·m−3 for the flat metal surface and between 0 and 108 µg·m−3 for the tooth surfaces. Ozone leakage levels were 7.6 µg·m−3 for the flat and 7.4 µg·m−3 and 5.6 µg·m−3 for the buccal and occlusal surfaces, respectively, and 5.2 µg·m−3 and 9.8 µg·m−3 for the premolar and molar surfaces, respectively. Cycles with displacement showed significantly higher leakage levels than continuous complete cycles (p=0.03). Conclusions. Ozone application cycles with displacements showed significantly higher leakage levels than continuous complete cycles. The largest ozone delivery cups showed the highest leakage values. A change in background levels was seen with similar change in adjacent ozone levels. The overall measured ozone leakage values were low after normally functioning delivery cycles and after repeated displacements. The delivery system can be considered safe.


Experiments designed to determine whether the role of glucocorticoid (GC) in the induction of the enzyme overshoot response to starvation-refeeding was direct or permissive through insulin were conducted. Intact, adrenalectomized (ADX), and streptozotocin (STREP) treated rats with or without insulin and/or GC replacements were starved for 48 hours and refed a 65% glucose diet for 48 hours. The typical enzyme overshoot response to starvation-refeeding was observed in the intact rats, ADX rats given GC, STREP rats given insulin and ADX-STREP rats given glucocorticoid plus insulin. No overshoot was observed if glucocorticoid was absent whereas a modest increase in enzyme activity could be observed in insulin deficient rats treated with GC.


The loss of professional experience and expertise in the domain of the earth sciences may prove to be one of the most serious outcomes of the boom-and-bust cyclic nature of the volatile energy and mining industries. Promising new applications of powerful computer systems, known as ''expert systems'' or ''knowledge-based systems,'' are predicted for use in the earth sciences. These systems have the potential capability to capture and preserve the invaluable knowledge basis essential to the evaluation of U.S. energy and mineral resources.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of renal sympathetic denervation on left ventricular hypertrophy and inflammatory factors in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

METHODS
Thirty six spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were divided into 3 groups with 12 animals in each group: SHR control group,operation group and sham operation group. Bilateral renal sympathectomy or sham operation were performed in operation and sham groups,respectively; another 12 WKY rats served as normal controls. The blood pressure and body weight were examined weekly. The animals were sacrificed at w1 and w6, rat hearts were collected and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was calculated. The expression of TLR4,TNF-α and IL-6 in heart tissue were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.

RESULTS
The systolic blood pressure [(201.67 ± 11.09) mmHg compared with (140.0 ± 10.86)mmHg,P<0.05],diastolic blood pressure [(144.50 ± 10.48)mmHg compared with (78.50 ± 7.32)mmHg,P<0.05], LVMI (2.44 ± 0.05 compared with 1.93 ± 0.05,P<0.05),the expression of TLR4 (0.298 ± 0.004 compared with 0.126 ± 0.004, P<0.05), NF-κB (0.249 ± 0.006 compared with 0.195 ± 0.005, P<0.05),TNF-α(0.323 ± 0.004 compared with 0.146 ± 0.004,P <0.05), IL-6 (0.283 ± 0.005 compared with 0.207 ± 0.006, P<0.05) in SHR control group were significantly higher than those in WKY group. Compared to sham operation group,the systolic blood pressure (157.30 ± 9.35 compared with 197.30 ± 11.5, P<0.05),diastolic blood pressure (112.50 ± 6.25 compared with 146.80 ± 7.6, P<0.05),LVMI (2.32 ± 0.04 compared with 2.57 ± 0.09, P<0.05, TLR4 (0.198 ± 0.006 compared with 0.317 ± 0.008, P<0.05), NF-κB (0.208 ± 0.006 compared with 0.332 ± 0.007, P<0.05), TNF-α(0.27 ± 0.009 compared with 0.375 ± 0.004,P<0.05), IL-6 (0.218 ± 0.004 compared with 0.376 ± 0.009, P<0.05) in operation group were all decreased at w1 after sympathectomy. Six weeks after the operation,there were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure (197.50 ± 12.13 compared with 208.83 ± 10.23,P>0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (150.33 ± 7.74 compared with 151.50 ± 8.22, P>0.05) between denervated and sham-operated SHRs; however,the LVMI (2.46 ± 0.07 compared with 2.81 ± 0.05,P<0.05) and the expression of TLR4(0.301 ± 0.009 compared with 0.567 ± 0.006, P<0.05), NF-κB (0.251 ± 0.004 compared with 0.476 ± 0.009,P<0.05),TNF-α(0.324 ± 0.005 compared with 0.535 ± 0.006, P<0.05,IL-6 (0.285 ± 0.009 compared with 0.549 ± 0.007, P<0.05) in operation group were still significantly lower than those in sham operation group.

CONCLUSION
Renal sympathetic denervation can significantly delay the progression of LVH in SHR, which may associated with lowering blood pressure and decreasing expression of TLR4, NF-κB,TNF-α, IL-6 in myocardial tissue.


The authors present a simple and fast method for calculating the localization length and density of states of disordered one-dimensional systems. The method is based on a multiple-scattering picture of transport in disordered media and draws from transfer matrix theory. They use their new method with the tight-binding model to demonstrate its convergence for both discrete and continuous distributions of disorder. They also demonstrate its use in investigating the weak disorder limit.


Temporal action localization aims to localize starting and ending time with action category. Limited by GPU memory, mainstream methods pre-extract features for each video. Therefore, feature quality determines the upper bound of detection performance. In this technical report, we explored classic convolution-based backbones and the recent surge of transformer-based backbones. We found that the transformer-based methods can achieve better classification performance than convolution-based, but they cannot generate accuracy action proposals. In addition, extracting features with larger frame resolution to reduce the loss of spatial information can also effectively improve the performance of temporal action localization. Finally, we achieve 42.42% in terms of mAP on validation set with a single SlowFast feature by a simple combination: BMN+TCANet, which is 1.87% higher than the result of 2020's multi-model ensemble. Finally, we achieve Rank 1st on the CVPR2021 HACS supervised Temporal Action Localization Challenge.


Objectives Assess the presenteeism and the work disability in the patients with chronic neck pain, and identify its determinants. Methods Cross-sectionalstudy is conducted among active patients, older than 18 years and followed for common chronic neck pain over 3 months, recruited at the consultation of Rheumatology. Socio demographic, clinical and paraclinical parameters related to patients and disease were collected. Pain, functional gene and handicap were explored by visual analogue scales (VAS). Functional disability was assessed by the scale of Copenhagen (French versionvalidated). Anxiety and depression was assessed by Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) (Arabic version validated).The presenteeism was evaluated by the number of the days of presence, thedays of absenceand the inefficiency at work. The productivity at work was perceived by the visual analog scaleand two specific questionnaires: the Work limitation Questionnaire (WLQ) and the Stanford presenteeism scale (SPS-6). A descriptive statistical analysis and a linear regression were performed to determine the factors influencing the quality of work. Results 65 chronic neck pain patients were included. The average age of patients was 50±11.6 years, with a female predominance (80%). The median evolution of the neck pain was 36 months (12-48 month). The median of the working days per week was 5 days (3-5 days). During the 4 weeks prior to inclusion in the study, the average number of the presence was 14±5.4 days. The average number of the absence was 3 days (2-5). The average number of the work inefficiencywas 4 days [2-7].The average of labor productivity was 41±18. The mean total score ofwork disability (WLQ) was 75.6±10. A low level of presenteeism was observed with an average score of 6-SPS 12.8±3.6. In univariate analysis, both WLQ scores and SPS-6, respectively, havea relationship statistically significant with the VAS pain, VAS functional gene, VAS handicap and total score of Copenhagen (with p<0.05 for all). After multivariate analysis, the inability to work (WLQ) was positively associated with functional disability (p=0.000, B =0.486, 95% CI [0.601, 1.910]). The presenteeism (SPS-6) was negatively associated with functional disability (SPS-6) (p=0.05, B = -0.206, 95% CI [-0.286, -0.052]) Conclusions This study suggests that patients with neck pain have awork disability and low level of presenteeism, which were mainly due to their functional disability. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5349


Red kite ( Milvus milvus ) is a European raptor. Kites of the nominal subspecies Milvus migrans migrans (hereafter called black kites) breed in the Western Palearctic and in Central Asia. Due to the extremely short period since their divergence, black and red kites can successfully hybridize. A mixed pair of black kite female and red kite male was observed during breeding seasons 2017 and 2018 in Poltva, Ukraine (i.e., in the easternmost part of red kites' breeding territory). This pair produced three and three young in 2017 and 2018, respectively. DNA of the three young from 2018 was analyzed regarding their mitochondrial CytB haplotype and nuclear Myc gene alleles. All three young had a common black kite CytB haplotype. Myc alleles combinations suggest that the male parent could be not a pure red kite and could have a black kite among its ancestors. All three young from 2018 were presumed predated on or close to the nest by goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis ).


Background: Occasionally, patients experience new or increased ankle pain following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The aims of this study were to determine (1) how the correction of varus malalignment of the lower limb following TKA affected changes in alignment of the ankle and hindfoot, (2) the difference in changes in alignment of the ankle and hindfoot between patients with and without ankle osteoarthritis (OA), and (3) whether the rate of ankle pain and the clinical outcome following TKA differed between the 2 groups. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed prospectively collected data of 56 patients (99 knees) treated with TKA. Among these cases, concomitant ankle OA was found in 24 ankles. Radiographic parameters of lower-limb, ankle, and hindfoot alignment were measured preoperatively and 2 years postoperatively. In addition, ankle pain and clinical outcome 2 years after TKA were compared between patients with and without ankle OA. Results: The orientation of the ankle joint line relative to the ground improved from 9.4° of varus to 3.4° of varus, and the valgus compensation of the hindfoot for the varus tilt of the ankle joint showed a 2.2° decrease following TKA. Patients in the group with ankle OA showed decreased flexibility of the hindfoot resulting in less preoperative valgus compensation (p = 0.022) compared with the group without ankle OA. The postoperative hindfoot alignment was similar between the 2 groups because of the smaller amount of change in patients with ankle OA. The group with ankle OA had a higher rate of increased ankle pain (38% compared with 16%) as well as a worse Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score (mean of 22.2 compared with 14.2) following TKA. Conclusions: A considerable proportion of patients who underwent TKA had concomitant ankle OA with reduced flexibility of the hindfoot. These patients experienced increased ankle pain following TKA and a worse clinical outcome. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


The university monitoring is an auxiliary activity of educational support offered to students interested in deepening content and solving questions about the topics learned in the classroom, as well as an opportunity for the development in the student-monitor relationship next to the teaching practice. This study aimed to report the experience lived by the student-monitors linked to monitoring project entitled "Interdisciplinary for improving the quality of education: Physiology, Anatomy and Pathology for Clinical Nursing teaching". It is an experience report experienced by student-monitors linked to the project developed for curriculum component Comprehensive Health Care I, taught in the fifth period of the Undergraduate Nursing course at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. This project has four stages: preparation of laboratories and fellows training, construction and application of clinical cases, development of simulations in the laboratory with the students and the final evaluation of the changing process in curriculum practice. The monitoring project has provided contact with a simulation environment for students, for the development of skills and attitudes in solving clinical nursing problems through an innovative approach to integrating disciplinary learning in the classroom and development initiation skills in student-monitors teaching. The approximate relationship with the teacher allows the exchange of knowledge, which makes proactive student-monitor in the very process of teaching and learning, as well as the teacher provides the formation of a more qualified and secure professional for the exercise of appropriate assistance.


We study small shocks of 1D scalar viscous conservation laws with uniformly convex flux and nonlinear dissipation. We show that such shocks are [Formula: see text] stable independently of the strength of the dissipation, even with large perturbations. The proof uses the relative entropy method with a spatially-inhomogeneous pseudo-norm.


The principle of using myoelectrics for prosthesis cant ol is already 50years old. We have long left the experimental stage behind us commercial production of components is now quite common and the myoelectric prosthesis has become the general standard. But one can still feel something of the early day pioneer spirit, perhaps because the fundamental ideas have not changed. The interest in fmding a replacement for the human hand is guided by two principles: Never lose your respect for nature.


Questions over the role of the IMF in the economic development and adjustment in developing countries have been the topic of intensive research and debate in recent years. Although most studies find that participation in an IMF program helps facilitate balance of payments adjustment, research in this area almost uniformly finds that growth is reduced at the same time (e.g. Bordo and Schwartz, 2000; Przeworski and Vreeland, 2000). In this paper we emphasize that the evaluation of the benefits and costs of participating in IMF-sponsored stabilization programs is complicated by the fact that countries typically enter into an agreement with the IMF only when facing dire economic problems. We argue that the sample selection bias is mainly responsible for the common perception that real output growth declines because countries choose to participate in IMF programs. This article uses four recently developed "matching" statistical methods (e.g. Heckman et al., 1997 and 1998; Rubin and Thomas, 1992; and others), based on the "selection on observables" bias, to estimate the growth effects of IMF program participation. In contrast with the extant literature, none of the matching method results (nearest neighbor, strata, radius and regression-adjusted) find an adverse growth effect. Rather, there is some evidence of a positive impulse to economic growth when countries entering IMF programs are compared to the appropriate counter-factual (i.e. non-participating countries with similar characteristics).


In this talk, I will introduce and motivate the main objects of study in modular representation theory, which leads one to consider the stable module category. Perhaps surprisingly, one can do homotopy theory in this setting, as the stable module category has the structure of a stable model category. Therefore, there is a very rich interplay between modular representation theory and stable homotopy theory, which I will try to illustrate. In the spirit of Halloween, one of the ideas I will talk about is the notion of phantom maps. 1 (Modular) Representation Theory Let k be a field of positive characteristic p, and let G be a finite group such that p |G|. We would like to look at the representations ρ̂ : G → Endk(V ). We can then extend this to a group algebra representation ρ : kG→ Endk(V ), which is the same as looking at modules over the group algebra kG. Why is this different from ordinary/characteristic 0 representation theory? For one thing, Maschke's theorem does not apply: Theorem 1.1 (Maschke) The group algebra kG is semisimple (Cartesian product of simple subalgebras) iff the characteristic of k does not divide the order of G. Remark 1.2 The proof involves dividing by |G|. This in particular tells us things about projective modules: Proposition 1.3 The following are equivalent definitions of projective:


The floor plate is a group of specialized cells located in the ventral midline of the vertebrate neural tube. It plays important roles in neural tube development as a source of signalling molecules for dorsoventral patterning and axonal guidance (for reviews, see Jessell and Dodd, 1992; Dodd and Jessell, 1993). A floor plate-derived signalling molecule, Sonic hedgehog (Shh), which is a vertebrate homologue of Drosophila Hedgehog (Hh), induces differentiation of ventral type neurons (Ericson et al., 1995; Marti et al., 1995; Roelink et al., 1995). Another floor plate-derived signalling molecule, netrin-1, works as both a chemoattractant and a chemorepellent of axons, depending on neuronal cell types (Kennedy et al., 1994; Colamarino and Tessier-Lavigne, 1995). Differentiation of the floor plate is induced by a signal derived from the notochord or by Shh. High concentrations of Shh-N peptide or contact with the notochord are required for floor plate induction in neural explants (Marti et al., 1995; Roelink et al., 1995). A critical event of floor plate development is the expression of a winged-helix transcription factor, HNF-3β (Ang et al., 1993; Ruiz i Altaba et al., 1993; Sasaki and Hogan, 1993, 1994). Ectopic expression of HNF-3β in the neural tube induces ectopic expression of series of floor plate marker genes and prevents dorsal/lateral maker expression, indicating that HNF-3β acts as a regulator of floor plate development (Sasaki and Hogan, 1994; Ruiz i Altaba et al., 1995a). The HNF-3β expression in the floor plate is induced by a signal derived from the notochord or by Shh, and its induction does not require de novo protein synthesis (Roelink et al., 1995; Ruiz i Altaba et al., 1995b; Chiang et al., 1996). This makes HNF-3β a candidate for a direct target of Shh signalling. Previously, we have identified cis-regulatory regions of the mouse HNF-3β gene in transgenic mouse embryos. Enhancers for floor plate expression and node/notochord expression were 1313 Development 124, 1313-1322 (1997) Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 1997 DEV4800


This thesis is a study within the sciences ofconstructed wetlands. It has two sections. Section one is a natural scienrific study ofgas fluxes from construcred wetlands and section two is an analysis ofhow natural sciences describe constructed wetlands.The aim of section one was to determine methane and nitrous oxide fluxes between the atmosphere and constructed wetlands. The result from these gas flux studies showed that methane fluxes ranged between -375 and 1739 mg m-2 day1, whereas the nitrous oxide fluxes ranged from consumption at -350 to emissions at 1791 Jlg m-2 h-1. The annual inregrated methane fluxes were 87 mg m-2 day1, whereas the inregrated nitrous oxide fluxes resulred in an overall average of 126 µg N2O m-2 h-1. There were large temporal and spatial variations in gas fluxes but no differences between night and day. The methane rates were lower than the average rate, 225 mg m-2 day1, found at a constructed pilot scale wetland treating dairy wastewater in New Zealand (Tanner, 1997), but the cited measuremenrs were only taken during one monrh in mid-summer. The average and range of methane flux values in my study also showed that the methane emission rates were of the same magnitude as those observed from natural wetlands with similar vegetational composition. The nitrous oxide emissions observed in the Nykvarn study were ca. three to ten times higher than in previous studies of constructed wetlands treating wastewater, whereas the nitrous oxide consumption rate was approximately 80 times higher. The nitrous oxide fluxes were 3 to 180 times higher compared to other wetland systems. Emission factors were calculated according to the methods presenred by the Inrergovernmenral Panel of Climate Change (IPCC). The calculated nitrous oxide emission factors from Nykvarn were always lower (0.02 to 0.27%) compared to the default factor provided by the IPCC (0.75%).The aim of section two was to analyse descriptions on purifying capacities in constructed wetlands in selected scienrific articles. This was made with help of a discourse analysis, which can be explained as a study of communication. The results from this analysis showed that the wetlands were described in terms of self-purifying, biochemical cycles. The cycle concept is used in all three discourses (case I to 3) but it is comprehended differently. In case I the cycling processes are treated as inrrinsic and unproblematic in relation to purification. In case 2, the purifying cycles are treated as dynamic, complex and problematic, but humans could influence them and develop their inrrinsic ability. In case 3 th~ cycling processes became a tool, allowing us to grasp, handle, act upon and influence the wetlands. In the thesis these differences are discussed with respecr to scienrific ideals including language in general and metaphors and concepts in parricular as weil as to the ambiguous relationship between humans and wetlands. Finally, the thesis conrain a reflection on the studies discussed in section I and II. The reflection aims at developing new paths for of gas flux investigations (with biosemiotic perspectives) in research fields related to constructed wetlands.


Deep vein thromboses of the legs, which have been treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), show significantly less thromboembolic recurrencies, less extension of the thrombus, fewer bleedings and a lower mortality than standard heparin (UFH). The differences are, however, small. LMWH is considerably more expensive. The advantage of LMWH lies in the possibility that it can be subcutaneously injected and thus given on an outpatient basis. This makes the treatment much easier and reduces the treatment costs by 50%.


The latest achievements in development of multiwavelength photometry in direction of increase of number of channels and spectral resolution are hyper-spectrometers and differential optical absorption spectrometers. In these devices the mechanism of formation of multi number wave channels is almost identical and neutralization of aerosol effect is carried out using such methods as averaging, integration etc. don't accounting differences in wavelength dependence of optical depth of aerosol fractions. It is noted that in high precision sun photometry the high accuracy separate accounting of each aerosol fraction is necessary. The reason for that is at least following factors: multifractionality of atmospheric aerosol, taking into account that wavelength dependences of these fractions differ each-other. The factual differences between sources of aerosol that is the generated by them aerosol has different physical-chemical properties. In the paper two-stages four wavelengths method with two parametric correction is suggested where number of measured gases is increased twofold. Despite its two stage construction the suggested method doesn't require twofold increase of volume of operations carried out in known three wavelength method with double parametric corrections. The matter of novelty is that in suggested method the measurements are carried out at specially selected four wavelengths upon which increase of number of wavelengths by one-third leads to twofold increase of number of measured gases. As a result of carried out experimental-model researches of four wavelengths two stage method following estimates of total amount of water vapors (W) and ozone (X) are derived: W = 2 cm and X = 0,3 cm. Such an estimates well accord with known data on Azerbaijan in line with mean values of W and X are 2-3 cm and 0,3-0,33 cm.


The human brain consists of functionally specialized areas, which flexibly interact and integrate forming a multitude of complex functional networks. The principles underlying this functional differentiation and integration remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that a fundamental principle ubiquitous in nature - harmonic modes - explains the orchestration of the brain's functional organization. Applied to the functional connectivity in resting state averaged across 812 participants, harmonic modes give rise to functional harmonics revealing the communication channels of the human brain. Remarkably, the isolines of the continuous functional harmonic patterns (gradients) overlap with the borders of cortical areas. Furthermore, each associated with a different spatial frequency, the functional harmonics provide the frequency-ordered building blocks to reconstruct any pattern of brain activity. We show that 47 brain activation patterns elicited by 7 different task categories in the Human Connectome Project task battery can be reconstructed from a very small subset of functional harmonics, uncovering a parsimonious description of the previously unknown relationship between task and resting state brain activity. Crucially, functional harmonics outperform other well-known basis functions such as those used in principle component analysis (PCA) or independent component analysis (ICA) in both, reconstructing the task activation maps as well as explaining the emergence of functionally specialized regions. Thus, our findings not only unify two competing views of the brain's functional organization, i.e. modular vs gradiental perspective, by revealing that the functional specialization of the human cortex occurs in a gradiental manner across multiple dimensions in the functional harmonic basis, but also evidence that this basis underlies task-elicited human brain function.


The authors studied humoral regulation state in vibration disease patients. Correlation analysis proved role of hormonal disturbances in pathogenesis of angiopathies and visceropathies characteristic for vibration disease.


Hyperinsulinism of Infancy (HI) is a clinical disorder characterized by deregulation of insulin secretion that leads to profound hypoglycemia. Mutations in genes encoding the ATP‐regulated potassium channels of the pancreatic β‐cell, namely ABCC8 (SUR1) and KCNJ11 (Kir6.2), are the major genetic known cause of the disease. To elucidate the genetic etiology of HI in the uncharacterized Spanish population, we conducted extensive sequencing analysis of the ABCC8 (83.5Kb) and KCNJ11 (1.7Kb) genes in 34 Spanish HI patients. Mutations in ABCC8 were detected for both alleles in 13 patients, while ten patients carried only one mutation in one of the ABCC8 alleles. We have detected 22 novel and seven previously described mutations in ABCC8, ∼60% of them lead to a premature termination signal, which would result in truncated SUR1 proteins. No mutations were found in the KCNJ11 gene. In addition, we report for the first time a 3914bp macrodeletion associated with the HI disorder. The potential pathogenicity of several additional variants is discussed. The spatial pattern of three pathological mutations suggests possible geographical founder effects. This work reveals for first time the involvement of KATP channels in the pathogenesis of an important proportion (∼68%) of Spanish HI patients. The spectrum of mutations in Spanish HI patients provides an important tool for diagnosis and prognosis of HI patients in the Spanish population, as well as for genetic counseling of HI families. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This study aimed to compare and investigate the efficacy of the real-world experiences, immersive virtual reality (IVR) experiences, and video walkthrough representations on layout-learning in a complex building. A quasiexperimental, intervention, and delayed post-test research design was used among three groups: real-world, IVR, and video walkthrough representation. A total of 41 first-year design students from architecture, and game design departments were attended the study. Design students were selected as they already know how to communicate graphically the layout of a building on paper. IVR and video walkthrough groups experienced the representations of the building by themselves, but real-world group experienced the building within a group as imitating a design education field trip. After 10 days, a total of 26 participants out of 41 tested for spatial recall performance. Recall performances were measured as an indicator of layout learning by analysing the plan sketches drawn by the participants. Results showed IVR group recalled significantly more spatial memories compared with the real-world and video walkthrough representation groups. Real-world group performed the worst among three groups. This result was interpreted to three conclusions. First, the layout learning tends to be overly sensitive to distractions and lower levels of distraction may lead to better levels of layout learning. Second, for the domain of layout knowledge learning, a remarkably simple IVR model is enough. Third, although real-world experiences give direct and richer sensory information about the spaces, layout knowledge acquisition from the surrounding environment requires psychologically active wayfinding decisions.


Biocontrol of wilt disease complex of pigeon pea, caused by Meloidogyne incognita, Heterodera cajani and Fusarium udum, was studied using 21 isolates of fluorescent Pseudomonads isolated from pathogen suppressive soils. The isolates Pf 718, Pf 719 and Pf 736 of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pa 737 of P. aeruginosa caused 79, 84, 87 and 93% reductions in hatching of M. incognita, and showed inhibition in the growth of F. udum in the dual inoculation. Isolate Pf736 caused 309, 9 and 78% increases in seedling growth, phosphate solubilization and IAA production respectively and also showed moderate HCN production. Isolate Pa737 was the best to colonize roots of pigeon pea followed by Pf736. The effects of these four isolates (Pf718, Pf719, Pf736 and Pa737) were studied on the wilt disease complex both in mono and multi-pathogenic combinations. The isolates Pf736 caused greater increase in plant growth and higher reduction in nematode multiplication and wilting index followed by Pa737, Pf718 and Pf719. The use of these isolates along with Rhizobium (pigeon pea strain) further increased plant growth and reduced nematode multiplication and wilting index. Twelve isolates production of siderophores in Chrome Azurol S (CAS) agar medium. The results suggest that P. fluorescens Pf736 along with Rhizobium may be used for the management of wilt disease complex of pigeon pea.


ABSTRACT The study purpose was to investigate the effect of ability on effort within a sport-specific conjunctive task. The hypothesis was that, compared to working alone, inferior team members would increase their effort when performing a conjunctive sport task in a three-person team, whereas superior team members would decrease their effort. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions (inferior member, control member or superior member) during a 1-min maximal team time trial on a stationary bike. One hundred five relatively well-trained undergraduate sports students (male = 64, female = 41) performed 1-min maximum ergometer cycling tests individually and in random three-person teams. After completing the individual test, participants were told that the next trial would be performed in teams with a conjunctive task structure and were randomly assigned to receive manipulated feedback (that they were either the inferior member or the superior member). Control members received no feedback. Participants in the inferior member condition showed a statistically significant performance gain (i.e., effort gains) when performing the test with stronger partners. Participants in the control and superior member conditions showed neither performance gains nor performance losses (i.e., no effort losses) when completing the test within teams. Receiving feedback about being the inferior member of a sports team may lead to increased effort and, thus, improved performance (i.e., the Köhler effect), whereas no evidence of a free-rider effect was identified in the superior members.


We present a simple and predictive model of radiative neutrino masses. It is a special case of the Zee model with a family-dependent Z4 symmetry acting on the leptons. A variety of predictions follow: The hierarchy of neutrino masses must be inverted; the lightest neutrino mass is extremely small and calculable; one of the neutrino mixing angles is determined in terms of the other two; the phase parameters take CP-conserving values with δCP = π; and the effective mass in neutrinoless double beta decay lies in a narrow range, mββ =(17.6–18.5) meV. The ratio of vacuum expectation values of the two Higgs doublets, tan β, is determined to be either 1.9 or 0.19 from neutrino oscillation data. Flavor-conserving and flavor-changing couplings of the Higgs doublets are also determined from neutrino data. The non-standard neutral Higgs bosons, if they are moderately heavy, decay significantly into μ and τ with prescribed branching ratios. Observable rates for the decays μ → eγ and τ → 3μ are predicted if these scalars have masses in the range of 150-500 GeV.


We theoretically investigate the spin relaxation of polaron, which arises from the electron interactions with the longitudinal optical phonon between the sublevel Zeeman splitting of the polaron ground state by using the vibrational and the unitary transformation methods in a two-dimensional quantum dot, where the Rashba spin-orbital coupling is taken into account. In fact, this process occurs by means of the absorption (or emitting) of a deformation potential acoustic phonon (or a piezoelectric one). The relaxation rate dependences of the magnetic, the quantum dot radius, the lander parameter, the Rashba spin-orbital coupling parameter are studied under the conditions of the strong coupling limitation and the weak one.


It is very tough trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability in a faster growing developing country like India. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes that environmental degradation initially increases with the income rise, and then begins to decrease once a certain threshold of income growth is achieved. The present study is an endeavour to explore EKC in relation to safe drinking water access, groundwater resource development and utilisation, as well as its correlation with waterborne diseases in 32 Indian States/Union Territories (UTs) within a period of 11 years, 2001-2012. Results from the panel analysis reveal that no EKC relationship exists with the considered indicators in the Indian context. Furthermore, income growth is observed to present no significant effect on all of the considered indicators. Income growth in lower-income States/UTs immensely helps to improve the access to safe drinking water compared to the higher-income States/UTs. Rapid expansion of irrigated agriculture and obsolete abstraction regulation tactically allows overexploitation of the groundwater resource.


The trade-offs between the required storage space and the validity of answers produced by probabilistic question-answering (PQA) systems are studies. If the correct answer to a given query is "yes" and the system, instead, issues the estimate that the query has a probability \pi of being true, then the economic loss to the user can be measured by a distortion function that decreases monotonically with \pi . A system will be called elastic if a drastic memory saving may be achieved by tolerating a small level of average distortion. The main result reported is that for a large class of distortion measures (i.e., measures exceeding (1-\pi)^{\alpha} with \alpha>0) , if a binary QA system (true-false answers) is inelastic then the corresponding probabilistic QA system must also be inelastic. This result implies, for example, that a PQA system that is designed to answer all binary questions on an arbitrary dataset is inelastic. Similarly a PQA system admitting singly conjunctive questions such as "Are both x and y in the dataset?" is also inelastic.


Tuning the hydrogen adsorption energy (EH) by controlling the surface electronic structure of Pt is essential for enhancing the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) performance in alkaline media. This could be achieved by forming a Pt skin on PdFe/C nanoparticles with structurally ordered intermetallic (O-PdFe@Pt/C) or disordered alloy (D-PdFe@Pt/C). The HOR activity on O-PdFe@Pt/C exhibits an exchange current density of 1.49 A mgPt−1, which is 3.87 and 7.56 times higher than that on D-PdFe@Pt/C (0.385 A mgPt−1) and Pt/C (0.197 A mgPt−1), respectively. The excellent electrocatalytic HOR performance on O-PdFe@Pt/C can be ascribed to the attenuation of EH on the Pt shell induced by the structurally ordered PdFe core, where the EH on O-PdFe@Pt surface is 0.18 eV smaller than that on Pt according to DFT calculations.


We tackle the task of Class Agnostic Counting, which aims to count objects in a novel object category at test time without any access to labeled training data for that category. All previous class agnostic counting methods cannot work in a fully automated setting, and require computationally expensive test time adaptation. To address these challenges, we propose a visual counter which operates in a fully automated setting and does not require any test time adaptation. Our proposed approach first identifies exemplars from repeating objects in an image, and then counts the repeating objects. We propose a novel region proposal network for identifying the exemplars. After identifying the exemplars, we obtain the corresponding count by using a density estimation based Visual Counter. We evaluate our proposed approach on FSC-147 dataset, and show that it achieves superior performance compared to the existing approaches.


The components of variance were analyzed for 720 measures of concrete pavement texture depth obtained by the sand-patch method. The measurements were made in connection with a complete factorial field experiment involving four texturing methods on two sections each of five different paving jobs. Each pavement section was tested at three different sites by three different operations performing two tests each. The analysis permitted estimates of the repeatability and reproducibility of the sand-patch test, as well as errors that can be expected in measuring the mean texture depths of a section of textured pavement. /FHWA/


There is an increasing interest in developing sustainable systems in the European Union (EU) to recover and upgrade the solid wastes of the olive oil extraction process, i.e. wet husk. A Life Cycle Environmental Impact Assessment (LCIA) of wet husk has been carried out aiming at facilitating an appropriate Life Cycle Management of this biomass. Three scenarios have been considered, i.e. combustion for domestic heat, generation of electric power, and composting. The Environmental Product Declaration and the ReCiPe method were used for Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Domestic heating and power generation were the most important impact factors in damaging human health, ecosystems, and natural resources depletion. Composting was 2-4 orders of magnitude less impacting than domestic heat and power generation. Considering human health, the impact of climate change, human toxicity and particulate matter formation represented the main impact categories. Considering ecosystems, climate change and natural land transformation were the main impact categories. Within natural resources, fossil fuel depletion was impacted three orders more than metal depletion. Within domestic heating and power generation scenarios, storage of wet husk along with the extraction by organic solvent, and the waste treatment were the most impacting phases for global warming potential, ozone layer depletion, acidification and non renewable fossil resources depletion. The results obtained for the waste disposal have been comparatively assessed with respect to the environmental impact of the olive oil production chain.


Parental alienation occurs when a child is unreasonably influenced by a parent's unwarranted views of the other parent, leading to unnecessary refusal or resistance of a relationship with the targeted parent (Garber, 2011). The child will align themselves with the preferred parent without justification, with their behaviour often driven by false beliefs (Bernet & Baker, 2013). There is a current lack of literature regarding effective practice to aid psychologists and courts in terms of supporting the alienating parent, targeted parent, and child. A systematic literature review was undertaken which aimed to identify evidence based practices in response to parental alienation and to develop a set of best practice recommendations for professionals working with families affected by parental alienation with a psychological and a legal perspective. Medline, PsycInfo and Embase academic databases were searched from their inception until August 2015. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and conference abstracts were also searched. Articles published in English reporting outcomes relating to an intervention for parental alienation were included. A total of nine articles met criteria for the current review. Broadly, interventions fell into five different categories: change in custody and individual or family therapy/mediation; custodial transfer only; multi-modal family intervention; parallel group therapy; and reunification programs/ retreats/ workshops/ camps. Recommendations suggest that changes in custody to the targeted parent are effective in restoring relationships, and that where there is court involvement, a family therapy approach further helps to reduce distress and improve child-parent relationships.


Business process re‐engineering (BPR), a management tool that initially advocated a revolution in the way businesses are driven, now carries the stigma of being a major cause of job elimination. This study reveals the depth of involvement of BPR practitioners in what, advocates claim, are the fundamental ingredients of BPR – business processes. The data alert the reader to the different understandings and practices related to business process analysis held by several UK and Brazilian companies. Possible reasons are given, accounting for why some of the companies investigated seemed to lose a BPR focus in favour of more urgent restructuring matters. The authors conclude that companies often lack a basic awareness of the business process concept, and that misconceptions about these issues can lead to unrealised expectations at various levels in the organization.


The syntheses of [RuVI(Por)(NAd)(O)] and [RuVI(2,6-F2-TPP)(NAd)2] have been described. [RuVI(2,6-F2-TPP)(NAd)(O)] capable of catalysing aerobic epoxidation of alkenes has been characterised by X-ray crystallography with Ru[double bond, length as m-dash]NAd and Ru[double bond, length as m-dash]O bond distances being 1.778(5) Å and 1.760(4) Å (∠O-Ru-NAd: 174.37(19)°), respectively. Its first reduction potential is 740 mV cathodically shifted from that of [RuVI(2,6-F2-TPP)(O)2].


In the present study we propose a modified version of the nonlinear shallow water (Saint-Venant) equations for irrotational surface waves in the case when the bottom undergoes some significant variations in space and time. The model is derived from a variational principle by choosing an appropriate shallow water ansatz and imposing some constraints. Our derivation procedure does not explicitly involve any small parameter and is straightforward. The novel system is a non-dispersive non-hydrostatic extension of the classical Saint-Venant equations. We also propose a finite volume discretization of the obtained hyperbolic system. Several test-cases are presented to highlight the added value of the new model. Some implications to tsunami wave modeling are also discussed.


We investigate a new type of resonant behaviour in the 1D hot-electron ballistic transport in nanostructures. The resonances are manifested by sharp increases in the rate of optical phonon generation and are accompanied by sharp drops in the overall current. They occur whenever the separation between a pair of levels of transverse quantization is equal to the energy of an optical phonon, h(cross) omega 0, and a condition for generation of optical phonons eV>h(cross) omega 0, is met, where V is the voltage bias across the conductor. We calculate the rate of energy transfer from the electrons to phonons. The ratio between the decrease in electric current power and the rate of energy transfer from electrons to phonons appears to be linearly proportional to the voltage bias.