Uncertain data and undesirable outputs are two challenging issues in traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models while dealing with the environmental efficiency estimation of decision-making units (DMUs). This study considers Stackelberg and the centralized game theory approach in a two-stage DEA model for evaluating DMUs in the presence of uncertainty and undesirable outputs simultaneously. To tackle the uncertainty, we apply the p-robust technique and assume that undesirable outputs are weakly disposable. The proposed fractional models are linearized using the Charnes and Cooper transformation. We utilize the new models for a real dataset drawn from 11 oil generation ports in the Persian Gulf region consisting of two stages: an oil production stage and a wastewater treatment stage. The results revealed that the managers should take different strategies in environmental efficiency evaluation including undesirable impacts and also efficiency improvement in increasing oil generation. Further, the empirical results showed that the stochastic p-robust approach for controlling the conservatism level leads to a more conservative solution, and policymakers could recognize the significant steps that should be followed to improve each oil generation unit's environmental performance. Also, to show the reliability and accuracy of the results and the effect of the decision-maker's preference, a detailed sensitivity analysis is performed.


BACKGROUND
Listeria monocytogenes has emerged as a significant food borne pathogen in recent decades. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is deemed to be more reliable than conventional methods of identification. This work aimed to evaluate the accuracy of PCR in comparison to conventional methods for the diagnosis of L. monocytegenes from different clinical specimens and food stuffs.

METHODS
This study was conducted on 66 clinical specimens and 100 different food stuffs. On the basis of colonial morphology, Gram's stain, catalase test, haemolysis on sheep blood agar, and motility test, Listeria isolates were further identified to species level by 10300 API Listeria strips. PCR was done directly for all specimens to evaluate its accuracy in comparison to conventional methods of diagnosis.

RESULTS
A total of 5 (7.6%) same L. monocytogenes isolates were identified both by the conventional method and PCR in different clinical samples. However, PCR identified 6 (6%) L. monocytogenes isolates from food stuffs versus 4 (4%) isolates were identified by conventional methods.

CONCLUSIONS
PCR is a rapid procedure with both sensitivity and specificity for quick detection and identification of L. monocytogenes either from clinical specimens or food stuffs.


We examine repeated games with incomplete information where the type spaces of the players may be large. It is shown that if the belief of each player, regarding future play of the game, accommodates the true play then a Nash equilibrium of the incomplete information game will evolve, with time, into an equilibrium of the complete information game, i.e., the realized game where the types of all players are common knowledge. We introduce the notion of accommodating beliefs which involves two requirements. The first is that the belief assigns positive probability to neighborhoods of the true distribution and the second is that what lies outside of a neighborhood is separated from the true distribution by sufficient incoming observations this is the separation property defined in the paper.


Preoperative intra-arterial injection therapy using etoposide, epirubicin and carboplatin (EAP II) was done for patients with resectable advanced gastric cancer. Twenty-six patients (14 males and 12 females) were treated. The concentrations of adriamycin (ADM) and platinum (Pt) were measured in cancer tissue, normal mucosa and regional lymph-nodes which were obtained operatively and in sera just before operation. But the concentration of etoposide was not measured, because when we used preoperative intra-arterial injection therapy using etoposide, epirubicin and cisplatin (EAP I), the mean concentration of etoposide was less than the detectable limit in all tissues and in sera. There were no significant differences among the mean concentrations of ADM in all tissues and in sera. And the mean concentration of ADM in cancer tissue was not higher than that of intra-arterial EAP I injection therapy. The mean concentration of platinum in sera was significantly lower than in cancer tissues, normal mucosa and lymph-nodes. And the mean concentrations of platinum in cancer tissues and lymph-nodes were higher than those of intra-arterial CDDP or EAP I injection therapy. It was concluded that preoperative intra-arterial EAP II injection therapy may be an effective method to improve the usefulness of preoperative intra-arterial injection therapy for gastric cancer.


Background
 Hemophilia A (HA) and HB are X-linked bleeding disorders caused by a deficiency of Factor VIII (HA) or Factor IX (HB). A significant number of individuals with HA and HB develop inhibitors against the wild-type FVIII or FIX, respectively, and thereby become refractory to factor replacement treatment. Treatment of episodic bleeding in these individuals requires technical expertise to gain the requisite intravenous (IV) access and is often associated with pain. This causes delays in administration, which results in prolonged bleeding and accumulation of blood in the joint or other bleeding site. Currently approved FVIIa containing products take 6-24 hours to achieve hemostasis and maintain efficacy. Marzeptacog alfa (activated) (MarzAA), a novel variant activated recombinant Factor VII (rFVIIa), is being developed for subcutaneous (SQ) administration to address this important unmet need. Data from the Phase 1 study, MAA-102, demonstrated that SQ MarzAA is quickly absorbed and has the potential to achieve and maintain plasma levels in the desired range with an acceptable safety profile.
 This open-label, global, multi-center, randomized, cross-over Phase 3 study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of MarzAA for on demand treatment of spontaneous or traumatic bleeding episodes in adolescents and adults with congenital HA or HB with inhibitors. MarzAA will be compared to the Standard of Care (SOC). Approximately 60 subjects will be enrolled at 54 sites in 19 countries.
 Study Design and Methods
 Key inclusion criteria: Eligible male or female subjects ≥ 12 years of age must have: confirmed diagnosis of HA or HB unresponsive to or intolerant of standard replacement therapy; history of bleeding with annualized bleeding rate of ≥ 8; investigator-confirmed subject's ability to identify bleeding episodes and administer MarzAA SQ and infuse SOC IV at home.
 Key exclusion criteria: Subjects should not have had previous exposure to SQ administration of rFVIIa or exposure to any other variant rFVIIa; known positive antibody or hypersensitivity to MarzAA, FVIIa, or variants thereof; history of other coagulation disorder(s); platelet count <50,000/µL; CD4 T cell count <200 cells/mm3.
 Treatment: Subjects >17 years of age will be randomized in blocks to target treatment of approximately 5 bleeds with MarzAA and an additional 5 bleeds with SOC in either order, Sequence A or Sequence B, with a washout period to assess anti-drug antibodies (ADA) status between treatments. A total of 488 eligible bleeds will be treated, ~244 bleeds with each treatment, until ≥80% of patients have ≥3 bleeds treated with MarzAA and SOC. Pharmacokinetic samples will be collected during the MarzAA treatment period. Subjects 12-17 years of age will be enrolled after a positive DSMB assessment of 30 eligible bleeds treated with MarzAA. Subjects will administer 60 µg/kg SQ dose of MarzAA, at 3-hour intervals, for up to 3 doses as required to achieve hemostasis.
 Endpoints: Primary endpoint includes percentage of treated bleeds resulting in effective hemostasis (excellent or good) at 24 hours after the initial dose. Key secondary endpoints include time to cessation of bleeding after the initial dose; percentage of treated bleeds resulting in effective hemostasis at fixed timepoints; percentage of those that maintain hemostasis at 48 hours after the initial dose; use and amount of rescue therapy. Key safety endpoints include the incidence of adverse events; occurrence of thrombotic events and binding and/or neutralizing anti-drug antibodies. Key exploratory endpoints include assess patient satisfaction with the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medicine- 9; assessment of pain using the Visual Analogue Scale; time required to administer treatment.
 Statistics: The goal is to demonstrate the true proportion of bleeds effectively treated with MarzAA is not inferior to SOC. Using a baseline efficacy of 85% for SOC, with a -12% margin of non-inferiority, treatment of 244 bleeds in each group provides 90% power with a one-sided 2.5% significance level to substantiate this result.
 Figure

 Neuman: Catalyst Biosciences: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Desai:Catalyst Biosciences: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Knudsen:Catalyst Biosciences: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Del Greco:Catalyst Biosciences: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Levy:Catalyst Biosciences: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company.


Background: The purposes of this study is to analysis the differences of the job satisfaction between regular and non-regular work-ers in hospitals.Methods: The samples used for data analysis are 632 workers of 6 hospitals using a standardized questionnaires in B, C, D, and G provinces. In research methodology, all the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis.Results: In case of regular workers, communication, working conditions and employee benefit, and education were found to have a significant positive (+) effect on job satisfaction. In case of non-regular workers, empowerment, reward systems, communication, working conditions, and employee benefit had a significant positive (+) effect on job satisfaction.Conclusion: These results showed that hospitals needed to reinforce communication, working conditions and employee benefit to regular and non-regular workers in order to improve job satisfaction. Especially, more empowerment, working conditions, and em-ployee benefit should be given to non-regular workers.Keywords: Non-regular worker; Regular worker; Job satisfaction; Hospitals


Time varying channels will degrade the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) due to the interchannel interference (ICI). In this paper, we propose the channel estimation for multiple input multiple output (MIMO)-OFDM with time varying channels based on the grouped and equispaced pilot tones. Specifically, we approximate the time varying channels to the polynomials. Additionally, we propose the detection method for the OFDM with ICI.


Fe(II)(Metz)6](Fe(III)Br4)2 (Metz = 1-methyltetrazole) is one of the rare systems combining spin-crossover and long-range magnetic ordering. A joint neutron and X-ray diffraction and magnetometry study allows determining its collinear antiferromagnetic structure, and shows an increase of the Néel temperature from 2.4 K at ambient pressure, to 3.9 K at 0.95 GPa. Applied pressure also enables a full high-spin to low-spin switch at ambient temperature.


We discuss the structure of the Poincaré gauge theory of gravity (PG) that can be considered as the standard theory of gravity with torsion. We reconfirm that torsion, in the context of PG, couples only to the elementary particle spin and under no circumstances to the orbital angular momentum of test particles. We conclude that, unfortunately, the investigations of Mao et al. (2007) and March et al. (2011)—who claimed a coupling of torsion to orbital angular momentum, in particular in the context of the Gravity Probe B (GPB) experiment—do not yield any information on torsion. File GPBtorsionPLA10.tex, 15 May 2013.


We investigated the effects of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) on the growth of murine leukemic L1210 cells, which were cultured with high (2.0 x 10(3) ng/ml), middle (100 ng/ml) and low doses (5.0 ng/ml) of ara-C. In the analysis by flow cytometry, high dose ara-C arrested the cell cycle in the G0/G1-phase. Middle and low doses ara-C induced a block in the S-phase, that was not completely blocked by the low dose. Analysis of DNA fragmentation revealed that ara-C dose-dependently induced apoptosis, which was only slightly induced by the low dose. We measured activities of cellular thymidylate synthase (TS) and thymidine kinase (TK) after 24-h culture. Low and middle doses, but not high dose ara-C markedly enhanced TS activity to 2.9- in low and 5.3-fold in middle doses ara-C, and TK activity to 1.3- in low and 2.2-fold in middle doses, respectively, compared with those of the control. The cells accumulated in the S-phase by 48-h culture with low dose ara-C and markedly proliferated compared to that of the control in ara-C-free medium. These results indicate that non-high dose ara-C enhances DNA-synthesizing enzyme activities in L1210 cells, and withdrawal of the non-high dose ara-C results in paradoxical cell proliferation. Thus, daily intramuscular injections with an insufficient dose of ara-C may induce cells into S-phase, resulting in the proliferation of leukemic cells.


GP7 (4-[4"-(2",2",6",6"-tetramethyl-l"-piperidinyloxy)amino]-4'-demethyl epipodophyllotoxin), a new spin-labeled derivative of podophyllotoxin, is a promising anticancer drug of podophyllotoxin class. The primary effect of GP7 is the anticancer activity on transplanted mouse tumors and cultured tumor cells. However, its molecular mechanism of action is still obscure. In this study, we investigated the activity of GP7 to induce apoptosis in human leukemia HL-60 and Jurkat cells. Apoptosis was determined by detection of DNA fragmentation in agarose gel electrophoresis. GP7 induced apoptotic DNA fragmentation of HL-60 and Jurkat cells in time- and dose-dependent manner. We further investigated the activity of caspase-3 in GP7-induced apoptotic DNA fragmentation of HL-60 and Jurkat cells. GP7 also induced time- and dose-dependent caspase-3 activation in both cell lines, and the kinetics of caspase-3 activation induced by GP7 was well correlated with that of apoptotic DNA fragmentation. To determine the role of caspase-3 in GP7-induced apoptotic DNA fragmentation, we examined the effect of specific caspase-3 inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, on GP7-induced apoptotic DNA fragmentation. Ac-DEVD-CHO prevented GP7-induced caspase-3 activation in both HL-60 and Jurkat cells, however, it only inhibited GP7-induced apoptotic internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells. We then employed L-carnitine to investigate the role of caspase-3 in GP7-induced apoptotic DNA fragmentation. L-carnitine treatment prevented GP7-induced caspase-3 activation in both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Similar to Ac-DEVD-CHO, L-carnitine only inhibited GP7-induced apoptotic internucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL-60 cells. These findings suggest that GP7 exerts an anti-leukemic effect by both caspase-3-dependent and -independent apoptotic signaling pathways.


In this paper, the ABAQUS / CAE 6.13.1 program is used to study the effect of several variables on the efficiency of the load transfer through an expansion joint in plain concrete pavement system under the influence of the static wheel load. The variables that have been addressed are the diameter of dowel bar (12, 16 and 20 mm), subgrade soil type (A-6) and (A-7-5), concrete type (normal strength concrete and high strength concrete), joint width (10, 20 and 30 mm), thickness of the concrete slab (125, 175 and 250 mm), position of static wheel load (corner load, internal load and edge load) and the effect of soil damage. The results showed, the load transfer efficiency (LTE) and joint effectiveness (E) are enhanced from 69.82% to 89.73% and from 82.23% to 94.59%, respectively as dowel diameter increases from 12 mm to 20 mm, from 60.48% to 79.64% and from 75.37% to 88.66, respectively as joint width decreases from 30 mm to 10 mm, from 64.24% to 89.73% and from 78.23% to 94.59%, respectively as slab thickness decreases from 250 mm to 125 mm and from 69.81% to 79.64% and 82.22% to 88.66%, respectively when CBR value of subgrade soil increases from 5% to 7%, while approximately the same LTE (about 80%) and E (about 89%) are resulted as the concrete compressive strength increases from 27 MPa to 43 MPa. Corner load reduces LTE and E from 84% to 70.49% and from 91.3 to 82.7, respectively as compared to internal load. Presence of weak or gap in subgrade soil reduces LTE and E from about 79% to 59% and 88% to 74%, respectively.


Educators are being encouraged to shift their instructional paradigm from teacher-centered to learner-centered through the use of technology. For online courses, legacy learning management products originally designed to support and deliver teacher-centered instruction may represent a constraint to implementing the learner-centered paradigm. Yet, replacement of these systems presents a formidable hurdle to educators wishing to initiate learner-centered online courses. This hurdle could be lowered significantly by a transitional approach that allows learner-centered strategies to be delivered within the framework of existing learning management systems. This paper describes our efforts to prototype such a transitional approach for an online statistics course. Pedagogical and technological objectives were successfully achieved by combining the technologies of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), a legacy learning management system, and a standalone course authoring tool to deliver an example course demonstrating adaptive, competency-based student progress instruction that personalizes one's learning path with topic-contingent assessment feedback.


Based on the analysis of the features of Multimedia Computer Assisted Language Learning (MCALL), this article probes three new teaching models, which are lecturing model, network based interactive model and the virtual reality model, on the utilization of multimedia technology and networks in foreign language learning; and meanwhile, this paper also discusses the roles and the basic requirements of being a modern language teacher as well as the challenges faced after adopting MCALL.


We describe a scatter calibration technique which improves the quantitative accuracy of the positron emission tomography data in specific scanning conditions: i.e., scans with high random fraction (RF) and/or low number of counts. Such a situation is often encountered in dynamic imaging on scanners with a large number of lines-of-response (LOR) such as the high resolution research tomograph (HRRT). In this paper, we first describe how high RFs and low number of counts affect the scatter scaling process. We then demonstrate experimentally, with phantom studies, the bias in the scatter estimate introduced by the commonly used tail-fitting technique employed in the single scatter simulation (SSS) method. A significant bias in scatter fraction (SF) was found for frames which contain a RF higher than 50% and/or with a number of counts less than 20 M. Finally, we present a new scatter scaling technique which compensates this bias. The scatter calibration technique is based on using the scatter estimate obtained from a reference frame, in which the bias due to high RFs and low number of counts is minimized, to calibrate the scatter in each dynamic frame. The calibration also separately accounts for the change in SF due to the pulse pile-up effect. A much more consistent and accurate SF value was assigned to each segment of the scatter sinogram thus leading to a more quantitative reconstructed image with a better axial uniformity after the scatter calibration. The new calibration technique was tested with phantom, monkey, and human data and was found to significantly improve the quantitative aspect of the early frames: such improvement is expected to positively affect the feasibility of rather novel image analysis methods, such as determination of image derived input function.


This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding the electrolytic materials on blood and carcass traits of broiler during transportation exposed under intense heat condition in summer. The broilers were selected on the day when the outside temperature was about 32℃ to provide heat stressed environment. Broilers reared for 33 d were selected and fed with the electrolytic materials (NaHCO₃, NaCl, KCl) for 2 days. Treatments were as follows; feeding the underground water for control, NaHCO₃ (1.0%) + NaCl (0.5%) for treament 1, KCl (0.5%) + NaCl (0.5%) for treatment 2, KCl (1.0%) + NaCl (0.5%) treatment 3, KCl (0.5%) + NaHCO₃ (1.0%) + NaCl (0.5%) for treatment 4 and KCl (1.0%) + NaHCO₃ (1.0%) + NaCl (0.5%) for treament 5. pH of chicken meat increased for treatments group of electrolytic material, especially, that of treatment 3 was highest when compared to the other treatments. The frequency rate (%) of 1 + quality grade were 33.3, 60.0 and 83.3% at control, treatment 3, 4 and treatment 5, respectively. Occurrence rates of PSE were 50% for control and 13.3% for treatment 5. Corticosterone increased at the post-harvest period compared to the pre-harvest period of broiler and have small disparity between pre-and post-harvest only except treatment 3 when compared to control. pCO₂ partial pressure of blood at the pre-harvest period was low in all treatments by heat stress, the disparity value of control was high for control, and those of treatment 4 and 5 were low compared to other treatments.


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of the germination conditions of 'BRS 216' soybean ( Glycine max ) on the length, yield, and isoflavone contents of sprouts. A 23 factorial arrangement was used to evaluate the variables soaking time, irrigation frequency, and germination time. Sprouts that showed better length and yield and higher isoflavone contents were evaluated for their chemical composition and vitamin C content. Soaking and germination time of soybean showed a positive and significant linear effect on sprout length. However, only germination time showed a significant positive linear effect on yield, and a significant negative linear effect on the content of malonylglycosides, aglycones, and total isoflavones. Soybean germination conditions were established at 6 hours of soaking, three days of germination, and 8 hours of irrigation frequency. Under these conditions, the obtained sprouts show a more preserved chemical composition, besides higher contents of β-glycosides, malonylglycosides, aglycones, total isoflavones, and vitamin C than the nongerminated soybean. Under suitable germination conditions, it is possible to produce soybean sprouts with better physical characteristics, higher yield, and higher contents of isoflavones, aglycones, and vitamin C.


The present study investigated the effects of matrine on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in mice induced by a methionine choline-deficient (MCD) diet and the mechanism involved. The study was performed in C57B/6J mice fed a MCD diet for 6 weeks to induce NASH with or without the treatment of matrine (100 mg/kg/day in diet). Metformin was used (250 mg/kg/day in diet) as a comparator for mechanistic investigation. Administration of matrine significantly reduced MCD-induced elevations in plasma ALT and AST but without changing body or liver fat content. Along with alleviating liver injury, matrine suppressed MCD-induced hepatic inflammation (indicated by TNFα, CD68, MCP-1, and NLRP3) and fibrosis (indicated by collagen 1, TGFβ, Smad3, and sirius-red staining). In comparison, metformin treatment did not show any clear sign of effects on these parameters indicative of NASH. Further examination of the liver showed that matrine treatment rescued the suppressed HSP72 (a chaperon protein against cytotoxicity) and blocked the induction of mTOR (a key protein in a stress pathway). In keeping with the lack of the improvement of the NASH features, metformin did not show any significant effect against MCD-induced changes in HSP72 and mTOR. Matrine protects against MCD-induced development of NASH which is refractory to metformin treatment. Its anti-NASH effects involve enhancing HSP72 and downregulating mTOR but do not rely on amelioration of hepatosteatosis.


Flow cytometry and staining with 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazole-phallacidin were used to investigate organization of the actin cytoskeleton in rat embryo cells at different stages of normal and adenovirus E1A-induced cell cycles. In uninfected cells in G0-G1 and S phases, actin was predominantly in the form of stress fibers. In G2, this organization changed to peripheral rings of thin filaments, while during mitosis, actin had a diffuse distribution. Infection of quiescent rat cells by adenovirus caused them to enter the cell cycle and replicate DNA and also caused disruption of stress fibers. Rapid disappearance of stress fibers and the appearance of peripheral rings of actin filaments began from 13 h after infection and closely followed synthesis of the E1A proteins. Infected cells began S phase at about 24 h after infection, and cells in G2 and mitosis were seen from 30 to 50 h. Thus, disruption of the actin cytoskeleton is an early effect of E1A and not an indirect consequence of the entry of infected cells into the cell cycle.


BACKGROUND
The technical and physical performance, a key part of overall soccer performance, tend to evolve due to changes in game rules, playing styles, and training methodology. Nevertheless, little has been reported in the literature on how match performance has changed over time in elite championships and leagues. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of selected technical and physical team performance indicators on match outcome over five seasons in the Russian Premier League.

METHODS
Twenty-two technical and physical team performance variables, recorded with an optical tracking system, were examined in 1186 matches played in the Russian Premier League during the 2016-2017 to 2020-2021 seasons.

RESULTS
For pooled data in all examined seasons, shots on target were higher in won vs. drawn and lost matches. Percentage of challenges won was higher in won vs. drawn and lost matches. Sprint distance, counterattacks, shots, interceptions, recoveries, crosses, and the percentage of successful tackles all showed small though significant differences between match outcomes. Slightly greater odds of a more favourable match outcome were involved by increases in all selected variables, except crosses, showing an opposite effect. In the 2020-2021 season, ball possession time reported a slightly higher impact on match outcome than in previous seasons.

CONCLUSIONS
The present results show that some technical performance variables have a great effect on match outcome, while other technical indicators and physical metrics have a smaller though still potentially relevant impact. These effects do not substantially differ acrss the five examined seasons.


Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to describe the role of the medical home in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A high-quality medical home is essential, given the increase in prevalence of ASD and the array of services, community partners, specialists, therapists, and healthcare team members needed to care for this population. Recent findings Providing care through the medical home model results in fewer unmet needs. Care coordination and integration are the aspects of the medical home currently most lacking. Navigating the healthcare landscape for children with ASD may be enhanced with patient navigators, integration of physical and behavioral health, and telehealth services. Summary Children with ASD have an increased number of medical and mental health needs. Obtaining care via a medical home has been shown to decrease unmet healthcare needs. However, they are less likely to receive care through the medical home model compared with other children with special healthcare needs. Barriers identified by families include a lack of early identification, limited knowledge on educational plans, and unknown community resources. Barriers identified by providers include lack of time, training, and resources. Providing care coordination and family-centered care in a medical home model are essential for children with ASD.


This paper presents a complete vision-based vehicle detection system for floating car data (FCD) enhancement in the context of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). Three cameras (side-, forward- and rear- looking cameras) are installed onboard a vehicle in a fleet of public buses. Thus, a more representative local description of the traffic conditions (extended FCD) can be obtained. Specifically, the vision modules detect the number of vehicles contained in the local area of the host vehicle (traffic load) and their relative velocities. Absolute velocities (average road speed) and global positioning are obtained after combining the outputs provided by the vision modules with the data supplied by the CAN Bus and the GPS sensor. This information is transmitted by means of a GPRS/UMTS data connection to a central unit which merges the extended FCD in order to maintain an updated map of the traffic conditions (traffic load and average road speed). The presented experiments are promising in terms of detection performance and computational costs. However, significant effort is further necessary before deploying a system for large-scale real applications.


Nurses need to gain knowledge and experience that will assist them to practice in a global environment. This article shares the unique experiences of a university in providing a semester of nursing study in a developing country. What makes this experience unique is that theory and clinical courses were taught similarly on both the US and Ugandan campuses. Benefits and challenges of the semester are discussed, as well as details of planning, implementation, and posttrip conclusions.


Previously, we reported a simple technique to isolate functional B islets from chick pancreata with retention of their insulin secretory ability in response to glucose challenge. To test the hypothesis that chick B islets are equally good candidates as mammalian islets for screening hypoglycemics and insulin secretagogues, we compared the structural and functional status of chick B islets with those of normal and diabetic mouse islets. Pancreata from chick, normal (nondiabetic) mice, and diabetic mice were collected, fixed, and processed for histological analysis using Gomori stain to distinguish A and B cells from islets. Similarly isolated islets from these animals were treated with different concentrations of tolbutamide, a known insulin secretagogue, and glucose to study insulin release. Histological analysis of pancreata from chicks and normal mice revealed intact B cells, whereas those from diabetic mice were destroyed. The insulin secretory response of chick B islets against the tolbutamide and glucose challenge was comparable to that of normal mouse islets. However, diabetic mouse islets did not respond to glucose challenge, indicating impaired functionality. We have identified a critical window that lies within 5 to 6 d posthatching for isolating chick B islets showing maximum glucose responsiveness and insulin secretion. The previous reports on chicken pancreatic islets involve the use of 4- to 6-wk-old chicks in which islets were found to be nonresponsive to glucose and, hence, could not be used for testing insulin secretory activity. However, our data on B islets from 5- to 6-d-old chick pancreata is highly promising, as islets are responsive to insulin secretagogues. The present data thus indicates that chick B islets can be used as an alternative in vitro model for screening insulin secretagogue and hypoglycemics.


OBJECTIVETo determine the efficacy and safety of chordoma treatment with CyberKnife (Accuray, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA) stereotactic radiosurgery (CK/SRS). METHODSEighteen patients with chordoma were treated with CK/SRS as a primary adjuvant (17 patients) or the only treatment (1 patient). The series included 24 lesions (28 treatments). The median age of the patients was 60 years (range, 24–85 years). Forty-four percent of the tumors were located in the mobile spine, 39% inside the cranium, and 17% in the sacral region. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1. The mean tumor volume was 128.0 mL (range, 12.0–457.3 mL), and the median dose of 35 Gy (range, 24.0–40.0 Gy) was delivered in 5 sessions. The median follow-up period was 46 months (range, 7–65 months). RESULTSThere were 3 significant complications in patients with previous irradiation, including infection in the surgical/radiation site (2 patients) and decreased vision (1 patient). Improvement in pain and quality of life did not reach statistical significance (α = 0.05). Seven patients experienced recurrence at a median of 10 months (range, 5–38 months), and 4 patients with disseminated disease died 7 to 48 months after therapy. Two patients had a partial response, whereas 9 others had stable disease. The local control rate at 65 months was 59.1%, with an overall survival of 74.3% and disease-specific survival of 88.9%. We estimated an α/β ratio of 2.45 for chordomas, which supports hypofractionation. CONCLUSIONThe CK/SRS safety and efficacy profile compares favorably with those of other treatment delivery systems. CK/SRS appears to reduce tumor volume, given an adequate dose. The authors recommend treatment with 40 Gy in 5 sessions to the clinical treatment volume, which includes the gross tumor volume and at least a 1-cm margin.


General principles of law are a primary mechanism for "gap-filling" in international criminal law.
However, their interpretation by tribunals has been fitful, contradictory, and misguided. Given that
general principles have been used to settle crucial legal issues that affect the rights of the accused, the
confusion concerning their application threatens the legitimacy of international criminal justice. This
Article critiques the various conceptions of general principles developed by scholars and tribunals based on
the criteria of formal and material validity and exposes the problems with their application in light of
comparative law and criminal law theory. The Article challenges international criminal tribunals' reliance
on surveys of municipal legal rules as the primary tool for the derivation of general principles. It
recommends a more limited role for general principles focused on material validity in the development of
international criminal law. Additionally, it urges tribunals to engage with other sources, especially treaties,
to alleviate the problem of gaps in international criminal law.


Abstract A Fourier method of filtering digital data called Lanczos filtering is described. Its principal feature is the use of "sigma factors" which significantly reduce the amplitude of the Gibbs oscillation. A pair of graphs is developed that can be used to determine filter response quality given the number of weights and the value of the cutoff frequency, the only two inputs required by the method. Examples of response functions in one and two dimensions are given and comparisons are made with response functions from other filters. The simplicity of calculating the weights and the adequate response make Lanczos filtering an attractive filtering method.


Herein, we report the manifestation of type 1A Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease(CMT)in a 54-year-old female gastric cancer patient caused by oxaliplatin(L-OHP)of neoadjuvant chemotherapy containing S-1 plus L-OHP(G-SOX). In this case, peripheral sensory neuropathy(PSN)appeared in both upper limbs immediately after the administration of L-OHP. Subsequently, we observed sensory neuropathy of gloves-socks type in both the upper and lower limbs and motor neuropathy in both lower limbs, which caused the patient to be unable to sit up. Physical examination revealed upside-down champagnebottle- like mild atrophy in both lower limbs and hollow feet in both legs, as well as the disappearance of deep tendon reflexes in both lower limbs. In her family history, her eldest daughter had undergone Achilles tendon elongation surgery for suspected CMT at the age of 3 years. Considering these, she was suspected to have CMT and was finally diagnosed with type 1A CMT based on genetic testing. In anti-cancer treatments that cause PSN(not just by L-OHP), possible involvement of occult peripheral nerve disease like CMT should be considered when more rapid and untypical PSN appears after the administration of anti-cancer drugs.


This essay explores the problematic story of the "woman taken in adultery" (John 7:53-8:11) in relation to logocentric structures that define the Gospel of John. Jesus's two acts of writing on the ground, unique to this story, point to texts that we cannot read and which are therefore unable to signify. I suggest that Jesus's earthy texts do eventually appear in John's Gospel, where they reassure the reader that the Gospel has after all succeeded sufficiently in its task of signifying the incarnation of the pre-existent Word, even as they announce the inherent finitude and incompleteness of any text.


Morphological and genetic traits of Meretrix lusoria and M. petechialis were compared among individuals from Japan and Korea. Multivariate analysis of shell morphology revealed that M. lusoria from all localities of Japan (Aomori to Kyushu) and from the southern and southwestern coasts of Korea (Sacheon Bay and Gangjin Bay) have some common characters, namely more linear shape in posterior-dorsal margin, smaller width of socket and larger shell breadth rather than M. petechialis from the western coasts of Korea (Baeksu and Saemangeum). Among M. lusoria, individuals from the Japan/East Sea coasts (Yuya Bay, Aso Sea and Mutsu Bay) have more linear shape in posterior-dorsal margin than those from other localities. The distribution border between M. lusoria and M. petechialis is located around the southwestern coasts of Korea (from Gangjin Bay to Baeksu). Analyses of mitochondrial COI and nucleus ITS also revealed that individuals from Japan and the southern coasts of Korea (Sacheon Bay) were classified as M. lusoria, and those from the western coasts of Korea (Baeksu and Saemangeum) as M. petechialis. However, all individuals from Gangjin Bay were classified as M. petechialis based on the analysis of mitochondrial COI, although most individuals were classified as M. lusoria by the analysis of nucleus ITS. These results suggest that hybridization between M. lusoria and M. petechialis occurs around Gangjin Bay. Further, we established a method to identify M. lusoria and M. petechialis from shell morphology. The modified discriminant score using the 5 selected characters, i.e. shell length (L), shell breadth (B), width of socket (SW), length of posterior-dorsal margin (LPM) and height of posterior-dorsal margin (HPM), is D = 110.26−61.61(log B/log L) + 10.90(log SW/log L) − 81.72(log LPM/log L) + 27.27(log HPM/log L). Using this discriminant score, we can identify M. petechialis and M. lusoria with 98.89% correct percentage.


Objective: In this retrospective analysis of the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance database, a clamp data pooling project, a cardiovascular risk score (CVS) was assessed to verify whether hyperinsulinemia and/or insulin resistance were independent cardiovascular risk factors and to investigate how menopause affected CVS and insulin resistance. Design: Information was obtained on whole-body glucose uptake (M), determined by the euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp technique, normalized by fat-free mass (FFM), and insulin concentration (I) at a steady state. Body composition was estimated using a labeled water technique or bioimpedance. Other parameters measured included blood pressure, lipid levels, and waist-to-hip ratio. CVS was computed using a structural equation model that included age, body mass index, blood lipids, and blood pressure. The study population included 523 normal and overweight patients. Women were grouped according to fertility status, and men, according to age (cutoff 50 y). Results: M/kgFFM/I significantly decreased after menopause (12.41 ± 3.40 vs 10.96 ± 3.68; P < 0.01) and in men 50 years and older (11.39 ± 3.47 vs 10.32 ± 3.77 &mgr;mol·min−1·kg−1·&mgr;UI/mL; P < 0.02). CVS was lowest in fertile women (−0.414 ± 0.57 vs 0.107 ± 0.43; P < 0.0001) and highest in men 50 years and older (0.045 ± 0.455 vs 0.257 ± 0.51; P < 0.001). CVS significantly correlated with M/kgFFM/I in men 49 years and younger (ro = −0.27, P < 0.0001) and 50 years and older (ro = −0.38, P < 0.0001) and with fasting insulin in fertile women (ro = −0.29, P < 0.01) and in the other groups (ro ranging from 0.37 to 0.45, P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Menopause does not seem to strictly relate to a decrease in insulin sensitivity as postmenopausal women had the same insulin sensitivity as age-matched men. In the population studied, the best predictor of CVS was fasting insulin rather than insulin sensitivity.


Aim of work
Evaluation of knowledge
to the subject of legal highs
and popularity of their use amongst
secondary-school students from the
Silesian Voivodeship.

Material and Methods
Studies
were conducted in spring of 2016 in
two randomly selected secondary
schools in Katowice and Dąbrowa
Górnicza. The survey was carried out
amongst students of these schools
and concerned question about the
knowledge of legal highs effect on the
body and their use by young people.
The study consisted of 336 questionnaire
forms, 159 filled by secondaryschool
students from Katowice and
177 by secondary-school students
from Dąbrowa Górnicza.

Results
Legal highs for 78.3% of
young people are as dangerous as
drugs. Almost 70% of respondents
believe that legal highs strongly affected
the physical health, psyche,
may cause a loss of life or health, as
well as cause addiction. As the main
effects of legal highs, young people
point to strong agitation and aggression,
as well as visions and hallucinations.
12.5% of respondents answered
"Yes" to the question, whether they
ever took legal highs. Most of students
(69.7%) think that legal highs
should be forbidden.

Conclusions
The use of legal
highs declared 12.5% of secondaryschool
students. Most of respondents
are aware of threats to health associated
with use of legal highs.


The type of situation that arose in Lee v Minister for Correctional Services 2013 (2) SA 144 (CC) ('Lee (CC)') presented the courts with a challenging problem concerning factual causation. Lee had been incarcerated at a maximum security prison in Pollsmoor between 1999 and 2004. After three years in prison, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He did not have the disease when he arrived at the prison. The conditions at Pollsmoor were described by the Constitutional Court as 'ideal ... for transmission' of TB, as the prison was 'notoriously congested and inmates [were] confined to close contact for as much as 23 hours every day', and TB is 'an airborne communicable disease which spreads easily, especially in confined, poorly ventilated and overcrowded environments' (para 8, per Nkabinde J for the majority). It was accepted, by both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court, that the authorities at the prison had acted wrongfully by reason of their failure 'to have reasonably adequate precautions against contagion' (Lee (CC) para 37; see too Minister of Correctional Services v Lee 2012 (3) SA 617 (SCA) para 35 ('Lee (SCA)')). It was accepted, too, that they had been negligent, as there was 'a negligent breach on the part of the responsible authorities for failing to maintain an adequate system for management of TB' (Lee (CC) ibid). All that remained was to determine 'whether the negligent omission caused the applicant harm - in becoming infected with TB' (ibid).


The paper reads Mia Couto's Under the Frangipani (1996) in light of its portrayal of the many years of war in Mozambique as an unrepresentable void that must somehow be recuperated if the country is to have any hope of meaningful postwar reconstruction and development. Of particular interest to the paper is Couto's sense of a Mozambique that has been worn down and isolated by the experience of decades of war. The text presents the reader with a deeply divided country in which communities were shattered and isolated, from each other and from the rest of the world. This sense of isolation and separation is deeply inscribed in the text's representation of individual characters and the communities from which they come. Couto illustrates that while such issues are hindering Mozambique's postwar development, the problem is compounded by rampant corruption and a flourishing trade in the arms left over from the war. In this regard, the paper argues that Couto's insistence on the need to bring together all aspects of Mozambican society and belief in the face of the materialistic greed that the war has unleashed is in itself an attempt at the aesthetic recuperation of a deeply traumatized society. Finally, the paper argues that it is through the tree as an organic vision of the future that Couto thus imagines a Mozambique where time and history is re-voiced, re-claimed, and allowed to grow according to dictates of a progressive society.


We evaluated the use of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to detect plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Compared with tumor-tissue-based detection, the sensitivity of ddPCR for detecting plasma cfDNA tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-sensitizing EGFR mutations was 61.3%, the specificity was 96.7%, and the consistency rate was 81.4% (?=0.605, 95% confidence interval: 0.501-0.706, p <0.0001). The sensitivity declined from 82.6% to 46.7% with decreasing cfDNA inputs (p=0.028). The plasma cfDNA concentration correlated with gender (males vs.females =11.69 ng/mL vs. 9.508 ng/mL; p=0.044), EGFR mutation status (tumor-tissue EGFR mutation-positive (EGFR M+) vs. EGFR mutation-negative (EGFR M-) = 9.61 ng/mL vs. 12.82 ng/mL; p =0.049) and specimen collection time (=2 years vs. >2 years=13.83 ng/mL vs. 6.575 ng/mL; p <0.001), and was greater in tumor-tissue EGFR M+ / plasma EGFR M+ patients than in tumor-tissue EGFR M+/plasma EGFR M- patients (11.61 vs. 7.73 ng/mL, respectively; p=0.003). Thus total cfDNA input crucially influences the sensitivity of plasma cfDNA EGFR mutation testing with ddPCR. Such analysis could be an effective supplemental test for advanced NSCLC patients.


When the 16S rDNA of predominant Escherichia coli strains from cattle was digested with HhaI and HaeIII, the strains could be sub-divided into four operational taxonomic units. When genomic DNA was digested with XbaI, strains could be grouped into 24 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis genotypes (>95% Dice similarity) and five clades (>20% Dice similarity). Diet (hay versus grain) and gastrointestinal compartment (rumen versus colon) did not have a large impact on diversity. However, both analyses indicated that the cows (n=2) had different E. coli populations. When all 22 colonic strains were inoculated into a maltose-limited chemostat, only a single genotype persisted. Based on these results, the genetic diversity of E. coli in the cattle is very great and this bacterium can occupy different niches.


Within a few years of the serendipitous discovery of its remarkable effects on proliferating infantile haemangiomas (IH) in 2008, the nonselective beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol has become the first-line therapy for complicated haemangiomas worldwide. As evidenced in large case series and meta-analyses, the response rate to oral propranolol (2–3 mg kg 1 per day for 6 months) is 96–98%; reported side-effects were reversible and mostly benign. Propranolol has thus virtually replaced oral corticosteroids, laser surgery or interferon and vincristine, which in former years (and for decades) were used to treat infants with obstructive, ulcerative or disfiguring IH. Unlike 'new' agents, propranolol is a generic, off-patent and readily available drug, and was used for the treatment of IH at the discretion of the prescribing physician long before randomized controlled studies or official recommendations were published. Its mode of action, however, is incompletely understood so far. In this issue of BJD, two articles shed new light on the effects of propranolol. Ji et al. summarize current knowledge about mechanisms potentially underlying the antiproliferative effect of propranolol in IH. Beta-adrenergic blockade targets endothelial cells, pericytes and haemangioma stem cells, initially resulting in vasoconstriction, followed by long-term tumour regression that is likely due to inhibition of both vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. This is a result of suppression of de novo growth of blood vessels from stem cells and interference with proliferation of existing vessels. However, inhibition of angiogenesis, desirable as it is for growing vascular tumours, can be a double-edged sword. Shortly after the description of the antiangiogenic effects of interferon-alfa in young infants with life-threatening IH, it turned out that up to 25% of those treated developed spastic diplegia or other motor disturbances; this effect was confined to infants and not observed in older children treated with interferon. Is there any evidence of a similar effect in infants treated with propranolol? No, and unlike interferon, it is not to be expected for several reasons. Firstly, several thousand young infants have been treated with propranolol since 2008, and any major untoward neurological effects would have been picked up even without a formal follow-up by now. Secondly, the combination of several different mechanisms of action, as outlined by Ji et al., might be more a 'physiological' mode of action – mimicking processes involved in spontaneous regression of IH – than one overriding pathway alone. In this context, it is paradoxically reassuring that the recurrence rate of IH following discontinuation of propranolol is high (15–20%), implying that its antiangiogenic effects are reversible as long as spontaneous or induced regression is incomplete. Concerns regarding potentially relevant neurodevelopmental or cognitive side-effects of propranolol, reviewed by Langley and Pope in this issue of BJD, are less easily dismissible. Lipophilic beta-blockers readily cross the blood–brain barrier, and their degree of lipophilicity correlates with the incidence of central nervous system side-effects such as sleep disturbance and interference with memory. Sleep disturbance, somnolence and irritability can be observed in 15–25% of all infants treated with the highly lipophilic propranolol. In adults, propranolol has been shown to decrease certain memory functions, an effect that can be exploited therapeutically in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders. It thus appears conceivable that blockage of neural pathways critical for learning and memory could be an unrecognized (and not easily cognizable) long-term side-effect of propranolol in infants. This deeply disturbing issue can be clarified (and, ideally, settled for good) only by meticulously designed, prospective, controlled studies addressing neurocognitive capabilities (e.g. language and memory skills) in propranolol-treated vs. untreated children. Meanwhile, preliminary studies indicate that hydrophilic beta-blockers such as nadolol and atenolol seem to be at least as effective against IH as propranolol. They might in the end turn out to be an even better alternative.


This letter presents a perfectly matched layer (PML) for the subcell finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for thin dispersive layers. Such a PML is useful when thin layers extend to the boundaries of the computational domain. Emphasis is given on the case of graphene thin layers, whose modeling with conventional FDTD produces significant computational cost. The proposed formulation is accompanied by detailed validation and error analysis studies.


Surveys the evolution and development of MARC formats for the digital encoding of bibliographic data from their beginnings in 1968 at the Library of Congress to the present time, with particular emphasis on the development of 17 national formats. Examines the reasons for the divergence of MARC formats from each other as well as the early and recent trends in the development of national MARC formats.


Background: Jogging has been classified as a high-impact sport, and jogging after total hip arthroplasty (THA) has not been well documented. Purpose: To investigate the participation rate for postoperative jogging as well as jogging parameters and the influence of jogging on implant stability and bearing wear. Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Included in this study were 804 hips in 608 patients (85 men, 523 women) who underwent THA between 2005 and 2011 with follow-up longer than 1 year. The mean patient age was 62 years (range, 26-98 years), and mean follow-up duration was 4.8 years (range, 2.3-7.8 years). Hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) was performed in 81 patients and conventional THA in 527 patients. During routine postsurgical visits, patients were given a questionnaire concerning preoperative and postoperative jogging routines. For joggers, frequency, distance, duration, and velocity of jogging were recorded. Patients who did not jog postoperatively were asked to provide reasons for not jogging. Radiographs concerning implant migration and polyethylene wear were evaluated with specialized software, and serum cobalt and chromium ion concentrations were investigated for patients with metal-on-metal articulation. Results: A total of 33 patients (5.4%) performed jogging preoperatively, and 23 patients (3.8%) performed jogging postoperatively. Of the 23 who jogged postoperatively, conventional THA was performed in 13 patients and HRA in 10 patients. Postoperatively, joggers trained a mean of 4 times (range, 1-7 times) per week, covering a mean distance of 3.6 km (range, 0.5-15 km) in a mean time of 29 minutes (range, 5-90 minutes) per session and at a mean speed of 7.7 km/h (range, 3-18 km/h). No patient complained of pain or showed serum cobalt and chromium ion elevation greater than 7 ppb. No hip showed loosening, abnormal component migration, or excessive wear at a mean 5-year follow-up. There were 74 postoperative non-joggers with an interest in jogging. The reasons given for avoiding jogging included anxiety (45 patients; 61%); impossible because of several reasons, including pain, decreased range of motion, and muscle weakness (18 patients; 24%); and lumbar or knee pain (11 patients; 15%). Multivariate analysis revealed that male sex and a history of preoperative jogging demonstrated significant relationships with postoperative jogging. Conclusion: A total of 3.8% of THA patients participated in postoperative jogging. Short-term postoperative follow-up did not identify any negative influence of jogging on implant survival.


In this paper, we present a novel procedure for the identification of hybrid systems in the class of piecewise ARX systems. The presented method facilitates the use of available a priori knowledge on the system to be identified, but can also be used as a black-box method. We treat the unknown parameters as random variables, described by their probability density functions. The identification problem is posed as the problem of computing the a posteriori probability density function of the model parameters, and subsequently relaxed until a practically implementable method is obtained. A particle filtering method is used for a numerical implementation of the proposed procedure. A modified version of the multicategory robust linear programming classification procedure, which uses the information derived in the previous steps of the identification algorithm, is used for estimating the partition of the piecewise ARX map. The proposed procedure is applied for the identification of a component placement process in pick-and-place machines.


Mouse models provide valuable opportunities for probing the underlying pathology of human birth defects. By using an N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosourea‐based screen for recessive mutations affecting craniofacial anatomy, we isolated a mouse strain, Dogface‐like (DL), with abnormal skull and snout morphology. Examination of the skull indicated that these mice developed craniosynostosis of the lambdoid suture. Further analysis revealed skeletal defects related to the pathology of basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) including defects in development of the limbs, scapula, ribcage, secondary palate, cranial base, and cranial vault. In humans, BCNS is often associated with mutations in the Hedgehog receptor PTCH1 and genetic mapping in DL identified a point mutation at a splice donor site in Ptch1. By using genetic complementation analysis we determined that DL is a hypomorphic allele of Ptch1, leading to increased Hedgehog signaling. Two aberrant transcripts are generated by the mutated Ptch1DL gene, which would be predicted to reduce significantly the levels of functional Patched1 protein. This new Ptch1 allele broadens the mouse genetic reagents available to study the Hedgehog pathway and provides a valuable means to study the underlying skeletal abnormalities in BCNS. In addition, these results strengthen the connection between elevated Hedgehog signaling and craniosynostosis. genesis 51:677–689. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597-8) by William Shakespeare was written at a time when the codes of rudeness, obscenity and indecency were less stringent. At that time, some tolerance prevailed towards the obscene language inserted by the playwright in his production by means of double meanings, metaphors, allusions and puns. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, due to the need to eliminate those constructions from a text that had become canonical, the Bard's idolizers banned obscenity from Shakespearean language, arguing that its use had been due to the playwright's desire to please less refined audiences. If, on one hand, that prevented Shakespeare's work from exclusion from school textbooks and family shelves, on the other, it led translators to ignore expressions with which Shakespeare built his lewd comical images. The article thus proposes to expand the boundaries of thematic analysis of William Shakespeare's texts to the (re)construction of the obscene language in the film As alegres comadres (2003), directed by the Brazilian filmmaker Leila Hipolito, as an adaptation of the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. Here, the film is understood as a rereading, allowing for questioning concepts such as authenticity, originality and hegemony, all so dear to a tradition that ignores the plurality of a cultural production and the inexhaustible condition of its plurality. Thus, the film is understood as a translation resulting from decisions made by Hipolito and her crew, which only in the realm of utopia could be identical with the Shakespearean text, for it encompasses the singularities of the translator. Throughout the article the term obscenity is used as a reference to the transgressing lexicon having to do with sexuality, being central to observe the solutions found by Leila Hipolito to recreate the Shakespearean lewdness in her filmic text.


We show that given a σ-finite Borel regular measure μ in a metric space X, every σ-porous subset of X of finite measure can be approximated by strongly porous sets. It follows that every σ-porous set is the union of a σ-strongly porous set and a μ-null set. This answers in the positive the question whether a measure which is absolutely continuous with respect to the σ-ideal of all σ-strongly porous sets is absolutely continuous with respect to the σ-ideal of all σ-porous sets. Using these results, we obtain a natural decomposition of measures according to their upper porosity and obtain detailed information on values that upper porosity may attain almost everywhere.


The concept of sustainability has increasingly gained traction with scholars, managers, and policymakers. Finding a balance between economy, society and environment requires implementing changes at the strategic level, particularly at the business model level. Moreover, and to survive to this digital revolution led by cutting-edge startups, companies have started to transform digitally their businesses by enhancing their digital capabilities. Since the two concepts need the implementation of radical changes regarding how the value is created and captured, analyzing how to incorporate sustainability dimensions while digitally transforming the business could be a promising road to explore. This paper starts by defining the concepts of sustainability and digital transformation. It discusses after the way to reach sustainability through digital transformation. The paper proposes a framework that summarizes our recommendations and use a case study from the telecom industry to illustrate more our findings.


A new type of terrestrial line spectra found by the Arase satellite was reported in 2018. These spectra are called "hectometric line spectra (HLS)". They primarily consist of constant frequency narrowband components at frequencies between 525 kHz and 1,700 kHz, which originate and are sometimes amplified from AM broadcasting waves. In addition to these, other generated emissions are observed. Entrances and the mode conversion of the AM broadcasting waves into the equatorial and low‐latitude ionosphere with plasma density depletion called plasma bubbles are observed. Electron density profiles and equatorial plasma bubbles are examined through Global Positioning System (GPS)‐Total electron content (TEC) analyses. As a result, the Arase satellite which observed the HLS passed through the TEC depression region near the equatorial ionosphere associated with plasma bubbles. The scenario based on the mode conversion of the L‐O mode to the Z mode and vice versa was confirmed with observations and GPS‐TEC analyses. Another entrance when foF2 estimated from TEC is lower than 1,000 kHz instead of a plasma bubble is also found. No mode conversion is necessary, then.


Abstract Habitat suitability models (HSM) based on remotely sensed data are useful tools in conservation work. However, they typically use species occurrence data rather than robust demographic variables, and their predictive power is rarely evaluated. These shortcomings can result in misleading guidance for conservation. Here, we develop and evaluate a HSM based on correlates of long‐term breeding success of an open nest building boreal forest bird, the Siberian jay. In our study site in northern Sweden, nest failure of this permanent resident species is driven mainly by visually hunting corvids that are associated with human settlements. Parents rely on understory nesting cover as protection against these predators. Accordingly, our HSM includes a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) based metric of understory density around the nest and the distance of the nest to the closest human settlement to predict breeding success. It reveals that a high understory density 15–80 m around nests is associated with increased breeding success in territories close to settlements (<1.5 km). Farther away from human settlements breeding success is highest at nest sites with a more open understory providing a favorable warmer microclimate. We validated this HSM by comparing the predicted breeding success with landscape‐wide census data on Siberian jay occurrence. The correlation between breeding success and occurrence was strong up to 40 km around the study site. However, the HSM appears to overestimate breeding success in regions with a milder climate and therefore higher corvid numbers. Our findings suggest that maintaining patches of small diameter trees may provide a cost‐effective way to restore the breeding habitat for Siberian jays up to 1.5 km from human settlements. This distance is expected to increase in the warmer, southern, and coastal range of the Siberian jay where the presence of other corvids is to a lesser extent restricted to settlements.


This article is dedicated to the reduction of the offline handwritten character recognition task (using a handwriting image as input) to the online recognition task (using a pen trace as input). A method of the pen trace reconstruction from handwritten text image using its medial representation (a skeleton) is proposed. Experimental comparison of symbols recognition quality using the image, the true pen trace and the reconstructed pen trace is carried out.


People with disabilities often confront barriers in exercising their right to work. Social model scholarship has recognized that attitude is a key factor in the disablement of people with impairments. This study reports on 28 semi-structured interviews with professionals with disabilities. Drawing from their lived experiences and roles in the disability rights movement, the professionals with disabilities interviewed in this study provide unique perspectives on the instances of attitudinal discrimination. The interviewees discuss the tactics they employ to reduce the negative impact of erroneous stereotypes and the successes of such tactics. Many of the tactics employed by interviewees reflect strategies discussed in contact theory scholarship. This study focuses upon contact theory and considers the similarities between this theory and the interventions of interviewees. Through positing interviewees' tactics in the literature this study is able to analyse possible positive and negative consequences of such interventions.


Abstract The crystal structure and chemical composition of a crystal of (Mg1-xCrx)(Si1-xCrx)O3 perovskite (with x = 0.07) synthesized in the model system Mg3Cr2Si3O12-Mg4Si4O12 at 23 GPa and 1600 °C have been investigated. The compound was found to be orthorhombic, space group Pbnm, with lattice parameters a = 4.8213(5), b = 4.9368(6), c = 6.9132(8) Å, V = 164.55(3) Å3. The structure was refined to R = 0.046 using 473 independent reflections. Chromium was found to substitute for both Mg at the dodecahedral X site (with a mean bond distance of 2.187 Å) and Si at the octahedral Y site (mean: 1.814 Å), according to the reaction Mg2+ + Si4+ = 2Cr3+. Such substitutions cause a shortening of the  and a lengthening of the  distances with respect to the values typically observed for pure MgSiO3 perovskite. Although high Cr-contents are not considered in the pyrolite model, Cr-bearing perovskite may be an important host for chromium in the lower mantle. The successful synthesis of perovskite with high-Cr content and its structural characterization are of key importance because the study of its thermodynamic constants combined with the data on phase relations in the lower-mantle systems can provide new constraints on thermobarometry of perovskite-bearing assemblages.


Background Serological assays that detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are critical for determining past infection and investigating immune responses in the COVID-19 pandemic. We established ELISA-based immunoassays using locally produced antigens when New Zealand went into a nationwide lockdown and the supply chain of diagnostic reagents was a widely held domestic concern. The relationship between serum antibody binding measured by ELISA and neutralising capacity was investigated using a surrogate viral neutralisation test (sVNT). Methods A pre-pandemic sera panel (n = 113), including respiratory infections with symptom overlap with COVID-19, was used to establish assay specificity. Sera from PCR‑confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients (n = 21), and PCR-negative patients with respiratory symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (n = 82) that presented to the two largest hospitals in Auckland during the lockdown period were included. A two-step IgG ELISA based on the receptor binding domain (RBD) and spike protein was adapted to determine seropositivity, and neutralising antibodies that block the RBD/hACE‑2 interaction were quantified by sVNT. Results The calculated cut-off (>0.2) in the two-step ELISA maximised specificity by classifying all pre-pandemic samples as negative. Sera from all PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients were classified as seropositive by ELISA ≥7 days after symptom onset. There was 100% concordance between the two-step ELISA and the sVNT with all 7+ day sera from PCR‑confirmed COVID-19 patients also classified as positive with respect to neutralising antibodies. Of the symptomatic PCR-negative cohort, one individual with notable travel history was classified as positive by two-step ELISA and sVNT, demonstrating the value of serology in detecting prior infection. Conclusions These serological assays were established and assessed at a time when human activity was severely restricted in New Zealand. This was achieved by generous sharing of reagents and technical expertise by the international scientific community, and highly collaborative efforts of scientists and clinicians across the country. The assays have immediate utility in supporting clinical diagnostics, understanding transmission in high-risk cohorts and underpinning longer‑term 'exit' strategies based on effective vaccines and therapeutics.


Background: Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. Although the time to first cigarette (TTFC) of the day is a distinct indicator of nicotine dependence, little information is available on its possible relation to LC. Methods: This case-control study includes a total of 1,572 incident lung cancer cases and 1,572 non-cancer controls visiting for the first time the Aichi Cancer Center Hospital between 2001 and 2005. We estimated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for TTFC using logistic regression model after adjustment for several potential confounders. Results: TTFC was inversely associated with the risk of lung cancer. This association was consistent across histological subtypes of lung cancer. For all lung cancers considered among ever smokers and after accurate allowance for smoking quantity and duration, besides other relevant covariates, compared with TTFC more than 60 min, the adjusted ORs were 1.08 (95% CI, 0.73-1.61) for TTFC of 31-60 min, 1.40 (0.98-2.01) for 6-30 min and 1.86 (1.28-2.71) for within 5 min (ptrend, Conclusions: Nicotine dependence, as indicated by the TTFC, is associated with increased risk of lung cancer and is therefore an independent marker of exposure to tobacco smoking. Citation Format: Hidemi Ito, Silvano Gallus, Satoyo Hosono, Isao Oze, Koichi Fukumoto, Yasushi Yatabe, Toyoaki Hida, Tetsuya Mitsudomi, Eva Negri, Calro La Vecchia, Hideo Tanaka, Keitaro Matsuo. Time to first cigarette and lung cancer risk in Japan. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2013 Oct 27-30; National Harbor, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2013;6(11 Suppl): Abstract nr B53.


This report describes the frequency and characteristics of serious or life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions to the tuberculin skin test over an 11-year period through November 2000. There were 24 reports and no deaths, indicating that such reactions are rare (0.08 reported reactions per million doses of tuberculin).


The basic power electronic interfaces rendering volume and weight of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are an inverter, an on-board charger, and a bidirectional dc/dc converter. This paper proposes an innovative integrated bidirectional converter with a single-stage on-board charger to reduce the number of switches, size, and weight of the power electronic interfaces. The analyses show that 266 cm 3 and 1.1 kg can be saved due to the elimination of the inductor core used for power factor correction in charging mode, in addition to the reduction achieved through removal of inductor winding, power switches, diodes, and additional heat sink of the conventional structures. A proof-of-concept prototype with power limits of 8.4 kW in charging and 20 kW in propulsion modes has been designed and validated at various power levels. The peak efficiencies for propulsion and regenerative braking operations are measured as 96.6% and 94.1%, respectively. The power factor is recorded as 0.995 at 1.8 kW charging power, where crest factor and peak efficiency are recorded as 1.49 and 91.6%, respectively.


Gram-positive bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are industrially important microorganisms, producing >70% of commercially important antibiotics. The production of these compounds is often regulated by low-molecular-weight bacterial hormones called autoregulators. Although 60% of Streptomyces strains may use γ-butyrolactone–type molecules as autoregulators and some use furan-type molecules, little is known about the signaling molecules used to regulate antibiotic production in many other members of this genus. Here, we purified a signaling molecule (avenolide) from Streptomyces avermitilis—the producer of the important anthelmintic agent avermectin with annual world sales of $850 million—and determined its structure, including stereochemistry, by spectroscopic analysis and chemical synthesis as (4S,10R)-10-hydroxy-10-methyl-9-oxo-dodec-2-en-1,4-olide, a class of Streptomyces autoregulator. Avenolide is essential for eliciting avermectin production and is effective at nanomolar concentrations with a minimum effective concentration of 4 nM. The aco gene of S. avermitilis, which encodes an acyl-CoA oxidase, is required for avenolide biosynthesis, and homologs are also present in Streptomyces fradiae, Streptomyces ghanaensis, and Streptomyces griseoauranticus, suggesting that butenolide-type autoregulators may represent a widespread and another class of Streptomyces autoregulator involved in regulating antibiotic production.


The discoveries of binary asteroids have opened an important new field of research concerning the calculation of potential generated by irregular bodies. Some of them have an elongated shape. A simple model to describe the motion of a test particle in that kind of potential requires consideration of a finite homogeneous straight segment. We construct this model by adding an inhomogeneous distribution of mass. To be consistent with the geometrical shape of the asteroid, we explore a parabolic profile of the density. We establish the closed analytical form of the potential generated by this inhomogeneous massive segment. The study of the dynamical behavior is fulfilled by the use of Lagrangian formulation, which allows us to calculate some two and three dimensional orbits.


OBJECTIVE
To establish a nomogram model for predicting the risk of coronary artery disease in elderly patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

METHODS
The clinical data of elderly patients with AMI who underwent coronary angiography in the department of cardiology of Cangzhou Central Hospital from July 2015 to March 2020 were analyzed, including age, gender, smoking history, underlying diseases, family history, blood pressure, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and several biochemical indicators at admission, such as total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), lipoprotein [Lp(a)], apolipoproteins (ApoA, ApoB), ApoA/B ratio, total bilirubin (TBil), direct bilirubin (DBil), indirect bilirubin (IBil), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and uric acid (UA). Patients were divided into model group (2 484 cases) and validation group (683 cases) according to the ratio of 8:2. According to Gensini score, the model group and validation group were divided into mild lesion group (0-20 points) and severe lesion group (≥ 81 points). The differences of each index between different coronary lesion degree groups were compared. Lasso regression and Logistic regression were used to analyze the risk factors of aggravating coronary lesion risk in elderly patients with AMI, and then the nomogram prediction model was established for evaluation and external validation.

RESULTS
(1) In the model group, there were significant differences in the family history of coronary heart disease, FBG and HDL-C between the mild lesion group (411 cases) and the severe lesion group (417 cases) [family history of coronary heart disease: 3.6% vs. 7.7%, FBG (mmol/L): 5.88±1.74 vs. 6.43±2.06, HDL-C (mmol/L): 1.48±0.69 vs. 1.28±0.28, all P < 0.05]. In the validation group, there were significant differences between the mild lesion group (153 cases) and the severe lesion group [132 cases; FBG (mmol/L): 5.58±0.88 vs. 6.85±0.79, HDL-C (mmol/L): 1.59±0.32 vs. 1.16±0.21, both P < 0.05]. (2) Lasso regression analysis showed that family history of coronary heart disease, FBG, and HDL-C were risk factors of coronary artery disease in elderly patients with AMI, with coefficients 0.118, 0.767, and -0.558, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that FBG [odds ratio (OR) = 1.479, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.051-2.082, P = 0.025] and HDL-C (OR = 0.386, 95%CI was 0.270-0.553, P < 0.001] were independent risk factors of coronary artery disease in elderly patients with AMI. (3) According to the rank score of FBG and HDL-C, the nomogram prediction risk model of aggravating coronary artery disease degree was established for each patient. It was concluded that the risk of coronary artery disease in elderly people with higher FBG level and (or) lower HDL-C level was significantly increased. (4) The nomogram model constructed with the model group data predicted the risk concordance index (C-index) was 0.689, and the C-index of the external validation group was 0.709.

CONCLUSIONS
FBG and HDL-C are independent risk factors for aggravating coronary artery disease in elderly patients with AMI. The nomogram model of aggravating coronary artery disease in elderly patients with AMI has good predictive ability, which can provide more intuitive research methods and clinical value for preventing the aggravation of coronary artery disease in elderly patients.


Aim Intraosseous (IO) access with power-driven devices has become a commonly used method of vascular access during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Blood aspirated to confirm correct IO needle position could readily be available for point-of-care (POC) testing. The aim was to investigate how POC lactate levels of intraosseous blood reflect the lactate values in systemic circulation during VF and resuscitation in order to see whether POC IO samples could be used for clinical decision-making during CPR. Methods We conducted an experimental study comparing POC results of lactate from intraosseous, arterial and venous blood of 23 piglets undergoing induced cardiac arrest (VF) and CPR. All blood samples were analysed with i-STAT POC device and the results were compared using Bland-Altman method (ref 1). Results Prior to VF the IO lactate levels were similar to arterial and venous samples (bias [95% CI] between IO and arterial samples was 0.11 mmol/L [−0.02–0.24] and between IO and venous samples 0.03 mmol/L [−0.25–0.31]). Five minutes after onset of VF, intraosseous lactate levels had increased more than arterial and venous values (bias 3.76 mmol/L [1.93–5.59] and 3.52 mmol/L [1.41–5.64] respectively). Five minutes after initiation of CPR with an automatic CPR device (LucasTM) the difference diminished (bias 0.81 mmol/L, [−0.31–1.93] and 1.50 mmol/L [0.07–2.92]). Conclusion Intraosseous lactate values showed good agreement with arterial and venous values before cardiac arrest, but IO values were clearly higher during VF and CPR. During resuscitation IO lactate values seem to represent better the metabolic state at tissue level than arterial or venous lactate. Reference Bland JM, Altman DG. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet1986;1:307–10 Conflict of interest None declared. Funding None declared.


Electrostriction is the strain response of a dielectric material proportional to the square of an applied electric field. This effect is related to the strain-dependence of the dielectric function. The strain signal observed using optical interferometry is a superposition of true electrostriction and other effects like electrostatic forces and thermal stresses. Therefore, it is necessary to have a formula that allows the measured values to be corrected for these spurious effects. In this paper, a thermodynamic approach and the force law are used, combining continuum mechanics and Maxwell's electromagnetic equations, to derive a correction formula. The result can be applied to measurements of both the longitudinal and the transversal effect in single crystals of any symmetry.


Transport stations such as airports, ports, and railways have adopted blocked-type pathway management to process and control travel systems in a one-directional manner. However, this excludes highway transportation where large buses have great variability and mobility; thus, an instant influx of numerous buses increases risks and complicates station management. Focusing on Taipei Bus Station, this study employed RFID technology to develop a system platform integrated with modern information technology that has numerous characteristics. This modern information technology comprised the following systems: ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio-frequency identification (RFID), ultrasound and license number identification, and backstage graphic controls. In conclusion, the system enabled management, bus companies, and passengers to experience the national bus station's new generation technology, which provides diverse information and synchronization functions. Furthermore, this technology reached a new milestone in the energy-saving and efficiency-increasing performance of Taiwan's buses.


There is a need to provide a photo-optical digitizer system to ascertain quickly and accurately, the information required. Many quantitative measurements must also be recorded, compared, stored, and computed in real time. The best feasible solution is a semi-automatic system with an open-end output capability, able to digitize the information. The L-W International 110-C Photo-Optical Digitizer System, the "Informer," could solve the dilema. The system will accept an image from projectors with various a-perture formats, television monitors, and hard copy. The Digitizer provides for lengths, areas, angles, frame count, and other various features. After digitizing, data can be transmitted to computer peripherals and major computer systems. The "Informer" has a standard EIA-RS232C or Bit Parallel output interface or optional special interfaces.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the application of flow cytometry total cell counts (TCCs) as a parameter to assess microbial growth in drinking water distribution systems and to determine the relationships between different parameters describing the biostability of treated water. A one-year sampling program was carried out in two distribution systems in The Netherlands. Results demonstrated that, in both systems, the biomass differences measured by ATP were not significant. TCC differences were also not significant in treatment plant 1, but decreased slightly in treatment plant 2. TCC values were found to be higher at temperatures above 15°C than at temperatures below 15°C. The correlation study of parameters describing biostability found no relationship among TCC, heterotrophic plate counts, and Aeromonas. Also no relationship was found between TCC and ATP. Some correlation was found between the subgroup of high nucleic acid content bacteria and ATP (R 2 = 0.63). Overall, the results demonstrated that TCC is a valuable parameter to assess the drinking water biological quality and regrowth; it can directly and sensitively quantify biomass, detect small changes, and can be used to determine the subgroup of active HNA bacteria that are related to ATP.


This review article examines the available evidence on both the primary and secondary prevention of venous ulceration, exploring both the individual, social and financial implications of system failures that allow patients to remain at increased risk of recurrent ulceration. The role of both venous disease assessment and corrective superficial venous surgery are discussed in the light of recently published randomised controlled studies on the role of superficial venous surgery as both an adjunct to ulcer healing and ulcer prevention.


Objectives To study the relationship between insulin resistance and coronary collateral vessel formation in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. Methods This study enrolled 122 patients with impaired glucose tolerance, who underwent coronary angiography. We prospectively selected all patients who had at least one total occlusion of a major coronary. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index were used to quantify insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR). The severity scale of coronary artery stenosis was quantitatively assessed according to coronary angiography by Gensini scoring system. The collateral scoring system developed by Rentrop and Cohen was used. Patients were then classified according to their collateral grades as either poor (grade 0 or grade 1 collateral circulation) or good (grade 2 or grade 3 collateral circulation). All statistic work was carried out with software of SPSS 13.0. Results Compared with good collateral group, Fasting insulin and HOMA2-IR were significantly higher in poor collateral group (P < 0.05). In order to further assess the relationship between coronary collateral grade and insulin resistance, multivariable analyses were performed. The stepwise multivariable regression analysis shown that Fasting insulin (R = 0.502, P < 0.05) and HOMA2-IR (R = 1.883, P < 0.05), was a statistically significant independent predictor for the severity scale of coronary artery stenosis. The binary regression analysis shown, Fasting insulin and HOMA2-IR enter the coronary collateral grade regression equation. The odds ratio were 1.226 and 1.629 respectively (P < 0.05), adjusted for potential confounding factors, HOMA2-IR was the only significantly independent predictor for poor coronary collateral. Conclusions The presence of coronary collaterals may have beneficial effects during myocardial ischaemia and may improve cardiovascular outcome in patients with coronary artery disease. Impaired collateral formation could be one of the reasons for the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with diabetes mellitus. We hypothesised that in impaired glucose tolerance patients, in the event of a coronary occlusion, might exhibit a less developed collateral circulation. So we investigated the association between HOMA2-IR and coronary angiography data in 122 patients with impaired glucose tolerance. This study shows that in patients with coronary occlusion, collateral circulation is impaired in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. This association is partly related to insulin resistance.


Mobile means moving, and ad hoc means temporary, with no fastened infrastructure; therefore mobile ad hoc networks area unit a sort of temporary network within which nodes area unit moving with none fastened infrastructure or centralized administration. Deployed in 1990s, mobile ad hoc networks are wide researched for several years. Ad hoc network could be an assortment of nodes that is connected through a wireless medium forming a pace dynamical topologies. The infrastructure less and also the dynamic nature of those networks demands new set of networking methods to be enforced, so as to supply economical end-toend communication. Wireless devices area unit perpetually growing in communication field having additional computing speed and variety of options, whereas shrinking in weight and size. Cite this Article Hemlata Kaurav, Krishna Kumar Joshi. Detection of Intrusion for Achieving Security in Mobile Ad Hoc Network. Journal of Computer Technology & Applications. 2017; 8(2): 21–25p.


The effect of reduced impact timber harvesting technique to structure and species composition of seedling and poles was studied using the data of three plots each sized 100 m x 100 m, which are placed randomly at landing, middle skiddtrail and tips of skiddtrail, respectively. The aim of the study was to know the effect of reduced impact timber harvesting technique to structure and species composition of seedling and poles in tropical forest. The research showed that the forest harvesting caused the changing of the structure and species composition of seedling and poles in natural tropical forest.


Proton energy enhancement in a combinational radiation pressure and bubble regime by applying a positively chirped laser pulse has been studied using a series of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. In this regime, the proton injection in the half-first period of an excited plasma wave in an under-dense plasma plays the main role in the acceleration process. Moreover, exciting as high as large-amplitude plasma waves can significantly increase the conversion efficiency of laser energy into kinetic energy of the trapped protons. Here, the utilization of the positively chirped laser pulse is proposed as an effective approach to excite the higher amplitude wake in the combinational regime. Our studies indicate that in the positively chirped combinational regime, the plasma wake with approximately two-fold enhancement is produced that results in the generation of the proton bunch with the narrower energy spread and also the peak enhancement by a factor of two, compared with the un-chirped one. This im...


Presents a new method for the compression of MR and ultrasound images using a wavelet transform. Nine different wavelet filters have been compared, and the image is decomposed by using the wavelet filter, which gives the highest energy compaction. The wavelet coefficients at the third decomposition level are used for the compression of the biomedical images. The proposed method has provided similar compression ratios, while maintaining a good image quality, with the JPEG compression method.


Abstract Background: Pertussis has caused several outbreaks and concern worldwide. Despite high vaccination coverage, people of all ages are still affected with significant morbidity and mortality. We aimed to analyse all pertussis hospitalizations in Portugal to help to delineate preventive policies. Methods: Data were collected from a Portuguese administrative database, which contains all registered hospitalizations in mainland Portugal. Cases were identified using the ICD-9-CM code 033.x (whooping cough) as principal or secondary diagnosis, with hospital discharges between 2000 and 2015. Data were analysed by age groups. Results: Of 2281 hospitalizations, 94% occurred in infants (<1 year). The mean and median ages were 20 and 2 months, respectively. A seasonal pattern was observed, with higher number of hospitalizations during the winter for infants, and during the summer for other age groups. Higher hospitalization rates were registered in the Southern regions. The mean and median lengths of hospital stay were 8 and 6 days, respectively. The main complications were acute respiratory failure and pneumonia. Invasive or non-invasive ventilation, or both, was required in 2.4, 1.8 and 0.6% of hospitalized cases, respectively. The overall inpatient case fatality rate was 0.7%; 0.8, 11.5 and 17.4% for the age groups 0-1 months, 18-64 years and ≥65 years, respectively. Total hospitalization costs were estimated to be 2,698,995€. Conclusion: Our study emphasizes the need to adopt new preventive strategies mainly focused on infants, to reduce morbidity and costs of hospitalizations related to pertussis.


We describe the verification of a logic synthesis tool with the Nuprl proof development system. The logic synthesis tool, Pbs, implements the weak division algorithm. Pbs consists of approximately 1000 lines of code implemented in a functional subset of Standard ML. It is a proven and usable implementation and is an integral part of the Bedroc high level synthesis system. The program was verified by embedding the subset of Standard ML in Nuprl and then verifying the correctness of the implementation of Pbs in the Nuprl logic. The proof required approximately 500 theorems. In the process of verifying Pbs we developed a consistent approach for using a proof development system to reason about functional programs. The approach hides implementation details and uses higher order theorems to structure proofs and aid in abstract reasoning. Our approach is quite general, should be applicable to any higher order proof system, and can aid in the future verification of large software implementations. >


The current study involves numerical and experimental investigations of circular in-line jets impinging on a heated flat plate. The generic configuration is characterized by 9 jets, each with a diameter of D = 0.0152 m. The jets are influenced by a self-generating crossflow and are positioned at a nozzle-to-plate distance (H/D) of 5 and a jet pitch (p/D) of 5. The steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations are performed for turbulent jet Reynolds numbers with the DLR in-house CFD code TRACE. The Menter k-ω SST model is applied for turbulence modeling and the turbulent scalar fluxes are modeled based on the Reynolds analogy for a constant turbulent Prandtl number. To gain a closer insight into the impingement jet physics, high-resolution near-wall velocity and thermal fields are obtained through Large Eddy Simulations (LES) and measurements from the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Focus is laid on the comparison of RANS results with the LES data and the experimental data. The results exhibit a qualitative similarity between the simulations and the experiments. Furthermore, correlations of the Nusselt number from the literature are used to validate the simulation results.


Zero tillage planting of wheat after rice has been the main success in the quest for resource-conserving technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production in the Indo–Gangetic Plains, the cereal bowl of South Asia. Binomial logit models are used to assess the structural factors associated with its adoption in the rice–wheat systems of India's Haryana state and Pakistan's Punjab province. Zero tillage adoption is closely associated with a more favourable resource base and rice–wheat specialization in both study areas. This calls for a closer consideration of equity implications in future research and development.


OBJECTIVE To determine the long-term clinical and radiographic outcome of patients who undergo insertion of a Gianturco-Roehm Bird's Nest vena caval filter (Cook Inc., Bloomington, Ind.). PATIENTS AND METHOD The medical records of 40 patients who, over a 34-month period, underwent insertion of a Bird's Nest filter were reviewed and the reasons for filter insertion determined. The causes of any subsequent deaths were noted, and the autopsy findings, when available, were reviewed. Surviving patients were contacted, and 12 were willing to return for follow-up imaging, which consisted of plain radiography, real-time ultrasonography, colour Doppler imaging and contrast-enhanced computed tomography. Changes in filter position, the presence of thrombus and perforation of the vessel wall by the filter struts were documented. RESULTS All 10 patients who underwent filter insertion while in an intensive care unit (ICU) died, an average of 22 days after the procedure. Eleven other patients also died. Recurrent pulmonary embolism was not suspected in any of these patients, and five autopsies revealed no caval thrombosis. Imaging studies in 12 of the surviving patients revealed no occlusion of the inferior vena cava and no filter migration; however, the vena caval wall was perforated in all of these patients. Nonocclusive intrafilter thrombus was detected by colour Doppler imaging in three patients. CONCLUSIONS In this small group of patients the Bird's Nest filter was effective in preventing recurrent pulmonary embolism and caused less caval thrombosis than has previously been suspected, although intrafilter clot was found in 25% of the patients who underwent follow-up imaging. Colour Doppler imaging is the method of choice for detecting nonocclusive thrombus with this type of filter. Perforation of the caval wall was universal but not clinically symptomatic. Finally, guidelines should be established to ensure the cost-effective use of inferior vena caval filters in ICU patients.


Line-temporal focusing has been recognized as an elegant strategy that provides two-photon microscopy with an effective means for fast imaging through parallelization, together with an improved resilience to scattering for deep imaging. However, the axial resolution remains sub-optimal, except when using high NA objectives and a small field-of-view. With the introduction of an intracavity control of the spectral width of the femtosecond laser to adaptively fill the back aperture of the objective lens, line-temporal focusing two-photon microscopy is demonstrated to reach near-diffraction-limited axial resolution with a large back-aperture objective lens, and improved immunity to sample scattering. In addition, a new incoherent flattop beam shaping method is proposed which provides a uniform contrast with little degradation of the axial resolution along the focus line, even deep in the sample. This is demonstrated in large volumetric imaging of mouse lung samples.


The proportion of U.S. citizens > 65 years of age is growing steadily. This aging of the population is expected to bring an increase in the incidence of depression and dementia, two clinical entities common in elderly populations. Although depression and dementia have many similarities, they also have important clinical distinctions. It is important for primary-care physicians to understand these distinctions, since only approximately 20% of patients with depressive symptoms are treated by mental health practitioners.