In recent years, the Chinese economy has been facing downward pressure from slowing growth, but there has not been a significant rise in the registered/surveyed unemployment rate. The combination of these factors shows yet again that Okun's 1aw does not fit China. Based on empirical observation of the relationship between China's economic cycle and its 1abor market transition, we put forward a broader version of Okun's law which is applicable to analyses of the Chinese transition. The specific applications of the broad version of the law are connected with stages of economic development. The standard Okun model, which includes only the unemployment variable, is suited to developed countries in which labor transfer is complete. The broader version of Okun's law, which is applicable to transitional economies, introduces a variable for the transfer of agricultura1 1abor. Using Chinese and cross-country panel data, we find that, compared with long-term trends, short-term changes in the transfer of agricultural 1abor are significantly correlated with the economic cycle. This finding broadens our understanding of the general pattern of the relationship between the labor market and the economic cycle and provides scientific support for employment policy adjustments that takes "new urban jobs and the surveyed unemployment rate as an important indicator of macro-adjustment and control."


Effective delivery of secreted proteins by gene therapy will require a vector that directs stable delivery of a transgene and a regulatory system that permits pharmacologic control over the level and kinetics of therapeutic protein expression. We previously described a regulatory system that enables transcription of a target gene to be controlled by rapamycin, an orally bioavailable drug. Here we demonstrate in vivo regulation of gene expression after intramuscular injection of two separate adenovirus or adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, one encoding an inducible human growth hormone (hGH) target gene, and the other a bipartite rapamycin-regulated transcription factor. Upon delivery of either vector system into immunodeficient mice, basal plasma hGH expression was undetectable and was induced to high levels after administration of rapamycin. The precise level and duration of hGH expression could be controlled by the rapamycin dosing regimen. Equivalent profiles of induction were observed after repeated administration of single doses of rapamycin over many months. AAV conferred stable expression of regulated hGH in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice, whereas adenovirus-directed hGH expression quickly extinguished in immunocompetent animals. These studies demonstrate that the rapamycin-based regulatory system, delivered intramuscularly by AAV, fulfills many of the conditions necessary for the safe and effective delivery of therapeutic proteins by gene therapy.


Old river channels have been formed by engineering a straight channel in Korea. This can be classified as wetland-type or land-type. The wetland-type old river channel uses parts of agricultural water supply. However, the channels have been neglected since there are problems associated with poor water quality, reduced water level, ecosystem disturbance, etc. Thus, river maintenance through preservation and restoration of old river channel can be very effective in watershed management. To achieve this, functional assessment of wetland-type old river channel is a priority need. This study applied the wetland-type channel in Mangyoung river for functional assessment. It was formed these channels with regard to the following four major criteria (Natureless, Habitat, Water-friendliness and Water quality) and 21 indices. The indices managed by measuring depending in weights. Consequently, wetland-type channel in Mangyoung river was in good condition both natureless and habitat, while it was a fragile environment in water-friendliness and water quality. In particular, the areas where it has insufficiency water and water suffering from eutrophication needs urgent improvement. This results will be used to utilize wetland-type old river channel as watershed management.


This article addressed the issue of violations and infringements by presenting a legal study of the most important human rights protection mechanisms at the level of global regulation. The scientific necessity necessitated the study of the role of international bodies in the field of human rights, through the international mechanisms for monitoring human rights and the oversight and protection system in them. The article examined that international law has provided humanity with a number of mechanisms whose application leads to the creation of a virtuous society in which all human beings enjoy peace and security and enjoy all rights on an equal footing. International law has adopted a set of mechanisms that include a set of provisions that criminalize every act that would harm a person, whether this act occurred on his body, honor, or religion. International law has also created a number of consensual mechanisms that undertake the task of supervising and monitoring the extent to which individuals and states respect and apply those provisions. To achieve the objectives of the article, doctrinal legal research methodology using a qualitative approach was adopted. This article referred to a number of international treaties, charters, and declarations related to human rights or international law, in addition to many studies that dealt with human rights in international law. The article recommended that every country in the world shall stipulate that its constitution or basic law include explicit provisions that guarantee the protection of human rights and provide the necessary guarantees for their implementation.


UKM XYZ is a corn chips processing business that still uses the traditional method which requires a lot of time and effort. From this problem, the idea emerged to design a corn chip flattening machine which aims to speed up production time and reduce the energy spent processing corn chips. The research stage consisted of the problem identification stage, the goal-setting stage, the drafting stage, and the planning stage. The EOQ Economic Order Quantity method is used to determine the forecast for raw material requirements, the forecasting result is 11.7408 kg. The corn sheller machine is designed to have a capacity of 80 kg/hour, using a 120-watt electric motor, which is connected using a pulley and a belt to 2 axles with a diameter of 30 mm with a length of 620 mm and 570 mm in order to meet the needs of UKM XYZ. On the shaft, a gear is attached to cause rotation of the 2 axles in opposite directions. The piping uses 2 rollers with a diameter of 100 mm and a length of 400 mm. Component materials that have contact with corn use AISI 304 material because this material has high tensile strength and is categorized as a standard material for processing food.


Bayesian HMM clustering of x-vector sequences (VBx) has become a widely adopted diarization baseline model in publications and challenges. It uses an HMM to model speaker turns, a generatively trained probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) for speaker distribution modeling, and Bayesian inference to estimate the assignment of x-vectors to speakers. This paper presents a new framework for updating the VBx parameters using discriminative training, which directly optimizes a predefined loss. We also propose a new loss that better correlates with the diarization error rate compared to binary cross-entropy $\unicode{x2013}$ the default choice for diarization end-to-end systems. Proof-of-concept results across three datasets (AMI, CALLHOME, and DIHARD II) demonstrate the method's capability of automatically finding hyperparameters, achieving comparable performance to those found by extensive grid search, which typically requires additional hyperparameter behavior knowledge. Moreover, we show that discriminative fine-tuning of PLDA can further improve the model's performance. We release the source code with this publication.


Importance of the field: Although the solid dispersion method has been known to increase the dissolution rate of poorly water-soluble drugs by dispersing them in hydrophilic carriers, one obstacle of the solid dispersion method is its limited solubilization capacity, especially for pH-dependent soluble drugs. Areas covered in this review: pH-modified solid dispersion, in which pH modifiers are incorporated, may be a useful method for increasing the dissolution rate of weakly acidic or basic drugs. Sufficient research, including the most recent reports, was undertaken in this review. What the reader will gain: How could the inclusion of the pH the pH modifiers in the solid dispersion system change drug structural behaviors, molecular interactions, microenvironmental pH, and/or release rate of pH modifiers, relating with the enhanced dissolution of weakly acidic or weakly basic drugs with poor water solubility? These questions have been investigated to determine the dissolution-modulating mechanism of pH modifiers in solid dispersion containing weakly acidic or basic drugs. Take home message: It is believed that step-by-step mechanistic approaches could provide the ultimate solution for solubilizing several poorly water-soluble drugs with pH-dependent solubility from a solid dispersion system, as well as provide ideas for developing future dosage systems.


We analyze the algebraic structures based on a classifying space of a compact Lie group. We construct the connected graded free Lie algebra structure by considering the rationally nontrivial indecomposable and decomposable generators of homotopy groups and the cohomology cup products, and we show that the homomorphic image of homology generators can be expressed in terms of the Lie brackets in rational homology. By using the Milnor-Moore theorem, we also investigate the concrete primitive elements in the Pontrjagin algebra.


Analysis and validation of a mass spectrometry (MS) experiment are usually performed by comparison to reference spectra. However, if references are missing, measured spectra cannot be properly matched. To close this gap, the Quantum Chemical Mass Spectrometry (QCxMS) program has been developed. It enables fully automatic calculations of electron ionization (EI) and positive ion collision-induced dissociation (CID) mass spectra of singly charged molecular ions. In this work, the extension to negative and multiple ion charge for the CID run mode is presented. QCxMS is now capable of calculating structures carrying any charge, without the need for pretabulated fragmentation pathways or machine learning of database spectra. Mass spectra of four single negatively charged and two multiple positively charged organic ions with molecular sizes from 12 to 92 atoms were computed and compared to reference spectra. The underlying Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (MD) calculations were conducted using the semiempirical quantum mechanical GFN2-xTB method, while for some small molecules, ab initio DFT-based MD simulations were performed. Detailed insights into the fragmentation pathways were gained, and the effects of the computed charge assignments on the resulting spectrum are discussed. Especially for the negative ion mode, the influence of the deprotonation site to create the anion was found to be substantial. Doubly charged fragments could successfully be calculated fully automatically for the first time, while higher charged structures introduced severe assignment problems. Overall, this extension of the QCxMS program further enhances its applicability and underlines its value as a sophisticated toolkit for CID-based tandem MS structure elucidation.


This study was conducted to develop the design methodology of longitudinal post tensioning for the post-tensioned concrete pavement (PTCP). The longitudinal stress distribution in the PTCP slab was analyzed when post tensioning was applied. Then, the tensile stress distribution in the PTCP slab due to the environmental and vehicle loads needed for the design was investigated. in addition, prestress losses were calculated considering the losses due to the frictional resistance between the slab and underlying layer and due to various reasons related to tensioning. The tensile stresses used for the design were obtained by adding the stresses from the critical conditions under both the environmental and vehicle loads. The prestress losses were obtained by considering actual field conditions. The effective post tensioning amount was determined by considering the design loads including environmental and vehicle loads and various losses, and the effect of the allowable tensile stress on the post tensioning amount was investigated. The initial stage of the design of the longitudinal post tensioning is to obtain the stresses under the design loads and the required prestress determined by subtracting the allowable tensile stress from the design stress. Then, the optimal tendon spacing and the tensioning amount can be obtained by comparing with the effective tensioning amount including various stress losses.


The proliferation of network data in various application domains has raised privacy concerns for the individuals involved. Recent studies show that simply removing the identities of the nodes before publishing the graph/social network data does not guarantee privacy. The structure of the graph itself, and in its basic form the degree of the nodes, can be revealing the identities of individuals. To address this issue, we study a specific graph-anonymization problem. We call a graph k-degree anonymous if for every node v, there exist at least k-1 other nodes in the graph with the same degree as v. This definition of anonymity prevents the re-identification of individuals by adversaries with a priori knowledge of the degree of certain nodes. We formally define the graph-anonymization problem that, given a graph G, asks for the k-degree anonymous graph that stems from G with the minimum number of graph-modification operations. We devise simple and efficient algorithms for solving this problem. Our algorithms are based on principles related to the realizability of degree sequences. We apply our methods to a large spectrum of synthetic and real datasets and demonstrate their efficiency and practical utility.


Since its first recorded appearance in December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causing the disease COVID-19 has resulted in more than 2,000,000 infections and 128,000 deaths. Currently there is no proven treatment for COVID-19 and there is an urgent need for the development of vaccines and therapeutics. Coronavirus spike glycoproteins play a critical role in coronavirus entry into the host cells, as they provide host cell recognition and membrane fusion between virus and host cell. Thus, they emerged as popular and promising drug targets. Crystal structures of spike protein in its closed and open states were resolved very recently in March 2020. These structures comprise 77% of the sequence and provide almost the complete protein structure. Based on down and up positions of receptor binding domain (RBD), spike protein can be in a receptor inaccessible closed or receptor accessible open state, respectively. Starting from closed and open state crystal structures, and also 16 intermediate conformations, an extensive set of all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the presence of explicit water and ions were performed. Simulations show that in its down position, RBD has significantly lower mobility compared to its up position; probably caused by the 6 interdomain salt bridges of RBD in down position compared to 3 in up position. Free energy landscapes based on MD simulations revealed a semi-open state located between closed and open states. Minimum energy pathway between down and up positions comprised a gradual salt bridge switching mechanism. Furthermore, although significantly lower than open state, ACE2 binding surface of RBD contained a partial solvent accessibility in its closed state.


Ebb and flow hydroponics system generally has little quantity of plants and expensive construction cost.  The purpose of this research was to design an ebb and flow hydroponics system with many quantity of plants but low in manufacturing cost and to test its performance.  This research was conducted at the Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Lampung.  The research procedures included several stages : design, assembly, testing, observation and data analysis.  The ebb and flow hydroponics system was designed with the spesification of 200 cm length, 150 cm width, and 285 cm height and equipped with multi-span roof and screen wall.  The planting tray has 13 furrows with 200 cm length, 15 cm width and 15 cm depth and 9 holes of planting aech row, so there are 117 plants on the tray.  The manufacturing cost of ebb and flow hydroponics system was lower than hydroponics kits available in market.  The obsevations showed that temperature inside greenhouse was lower than outside with a difference of 1,58 °C.  Humidity inside greenhouse was higher than outside with a difference of 4,3%.  Cultivation testing using baby kailan with cocopeat as growing media resulted in fresh weight 35,75 gram each plant harvested. Key words : Design, ebb and flow hydroponics system, baby kailan, cocopeat and    growing media.


In the present study, karyotype analyses of 10 taxa belongs to the genus Klasea Cass. (Asteraceae) were conducted. Somatic chromosome numbers are not a distinctive character of classification of Klasea taxa. All of the taxa were counted as 2n = 30 chromosomes, except for Klasea radiata subsp. biebersteiniana (2n = 60). Although all the taxa have a chromosome number of 2n = 30, they could be differentiated by their karyotype formula and quantitative parameters of the karyotype. Karyotype analysis was performed by means of an Image Analysis System and karyotype asymmetry indices were measured. According to these parameters, karyological relationships among studied taxa were inferred.


Three new phenolic compounds, coretinphenol (1), coretincone (2), and coretinphencone (3), were isolated from the buds of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt., together with nine known compounds, including butein (4), okanin (5), isoliquiritigenin (6), maritimetin (7), taxifolin (8), isookanin (9), marein (10), sachalinoside B (11), and 2-phenylethyl-β-d-glucoside (12). The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and on the basis of their chemical reactivity. This work represents the first recorded example of the isolation of compounds 1–3, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12 from C. tinctoria. Compounds 5–9 showed strong diphenyl(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)iminoazanium (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity, with IC50 values of 3.35 ± 0.45, 9.6 ± 2.32, 4.12 ± 0.21, 6.2 ± 0.43, and 7.9 ± 0.53 μM, respectively. Compounds 2 and 8 exhibited angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 228 ± 4.47 and 145.67 ± 3.45 μM, respectively. The activities of phenolic compounds isolated from C. tinctoria support the medicinal use of this plant in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.


The in vitro activities of two cephamycins, cefotetan and cefoxitin, against 107 anaerobic bacteria were evaluated. The aerobically incubated thioglycolate disk elution technique of Kurzynski et al. (Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 10:727-732, 1976) was also evaluated to establish the appropriate number of 30-micrograms disks to be added to each tube, assuming that strains with MICs of less than or equal to 16 micrograms/ml are susceptible. Optimal predictive values were obtained when two tubes were prepared for each antimicrobial agent, one with two 30-micrograms disks and the other with three 30-micrograms disks. After 48 h of incubation, resistant strains grew in both tubes and susceptible strains provided no growth or growth less than or equal to 50% of that in the control broth. Growth in one tube but not in the other was considered an equivocal test result indicating the need for additional tests; 5 to 7% of our strains gave equivocal results. Reproducibility studies confirmed that broth microdilution tests were more reproducible than disk elution susceptibility tests.


A novel multi-view nonparametric discriminant analysis method is proposed for the application of cross-modal image retrieval and zero-shot recognition. We exploit the class boundary structure and discrepancy information of the available views in order to formulate an optimization criterion, which is automatically adjusted to the multi-view class structures. The proposed method allows for multiple projection directions, by relaxing the Gaussian distribution assumption of related methods. The experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve superior results comparing to several existing methods.


FOXP3 EXPRESSION AS A MARKER FOR SUPPRESSIVE IMMUNE CELLS IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT OF HIBERNATORS By Elizabeth S. Weir Hibernating mammals rely on stored fat instead of ingested food as a fuel source during the winter. This prolonged fast affects various systems and causes them to make changes to survive the long hibernation season. One system that is greatly affected is the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which shrinks in mass and loses some of its important barrier functions. The GI tract is home to a large number of immune cells in all mammals. The number of GI immune cells increases during hibernation, which would be a sign of inflammation in other animals. Hibernators, however, show no other signs of inflammatory disease. A possible explanation for this is that within the increased numbers of immune cells in gut of hibernators there are increased numbers of suppressive immune cells. The main type of suppressive immune cell is the regulatory T-cell (Treg). Tregs suppress other immune cells and prevent autoimmune disease. All Tregs express the protein FoxP3, which is a transcription factor responsible for the development and function of Tregs. I hypothesized that the increased numbers of immune cells in the small intestine of hibernators do not induce an inflammatory phenotype due to a larger percentage of FoxP3+ regulatory T-cells (Tregs) among them. In order to test this, I isolated intraepithelial lymphocytes and lamina propria leukocytes from small intestine of summer and hibernating thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) and analyzed them for FoxP3 expression using flow cytometry. I found general increases in FoxP3+ for LPL cells during hibernation compared to summer. Some variability exists in the hibernating animals based on season. CD3+FoxP3+ T-cells did not vary significantly between summer and hibernators, but a significant population of CD3loFoxP3+ or CD3-FoxP3+ cells were found in hibernators. These data suggest seasonal shifts in the intestinal immune phenotype of hibernators. qPCR results of the colon showed that FoxP3 RNA expression was not different between summer and either hibernating state, but late season hibernators had significantly more FoxP3 transcript than early season hibernators. The expression of FoxP3 RNA in the ileum did not vary significantly between summer and hibernators. These data indicate changes in leukocyte populations in the gastrointestinal tract of hibernating ground squirrels. Identification of seasonal changes in intestinal Treg populations will lead to future studies of how squirrels control immune activity during hibernation and could help identify the overactive components of the GI tract immune system in patients on total parenteral nutrition.


A 46-year-old female patient with terminal ileum Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondylitis presented with recurrent angioedema and urticaria. Investigations ruled out hereditary angioedema, and environmental or food allergen triggers. She was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic urticaria with angioedema, and was treated with a trial of intravenous immunoglobulin immunotherapy, danazol, prednisone and hydroxyzine. Due to ongoing bowel and arthritic complaints, she was started on infliximab infusions and within 2 treatments, she had complete resolution of the angioedema and urticaria, as well as of the bowel and arthritic symptoms. Unfortunately she developed allergic reactions to the infliximab and was switched to another anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α agent, adalimumab. Since then, she has had no further angioedema or urticaria, and her Crohn's disease has been quiescent. This is the first known case report of chronic idiopathic urticaria with angioedema coexistent with Crohn's disease that was successfully treated with anti-TNF-α agents.


The purpose of this full-day tutorial is to assemble several international experts in the field of IPM synchronous machine technology to present a state-of-the-art review addressing key issues in the areas of design, analysis, and control of IPM machines. This tutorial is designed to appeal to Annual Meeting attendees with professional interests in the areas of electric machines and adjustable-speed drives from both academia and from industry. This tutorial will focus on practical design and control issues that need to be understood in order to successfully develop new IPM machine drive systems. Major Topics 1) IPM machine model; IPM machine analysis techniques; typical IPM performance characteristics. 2) Alternative IPM machine configurations, describing key features and tradeoffs; IPM machine performance limit envelopes and IPM machine selection. 3) IPM machine electromagnetic, mechanical, and thermal design issues, including optimization. 4) IPM vector control and flux weakening techniques. 5) IPM drive position sensor elimination techniques.


In this paper, we first investigate the fairness between TCP Reno and TCP Vegas by focusing on the situation where Reno and vegas connections share the bottleneck link. From the analysis and the simulation results, we find that the performance of TCP Vegas is much smaller than that of TCP Reno as opposed to an expectation on TCP Vegas. The RED algorithm improves the fairness to some degree, but there still be an inevitable trade-off between fairness and throughput. Accordingly, we propose a ZL-RED (Zombie Listed RED) algorithm, which enhances the RED algorithm to provide fair service for many flows at the bottleneck router. ZL-RED uses the Zombie List, which has been originally proposed by SRED, to detect mis-behaving flows which send packets at higher rate than others. Then, ZL-RED sets higher packet discarding probabilities for those mis-behaving flows. We evaluate an effectiveness of ZL-RED by simulation experiments, and show that ZL-RED can actually improve fairness among TCP connections.


Abstract Within his home church, whether collegiate or parish, the primary role of the chantry chaplain was to be one of the team of executants of the plainsong liturgy. Collegiate churches were founded for the greater glory of God ; the soul of the founder drew benefit from his having procured an expansion of humanity's overall volume of worship, and in recognition of this the college's execution of the standard diocesan liturgy and its plainsong could even be amplified with slight additions commending the founder by name. In parish churches the chantry staff assisted the parish priest in singing daily matins, high mass and vespers, so helping him to meet the stipulations of the liturgical service-books. Where they were maintained in sufficient number these clergy were commonly consolidated into an organised plainsong choir, directed by a qualified lay musician usually occupying the office of parish clerk. Less prominently, each chantry priest also recited, normally daily, a secluded private mass for the benefit of his founder (to the text of which, likewise, slight personalising additions might be made). Only rarely were chantry priests entrusted with roles more demanding; priests who sought to contribute to teaching of the chant, or to teaching or performing elaborate polyphonic music, or to playing the organ, were sought out by the vibrant fraternities of the living rather than by the trustees of the long deceased. More commonly, however, all roles such as these were fulfilled by laity ; of grammar schools alone did founders commonly seek to require the teacher to be a priest, able to execute some chantry functions in his spare time. All ended in 1548. By the 1540s collegiate churches rendered superfluous by the rise of the aristocratic household chapel were already vulnerable to agreed dissolution, and in 1548 Protestant disdain for the multiplication of formal worship for its own sake, especially when conducted in Latin, contributed to the end of the chantry, and of the involvement of chantry priests in the cultivation of the liturgy and its plainsong.


Emancipating New York: The Politics of Slavery and Freedom, 1777-1827. By David N. Gellman. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. Pp. xi, 297. Maps. Cloth, $45.00.)Race and Liberty in the New Nation: Emancipation in Virginia from the Revolution to Nat Turner's Rebellion. By Eva Sheppard Wolf. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. Pp. xix, 284. Cloth, $45.00.)Reviewed by Sherri Goldstein GashSlavery, freedom, race, and citizenship are the central themes in two recent works focusing on emancipation from the Revolutionary era to the antebellum period. These studies demonstrate that the histories of the emancipation issue in New York and Virginia were alike in important ways, and together they illuminate the ways that emancipation was linked to a range of ideological positions on slavery and race.In Emancipating New York: The Politics of Slavery and Freedom, 1777-1827, David N. Gellman mines the New York press and legislative records to focus on the events, ideological debates, and discourse leading to and following the passage ofthat state's 1799 gradual abolition law, a history that has eluded close examination. Gellman argues that emancipation in New York cannot be explained by Revolutionary ideology. Emancipation became a real possibility only when politics in the state legislature became amenable to this change. Through his exhaustive, careful work in combing the New York press, as well as legislative sources, Gellman demonstrates that slavery was a pervasive issue in New York that surfaced in discussion of the major national topics of the day. Gellman also draws attention to the critical role of "literary antislavery" in keeping the issue alive, particularly after the failure of gradual emancipation in 1785.Eva Sheppard Wolf in Race and Liberty in the New Nation: Emancipation in Virginia from the Revolution to Nat Turner's Rebellion challenges in important respects our understanding of emancipation ideology in post-Revolutionary Virginia. She argues that in Virginia "liberty" was a racial concept, and that the pockets of Quakers, Methodists, Baptists, and antislavery radicals notwithstanding, the issue of emancipation became politicized in a way that was not akin to Revolutionary ideals.State politics are critical in both histories. In New York, the newer northern and western counties where slavery was weak shifted the composition and majority interest of the legislature enough to allow for the passage of the 1799 gradual emancipation law. In a similar situation, Wolf demonstrates that slavery as an issue was coupled with a struggle for power between the newer nonslaveholding counties in western Virginia and the state's eastern counties where slavery had a strong presence. Slaveholding elites in Virginia prevented the reapportionment and wide access to the suffrage that threatened their political status and interest in maintaining slavery. While Wolf frames this struggle for power as one between elites and more ordinary men, however, the definition of "ordinary" is not entirely clear. Does "ordinary" mean nonslaveholding, or was there a grassroots movement against slavery in Virginia's western region? In any case, matters of regional political interest and representation in each state were critical in determining the fate of emancipation.One of Wolf's best contributions lies in her recasting of events that addressed various aspects of slavery. She argues that the prohibition on slave importation, the colonization movement, and manumission reform might look like avenues to abolition, but that the intent in these projects has been misinterpreted. As her work reveals, ending the importation of slaves to Virginia was a measure designed to benefit the state's eastern slaveholders economically, while the aim of the colonization movement was to create an all-white society, and manumission laws were intended to discourage the very practice that they addressed. …


Abstract Background There is considerable variation in epidemiology and clinical course of psychotic disorders across social and geographical contexts. To date, very little data is available of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Obtaining valuable evidence from under-represented regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa holds the promise of advancing our knowledge and understanding of psychosis and will provide a strong basis for redressing inequities in service provision for people with psychotic disorders living in LMICs. Many patients in these countries remain undetected and untreated, partly due to lack of formal health care facilities. This study in rural South Africa aimed to investigate if it is possible to identify patients with recent onset psychosis in collaboration with traditional health practitioners (THPs). Methods We developed a strategy to engage with THPs. Key to the collaboration between psychiatry, THPs and the local community, was the building of trust by recognizing and acknowledging local authorities, mutual respect for health constructs, taking time to find common ground, and adaptation of the procedures to sociocultural norms. Fifty THPs agreed to collaborate and were asked to refer help-seeking clients with recent onset psychosis to the study. At referral, the THPs rated probability of psychosis ("maybe disturbed" or "disturbed"). A two-step diagnostic procedure was conducted, including the self-report Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) as screening instrument, and a semi-structured interview using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Accuracy of THP referrals, and test characteristics of the THP rating and the CAPE were calculated. Results In six months, 149 help-seeking clients were referred by THPs, of which 44 (29.5%) received a SCAN DSM-IV diagnosis of psychotic disorder. The positive predictive value of a THP "disturbed" rating was 53.8%. Test characteristics of the CAPE were poor. Discussion This pilot study in rural South Africa found that it is possible to identify patients with recent onset psychosis in collaboration with THPs. THPs not only grasped the concept of psychosis, they recognized "being disturbed" as a condition that is often difficult to treat and for which collaboration with psychiatric mental health care might be beneficial. By contrast, the CAPE performed poorly as a screening instrument. Collaboration with THPs is a promising approach to improve detection of patients with psychosis in LMIC.


OBJECTIVES
Common wisdom in paleoanthropology is that Neandertals had bigger brains than recent humans. Here we tested the hypothesis that there is no difference in brain size between Neandertals and recent humans while accounting for methodological variation and the makeup of both the Neandertal and recent human samples.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We examined endocranial volume (ECV) derived from virtually reconstructed endocasts of 11 Neandertals, six of which had associated femoral head diameters (FHD). Our recent human comparative dataset consisted of virtually measured ECV and associated FHD from 94 recent humans from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection (63 male, 31 female). ECV of Neandertals and recent humans was compared using bootstrap resampling, repeating the analysis for two groupings of Neandertals (all and classic) and for three groupings of recent humans (all, males, and females). To examine brain size scaling, we completed an ordinary least squares regression of log (ECV) against log (FHD) for Neandertals and recent humans.

RESULTS
The results of the bootstrap resampling analyses indicated that Neandertals only had significantly larger ECV when compared with recent human females. The regression between ECV and FHD suggested that Neandertals fall within the range of variation for larger humans.

DISCUSSION
Our results demonstrate that Neandertals do not have uniquely large brains when compared with recent humans. Their brain size falls in the large end of the recent human range of variation, but does not exceed it. These results have implications for future research on Neandertal encephalization.


Testing of web APIs is nowadays more critical than ever before, as they are the current standard for software integration. A bug in an organization's web API could have a huge impact both internally (services relying on that API) and externally (third-party applications and end users). Most existing tools and testing approaches require writing tests or instrumenting the system under test (SUT). The main aim of this dissertation is to take web API testing to an unprecedented level of automation and thoroughness. To this end, we plan to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for the autonomous detection of software failures. Specifically, the idea is to develop intelligent programs (we call them "bots") capable of generating hundreds, thousands or even millions of test inputs and to evaluate whether the test outputs are correct based on: 1) patterns learned from previous executions of the SUT; and 2) knowledge gained from analyzing thousands of similar programs. Evaluation results of our initial prototype are promising, with bugs being automatically detected in some real-world APIs.


The author, a physician/theologian, sets out to diagnose and to 'de-mythologize' the 'medical events' in the New Testament. Centrally, is the observation that malignant disease, tuberculosis, neuro-degenerative disorders and conditions requiring surgery do not appear in the narratives. The conditions that do figure are mainly chronic and functional. The majority comprise (quondam 'hysterical') psychogenic or psychosomatic, 'dissociation' or 'conversion disorders' treatable by abreaction therapy. Also considered are minor organic conditions known to have been treated, at the time, by acquired practical techniques such as 'manual couching' (of cataracts). More often than not, it is symptoms that are treated rather than the underlying pathology. Such treatments were well established (and still are in some societies), within the repertoire of contemporary faith healers. Of these, there were many, and Jesus and the disciples were examples. Dr Howard believes these 'medical reportings' were intended to be hortatory which may account for their 'pious exaggeration' especially where speed and extent of recovery is concerned. The widespread translation of θεραπεύω as 'heal' rather than 'treat' is similarly tendentious. The majority of the book is a sequential consideration of each 'healing pericope' encompassing the Gospels (especially Mark), Acts, Revelation and the Pauline Letters and the nature of the crucifixion. Discussion is detailed, logical, scientific and scholarly but risks becoming tedious as one example follows another. There is some, unnecessary, repetition of Chapter 1 and an account of the 'Synoptic Problem' which seems unnecessary. Two events, the resurrection and the virgin birth, are classed as ultra vires. They must remain matters of faith and no attempt to 'diagnose' them is made. The book is not medically esoteric and the arguments appeal to common sense. As an exercise in 'de-mythologization' it is entirely coherent and offers insight. The book may be recommended as a useful addition to scholarship.


This study is a randomized controlled double-blind trial on the effects of nutrition supplement of pregnant and lactating women on their offspring. The study was conducted by the late Dr. Bacon Chow in 14 villages in Sui-Lin township, a farming area about 180 miles from Taipei, Taiwan. Two hundred ninety-four women were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The daily supplement for one group provided 800 kcal and 40 g of protein/day; for the other group it only provided 80 kcal/day. Supplementation began after 3 wk of the delivery of a first study infant, continued throughout lactation, and through the pregnancy and lactation of a second study infant. Between group comparisons on the birth weight, number of low birth weight infants, or incidence of fetal deaths showed no statistically significant findings. However, the birth weight of the second study infant was statistically different and higher than that of the first study infant in the high supplement group. Moreover, in the low supplement group there was a correlation of 0.22 (p = 0.06) between the change scores for birth weight from the first to the second study infant and the quantity of supplements consumed during the last trimester of pregnancy. There was also in this same group a significant slope in a linear regression of birth weight on total daily caloric intake during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy for the male second study infants. These findings are partly in agreement with findings from three other large supplementation studies in Colombia, Guatemala, and New York. In this study the findings indicate that caloric supplementation does result in a small yet statistically meaningful increment in birth weight within a population which is not nutritionally at risk.


Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMS) of the larynx is an uncommon entity. These mesenchymal tumors of the larynx are rare and account for approximately 0.3% to 1.0% of all neoplasms at this site. We report a rare case of LGMS of the larynx that involved the larynx of a 63-year-old man with a history of hoarseness of voice. The patient was treated with total laryngectomy with partial pharyngectomy without any adjuvant treatment. Histopathologically, the tumor was composed of spindle cells that manifested variable cellular anaplasia and expressed smooth muscle actin (SMA). Our patient is disease-free two years after surgery. The authors emphasize the clinical and histopathological findings and treatment of this case with a literature review. This case is among the few reported cases of LGMS of the larynx. It enlightens the classical clinical findings, histopathology, differential diagnosis, and treatment. Surgical excision with negative margins requires no adjuvant therapy.


We did a cross-sectional survey of patients attending genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics (n = 933) and general practice-based Locally Enhanced Services for Sexual Health (GP-LESSH, n = 111) in Cornwall, England, in 2009/2010, to compare patients' characteristics and experiences. Patients completed a pen-and-paper questionnaire that was then linked to an extract of their clinical data. GP-LESSH patients took longer both to seek and to receive care: medians of nine and seven days, respectively, versus GU medicine patients: medians of seven and one day, respectively. GP-LESSH patients were less likely than GU medicine patients to report symptoms (19.6% versus 30.6%) and sexual risk behaviours (33.3% versus 44.7% reported new partners) since recognizing needing to seek care; 5.0% versus 10.2% were men who have sex with men). However, they were equally likely to have sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed (23.3% versus 24.8%). As GP-LESSH may operate infrequently, local services must work collaboratively to ensure that those seeking care for suspected STIs receive it promptly. Failing to do so facilitates avoidable STI transmission.


Background—Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) is multifactorial and can be an indicator of graft rejection or coronary artery vasculopathy. Analysis of rotational mechanics may help in the early diagnosis of ventricular dysfunction. Studies describing the left ventricular rotational strain in children after OHT are lacking. It is important to establish the baseline rotational mechanics in pediatric OHT to pursue further studies in this population. Methods and Results—Rotational strain measured by speckle tracking was compared in 32 children after OHT, with no evidence of active rejection or coronary artery vasculopathy with 35 age-matched normal controls. Twelve OHT patients and 13 controls underwent moderate exercise with pre- and postexercise echocardiography. Torsion, slope of the systolic limb of the torsion–radial displacement loop, and the untwist rate were significantly higher in OHT patients (torsion: median 2.7°/cm [Q1–Q3, 2.3–3.2] versus 2.3°/cm [Q1–Q3, 1.9–2.7]; P=0.03, torsion–radial displacement loop: 2.7°/mm [Q1–Q3, 2.1–3.6] versus 2.0°/mm [Q1–Q3, 1.6–2.7]; P=0.008, indexed peak untwist rate: −21.6°/s/cm [Q1–Q3, −24.3 to −15.7] versus −17.1°/s/cm [Q1–Q3, −19.6 to −13.3]; P=0.01). Contrary to controls, OHT recipients were unable to increase torsion with exercise (OHT: 2.8°/cm [2.7–3.2] versus 3°/cm [2.4–3.5]; P=0.81, controls: 2.2°/cm [2–2.6] versus 3°/cm [2.4–3.7]; P=0.01, pre and post exercise, respectively). The systolic slope of the torsion–radial displacement loop relationship decreased with exercise in most OHT patients. Conclusions—Baseline rotational strain in OHT patients is higher than normal with a blunted response to exercise. The slope of torsion–radial displacement loop, and its response to exercise, may serve as a marker of left ventricular dysfunction in OHT patients.


This study, conducted between October 2020 and December 2020, aimed to highlight how students in education sciences – special education/psychopedagogy – perceived their future professional roles in the current social context marked by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We used the research method of Super's Professional Values Questionnaire, a questionnaire for perceiving the professional roles of students in educational sciences/special education. Both questionnaires were administered in an online format according to GDPR rules. We used IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 25 for statistical data processing. The resulting conclusions are as follows: (a) it allows a better understanding of the professional training process of students in education sciences; (b) it highlights how students programme their future professional career; and (c) it reveals new types of complex psychopedagogical services that the investigated subjects intend to initiate for vulnerable people.

Keywords: Professional roles, special education.


Abstract A model is proposed describing the effect of crack bridging on the fracture toughness of ceramic/graphene composites. The dependences of the fracture toughness on the graphene content and the sizes of the graphene platelets are calculated in the exemplary case of yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ)/graphene composites. The calculations predict that if crack bridging prevails over crack deflection during crack growth, the maximum toughening can be achieved in the case of long graphene platelets provided that the latter do not rupture and adhere well to the matrix. The model shows good correlation with the experimental data at low graphene concentrations.


Objective: Decannulation of patients with tracheotomy usually requires decrease in tracheostomy tube size, capping for 24-48 hours and observation after tube removal. Delay in decannulation may increase cardiopulmonary load, prolong hospitalization and cause patient distress. We propose a one-stage procedure in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting for patients undergoing head and neck surgeries and temporary tracheotomy. Study Design and Setting: Patients undergoing resection of head and neck tumors involving the oral cavity or oropharynx in a tertiary cancer center were prospectively studied. Following clinical and laboratory assessments, the tracheostomy tube was removed under cardiopulmonary monitoring in the ICU. Results: All 24 study patients underwent successful decannulation and were discharged 24 hours later. Follow-up time was 5 months. None of them required reintubation or recannulation. Conclusion: A one-stage decannulation is feasible and safe for patients undergoing resection of head and neck tumors involving the oral cavity or oropharynx. This procedure may lessen hospitalization time and reduce patient's distress.


The radiofrequency plasma (13.56 MHz) was employed to polymerize trimethyl borate (TMB) monomer/N2 gas mixture on the surface of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films. Plasma polymer coated polypropylene films were examined by flame retardancy test (limiting oxygen index, LOI). The highest LOI value calculated for the untreated BOPP sample was 18.4 (v/v O2%) and 24.2 (v/v O2%) for the 55 W 30 minutes treated sample. The plasma polymers were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and AFM. According to the FTIR results, the -OH, B-CH3, B-O, and BH2 functional groups were detected. It was found that the highest surface roughness belonged to 40 W 30 min treated BOPP sample which was calculated as 9.78 nm (10 μm × 10 μm). Moreover, the wettability of the modified BOPP film surfaces was characterized via contact angle measurements. The water contact angle values have decreased from 109.6? to the lowest value of 68.2? after the plasma treatment. The results showed that TMB/N2 plasma modification could be used as an alternative method for the enhancement of flame retardancy and hydrophilicity of BOPP film.


Certain quantitative features of the primate shoulder girdle vary in phase with established muscular differences; in the Anthropoidea, between quadrupeds, semi-brachiators and brachiators, and in the Prosiinii between quadrupeds and hangers. These contrasts, together with others not directly associated with muscular features, contribute to the efficiency of tho shoulder mochanism for the typo of locomotion practised by each group. Thus, in brachiators, where the arm is habitually raised–a process comprising rotation of the scapula by m. trapozius and m. serratus magnus, together with abduction of the humerus by in. deltoideus, the insertion of m. trapezius is disposed more laterally and is orientated more cranially than in quadrupods where the arm is seldom, fully raised. The insertion of m. serratus magnus extends more caudally in brachiators and it is orientated so that the muscle fibres are both more nearly parallel to and further away from those of m. trapozius. Again, in brachiators, m. doltoidous inserts moro distally into tho humerus than in quadrupeds. Tho habitually raised position of the arm in brachiators can also be functionally related to a more cranial orientation of the glenoid cavity and to a more lateral projection of the shoulder joint. In semibrachiators, where the arm is sometimes used as in quadrupeds and at others as in brachiators, each of these features is developed to an intermediate degree.

In man, some of these characters are like those of quadrupeds, and others as in brachiators, the pattern conforming to the contrast that while the human arm can, as in brachiators, be freely raised, most movoment occurs when it is, as in quadrupeds, in tho lowered position.

In the Prosimii, contrasts in those bony features between quadrupeds and hangers parallel to some extent those between quadrupeds and brachiators in the Anthropoidea. This can be related to the fact that in hangers, as in brachiators, the body weight is habitually suspended from the raised fore limb.


The spider genus Dysdera is considered to comprise specialist isopod feeders, although the degree of specialization varies between species, depending on morphological (shape of chelicerae), behavioural (attack tactics) and metabolic (food quality of prey) adaptations. Dysdera has radiated extensively in the Canary Islands (currently 47 endemic species are described) and codistributed species have different cheliceral shapes and body sizes indicating different feeding niches. In the present study, we investigate the existence of metabolic adaptations to feeding on isopods by three endemic species (Dysdera insulana Simon, Dysdera macra Simon and Dysdera verneaui Simon) from Tenerife. We hypothesize that there is enhanced extraction efficiency of fundamental macronutrients from isopods compared with control prey in species with special morphological and behavioural adaptations for this prey type. We measure quantitatively spider growth, dry mass consumption, lipid and nitrogen consumption, and calculate growth efficiency and efficiency of utilization of dry mass, lipid and nitrogen. The results show that all three species are able to utilize both prey types, indicating that none of them are strict isopod specialist. Dysdera insulana shows enhanced growth efficiency and D. macra shows enhanced nitrogen extraction efficiency compared with D. verneaui when feeding on Porcellio rather than on Musca. Both traits indicate likely adaptations for the utilization of isopods. Spider species, sex and prey type all affect lipid and nitrogen extraction efficiencies, indicating that spiders do not simply extract nutrients in the proportions available. The results support the hypothesis that adaptations for enhanced digestion of focal prey evolve in species that already have adaptations for enhanced capture success.


The excessive growth of a tumor requires high rates of glucose uptake and glycolysis and continuous recruitment of new blood vessels. Here, we provide several lines of evidence showing that pyruvic acid, the end product of glycolysis, exhibits strong angiogenic activity. Pyruvic acid promoted angiogenesis in chorioallantoic membrane assay and in vivo mouse Matrigel plug assay. Pyruvic acid also positively affects angiogenic cascade, DNA synthesis, migration, and tube formation in bovine aortic endothelial cells. Furthermore, mRNA expression of fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor was enhanced by pyruvic acid. These results strongly suggest that pyruvic acid plays an important role in angiogenesis for tumor growth and metastasis.


Global return values of marine wind speed and significant wave height are estimated from very large aggregates of archived ensemble forecasts at +240 h lead time. Long lead time ensures that the forecasts represent independent draws from the model climate. Compared with ERA‐Interim, a reanalysis, the ensemble yields higher return estimates for both wind speed and significant wave height. Confidence intervals are much tighter due to the large size of the data set. The period (9 years) is short enough to be considered stationary even with climate change. Furthermore, the ensemble is large enough for nonparametric 100 year return estimates to be made from order statistics. These direct return estimates compare well with extreme value estimates outside areas with tropical cyclones. Like any method employing modeled fields, it is sensitive to tail biases in the numerical model, but we find that the biases are moderate outside areas with tropical cyclones.


Greenhouse gas emission mitigation is one of the main motivations for increasing the use of biomass in providing environmentally friendly value-added products. The pulp and paper industry is a promising sector for the integration of biorefinery pathways. Among different technologies to produce pulp, the Kraft process accounts for 60% of the worldwide pulp production. The by-products of the Kraft process are major resources of biomass that can further be exploited. In the conventional Kraft process, black liquor is concentrated and burned in recovery boilers in order to satisfy the process heat demands and to recover the chemicals. Almost 40% of the heating demand of the process accounts for evaporators in which the black liquor is concentrated for utilization in the recovery boilers. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential of replacing conventional recovery boilers with a hydrothermal black liquor gasification unit. Hydrothermal gasification allows for having high water content black liquor (near 80%). This leads to an increase in energy efficiency of the process by reducing the overall heating demand (via eliminating the energy-intensive evaporation and concentrations stages) and simultaneously generating syngas that can be further processed into biofuels. In order to evaluate this potential, related process flow sheets are built and thermo-economic optimization of the integrated process is conducted. Furthermore, heat integration among the mill and the biorefinery is performed in order to identify the optimal operating conditions of the process. This work is a necessary preliminary step to provide incentives to further analyze the potential of the integration of the two.


In recent years, several new approaches for solving the large-scale continuous-time algebraic Riccati equation have appeared in the literature. Amodei and Buchot suggest computing a low-dimensional invariant subspace of the associated Hamiltonian matrix. Simoncini and Lin also target the Hamiltonian matrix, but in a different way: they iterate on the Cayley-transformed matrix with various shifts. Wong and Balakrishnan directly generalize the Lyapunov ADI-method to the Riccati equation. In this paper we introduce another method, inspired by the Cholesky-factored variant of the Lyapunov ADI-method. The advantage of the new algorithm is in its immediate and efficient low-rank formulation, and a simpler implementation compared to the three algorithms mentioned above. We discuss the theoretical properties of the new method, as well as various shift selection strategies. Finally, we show that all of the seemingly different methods listed above in fact produce exactly the same iterates when used with the same parameters: they are algorithmically different descriptions of the same approximation sequence to the Riccati solution.


An enhancement HARQ method (E-HARQ) for TDD-CDMA supporting HSDPA techniques is firstly proposed. The basic idea is to discard the retransmission and change the modulation and coding when the link quality is lower than a pre-determined threshold. E-HARQ reduces the unnecessary retransmissions and makes MAC more efficient; hence the system performance improves. As compared to the change of MCS selections between HARQ retransmissions, the increase of system complexity due to E-HARQ is small. Furthermore, an advanced proportionally fair scheduling (APFS) algorithm is proposed, which aims at guaranteeing the long-term and short-term fairness as well as maximizing the system throughput These advanced adaptive techniques can improve the system throughput under the constraint of the user's quality of service (QoS).


Optimal constellation design is important in military digital communications for Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM). Optimization realizes a reduced probability of bit error (Pb) while keeping the same bandwidth and power for transmitting the signal. Constellation shapes currently used in QAM include rectangle, triangle, hexagonal, and concentric circles. In this study, two dimensional (4, 8,..., and 256)-ary constellations at specific normalized signal to noise ratios (Eb/No) having lower Pb are sought. Various models are designed to provide a Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) with a near exact model to utilize as a fitness function. MOEA found solutions are tested for merit using a Monte Carlo simulator. Comparisons of Eb/No vs Pb between the rectangular constellation and new designs are illustrated. New designs are shown to be different and comparable to the standard constellations used today


The magnetic field within a few hundred parsecs of the center of the Galaxy is an essential component of any description of that region. The field has several pronounced observational manifestations: 1) morphological structures such as nonthermal radio filaments (NTFs) - magnetic flux tubes illuminated by synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons - and a remarkable, large-scale, helically wound structure, 2) relatively strong polarization of thermal dust emission from molecular clouds, presumably resulting from magnetic alignment of the rotating dust grains, and 3) synchrotron emission from cosmic rays. Because most of the NTFs are roughly perpendicular to the Galactic plane, the implied large-scale geometry of the magnetic field is dipolar. Estimates of the mean field strength vary from tens of microgauss to ∼ a milligauss. The merits and weaknesses of the various estimations are discussed here. If the field strength is comparable to a milligauss, then the magnetic field is able to exert a strong infiience on the dynamics of molecular clouds, on the collimation of a Galactic wind, and on the lifetimes and bulk motions of relativistic particles. Related to the question of field strength is the question of whether the field is pervasive throughout the central zone of the Galaxy, or whether its manifestations are predominantly localized phenomena. Current evidence favors the pervasive model.


Research on the governance of risky ventures, like the initial public offerings (IPOs) of high-technology firms, has focused primarily on the relationship between governance mechanisms and firm performance. While such an emphasis is clearly important, it does little to shed light on potential relationships between governance and the strategies pursued by risky firms, nor does it take into account the complementary role of key stakeholders in affecting those strategies. To partially remedy this deficit we integrate agency and behavioral perspectives to develop a theory of 'reasoned risk-taking,' whereby the nature of risks undertaken is a consequence of the interaction of governance mechanisms and stakeholder characteristics. We demonstrate our theory by predicting when corporate governance should be associated with strategic risk-seeking beyond a firm's technical core—as seen in the degree to which it has expanded internationally. Surprisingly, even though venture capitalists (VC) are risk specialists, we find that technology-based IPO firms are less likely (i.e., a negative relationship) to have extensive global sales when they are backed by a VC. In support of our reasoned risk-taking theoretical framework, we find that VCs are indeed risk-seeking when VC backing is complemented by the international experience of their board appointees, top management team (TMT) members, or both. IPO firms with significant insider ownership are similarly global risk-seekers, and those effects are strongest with an internationally seasoned board and TMT at the helm. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this paper, we consider a unified approach to model wireless channels by the mixture of Gaussian (MoG) distribution. The proposed approach provides an accurate approximation for the envelope and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) distributions of wireless fading channels. Simulation results have shown that the proposed model can accurately characterize multipath and composite fading channels. We utilize the well-known expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to estimate the parameters of the MoG distribution and further utilize the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) to determine the number of mixture components automatically. We employ the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence and the mean-square-error (MSE) criteria to demonstrate that the proposed distribution provides both high accuracy and low computational complexity. Additionally, we provide closed-form expressions or approximations for several performance metrics used in wireless communication systems, including the moment generating function (MGF), the raw moments, the amount of fading (AF), the outage probability, the average channel capacity, and the probability of energy detection for cognitive radio (CR). Numerical analysis and Monte Carlo simulation results are presented to corroborate the analytical results.


Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common endocrine disorders in the dog. Although diagnostics are relatively straightforward, treatment and especially adequate long-term monitoring are challenging. To avoid complications, such as hypoglycemia, weight loss, diabetes ketoacidosis and urinary tract infections, adequate monitoring is indispensable. In this review different monitoring tools, such as history and clinical signs, single and serial blood glucose measurements, glycated blood products, continuous glucose measurements and urine glucose will be evaluated. Because each monitoring technique has its limitations, the challenge for the veterinarian is to use an adequate combination of these tools to obtain a good image of the patient's glycemic status.


We investigated the efficacy of a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) device in the reproductive management of an embryo donor beef herd. Superovulation of embryo donors was routinely induced by a combination of FSH and prostaglandin F(2)alpha analogue (PGF(2)alpha) at intervals of a few months, and after embryo recovery estrus of the donors was synchronized with PGF2(2)alpha. Between 1996 and 1998, approximately 20% of donors were diagnosed as having follicular cysts every year. Twenty-eight cases of follicular cysts recorded between 1997 and 1998 were treated with a CIDR device for 14 days to evaluate the efficacy of CIDR in resolving follicular cysts in donor herds. Initial recovery was defined as the occurrence of ovulation with estrous behavior and subsequent formation of a corpus luteum after removal of the CIDR. Initial recovery was recognized in all cases (n=28). Follicular cysts did not recur after repeated embryo recovery in 64% of the initially recovered donors, but in 36% of affected donors cysts recurred after the next embryo recovery. Subsequently, with a CIDR device instead of PGF(2)alpha, we synchronized estrus after embryo recovery in the same herd from 1999 to 2000, to investigate the ability of CIDR to prevent the initiation of follicular cysts. Of the donors used between 1999 and 2000, approximately 30% had a history of follicular cysts. Use of CIDR for estrous synchronization after embryo recovery lowered the incidence of follicular cysts to 3% in 1999 and 0% in 2000. Treatment with CIDR proved effective at resolving follicular cysts in the embryo donor beef herd and enabled re-use of donors affected with follicular cysts. CIDR is also likely to be efficacious in lowering the occurrence of follicular cysts in donor herds when it is used for estrous synchronization after embryo recovery.


Approximately 25 000 workers are engaged in mining of sandstone in a small district of Madhya Pradesh, in the centre of India. Most of the quarry are small, unregistered, and unorganised, mining soft stone where silica content can be as high as 70%. 88 workers of average age of 25 years, minimum age being 13 years and maximum being 70 years were examined during a screening camp. 77 male workers and 11 female workers are engaged in the process of stone breaking, cutting, cleaning, loading and unloading for an average of 8 years of work, with minimum 1 month of work to 30 year of maximum work. These workers work under precarious conditions of high silica exposure and high risk of accidents and injuries. These workers, mostly malnourished live in very unhygienic conditions. 50% of the workers have normal pulmonary function test, and rest of the 50% workers have varying degrees of abnormal pulmonary function test, the most common being mild obstruction in 15 workers. Only one female out of 11 female workers have normal pulmonary function test. Based on detailed occupational history, clinical examination and X-ray reading as per ILO standards and their pulmonary function test outcome, 19 workers were diagnosed of Silicosis, 6 of Silico-tuberculosis. These 25 workers have a varying degrees of respiratory disability based on pulmonary function test recordings, mainly 12 having 20%, 3 having 30% disability, maximum being 100% in one of the 14 year old female worker of 1 year working history in stone quarry.


OBJECTIVE
To study expression of Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and its correlation with astrocytes and nitric-oxide synthase (NOS)-positive neurons in rat spinal cord following sciatic nerve transection.

METHODS
Using RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry methods.

RESULTS
The experiments showed that IL-1 expression appeared with a low frequency at 3 days after the axontomy, while it could be markedly detectable on post-lesioned day 7 and 14. In normal controls and the spinal fragments without being involved in the injury, no signal of IL-1 mRNA expression was detected with the same condition. At 7 days after nerve injury, the lesioned side of spinal cord began to show strong glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoreactive astrocytes and induction of NOS in the motoneurons that are normally NOS-negative. Up to 21 days after operation, GFAP staining showed star-shaped astrocytes closely resembling the typical appearance of fibrous astrocytes and GFAP-immunoreactive profiles were often seen surrounding NOS-positive neurons. Analysis of the time course of IL-1 mRNA expression, appearance of NOS-positive neurons and changes of reactive astrocytes suggested a close relationship between them.

CONCLUSIONS
IL-1, NO might function as important mediators between injured motoneurons and astrocytes.


An influenza circulation was observed in Myanmar between October and November in 2021. Patients with symptoms of influenza-like illness were screened using rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, and 147/414 (35.5%) upper respiratory tract specimens presented positive results. All RDT-positive samples were screened by a commercial multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, and 30 samples positive for influenza A(H3N2) or B underwent further typing/subtyping for cycle threshold (Ct) value determination based on cycling probe RT-PCR. The majority of subtyped samples (n = 13) were influenza A(H3N2), while only three were B/Victoria. Clinical samples with low Ct values obtained by RT-PCR were used for whole-genome sequencing via next-generation sequencing technology. All collected viruses were distinct from the Southern Hemisphere vaccine strains of the corresponding season but matched with vaccines of the following season. Influenza A(H3N2) strains from Myanmar belonged to clade 2a.3 and shared the highest genetic proximity with Bahraini strains. B/Victoria viruses belonged to clade V1A.3a.2 and were genetically similar to Bangladeshi strains. This study highlights the importance of performing influenza virus surveillance with genetic characterization of the influenza virus in Myanmar, to contribute to global influenza surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic.


To determine imprisoned sexual offenders' post-release risk for reoffending and to monitor change during imprisonment, risk-relevant behaviours must be identified and monitored. The aim of this study is to elucidate the behavioural manifestations of empirically-derived dynamic risk factors in incarcerated sexual offenders. A total of 34 psychologists with experience working with sexual offenders in secure settings completed an online survey. They were presented with items drawn from structured risk-assessment instruments – the Risk of Sexual Violence Protocol (RSVP) and the Violence Risk Scale: Sexual Offender version (VRS:SO) – and asked to generate specific behaviours they might observe in custody that are indicative of each of the dynamic risk factors included in the RSVP and the VRS:SO. They were also asked to identify positive variants of each of the dynamic risk factors – pro-social behaviours which may indicate improvement in the offender's behaviour. The participants generated more examples of dynamic risk factors compared with pro-social behaviours. The findings were reflective of the challenges which clinicians and researchers face in the assessment of dynamic risk factors in incarcerated sexual offenders. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.


A new method for teaching biomedical engineering over long distances is under development. The method is based on a videoconference system, a pressure sensitive whiteboard, a document camera, a computer with video projector and a traditional blackboard. The method is developed in order to increase the cost-effectiveness of the educational process, i.e. using the teaching capacity in a more efficient way.


Exercise training, as a part of a comprehensive rehabilitation program, is currently recommended in combination with pharmacological therapy in patients with chronic heart failure. Benefits of exercise training that have been evidenced by scientific literature include improvements in various aspects of physiological function, aerobic exercise capacity and quality of life. Despite exercise training has been included in European and American guidelines as class IA recommendation, at least three important aspects need to be clarified. First of all, the effectiveness of exercise training in improving long term prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure still remains a debatable point. Secondly, the majority of studies have investigated the effects of a particular modality of exercise: continuous aerobic training performed at mild to moderate intensity. On the contrary, the effects of other exercise modalities such as intermittent training, resistance training or hydrotherapy on chronic heart failure haven't been fully understood yet. Finally, patients included in clinical trials evaluating the effects of exercise training are, almost exclusively, those with reduced ejection fraction. Consequently very few data are, until now, available with regard to subjects with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. This article summarizes the evidences and mechanisms by which exercise training can improve symptoms of heart failure. Moreover, it underlines current limits of knowledge in the prescription of exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure.


Faculty Discussant: A. Simon Pickard, PhDArticle 1: Real-World Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cells Transplantation vs. Hydroxyurea Therapy in Children with Sickle Cell DiseaseJifang Zhou, MD, MPH; Gregory S. Calip, PharmD, MPH, PhDArticle 2: Fondaparinux Sodium Compared with Low Molecular Weight Heparins for Thromboprophylaxis among the Patients with Orthopedic Immobility: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisArun Kumar PharmD, MS; Ashna Talwar, BPharm; Wenchen Wu, PhD; Joel F Farley, PhDArticle 3: Differences by Primary Insurance in 30-day All-cause Readmission for Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer SurgeriesMing Chen, MS, MSPharm; Shelley Irene White-Means, PhD, MA; Sam Li, PhD, MSArticle 4: Seasonal Variation in Heart Failure Hospitalizations in the United StatesKendra Y. Foster, MS; Linnea A. Polgreen, PhDArticle 5: Antidiabetic Medications among People 20 years and Older and with Diabetes in the United StatesJulie Zhiying Zhao, MPH; Angeline Carlson, PhDArticle 6: Healthcare Utilization in Type 2 Diabetes Patients Using DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 AgonistsSajan Pandya BPharm; Monica Hwang, PhDArticle 7: Estimating the Impact of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Unapproved Drug Initiative (UDI) on Drug Prices and ExpendituresSharma D; Schumock GT; Saffore C; Edwards SA; Walton SM


The shape of the vocal tract varies considerably between individuals. The relationship between detailed variation in vocal tract shape and the acoustics of speech is not yet well understood, despite its potential for increasing understanding in the fields of voice biometrics, forensic speech science, and personalised speech synthesis. One reason that this topic has not yet been extensively explored is that 3D vocal tract shape is difficult to quantify robustly. Geometric morphometrics is a technique developed in evolutionary biology for statistically valid quantification and comparison of anatomical shapes. This study makes use of 3D magnetic resonance imaging data of the vocal tracts of eight individuals, and accompanying audio recordings, combined with geometric morphometric techniques to determine whether the method offers useful information for speech science. The results suggest a linear relationship between the shapes of the vocal tract and output spectra, and there is evidence of possible sexual dimorphism and allometry (a systematic variation of shape with size) in the vocal tract, although due to the limited sample size the results did not reach statistical significance. The results suggest that geometric morphometrics can provide useful information about the vocal tract, and justify further study using this technique.


In this paper, the advantages of using intelligent agents were investigated in order to facilitate and customize suitable electronic learning resources and reinforce collaboration in e-learning environment. Using intelligent agent, learning is personalized based on person's prior knowledge. E-learning agents monitor electronic learning environment and improve learning and collaboration which is based on learners' prior knowledge, social features and learning styles. E-learning agents should easily admit of exploration of new learning objects, allowing learners to customize materials presented so that learning and collaboration results can improve in an e-learning environment; it is a learning agent that should offer tangible benefits to organization if operated in online learning or learning environments.


.. Objectives: To determine the serum & milk progesterone level in lactational amenorrhea and to compare this with the menstruating women (both the lactating & non-lactating). Setting: This study was carried out among the relatives, friends' families and some volunteers. As such, subjects do not usually visit Hospital. Period: one year. Method: The study was conducted on 35 women , 25 lactating & 10 non-lactating (control) , none of them were taking hormonal contraceptive. Progesterone estimation was carried out in milk & serum of lactating and in the serum of non-lactating. Results: Significantly low level of serum & milk progesterone was found in nonmenstruating lactating . Conclusion: During lactational amenorrhea , serum & milk progesterone level remains low.


In the present work, the mechanism of the methanol-to-hydrocarbon (MTH) conversion over the silicoaluminophosphate SAPO-41 with one-dimensional 10-ring pores has been investigated. For this purpose, catalytic experiments with co-feeding of reactants, in situ FTIR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, and 1H MAS NMR spectroscopy of used catalysts upon loading of ammonia were performed. Using these methods, only a low content of aromatics could be observed on the working SAPO-41 catalyst. These findings and the characteristic changes in the ethene selectivity during the co-feeding experiments indicate that alkylaromatics can be excluded as active hydrocarbon pool compounds on SAPO-41 applied as MTH catalysts. On the other hand, dienes and enylic carbenium ions were detected using FTIR and UV/Vis spectroscopy and the formation of amines by reaction of alkenes with ammonia was detected via1H MAS NMR spectroscopy. These results are experimental evidence that large olefins partially existing in their carbenium state dominate the catalytically active hydrocarbon pool on the working SAPO-41. Due to this dominant alkene-based reaction mechanism and the limited formation of aromatics, SAPO-41 is a suitable catalyst for the C3+C4 olefin as well as gasoline production.


Background: allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic airways inflammatory condition which can have a large impact on patients9 health and quality of life. Adherence with prescribed treatment is essential for the effective management of AR. Aim: to evaluate the long term impact of adherence on AR management in the Italian ARGA prospective study. Methods: 107 general practitioners (GP) enrolled 913 patients affected by AR (mean age 39yrs). For each patient, a self-administered questionnaire and the relative form filled in by GP on respiratory allergic diseases/symptoms, anti-rhinitis medicines prescriptions/consumption and clinical related factors were available at baseline and follow up 12 months apart. Adherence to treatment was evaluated comparing GP prescriptions for AR and medicines consumption reported by the patients. Results: baseline prevalence rate of adherence was 57.1%. Comparing baseline with follow up rhinitis outcomes in relation to baseline adherence, an improvement was shown for: AR control from 65.0 to 71.1%, persistent severity levels from 33.2 to 31.5%, AR symptoms in the last 12 months from 95.6 to 88.8%, daily activity limitations from 21.9 to 20.7%, Emergency Room/hospital admissions from 2.1 to 1.4%, quality of life score from 18 to 17. Conclusions : our findings show improved longitudinal AR outcomes in patients adherent to therapy; considering this aspect at each visit is advisable in order to make GP able to identify unsuitable adherence in patients who could benefit from close follow-up. This work was supported by the "Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA)", within the independent drug research program, contract no. "FARM5JYS5A".


The removal of heavy metal contaminants from water is important for public health, and recently many two-dimensional (2D) materials with high specific surface areas are being studied as promising new active components in water purification. In particular, 2D MoS2 nanosheets have been used for the removal of various heavy metals, but usually in either in complex geometries and composites, or in the chemically exfoliated metallic 1T-MoS2 phase. However, the interaction of heavy metals dissolved in water with unmodified semiconducting 2H-MoS2 is not well studied. In this paper, we report a detailed fundamental investigation of how Pb2+ ions interact with 2H-MoS2. We observe small solid clusters that form on the MoS2 surfaces after exposing them to Pb(NO3)2 aqueous solutions as shown by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and for liquid phase exfoliated MoS2 we observe the nanosheets precipitating out of dispersion along with insoluble solid granules. We use a combination of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction to identify these solid clusters and granules as primarily PbSO4 with some PbMoO4. We put forth an interaction mechanism that involves MoS2 defects acting as initiation sites for the partial dissolution in aqueous oxygenated conditions which produces MoO42− and SO42− ions to form the solids with Pb2+. These results are an important contribution to our fundamental understanding of how MoS2 interacts with metal ions and will influence further efforts to exploit MoS2 for water remediation applications.


Computational fluid dynamics models for the thermodynamics and transport properties used in an equilibrium version of the Langley Aerothermodynamics Upwind Relaxation Algorithm (LAURA) for Martian Atmospheric entries are described. In addition, the physical models used in a nonequilibrium version of LAURA for Martian-entry flows are described. Uncertainties exist in defining constants used in the transport properties for the equilibrium model and in many of the physical models for the nonequilibrium version. Solutions from the two codes using the best available constants are examined at the Martian-entry conditions characteristic of the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) mission. While the flowfields are near thermal equilibrium, chemical nonequilibrium effects are present in the entry cases examined. Convective heating at the stagnation point for these flows (assuming fully catalytic wall boundary conditions) is approximately 100 W/sq cm. Radiative heating is negligible.


Beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) is a synthetic glucocorticoid with great topical potency. It has previously been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for childhood atopic dermatitis (AD) when given orally. We have monitored linear growth and adrenal function in a group of children treated with oral BDP for severe AD. Stable control of disease was achieved in 10/14 patients (mean dose: 1000 micrograms/day, range 800-1800). At this maintenance dose, there was evidence of deceleration of linear growth in 7/10 patients. There was no significant difference between pre-treatment 8 a.m. plasma cortisol levels and those on the maintenance dose. However, there was a reduction in 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion during maintenance treatment, although this did not reach statistical significance. We regard oral BDP as a useful treatment in widespread childhood atopic AD that has not responded adequately to topical therapy. However, it is mandatory that growth be monitored carefully during its use.


The natural and "man-made" space environment generates serious risks for the implementation of space missions, both automatic and human. The main natural and technogenic risk factors that limit or pose a threat to the implementation of space-based automatic and manned space missions in the near-Earth space are cosmic radiation and space debris. In the upper layers of the atmosphere, natural transient electromagnetic phenomena associated with significant energy release are also risk factors for suborbital flights. It is planned to create a system of spacecraft in the proposed "Universat-SOCRAT" project that makes it possible, in a mode close to real-time, to determine the radiation conditions in a significant part of the area of trapped radiation, up to the orbits of global navigation satellite systems or the geostationary orbit. It is also planned to create a space segment of monitoring space debris and electromagnetic transients in the upper atmosphere. Monitoring of space debris will allow all-weather and global tracking of near-Earth objects and, thereby, increase the efficiency of analyzing data and making necessary decisions.  In some cases it will improve the accuracy of determining the coordinates of objects for their subsequent cataloging. Successful realization of the project will make it possible to create a space system for monitoring and preventing space hazards for both ongoing and planned space missions for the first time in the world.


Rational cropping maintains high soil fertility and a healthy ecosystem. Soil microorganism is the controller of soil fertility. Meanwhile, soil microbial communities also respond to different cropping patterns. The mechanisms by which biotic and abiotic factors were affected by different cropping sequences remain unclear in the major grain-producing regions of northeastern China. To evaluate the effects of different cropping sequences under conventional fertilization practices on soil properties, microbial communities, and crop yield, six types of plant cropping systems were performed, including soybean monoculture, wheat-soybean rotation, wheat-maize-soybean rotation, soybean-maize-maize rotation, maize-soybean-soybean rotation and maize monoculture. Our results showed that compared with the single cropping system, soybean and maize crop rotation in different combinations or sequences can increase soil total organic carbon and nutrients, and promote soybean and maize yield, especially using soybean-maize-maize and maize-soybean-soybean planting system. The 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplicon sequencing showed that different cropping systems had different effects on bacterial and fungal communities. The bacterial and fungal communities of soybean monoculture were less diverse when compared to the other crop rotation planting system. Among the different cropping sequences, the number of observed bacterial species was greater in soybean-maize-maize planting setup and fungal species in maize-soybean-soybean planting setup. Some dominant and functional bacterial and fungal taxa in the rotation soils were observed. Network-based analysis suggests that bacterial phyla Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria while fungal phylum Ascomycota showed a positive correlation with other microbial communities. The phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) result showed the presence of various metabolic pathways. Besides, the soybean-maize-maize significantly increased the proportion of some beneficial microorganisms in the soil and reduced the soil-borne animal and plant pathogens. These results warrant further investigation into the mechanisms driving responses of beneficial microbial communities and their capacity on improving soil fertility during legume cropping. The present study extends our understanding of how different crop rotations effect soil parameters, microbial diversity, and metabolic functions, and reveals the importance of crop rotation sequences. These findings could be used to guide decision-making from the microbial perspective for annual crop planting and soil management approaches.


We study subgroups and quotients of outer automorphsim groups of rightangled Artin groups (RAAGs). We prove that for all RAAGs, the outer automorphism group is residually finite and, for a large class of RAAGs, it satisfies the Tits alternative. We also investigate which of these automorphism groups contain non-abelian solvable subgroups.


1. The best treatment for all but the most severe urethral injuries associated with pelvic fractures must surely be suprapubic catheter drainage without local exploration. 2. The free drainage of exudates from an injured urethra is be obstructed by the larger sizes of standard-shaft indwelling catheter; the use of a standard shaft catheter in an injured urethra requires careful consideration in relation to the individual problem and should not be a routine; however, a fenestrated catheter may have some positive advantages. 3. The results of treating the less severe fracture-dislocation injuries by suprapubic catheter are sufficiently good to make any attempt at immediate local readjustment of incomplete dislocations inadvisable for all but those with a special experience of the surgery of the traumatized urethra. 4. If abdominopelvic exploration has to be undertaken for non-urologic indications, the repositioning of a dislocated bladder base by the aligned sling-suture technique is a relatively simple procedure which can be swiftly and reliably accomplished by an emergency surgeon. 5. The treatment of a urethral injury, even if severely dislocated, is not in itself a matter of immediate urgency once suprapubic catheter drainage has been established; however, exploration for continued bleeding may be. If bleeding is controlled by local tamponade there may be considerable advantage in postponing definitive resolution of a massive urethral dislocation for a week or so because the patient is usually fitter and the procedure is less likely to be complicated by serious hemorrhage. When a particular urethral injury is considered suitable for a delayed primary repositioning, the patient may be fit enough to transfer to the care of a urologic department with special experience of these problems.


The researchers have developed a method of qualitative and quantitative evaluation of risk factors in various types of educational institution. The use of this method in the system of social-and-hygienic monitoring makes it possible to take into account a greater number of objects of vital activity environment, objectively characterize factors of vital activity environment that are hazardous to schoolchildren, and determine the order and extent of necessary preventive measures. Use of computer techniques in hygienic investigations promotes early prenosological diagnostics of school-age conditions that develop under the influence of factors of vital activity environment, and allows their timely correction.


Birefringence has been attracting broad attention due to its strong potential for applications in biomedicine and optics, such as biomedical diagnosis, colorimetric sensing, retardant, and polarization encoding. However, engineering architectures with precisely controllable birefringence remains a challenge due to the lack of effective modulation of the localized orientation. Here, by taking advantage of the inherently one-dimensional (1D) anisotropic structure of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), we demonstrate an approach to tune the alignment of CNCs with a well-controllable orientation at localized preciseness, which is in contrast to the previously reported unidirectional/radical orientation of CNC-based birefringent structures. The localized modulation of CNC orientation is facilitated by directing the 1D nanocrystals to align along the template periphery and the migrated three-phase contact line during the evaporation. The resultant CNC films exhibit birefringent extinction patterns under polarized light, in which versatile pattern designs can be obtained by employing templates with different shapes and template arrays with varied layouts. Due to the locally modulated orientation of CNCs, the films indicate "kaleidoscope-like" dynamically transformable designs of the birefringent patterns depending on the polarized angle, which has barely been observed previously. Furthermore, an N-nary encoding system for abundant information storage is demonstrated based on the sunlight-transparent CNC films, but with visible extinction patterns under polarized light, which is promising for encryptions, anticounterfeiting, and imaging, enriching the attractive research area of bio-based photonics.


When deciding what disorders to screen newborns for, we should be guided by evidence of real effectiveness, take opportunity cost into account, distribute costs and benefits fairly, and respect human rights. Current newborn screening policy does not meet these requirements.


The application of social responsibility to the field of higher education implies, among other issues, the identification of the expectations of the different stakeholders involved, the establishment of the proper mechanisms of dialogue with these stakeholders, and a greater tendency towards accountability. Universities are now forced to interact with more numerous and more varied stakeholders. These connections and interdependencies are related both to the external functions of universities, such as the economic, social, and environmental externalities that they generate, and the direct services that they provide, such as teaching, research, and knowledge transfer. Therefore, in order to assure their role in modern society, universities are obliged to completely reconsider both their mission and their vision, along with the expectations of and relations with different stakeholders. This justifies and motivates this study where the objective, from an empirical point of view, is essentially to identify the expectations and demands that different stakeholders present to Spanish public universities, within a line of research that is still in an incipient stage, given the scarce amount of studies that have analyzed the role of stakeholders in universities.


Category: Midfoot/Forefoot; Bunion Introduction/Purpose: During each step-in gait, the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) is stressed by 90% of body weight, while loading the metatarsal head and base with up to 29% (228N/80Kg patient) of body weight (188N) during each foot push-off. To withstand these high mechanical forces, a successful fusion is dependent on joint preparation and rigid fixation. In this study we assessed a novel bio-integrative fiber-reinforced screw and nail construct. This material technology may provide improved mechanical fixation profile through its high flexural strength and flexural modulus that is closely matched to that of cortical bone. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed to evaluate the mechanical strength and stress concentrations acting on the 1st MTPJ fusion following the use of these implants, compared to conventional metal fixation. Methods: CT-based FEA of the 1st MTPJ fusion fixed by two fixation methods was simulated for mechanical strength and stress concentrations acting on the surrounding cortical bone. The 1st MTPJ of an adult male weighing 80kg was segmented from a left foot CT scan (120 KVP, SL 1mm) and was incorporated in a 3-dimensional CAD model. Bio-integrative fiber-reinforced 4.0mm partially threaded headless compression screw, and a 3.0mm fiber-reinforced cannulated nail were inserted in this computational model in crossed fashion (Fig. 1A). The bio-integrative implants are composed of continuous reinforcing mineral fibers (50% w/w), comprised of elements found in native bone and bound together by a degradable polymer [poly (L-lactide-co- D,L-lactide), PLDLA]. Two 4.0mm partially threaded headless titanium screws were inserted in similar trajectories and served as control (Fig. 1B). The FEA algorithm was based on published known forces acting on the first ray during push-off. Post-processing was performed on FEA results. Results: The relative displacement between the Metatarsal and Phalangeal heads upon simulated loading was 1.6mm for metal fixation and 0.2mm for the fiber-reinforced bio-integrative fixation, demonstrating this technology to be mechanically stable at least as conventional metal fixation. In both models, the Von-Mises maximum stresses were found between the implant thread and shank. However, maximum localized stresses in cortical bone regions interacting with the metal implants were substantially higher (up to 8 times) compared to the bio-integrative implant-bone interactions. Moreover, stresses in the implant body were remarkably higher with metal implants compared to bio-integrative fixation (Fig. 1C, D&E). These results indicate that for physiological loading conditions applied on the 1st MTPJ, the use of bio-integrative fixation construct may reduce stress concentrations at the implant-cortical bone interface. Conclusion: FEA results indicate that bio-integrative screw-nail construct provides equivalent mechanical fixation strength to metal fixation, while resulting in lower bone-implant stress concentrations. The closely matched flexural modulus of the bio- integrative material to that of cortical bone, decreases implant-bone resistance level and the probability of bone/implant failure and risk for implant loosening, all common complications in foot and ankle surgery. This study demonstrates a new methodology of CT-FEA for the evaluation of 1st MTPJ fusion arthrodesis and suggests the bio-integrative screw-nail combination as an alternative to traditional metal fixation. This model is currently being investigated in an ongoing clinical series.