The clinical-immunological spectrum of human Leishmania (L.) infantum chagasi infection in Amazonian Brazil was recently reviewed based on clinical, DTH, and IFAT (IgG) evaluations that identified five profiles: three asymptomatic (asymptomatic infection, AI; subclinical resistant infection, SRI; and indeterminate initial infection, III) and two symptomatic (symptomatic infection, SI; American visceral leishmaniasis, AVL; and subclinical oligosymptomatic infection, SOI). TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6, and IL-10 serum cytokines were analyzed using multiplexed Cytometric Bead Array in 161 samples from endemic areas in the Brazilian Amazon: SI [AVL] (21 cases), III (49), SRI (19), SOI (12), AI (36), and a control group [CG] (24). The highest IL-6 serum levels were observed in the SI profile (AVL); higher IL-10 serum levels were observed in SI than in SOI or CG and in AI and III than in SOI; higher TNF-α serum levels were seen in SI than in CG. Positive correlations were found between IL-6 and IL-10 serum levels in the SI and III profiles and between IL-6 and TNF-α and between IL-4 and TNF-α in the III profile. These results provide strong evidence for associating IL-6 and IL-10 with the immunopathogenesis of AVL and help clarify the role of these cytokines in the infection spectrum.


The West Wing: President as Symbol Sarah E. Cavendish This study examines how the character of President Bartlet is constructed on The West Wing. Fifteen episodes from October 2001 to January 2002 were taped and reviewed for this research. Real life presidential settings and presidential roles are used as a starting point for analysis. The application of these characteristics to President Bartlet describes how this character functions as a credible fictional president. Suggestions for future research are also presented.


Chlordecone (Kepone) (CLD) is a highly persistent pesticide which was extensively used in the French West Indies; high levels of CLD can still currently be found in large agricultural areas. As CLD transfers from soil to animals mainly via involuntary ingestion, the consumption of foodstuffs derived from animals raised in contaminated areas may significantly contribute to exposure of humans to CLD. The present study was designed to test the efficacy of two different activated carbons (ACs) sources in limiting CLD transfer from soil to animal. Three soils (ASs) were prepared according to the OECD guideline 207. One standard soil (SS) lacking AC, and two modified preparations of SS supplemented with 2% coconut-based activated carbon (ORBO), SSO or with 2% lignite-based one (DARCO), SSD. All three soils were spiked with 10 μg of kepone per g of dry matter and aged for three weeks. This study involved 15 goat kids randomly assigned to the 3 experimental groups (n = 5/group), which were fed the experimental matrices at an exposure dose of 10 μg CLD per kg of body weight per day. After 21 d of oral exposure, CLD in adipose tissue and liver were analysed by LC-MS-MS. A significant decrease of 63.7% and 74.7% of CLD concentrations in adipose tissue and liver, respectively, were obtained from animals exposed using SS containing DARCO as compared to those receiving only SS. Decreases in CLD levels of 98.2% (adipose tissue) and 98.7% (liver) were obtained for animals exposed using SS containing ORBO. This study leads us to conclude that (i) the presence of AC in CLD-contaminated soil strongly reduces CLD bioavailability, and (ii) the efficacy depends on the nature and characteristics of the AC used.


Intracranial hypotension causes orthostatic headaches and diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging with or without subdural fluid collections or imaging evidence of descent of the brain. A review of the literature and my experience and investigations in the past decade reveal a broadening clinical and imaging spectrum of the syndrome. Besides the classic clinical-imaging syndrome of orthostatic headaches, diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement, and low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure, several modes of presentation are recognized, including (1) the typical clinical-imaging syndrome with CSF pressures consistently within normal limits, (2) absence of diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement with presence of low CSF pressures and typical clinical manifestations, and (3) absence of headaches despite low CSF pressures and presence of diffuse pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement. Furthermore, in some patients with headaches, the orthostatic headaches may evolve into lingering chronic daily headaches, although they may be more prominent in upright positions. What determines the various clinical and imaging features of this syndrome seems to be the loss of CSF volume as the independent variable, while other manifestations, including clinical features, CSF pressures, and imaging abnormalities, are variables dependent on the CSF volume. The term CSF hypovolemia is proposed for this syndrome because the term intracranial hypotension no longer seems adequate to embrace all the variations that have emerged.


CSR is something that is very important to pertain to today's business environment. The CSR activities in India are given innate importance because of its long-term effectivity in context to the organizations. Several Indian organizations have adopted CSR strategies to incorporate sustainability in context to their organization. Recognizing that CSR plays a key role in creating jobs and resources in the business community, CSR is generally understood as a means of balancing or consolidating economic, environmental and social barriers when a company fulfills expectations. For this research, the use of persuasive methods to create effective frameworks has been considered. Concerning the current study about CSR, the researcher has applied persuasive approaches to achieve better results. This research study is based on qualitative assumptions, the researcher has used secondary resources to collect potential data from past studies and published journals. This study is subjected to the significance of CSR in the context of India. This study will define CSR and its importance in India. Further, it will analyze CSR related challenges in India. The main focus of the study will consider why CSR was adopted in the country.


Commodity prices are generally better modeled by a long-term Mean Reverting Process, than by a Geometric Brownian Motion stochastic diffusion process, which is more generally used to value real options, since it is simpler to use. In this article we model two correlated uncertain variables using a mean reversing process bivariate lattice to value the switch option between outputs available to ethanol and sugar producers, using the same source: sugarcane. The model results show that the switch option adds a significant value for the producer income. The article also shows that when modeled by a geometric brownian motion, the switch option yields significantly higher values than with a mean reverting model, for the option itself as much as for the base case without flexibility. This confirms that the stochastic model chosen can influence significantly the option value.


This commentary demonstrates that the Gospel of Mark is a result of a consistent, strictly sequential, hypertextual reworking of the contents of three of Paul's letters: Galatians, First Corinthians and Philippians. Consequently, it shows that the Marcan Jesus narratively embodies the features of God's Son who was revealed in the person, teaching, and course of life of Paul the Apostle. The analysis of the topographic and historical details of the Marcan Gospel reveals that they were mainly borrowed from the Septuagint and from the writings of Flavius Josephus. Other literary motifs were taken from various Jewish and Greek writings, including the works of Homer, Herodotus, and Plato. The Gospel of Mark should therefore be regarded as a strictly theological-ethopoeic work, rather than a biographic one.


We have examined the potential roles of intracellular Ca2+ regulation and of multiple cytoskeletal elements in control of the directed migration of cultured oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPs). OPs were found to migrate in response to platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) or to a lesser extent to basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) in a non‐additive manner. This response was inhibited by chelation of intracellular Ca2+ by using BAPTA‐AM. OP migration was not evoked by the neurotransmitter agonists phenylephrine or methacholine, which elevate OP Ca2+ levels. Inhibition of the MAP kinase pathway with PD 098059 did not affect OP migration to PDGF. Within growth cone‐like leading edges of migratory OP processes, monomeric and filamentous actin were found to be colocalized with myosin and filamentous actin was prominent in filopodia extending beyond the leading edge. Tubulin was distributed throughout OP processes and cell bodies. Inhibition of actin or tubulin polymerization, by using cytochalasin B or nocodazole, respectively, altered OP morphology and markedly impaired migration. Inhibition of the myosin ATPase by BDM, which prevents force‐generating actin/myosin interactions, greatly inhibited the chemotaxic response at concentrations that did not disrupt cell morphology. These results indicate that growth factors stimulate OP migration by activating pathways which include intracellular Ca2+ regulation, and characterize the distribution of multiple cytoskeletal elements involved in the generation of directed OP movement. GLIA 26:22–35, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Purpose: Based on studies that have attributed anti-inflammatory properties to statins, the aim of this work was to observe the effect of simvastatin in the attenuation of mucositis induced by methotrexate in the gastrointestinal tract in rats and its effects on cytokines. Methods: Twelve Wistar rats weighing 270±18 g were randomly distributed into two groups: methotrexate/saline (MTX/S n = 6) and methotrexate/simvastatin (MTX /SV n=6). In all animals, 3 mg / kg of methotrexate was injected subcutaneously for 3 consecutive days. In the MTX / SV simvastatin was administered orally one week before and during treatment with methotrexate. In the MTX/S, saline was administered at the same doses and schedules. We determined the plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 and the histological analysis by HE staining in segments of esophagus, stomach, duodenum, jejunum and colon. Results: The expression of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 (14±91.7, 119.3±4 and 83.1±4, respectively) was lower in the MTX/SV group rats than in the MTX/S (171.3±16, 218. ±15 and 114.8±3, respectively). Histopathology showed that simvastatin reduced significantly (p<0.05) the damage induced by methotrexate in the mucosa of the esophagus, stomach, jejunum and colon. Conclusion: Simvastatin showed anti-inflammatory action


Energy systems around the world are rapidly transitioning towards decentralised and digitalised systems as countries aim to decarbonise their economies. However, broader environmental effects of the upscaling of these smart local energy systems (SLES) beyond reducing carbon emissions remain unclear. Land-use change associated with increased deployment of renewables, new infrastructures required for energy distribution and storage, and resource extraction for emerging energy technologies may have significant environmental impacts, including consequences for ecosystems within and beyond energy system project localities. This has major implications for biodiversity, natural capital stocks and provision of ecosystem services, the importance of which are increasingly recognised in development policy at local to international scales. This study assessed current understanding of the broader environmental impacts and potential co-benefits of SLES through a global Rapid Evidence Assessment of peer-reviewed academic literature, with a critical evaluation and synthesis of existing knowledge of effects of SLES on biodiversity, natural capital and ecosystem services. There was a striking overall lack of evidence of the environmental impacts of SLES. The vast majority of studies identified considered only energy technology CO2 emissions through simulation modelling; almost no studies made explicit reference to effects on ecosystems. This highlights an urgent need to improve whole system understanding of environmental impacts of SLES, crucial to avoid unintended ecosystem degradation as a result of climate change mitigation. This will also help to identify potential techno-ecological synergies and opportunities for improvement of degraded ecosystems alongside reaching decarbonisation goals.


Bacteriophage predation has selected for widespread and diverse anti-phage systems that frequently cluster on mobilizable defense islands in bacterial genomes. Understanding phage-host co-evolutionary dynamics has lagged due to a dearth longitudinal sampling in natural environments. Here, using time shift experiments we show that epidemic Vibrio cholerae and lytic phages recovered from cholera patient stool samples display negative frequency-dependent co-evolution. We find that SXT integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), which are infamous for conferring antibiotic resistance, invariably encode phage defense systems. SXT ICEs in V. cholerae govern susceptibility to phages in clinical samples and we demonstrate phage counter-adaptation to SXT ICE restriction over a three-year sampling period. Further, phage infection stimulates high frequency SXT ICE conjugation, leading to the concurrent dissemination of phage and antibiotic resistance.


Recently, high Tc superconducting Y-Ba-Cu-O with relatively high critical current density Jc can be produced by means of various types of melt processes. Applications of the superconductors to bulk magnets, high field shielding, magnetic levitation and so on, are proposed, since the high Jc of the superconducting bulk results in capturing of dense magnetic flux and repelling of high magnetic field. In the present review, it is first pointed out that feasible bulk current density in the superconductors are restricted not only by weak couplings between sub-structures but also by electro-magnetic properties such as flux creep and flux jump. The processing of bulk Y-Ba-Cu-O is outlined at viewpoint of improvement of Jc, while the limited level of the current density due to the undesirable phenomena is presented. Experimental and theoretical works for the prospective applications of high Tc bulk superconductors are summarized.


We consider a homogeneous DNA molecule and investigate the effect of random force applied on the unzipping profile of the molecule. How the critical force varies as a function of the chain length or number of base pairs is the objective of this study. In general, the ratio of the critical forces that is applied on the middle of the chain to that which is applied on one of the ends is two. Our study shows that this ratio depends on the length of the chain. This means that the force which is applied to a point can be experienced by a section of the chain. Beyond a length, the base pairs have no information about the applied force. In the case when the chain length is shorter than this length, this ratio may vary. Only in the case when the chain length exceeds a critical length, this ratio is found to be two. Based on the de Gennes formulation, we developed a method to calculate these forces at zero temperature. The exact results at zero temperature match numerical calculations.


—After a thousand years of steel processing, many centuries of experimental development and intensive scientific research applying the most innovative techniques in the 19th and 20th centuries it might seem that the potential of steels has reached its maximum. Yet, new possibilities of modifying steel structure and thus influencing its properties keep appearing [1-4]. This article introduces the authors' new findings about steels and their treatment, which could influence the overall image of die forging and push the limits of forged products in the near future. Low cost alloyed steels with tensile strength of about 2000 MPa and ductility over 10 % for die forging produced by a straightforward procedure with low energy consumption in mind seem to be a promising start.


In deep learning applications, the architectures of deep neural networks are crucial in achieving high accuracy. Many methods have been proposed to search for high-performance neural architectures automatically. However, these searched architectures are prone to adversarial attacks. A small perturbation of the input data can render the architecture to change prediction outcomes significantly. To address this problem, we propose methods to perform differentiable search of robust neural architectures. In our methods, two differentiable metrics are defined to measure architectures' robustness, based on certified lower bound and Jacobian norm bound. Then we search for robust architectures by maximizing the robustness metrics. Different from previous approaches which aim to improve architectures' robustness in an implicit way: performing adversarial training and injecting random noise, our methods explicitly and directly maximize robustness metrics to harvest robust architectures. On CIFAR-10, ImageNet, and MNIST, we perform game-based evaluation and verification-based evaluation on the robustness of our methods. The experimental results show that our methods 1) are more robust to various norm-bound attacks than several robust NAS baselines; 2) are more accurate than baselines when there are no attacks; 3) have significantly higher certified lower bounds than baselines.


A ring of contrast enhancement is seen on CT scans of resolving intracerebral hematomas. This ring can be modified with steroid administration in the early stages; however, enhancement seen in the later stages is not affected. Evidence suggests that the early ring is due to blood-brain barrier breakdown, and the later enhancement is due to vascular granulation tissue. The following six stages of hematoma resorption were identified depending on the hematoma density, the presence or absence of a ring of enhancement, and the response of the ring to steroid administration: I = dense hematoma without enhancement; II = decreasing density, enhancement, modification of enhancement with steroid; III = isodense hematoma, enhancement, modification with steroid; IV = lucent hematoma, enhancement, modification with steroid; V = lucent hematoma, enhancement, no modification with steroid; and VI = healed, no enhancement.


Today, recycling of used products and materials has become an increasingly important sector. Mankind, who uses the natural resources unconsciously, has found ways to improve recycling techniques when they realized that resources are becoming increasingly depleted. In the automotive sector, which is one of the largest sectors in the world, natural resources are being used to a great extent. According to the statistics, in 2009, approximately 9 million end-of-life vehicles (ELV) in Europe were withdrawn from traffic. Undoubtedly, this figure shows the necessity and importance of designing reverse logistics network optimized for ELVs. This research aims to determine the gaps in the literature by examining the studies made from the past to the present day in the field of reverse logistic network design for vehicles that have completed their life cycle. In this article, the studies in the fieldare analyzed based on objective functions, decision variables, constraint handling metod, optimization methods used. Considered studies in this work are clustered using a special artificial neural network tool, Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), and the frequencies of the characteristics are shown in the study. This study, which includes a review of the literature and a clustering of studies, aims to guidethe researchers working on the design of rreverse logistics networks for ELVs.


Abstract Background The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines recommend adding vancomycin to the empiric treatment of NF in patients meeting specific criteria. After 48 hours, the guidelines recommend discontinuing vancomycin if resistant Gram-positive organisms are not identified. An analysis of vancomycin use for NF at our institution revealed 35% of patients had vancomycin discontinued appropriately at 48 hours. Based on these results, a vancomycin stewardship team defined criteria for continuation of vancomycin past 48 hours and increased surveillance of vancomycin usage through AST oversight. The objective of this study is to assess the incidence of vancomycin discontinuation at 48 hours with the new criteria of use and the addition of pharmacist led stewardship. Methods This study included NF patients who were treated with an antipseudomonal β-lactam and vancomycin from January to April 2017. Criteria for vancomycin continuation beyond 48 hours included culture-documented Gram-positive infection, positive Methicillin Resistant S.aureus (MRSA) nasal swab with evidence of pneumonia, or hemodynamic instability due to septic shock. Patients who received aztreonam, or a single dose of vancomycin were excluded. Patient characteristics, previous MRSA infection, MRSA nasal swab collection and results, culture results, fever status, duration of vancomycin, rationale for continuation of vancomycin past 48 hours, re-initiation of vancomycin, and AST recommendations were collected. Results Sixty-nine patients with 73 admissions were initiated on vancomycin for NF during the study period. Vancomycin was appropriately discontinued in 63% (46/73) compared with 35% (19/54) previously. An additional 8% (6/73) was discontinued between 48 and 72 hours, and 20% (15/73) was continued past 72 hours inappropriately. The most common reasons for continuation was lack of neutrophil recovery (5) and cellulitis (4). AST recommended discontinuation on 5 patients, all of which were accepted. Conclusion Establishing criteria for vancomycin use along with pharmacist led antibiotic surveillance, AST, and provider education improved the use of vancomycin with the discontinuation rate increasing from 35% to 63%.(P = 0.002) Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Background: Mitochondrial defect is often observed in cancers while, in comparison with other metabolic cues, mitochondria mediated regulations in controlling tumorigenesis are less emphasized. Mitochondrial transcriptional factor A (TFAM) acts as a key regulatory factor to control mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication and packing; the role of TFAM in modulating carcinogenesis, however, is controversial. Current study therefore aims to define TFAM mediated regulations in head and neck cancer (HNC) development. Methods: Multifaceted analyses in HNC cells genetically manipulated for TFAM were performed. Clinical correlations of TFAM and its downstream Electron Transport Chain (ETC) associated factors in regulating HNC progression were also examined in HNC specimens and different clinical databasesResults: At the cellular level, it was demonstrated that shRNA mediated TFAM silencing resulted in an enhanced cell proliferation, both in vitro and in vivo; in contrast, TFAM overexpression suppressed cell growth. Moreover, TFAM loss also facilitated cell migration and chemodrug resistance. At the molecular basis, TFAM mediated phenotypic changes could be resulting from metabolic reprogramming by directing HNC metabolism towards aerobic glycolysis, based on the detection of less respiratory capacity in accompany with greater extracellular acidification in response to TFAM loss. Interestingly, it was also found that TFAM loss upregulated ERK1/2 and Akt-mTORC-S6 signaling activity, revealing a potential "mitochondrion-to-cytoplasm" retrograde regulatory cue in controlling HNC malignancy. Clinical impact of TFAM and its downstream targets was further examined in clinical HNC tissues while the results showed that TFAM expression and mtDNA copy numbers were significant dropped in HNC tissues compared with their normal counterparts. By using clinical databases, HNC subjects with higher TFAM expression and less genetic alteration(s) exhibited better survival rates. Conclusion: Collectively, Current study uncovered a tumor suppressing role of TFAM and mitochondrial genome in determining HNC oncogenicity. This TFAM mediated regualtions are through intracellular metabolic reprogramming and mitochondria-to-cytoplasm cross-talk to activate oncogenic signals.


Eighteen sorghum genotypes were evaluated over three consecutive seasons (2009,2010,and 2011) at three locations ( Rahad Research farm of the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Sudan, Gedarif Research Station farm North Gedarif and South Gedarif region). Both experiments conducted in  North and South Gedarif were rainfed, while that conducted at Rahad station was irrigated. A randomized complete block design with four replicates was used .The objective was to estimate the general performance, genetic variability and interrelationships of grain yield and its components. Data were collected on days to 50% flowering, plant height, number of heads/m², head length (cm), head width (cm),1000 seed weight (g) and grain yield (kg/ha). The study found  that there were highly significant differences among genotypes in  all the characters studied  except head width in season 2011.The early maturing genotypes were Milo (59-64 days), Gesheish      (60-67 days) , AG-8 (59-65 days) and Butana (62-68 days), an indication that these genotypes would fit quite well in short rainy seasons of  North Gedarif environment. The late maturing genotypes were Tabat (68-83days),Wad Ahmed (69-83 days), Faki Mustahi (68-88 days) and Tetron (73-88 days) which were suitable to be grown under Rahad and South Gedarif environments . The highest grain yields (kg/ha) were exhibited by the genotypes Butana (735 kg/ha), Wad Ahmed (2572 kg/ha), and Mugod   (2545 kg/ha). Grain yield was positively   and highly significantly correlated with head width (0.65**)  and number of heads/m² (0.46**) .Accordingly, the simple linear correlation and path coefficient analysis indicated that head width and number of heads/m² could be used as potential selection criteria in breeding programs for developing high yielding sorghum genotypes.


With the higher and higher demands to the safety in coal mines and the development of the enterprises themselves, the security problems in coal mines already become the most important ones. Because of many hidden dangers existing in coal mines, the accidents that make the heavy economic losses and personnel casualty occurs frequently in China coal mines. It shows that the existing safety monitoring systems in coal mines has some insufficiencies. By researching on the collection of human physiology information, the design of wireless sensor network node and wireless networking technology, the system applies ZigBee technology into the environment of coal mine roadway safety production, which realizes the detecting of daily work environment of coal mine roadway as well as the real time monitoring of the location and status of the trapped people underground when safety accident happens so as to provide accurate information for rescue.


ABSTRACT Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a stable organic perfluorinated compound, is an emerging persistent organic pollutant, found widely in human and wildlife populations. Recent evidence suggests that exposure to environmental toxicants can be associated with higher risks of osteoporosis and fractures. We studied the cellular toxicology of PFOA in MC3T3-E1osteoblast cells. To examine the effect of PFOA, we measured cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial superoxide, and mitochondrial parameters including adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), cardiolipin content, and cytochrome c release in MC3T3-E1 cells. Incubating MC3T3-E1 cells in different concentrations of PFOA for 48 h resulted in a concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability and significant inductions of ROS and mitochondrial superoxide. Moreover, PFOA induced MMP collapse, cardiolipin peroxidation, cytochrome c release, and decreased ATP levels, which in turn induced apoptosis or necrosis. When osteoblast differentiation markers were assessed, PFOA treatment caused a significant reduction in alkaline phosphatase activity, collagen synthesis, and mineralization in the cells. In summary, we found an ROS- and mitochondria-mediated pathway for the induction of cell damage by PFOA in MC3T3-E1 cells. Together, our results indicate that mitochondrial toxicity could be a plausible mechanism for the toxic effects of PFOA on osteoblast function.


This cross-sectional descriptive research aimed to describe work efficiency of emergency nurses working under conflict situations in the three southern border provinces of Thailand. Also the management of head nurses to ensure the safety of the workplace as perceived by subordinates are investigated. The participants comprised of 178 nurses working as emergency nurses at community hospitals selected by purposive sampling. A questionnaire was developed consisting of 3 parts, namely (1) assessing general data, (2) investigating work efficiency based on the health problems related the unrest situation, and (3) safety management of the head nurses. The questionnaire was validated by three experts and the reliability of parts 2 and 3 tested using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, resulting in values of 0.89 and 0.86 respectively. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and the t-test. The results showed that (1) the mean total score of work efficiency of the emergency nurses was at a medium level (Mean=1.11, SD=0.49) as were the psychological (Mean=1.87, SD=0.75) social (Mean=1.02, SD=0.66) and spiritual domains (Mean=1.27, SD=0.83), but the physical domain was at low level (Mean=0.20, SD=0.37)(2). The safety management of the head nurses as perceived by emergency nurses was at a medium level (Mean=3.42, SD=0.76). The results of this research indicate that emergency nurses in the three southern border provinces are aware of hazards in the workplace. In particular, head nurses should support and empower emergency nurses in the psychological domain to promote safety in the workplace.  Keyword: work effect , safety management, emergency nurse


Consumer product packaging can serve a critical role in the consumption experience, but marketing and packaging science researchers focus primarily on pre and post-consumption aspects of consumer product containers. Exhaustive research into packing ergonomics, logistics, safety, sustainability and promotional features are common across marketing and packaging disciplines, but research isolating the role of a packaging in consumption satisfaction and enduring consumer-brand relationships is rare. In addition to an undervalued role in product satisfaction, functional isolation between marketing and packaging scientists limits packaging's overall impact on the bottom line. This research examines the role of bottle quality in bottled-water consumption satisfaction and its subsequent impact on brand attribute perceptions, consumer-brand relationship investment and behavioral intentions. We show that thicker water bottles are perceived to be of higher quality than thinner bottles, and that these perceptual differences impact how customers view a brand on aspects such as reliability and value offered by the brand's products and ultimately intentions to re-purchase the brand's products. We use qualitative, experimental and structural modeling analysis techniques to establish a fundamental role of packaging quality in consumer product satisfaction. We show that packaging characteristics are an indivisible component of the product and important to evaluation of the overall consumption experience. We finally conclude that packaging quality has a critical role to play in building profitable consumer-brand relationships, which should redefine the packaging cost-benefit equation to include the value of consumer loyalty as a balance to non-consumption packaging considerations.


Periodontitis is a chronic, multifactorial inflammatory disease characterized by progressive destruction of the tooth-supporting apparatus. Determining tooth prognosis is of central importance in clinical practice to help both the clinician and patient understand the risks and benefits of treatment while shedding light on the patient's long-term periodontal prognosis and aiding in the development of an individualized treatment plan. Several indexing-type systems have been proposed for determining the prognosis of periodontally involved teeth. The periodontal risk score (PRS) is a simple, evidence-based, motivational tool that can be used in daily clinical practice in both healthy and periodontally involved patients. The PRS incorporates systemic and lifestyle prognostic factors to achieve superior predictive accuracy. With the PRS, patients are encouraged to achieve a target score (representing an "excellent" prognosis) that can be realistically attained through compliance with a periodontal maintenance plan. The purpose of this article is to present to clinicians how to implement this evidence-based tool into their daily practices and thus help patients improve their long-term periodontal prognosis.


Injection seeding has proven to be a practical method of controlling the spectral output of a laser in an efficient and reliable manner. To achieve satisfactory injection seeding performance, a sufficiently large seed must be employed. To characterize the required seed, an injection seeding theory is developed here which establishes two interrelated concepts, threshold for injection seeding and spectral purity of the laser output. Rather than utilizing numerical techniques to solve the differential equations, closed-form expressions for the threshold are developed for not only common continuous wave injection seeding but pulsed injection seeding as well. In addition, effects of alignment of the seed to the resonator, both in position and angle, and effects of frequency mismatch, or difference between the seed and the resonant frequencies of the resonator, are taken into account. Expressions for the threshold utilize readily measurable experimental parameters. Spectral purity of the laser output and its consequences on the required seed power or energy are also explored. >


Neural sequence models exhibit limited compositional generalization ability in semantic parsing tasks. Compositional generalization requires algebraic recombination, i.e., dynamically recombining structured expressions in a recursive manner. However, most previous studies mainly concentrate on recombining lexical units, which is an important but not sufficient part of algebraic recombination. In this paper, we propose LeAR, an end-to-end neural model to learn algebraic recombination for compositional generalization. The key insight is to model the semantic parsing task as a homomorphism between a latent syntactic algebra and a semantic algebra, thus encouraging algebraic recombination. Specifically, we learn two modules jointly: a Composer for producing latent syntax, and an Interpreter for assigning semantic operations. Experiments on two realistic and comprehensive compositional generalization benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of our model. The source code is publicly available at https://github.com/microsoft/ContextualSP.


We compared the Wechsler scores of individuals with twice-exceptionality (2e) and giftedness using a three-level Bayesian meta-analysis. Ninety-five effect sizes were calculated from 15 studies (n = 2,106). Results show that individuals with 2e who have learning disabilities perform lower than individuals with giftedness in Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ; g = −0.62), working memory (g = −0.79), and processing speed (g = −0.75). Individuals with 2e who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have a distinct profile in which only processing speed differs from individuals with giftedness (g = −0.55). Results suggest that using a single Intelligence Quotient (IQ) score in the identification process will be misleading. Moreover, IQ may mask the strengths or weaknesses of individuals with 2e.


Three boys with autism participated in a study of the effects of magnitude and quality of reinforcement on choice responding. Two concurrent response alternatives were arranged: (a) to play in an area where a peer or sibling was located, or (b) to play in an area where there was no peer or sibling. During one condition, the magnitude (i.e., duration of access to toys) or quality (level of preference) of reinforcement provided for both responses was equal. During the other condition, the magnitude or quality of reinforcement was relatively greater for choosing the play area where the peer or sibling was located than the area where the peer or sibling was not located. Results showed that after repeated exposure to the unequal magnitude or quality condition, the participant increasingly allocated his responses to the play area where the peer or sibling was located. For 2 participants, this pattern of responding was maintained in the subsequent equal magnitude or quality condition. Overall, the analysis suggests that the dimensions of magnitude and quality of reinforcement can be arranged to influence choice responding in favor of playing near a peer or sibling rather than playing alone.


Abstract. There is a gap between the need for city-wide air-quality simulations considering the intra-urban variability and mircoscale dispersion features and the computational capacities that conventional urban microscale models require. This gap can be bridged by targeting model applications on the gray zone situated between the mesoscale and large-eddy scale. The urban dispersion model CAIRDIO is a new contribution to the class of computational-fluid dynamics models operating in this scale range. It uses a diffuse-obstacle boundary method to represent buildings as physical obstacles at gray-zone resolutions in the order of tens of meters. The main objective of this approach is to find an acceptable compromise between computationally inexpensive grid sizes for spatially comprehensive applications and the required accuracy in the description of building and boundary-layer effects. For this purpose, CAIRDIO is applied in dispersion simulation of black carbon and particulate matter for an entire mid-size city using an uniform horizontal resolution of 40 m in this paper. For evaluation, the simulation results are compared with measurements from 5 operational air monitoring stations, which are representative for the urban background and high-traffic roads, respectively. Moreover, the comparison includes the mesoscale host simulation, which provides the boundary conditions. The temporal variability of the concentration measurements at the background sites was largely influenced only by the characteristics of the mixing layer. As a consequence, the model results were not significantly dependent on spatial resolution, so that the mesoscale simulation also performed reasonably well. At the traffic sites, however, concentrations were in addition markedly influenced by the proximity to road-traffic sources and the surrounding building environment. Here, the mesoscale simulation indiscriminately reproduced almost the same urban-background profiles, which resulted in a large positive model bias. On the other hand, the CAIRDIO simulation was able to respond to the significantly amplified diurnal variability with its pronounced rush-hour peaks. This resulted in a consistent improvement of the model deviation to mea- surements compared to the mesoscale simulation. Nevertheless, discrepancies to measurements remain in the 40 m-CAIRDIO simulation, e.g., an underestimation of peak concentrations at two traffic sites inside narrow street canyons. To further research resolution sensitivity, the horizontal grid spacing of locally nested CAIRDIO domains is refined down to 5 m. While for the street canyons the representation of peak concentrations can be improved using horizontal grid spacings of up to 10 m, no further improvements beyond this resolution can be observed. This suggests that the too low peak concentrations with the default grid spacing of 40 m result from an inadequate representation of the traffic emissions inside narrow street canyons. If the total gain in accuracy due to the grid refinements is put in relation to the remaining model error, the improvements are only modest. In conclusion, the proposed gray-scale modeling is a promising downscaling approach for urban air-quality applications. Nevertheless, the results also show that aspects other than the actual resolution of flow patterns and numerical effects can determine the simulations at the urban microscale.


Series of deformed Camassa-Holm-type equations are constructed using the Lagrangian deformation and Loop algebra splittings. They are weakly integrable in the sense of modified Lax pairs.


The job situation in Scotland for newly qualified midwives continues to be a challenging one. Many midwives have to search for their first job away from the comforts of home and family. This can broaden perspectives and give challenging and rewarding opportunities. It is a dilemma more and more students have to face. Will leaving family and familiar surroundings be worth it? One newly qualified midwife tells her story and encourages others to broaden their horizons and see the positives in this time of upheaval.


C-Band Frequency synthesizer developed is used to test the performance of a RADAR as a BITE signal. The Field BITE Unit emulates target signals. The synthesizer unit receives frequency information from RADAR controller through Ethernet and IF over RF cable. It involves Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) based Local Oscillator synthesis besides Generation and Amplification of C Band Field BITE signal. The unit generates 16 fixed frequencies by using a highly stable OCXO with excellent phase noise characteristics. PLL with OCXO as reference is used to generate S-Band reference clock to the DDS. The FPGA programmed DDS is used for agility.


Ninety patients who presented for elective gynaecological laparoscopy as day cases were allocated at random to three groups and studied on a double blind basis to compare the effects of nizatidine, ranitidine or placebo on gastric secretion. All the patients received the active drugs or placebo orally at least 45 minutes before the induction of anaesthesia. After tracheal intubation gastric fluid was aspirated via an orogastric tube and the volume and pH of the aspirate were measured. Venous blood samples were obtained at the times of gastric sampling to determine the plasma levels of the drugs. The proportion of patients with both pH > 2.5 and volume < 25 ml were 100%, 90%, and 92.9% in the nizatidine, ranitidine and placebo groups respectively. There was no difference in volume between groups. Two patients in the nizatidine group without a measurable aspirate had blood levels less than the therapeutic range. The median pH values in both treated groups were significantly greater than in the placebo group, but there were no differences between the two treated groups. There were 19 (67.8%) patients in the placebo group with pH < 2.5. This was significantly higher than the 2 (7.4%) and 6 (20%) in the nizatidine and ranitidine groups respectively. When the time interval between drug administration and induction of anaesthesia was divided arbitrarily into 45‐90 minutes and > 90 minutes, all the patients in the nizatidine and ranitidine groups with pH < 2.5 were given the drugs in the 45–90 minute interval; this suggests a latent period is required before the gastric pH increases. Nizatidine may be an effective protective agent against acid aspiration syndrome.


During respiratory-gated radiotherapy (RGRT), gate on and off latencies cause deviations of gating windows, possibly leading to delivery of low- and high-dose radiations to tumors and normal tissues, respectively. Currently, there are no RGRT systems that have definite tools to compensate for the delays. To address the problem, we propose a framework consisting of two steps: (1) multistep-ahead prediction and (2) prediction-based gating. For each step, we have devised a specific algorithm to accomplish the task. Numerical experiments were performed using respiratory signals of a phantom and ten volunteers, and our prediction-based RGRT system exhibited superior performance in more than a few signal samples. In some, however, signal prediction and prediction-based gating did not work well, maybe due to signal irregularity and/or baseline drift. The proposed approach has potential applicability in RGRT, and further studies are needed to verify and refine the constituent algorithms.


The surgical ward round is examined as an organisational strategy entered into by surgeons to enable particular claims about the success of surgery to be validated.

The paper reports ethnographic data from UK surgical wards which suggest that surgeons organise the discourse of their interactions with patients around three themes: physiology, wound condition and recovery/discharge. These themes are surgeon-centred, and are organised to deny patients access to the agenda of these encounters.

Within a post-structuralist and postmodern framework, these strategies of discourse organisation are understood as techniques of power. Surgeons privilege discourses which support their claims to be healers, denying those which focus on the necessary injury which surgical resection causes. The paper argues that the 'ward round' is a mythical structure constituted as an organisational strategy to counter challenges from patients to their hegemonic discourse.


The ultra-dense network (UDN) has been considered as a promising candidate for future 5G networks to meet the explosive data demand. To realize UDN, a reliable, gigahertz bandwidth, and cost-effective backhaul connecting ultradense small-cell BSs and macrocell BS are prerequisite. Millimeter-wave can provide the potential gigabit-per-second traffic for wireless backhaul. Moreover, mmWave can easily be integrated with massive MIMO for improved link reliability. In this article, we discuss the feasibility of mmWave massive-MIMO-based wireless backhaul for 5G UDN, and the benefits and challenges are also addressed. In particular, we propose a digitally controlled phase shifter network (DPSN)-based hybrid precoding/combining scheme for mmWave massive MIMO, whereby the low-rank property of the mmWave massive MIMO channel matrix is leveraged to reduce the required cost and complexity of a transceiver with a negligible performance loss. One key feature of the proposed scheme is that the macrocell BS can simultaneously support multiple small-cell BSs with multiple streams for each small-cell BS, which is essentially different from conventional hybrid precoding/combining schemes, typically limited to single-user MIMO with multiple streams or multi-user MIMO with single stream for each user. Based on the proposed scheme, we further explore the fundamental issues of developing mmWave massive MIMO for wireless backhaul, and the associated challenges, insight, and prospects to enable mmWave massive-MIMO-based wireless backhaul for 5G UDN are discussed.


Background:Anger is a normal human emotion that is a common response to potentially traumatic events and implicated in the development and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Anger is also a risk factor for aggression and violence. With millions of Syrians having to flee and being refugees in other countries, anger was rarely assessed as there was no brief robust tool for anger in Arabic. Objective: To develop and test an Arabic version of the Dimensions of Anger Reactions 5 (DAR-5) scale, a five-question scale to screen for anger distress and problematic anger in adults and adolescentsMethod:DAR-5 was translated into Arabic, then back translated into English, and finally re-checked for accuracy. Participants were 1641 Syrian adults, (621 males and 1020 females) and 784 adolescents aged between 14-16 years old (355 male and 429 female). Only Arabic speaking participants were included. Measures included the DAR-5 Arabic version (DAR-5 A) for both samples the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS 21) for adults and the Children Revised Impact of Events Scale – 8 (CRIES-8). Results:High levels of internal reliability were reported (Cronbach's α of .86) and factor analysis found that DAR-5-A scores fit as a single-factor model. Problematic anger rates were 35.8% and 60.3% of adults and adolescents respectively across the population using the cut-off point for DAR-5-A of ≥12. This cut off score also differentiated between scores high versus low scores on anxiety, depression and stress. Conclusions:This study reinforces the importance of assessing for anger in these populations. The DAR-5A written in formal Arabic, is a critical measure that can be used as a brief measure to assess for this problematic anger in Syrians and other Arabic-speaking communities


Abstract A tube in a square tube bundle of P/D=1·42 was oscillated in the lift direction in air–water two-phase cross-flow, and fluidelastic forces acting on the oscillated tube were measured. First, the tube amplitude was fixed to 3 mm (=0·136 D), and added mass, damping, and stiffness coefficients were obtained as a function of two-phase mixture characteristics such as nondimensional gap velocity and void fraction. When reference mixture density and velocity were estimated, the drift–flux model, in which the relative velocity between the gas and liquid phases was estimated, generated better results than the homogeneous model. The added mass coefficient was obtained from quiescent two-phase flow as a function of void fraction. Using the added mass coefficient, the added stiffness coefficient converged to zero with decreasing nondimensional gap velocity. This overcame the contradiction in the added stiffness estimation without added mass, in which the added stiffness coefficient did not converge to zero with decreasing nondimensional gap velocity. Next, the effects of the vibration amplitude on the fluidelastic force coefficients were considered. When the tube amplitude was 3 mm (=0·136 D) or less, the equivalent added stiffness and damping coefficients were almost constant and nonlinearity was small. This showed the validity of the fluidelastic force coefficients obtained based on the data of amplitude of 3 mm. The linearity did not exist when the tube displacement amplitude was 4·5 mm (=0·205 D) or more; a remarkable nonlinearity appeared in the equivalent added damping coefficient. A method to estimate the limit-cycle amplitude of the fluidelastic vibration was proposed when only one tube in the tube bundle was able to vibrate in the lift direction. The amplitude could be obtained from the amplitude at which the equivalent added damping coefficient changed from negative to positive with increase in the tube amplitude.


Abstract Introduction Due to specific anatomy of children are more vulnerable to the carcinogenic effects of ionizing radiation from chest X-rays. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a validated procedure which can easily be used in diagnosing pathologies of the neonatal lung. However, experimental studies have shown that low frequency ultrasound may induce pulmonary capillary hemorrhage (PCH). Aim of the study To evaluate the potential relationship between lung ultrasound and pulmonary hemorrhage in very low birth weight infants. Patients and methods We analysed the medical records of very low birth weight infants admitted to our neonatal tertiary centre between 2008 and 2011 (group 1), when CXR was the main procedure used to evaluate the respiratory system, and between 2013 and 2016 (group 2), when LUS became a routine procedure, replacing the chest X-ray. Results 297 infants were enrolled in the first group and 286 in the second group, respectively. There was no difference in the frequency of pulmonary hemorrhages between the two groups (p=1). In the first group there was only one episode of PCH and in the second group no PCH was seen. Statistically significant differences were seen in a number of patients with pulmonary hemorrhage risk factors: surfactant administration (p<0.001), mechanical ventilation (p=0.0003), and hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (p=0.025). Conclusions Routine lung ultrasound appears to be safe in very low birth weight infants; there were no episodes of pulmonary hemorrhage.


One of the primary goals of information theory is to provide limits on the amount of information it is possible to send through various types of communication channels, and to understand the encoding methods that will allow one to achieve such limits. An early surprise in the study of quantum information theory was the discovery of dense coding, which demonstrated that it is possible to achieve higher rates for communicating classical information by transmitting quantum systems, rather than classical ones. To achieve the highest possible rate, the transmitted quantum system must initially be maximally entangled with another that is held by the receiver, and the sender can achieve this rate by encoding her messages with unitary operations. The situation where these two systems are not maximally entangled has been intensively studied in recent years, and to date it has appeared as though unitary encoding might well be optimal in all cases. Indeed, this optimality of unitary operations for quantum communication protocols has been found to hold under far more general conditions, extending well beyond the special case of dense coding. Nonetheless, we here present strong numerical evidence supported by analytical arguments that indicate there exist circumstances under which one can encode strictly more classical information using dense coding with non-unitary, as opposed to unitary, operations.


Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and their families face many challenges but there are opportunities to provide care and support programmes for them in their communities. This paper presents the achievements and implications of HIV Programme Development Project (HPDP) funded by World Bank on care and support services for OVC in Osun State, Nigeria. Eight Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were engaged by Osun State Agency for the Control of AIDS (OSACA) as part of HPDP to provide care and support services for OVC between year 2013 and 2015. Using reporting tools, data collected by the CSOs were entered into District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) platform and analysed using Microsoft Excel. In addition, Key Informant Interviews (KII) were conducted among the selected CSOs, OVC and the caregivers who were beneficiaries of HPDP in Osun State, Nigeria. A total of 12,353 OVC were reached and about half of them were female. There was an increase in the trends of number of OVC seen and the support services provided from the year 2013 to 2015. Of the 12,353 OVC that benefitted from this programme, 1905 (15.4%) received health care services, 5383 (43.6%) received nutritional services, 5317 (43.0%) received educational services and 9861 (79.8%) were provided with psychosocial support services. About 503 (4.1%) of the OVC received economic strengthening services while 270 (2.2%) of household heads were provided with economic support. However, 3 OVC were lost to follow-up, 14 OVC voluntarily withdrew from the project and 6 OVC died. The FGD and KII revealed that the project was very impactful in transforming the lives of the OVC. Programmes for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS will contribute to the achievement of HIV/ AIDS prevention and control efforts. The HIV/AIDS free generation can be built by responding to the physical, social and mental needs of these children and their families in their communities. There is a need to scale-up this programme.


Background We aim to investigate the prognostic factors and evaluate the role of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) in local advanced rectal cancer (LARC) patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (neo-CRT), radical surgery and postoperative chemotherapy. Methods In total, 197 cases of LARC patients who underwent neo-CRT, total mesorectal excision (TME), and adjuvant chemotherapy were recruited. Serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 were detected both at baseline and after neo-chemoradiotherapy. Multivariate analysis was used to assess correlations between levels of CEA and CA19-9 and patients' prognosis (survival, recurrence, and metastasis). Rates of survival, distant metastasis (DM), and local recurrence (LR) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards. Results The median follow-up time was 45.3 months, and a cohort of 197 patients was analyzed; 84 (42.6%) patients had elevated baseline CEA levels, 21 (10.7%) patients had elevated baseline CA19-9 levels, and 14 (7.1%) patients had both; 77.4% (65/84) patients with high CEA levels and 76.2% (16/21) with high CA19-9 levels returned to normal after neo-chemoradiotherapy. The Cox regression model suggested that elevated CEA was associated with an increased risk of disease-free survival (DFS) (HR: 2.058, 95% CI: 1.034–4.096, P=0.040) and DM (HR: 2.144, 95% CI: 1.058–4.346, P=0.034). Elevated CA19-9 was identified as an independent prognostic factor, with poorer overall survival (OS) (HR: 2.894, 95% CI: 1.196–7.006, P=0.018) and DFS (HR: 4.533, 95% CI: 2.067–9.940, P<0.001) and increased incidences of LR (HR: 6.139, 95% CI: 1.813–20.783, P=0.004) and DM (HR: 4.052, 95% CI: 1.892–8.678, P<0.001). Besides, combined CEA with CA19-9 was a stronger prognostic predictor. Patients with both high levels of CEA and CA19-9 had the poorest DFS (HR: 8.157, 95% CI: 3.232–20.591, P<0.001) and the highest risk of DM (HR: 8.790, 95% CI: 3.324–23.248, P<0.001). Conclusions LARC patients with high levels of CEA or/and CA19-9 at initial treatment have a worse prognosis, even after neo-CRT, subsequent radical resection, and adjuvant chemotherapy. These findings suggest that this subset of patients requires more intensive treatment or additional treatment strategies.


Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of probiotics on pre-weaning performance, muscle, and fat deposition and serum metabolite profiles in male and female Senepol calves. Thirty new-born Senepol calves, 15 males and 15 females, were randomly allocated to the following treatments: CON a control group that received the basal creep feeding diet and PRO animals that received the basal diet with addition of 2 g/100 kg of body weight (BW) of probiotic. PRO supplementation did not change the DMI but increased average BW, final BW, ADG relative to animals fed CON. Additionally, PRO improved LMA and marbling. Regardless of the serum metabolite profile, the important metabolites for discriminating PRO and CON were glutamine, leucine, creatine, acetate, creatinine, arginine, glutamate, hippurate, glycerol, carnitine, lactate, carnosine, myo-inositol and histidine. According to gender, males had an overabundance of glutamine, glycerol, isoleucine, creatinine and glucose, whereas females had an overabundance of acetyl carnitine, glutamate and carnitine. In conclusion, the addition of PRO in the pre-weaning diet of calves increases performance, weight at weaning and muscle and fat deposition on the carcass, improving proteins and fatty acid metabolism, the immune system response and rumen development.


Despite the problems presented by lexical errors in second language (L2) communication, most computer assisted language learning (CALL) programs tend to focus on the acquisition of grammar points rather than on the development of the L2 lexicon. In addition, CALL vocabulary tasks are typically limited in scope and mechanical in nature, covering mostly basic lexical meanings and ignoring many implications of language-related research that points out the need to focus on the layers of meanings associated with lexical items in various cultural contexts. This article brings together findings from research in various research fields related to Spanish SLA (e.g., cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics) in order to propose 10 design features (DFs) of CALL software that would apply these insights to the creation of various types of computerbased lexical acquisition activities. As the authors propose these principles, they review several examples of Spanish CALL lexical materials in terms of their application of current theory (SLA and related fields) to practice (the design of the software activities to teach vocabulary). To conclude, the authors discuss logistical barriers that complicate and inhibit the application of theory and empirical research to practice in the creation of Spanish CALL lexical materials.


We describe a new approach for rescoring speech lattices — with long-span language models or wide-context acoustic models — that does not entail computationally intensive lattice expansion or limited rescoring of only an N-best list. We view the set of word-sequences in a lattice as a discrete space equipped with the edit-distance metric, and develop a hill climbing technique to start with, say, the 1-best hypothesis under the lattice-generating model(s) and iteratively search a local neighborhood for the highest-scoring hypothesis under the rescoring model(s); such neighborhoods are efficiently constructed via finite state techniques. We demonstrate empirically that to achieve the same reduction in error rate using a better estimated, higher order language model, our technique evaluates fewer utterance-length hypotheses than conventional N-best rescoring by two orders of magnitude. For the same number of hypotheses evaluated, our technique results in a significantly lower error rate.


High-speed optoelectronics is central to many important developments in the communication, computing, sensing, imaging, and autonomous vehicle industries. With a sharp rise of attention on energy efficiency, researchers have proposed and demonstrated innovative materials, high-speed devices, and components integrated on a single platform that exhibit ultralow power consumption and ultrawide bandwidth. Recently reported material growth and device fabrication techniques offer the potential for high-density integration of optoelectronics close to the capability and cost of conventional electronics. A tremendous synergy can be attained by integrating multiple materials with superior properties on the same chip using heterogeneous integration, heteroepitaxy, nano-heteroepitaxy, and other co-packaging strategies within the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) ecosystem. This issue of MRS Bulletin  offers an overview of the field and covers the latest developments on various ultraefficient materials, high-speed devices, their physical properties, current trends, and future directions in optoelectronics and their integration on a silicon platform. Graphical abstract


Following each patient visit, physicians must draft detailed clinical summaries called SOAP notes. Moreover, with electronic health records, these notes must be digitized. For all the benefits of this documentation the process remains onerous, contributing to increasing physician burnout. In a parallel development, patients increasingly record audio from their visits (with consent), often through dedicated apps. In this paper, we present the first study to evaluate complete pipelines for leveraging these transcripts to train machine learning model to generate these notes. We first describe a unique dataset of patient visit records, consisting of transcripts, paired SOAP notes, and annotations marking noteworthy utterances that support each summary sentence. We decompose the problem into extractive and abstractive subtasks, exploring a spectrum of approaches according to how much they demand from each component. Our best performing method first (i) extracts noteworthy utterances via multi-label classification assigns them to summary section(s); (ii) clusters noteworthy utterances on a per-section basis; and (iii) generates the summary sentences by conditioning on the corresponding cluster and the subsection of the SOAP sentence to be generated. Compared to an end-to-end approach that generates the full SOAP note from the full conversation, our approach improves by 7 ROUGE-1 points. Oracle experiments indicate that fixing our generative capabilities, improvements in extraction alone could provide (up to) a further 9 ROUGE point gain.


Focusing on new trends in African cinema from the 1990s to today, this book explores the film industry, new cinematic languages and modes of production and film's departure from nationalism and social realism. In this book Manthia Diawara, a renowned scholar on Black cinema, literature, and art brings readers up to date on the exciting changes taking place behind and in front of African cameras. The author examines the relationship between funding and filmmaking; the roles that Pan-Africanism and Negritude play in African cinema; and the Nollywood phenomenon. Contributions by filmmakers, scholars, and producers as well as profiles of thirty important African directors and their films, provide valuable insight into recent developments. In addition, the volume comes with a DVD containing several brief interviews with filmmakers conducted by the author. Scholars, students and anyone interested in cinematic and African cultural studies will find much to discover and celebrate in this authoritative, fascinating look at new trends in African filmmaking.


The form factor must be calculated when designing ovens and mechanisms heating or cooling systems by radiation, leading to determining heat transfer by radiation between surfaces which are at different temperatures. Heat transfer texts generally deduce and show the equation for obtaining the form factor between two surfaces which exchange heat by radiation for very simple configurations, but do not show how slightly more complex geometries and configurations are calculated. Many students who have studied heat transfer have the impression that form factors are calculated without any difficulty. Other students ask why the texts do not show how to calculate the form factor for slightly more complex configurations or for those which are more real. This document tries to answer these disquietudes as well as presenting a calculation strategy for purely pedagogical ends which can be applied to more complex configurations.


We investigate whether Taricha granulosa, the rough-skinned newt, possesses pheromone-producing courtship glands in the submandibular dermis. The hypothesis that these newts have a pheromone-producing mental gland repeatedly appears in the literature based on a small histological study and on courtship behavior in which males press their chins on females' nares. We identify a sexually dimorphic granular gland in the submandibular region of male newts. Its secretion is granular and PAS (periodic acid-Schiff)-positive, in contrast to the PAS-negative secretion of typical granular glands. This gland type is found only in males and only in the anterior submandibular region. Compared to glands evaluated from non-breeding males, the glands from animals collected in the breeding season are hypertrophied. This sexually dimorphic granular gland is distinct from the mental gland found in plethodontid salamanders; the plethodontid mental gland is an aggregate of individual glands, whereas the granular glands in T. granulosa are not clustered together to form a distinct unit. Our results support the hypothesis that males are secreting pheromones from submandibular glands during courtship in T. granulosa.


We present the first results on parsing the SynTagRus treebank of Russian with a data-driven dependency parser, achieving a labeled attachment score of over 82% and an unlabeled attachment score of 89%. A feature analysis shows that high parsing accuracy is crucially dependent on the use of both lexical and morphological features. We conjecture that the latter result can be generalized to richly inflected languages in general, provided that sufficient amounts of training data are available.


The Government has trained and deployed a new type of midlevel healthworker, the Community Health Practitioner (CHP) in order to attain the goal of equity in the provision of health services in remote rural areas since 1981. This study aimed at assessing the current situation vis a vis the need for health services prior to the deployment of these CHPs in remote rural areas. Data utilized in this paper are drawn from the 1981 Baseline Household Interview Survey for evaluation of the government-supported CHP program. Collection was by the household interview survey method during October-November 1981. A total of 4083 households were sampled. This paper summarizes major findings from the survey. 1) The perceived or subjectively assessed need for medical treatment was 21/100 persons during a 15-day period; the net rate/100 persons desiring medical treatment was only 59. Clearly there is a big gap between need and utilization of medical treatment. The major source of medical treatment employed was the druggist or pharmacist; 72% of medical treatment was rendered by either of those professionals, 13% by private practitioners, and only 5% by a physician associated with a health subcenter. Annual visits to various types of medical facilities per capita were 4.41:3.18 visits to a druggist or pharmacist and .73 visits to a private practitioner. About 70% of nonusers pointed to economic reasons as the major barrier against access to one of the various medical facilities. 2) 1/3 of the pregnant women received at least 1 prenatal visit and 17% were attended by professionals for delivery. 87% of births occurred in the home and only 28% of home deliveries used sterilized instruments. 65% of the pregnant women desired their mother, husband, or neighbor as a birth attendant; only 35% desired the help of a physician. 3) About 10% of mothers considered their infant or child as unhealthy. Immunization coverage was high; 1 or more shots were given to 61%, polio vaccines were given to 53%, and 30% received the BCG. 52% of those currently practicing contraception are currently married. Female sterilization was the most prevalent method (30%) for the users. The use rate of family planning approaches the saturation status of family planning; the net rate over the need for family planning among fecund married women was 92%. It is concluded that there is a great gap between the current situation and the national goal of equity in the provision of health services in remote rural areas. The unmet need for medical services is high and utilization relies heavily on self-care using nonprescription medicines. There is a high level of unmet need for preventive services. The government-supported CHP program as an innovation will greatly contribute to narrowing the gap between utilization of and need for health services or help in reaching the goal of equity in provision of health services in remote rural areas in the future. (author's modified)


A comparison among Venus, Earth and Mars, the so called inner planets, is elaborately examined in this paper emphasizing on their origination, chemistry of atmospheres formed during accretion of the Earth and other terrestrial planets, habitability condition, features associated with wind, weather and cloud, conditions for greenhouse warming, related radiation pattern and Vertical acoustic profiles.


Abstract Polyorganophosphazenes are biodegradable macromolecules with potent immunoadjuvant activity that self-assemble with protein antigens to provide biological activity. Direct imaging by cryogenic electron microscopy reveals the coil structure of the highly-charged high molecular mass synthetic polyorganophosphazenes within the vitrified state without any additives for contrast enhancement for the first time. Upon mixing with protein antigens under a controlled stoichiometric ratio, multiple proteins bind at the single chain level revealing a structural change reminiscent of compact spherical complexes or stiffened coils depending on the bound protein antigen. The structural outcome depends on the protein charge density that cannot be deduced by methods, such as dynamic light scattering, thus revealing direct morphological insight necessary to understand in vivo biological activity. Complementary atomic force microscopy supports the binding morphology outcomes as well as additional analytical techniques that indicate binding. These observations open opportunities to understand supramolecular assembly of proteins and other biomacromolecules at the single chain level with highly charged polyelectrolytes for vaccines as well as important to developing fields such as polyelectrolyte complex coacervation.


Bibiana Friederica Göttlich Braun (1725–1807) served as a Moravian missionary in the Eastern West Indies from 1769 to 1791. This article contains translations of three letters she produced during her service. She composed the first letter to John Ettwein, a church administrator in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, soon after she arrived on the island of St. Croix in 1769. She wrote the other two letters to her friend in Bethlehem, Anna Johanna Seidel, from the islands of St. Thomas (1772) and Antigua (1775). These later letters are rare examples of eighteenth-century letters written by a woman to another woman about her activities as a female missionary in the Caribbean. The collection of letters as a whole helps to inform our modern understanding of female contributions to the Moravian mission fields.


In this paper, we examine the relationship between expected excess returns and volatilities implied by options on interest rate-dependent securities, and estimate the market price of interest rate risk. If the short-term riskless rate of interest follows a one-factor lto process, then the instantaneous expected excess return on any derivative security, whose payoff is a function only of the riskless rate and time, is proportional to the instantaneous standard deviation of returns on that security. Therefore, interest rate-dependent securities with higher volatility should, on average, earn proportionally higher excess returns. We test this hypothesis using price data on Coupon-STRIPS and implied volatility data from futures options on various U.S. Treasury securities and Eurodollars. We also estimate the ratio of the expected excess returns to the volatility of returns--denoted the market price of interest rate risk--using several estimation techniques. We find that there is, indeed, a positive relationship between expected excess returns and volatility, and that interest rate risk is rewarded in the marketplace. Implied volatility may, therefore, be used as a weak market-timing signal.


Admissible and minimax estimation is discussed for estimating the parameters in the (a) multinomial distribution and in (b) $k$ independent binomial distributions. In (a) the loss function is $\sum^n_0\lbrack\delta_i(x) - \theta_i\rbrack^2/\theta_i$, where $\theta_0, \cdots, \theta_k(\sum\theta_i = 1)$ are the parameters in the multinomial distribution, and the estimators are restricted to $\sum^k_0\delta_i(x) = 1$. In (b) the loss functions considered are the weighted sum of quadratic losses. The method of proof is based on a multivariate analog of the Cramer-Rao inequality, and uses the divergence theorem in a novel way.


Growth by molecular beam epitaxy and characterisation of unintentionally doped Ga1-xInxSb layers in the full compositional range on GaAs substrates are reported. The grown samples were characterised by reflection high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Hall-effect measurements. The layers had carrier concentrations below 6 × 1016 \kubik with a maximum at x ≈0.5, where the conduction switched from p-type to n-type. Temperature-dependent Hall-effect measurements together with mixed-conduction simulations showed that the n-type behaviour is caused by intrinsic electrons and the large electron-hole ratio rather than donor centres.


In this chapter, we focus on the energy efficient cooperative communication with random node cooperation for wireless networks. By "random," we mean that the cooperative nodes for each communication event are randomly selected based on the network and channel conditions. Different from the conventional deterministic cooperative communication where cooperative nodes are determined prior to the communication, here the number of cooperative nodes and the cooperation pattern may be random, which is more practical given the random nature of the channels among the source nodes, relay nodes, and destination nodes. In addition, it is more robust to the dynamic wireless network environment. Starting with a thorough literature survey, we then discuss the challenges for random cooperative communication systems. Afterwards, two examples are presented to illustrate the design methodologies. In the first example, we analyze a simple scheme for clustered wireless networks, where cooperative communication is deployed in the long-haul inter-cluster transmissions to improve the energy efficiency. We quantify the energy performance and emphasize its difference from the conventional deterministic ones. In the second example, we consider the cross-layer design between the physical layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer for the one-hop random single-relay networks. We unify the power control and the relay selection at the physical layer into the MAC signaling in a distributed fashion. This example clearly shows the strength of cross-layer design for energy-efficient cooperative systems with random node collaboration. Finally, we conclude with discussions over possible future research directions. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-665-5.ch010


Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and The University of New Mexico are jointly developing an electrochemical process for treating hazardous and radioactive wastes. The wastes treatable by the process include toxic metal solutions, cyanide solutions, and various organic wastes that may contain chlorinated organic compounds. The main component of the process is a stack of electrolytic cells with peripheral equipment such as a rectifier, feed system, tanks with feed and treated solutions, and a gas-venting system. During the treatment, toxic metals are deposited on the cathode, cyanides are oxidized on the anode, and organic compounds are anodically oxidized by direct or mediated electrooxidation, depending on their type. Bench scale experimental studies have confirmed the feasibility of applying electrochemical systems to processing of a great variety of hazardous and mixed wastes. The operating parameters have been defined for different waste compositions using surrogate wastes. Mixed wastes are currently treated at bench scale as part of the treatability study.


An efficient catalytic system of a zinc cluster and tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) was developed for cyclic carbonate synthesis from epoxides and carbon dioxide (CO2) without the use of any organic solvents under very mild conditions (25 °C, 1 atm), even in the presence of impurities such as water and air. Electrophilicity of the central Zn(II) ion, the number of trifluoromethyl groups, nucleophilicity and leaving ability of the anion of alkylammonium salts, and various reaction parameters have a great effect on the catalytic activity of the bifunctional catalyst. Therefore, this solvent-free process represents an environmentally friendly example for the catalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and also has the potential to contribute towards decreasing atmospheric CO2 emission from the burning of fossil fuels.


The acoustic insulation and hydrophobic properties of a new non-woven material were analyzed and discussed in this paper. The new non-woven material absorbs sound energy to transfer into heat energy by friction between viscosity of air near fiber and fiber. The acoustic insulation properties of the new non-woven material, polyurethane foam and felt were measured. With the same thickness and half weight of felt, the sound absorption coefficient of non-woven was 20~30% higher than felt. Further more, with the same weight of felt, the sound absorption coefficient of non-woven was50~60% higher than felt. However, the sound absorption coefficients of non-woven materials with different thickness and weight were also discussed. The amount of the sound absorption coefficient gradient increased with the increase of thickness and frequency. Comparing the existing sound absorption materials, the new non-woven material has high sound absorption, light weight, hydrophobic property, workability, and flame resistance property. The non-woven material can improved thermal insulation and sound absorption by combining conventional non-woven with aluminum evaporated film.So the new nonwoven material has been widely applied in industries to reduce noises, especially in the car.


Recent food price fluctuations have sparked renewed interest in the impact of food prices on poverty and food security. This paper reviews the literature and analyzes why different authors often reach different conclusions regarding the welfare impacts of food price changes. We first show that systematic measurement errors in household surveys may seriously affect estimates of the poor's dependence on food purchases at any given point in time. We then turn to the theoretical case for why the rural poor might ultimately benefit from higher food prices, with a particular focus on agricultural supply responses and resultant increases in demand for unskilled farm labor, which raise the wages of the poor. Consistent with these predictions, more sophisticated simulation models and new econometric evidence suggest that sustained increases in food prices have often benefited the poor and likely contributed to faster global poverty reduction from the mid-2000s onward. Conversely, the recent decline in agricultural prices could retard global poverty reduction.


Online education policy is a well-defined application of policies in education. Online policies are used as the basis for implementing a new educational acceptance system by way of online. The objective is to find out how the implementation of the new education policy is online and to look at the issues raised at the time of policies carried out in the school. Based on the implementation of the online PGDP on a predetermined principle, however, technical guidelines were established based on dictating the number 44 2019 as the receipt of the new trainee. Under the terms of technical PGDP instruction online has two pathways, i.e. 's zoning and non-zoning made up of affirmation, achievement, and the transfer of parental duties. The conclusion that the implementation of the policy of upper-school admissions online is already well under way of policy content, the benefits received, the changes expected, the location of decision and characteristic of existing institutions and regimes, and the power, interests, and strategies of the actors involved. But from the policy executive side, resources and compliance levels have not been working properly. Such things are hindering the success of the new learner's receiving policies online.


OBJECTIVE
This study was to evaluate the potential of Erbium:Yttrium Aluminum Garnet laser-activated sodium hypochlorite irrigation (Er:YAG + NaOCl) for minimally invasive endodontics (MIE).

BACKGROUND DATA
Er:YAG laser irradiation can dramatically enhance the penetration of NaOCl, which may be a promising protocol for MIE.

METHODS
Extracted human teeth were contaminated with Enterococcus faecalis for 4 weeks. The infected canals were then shaped to different apical terminal working widths (ATWW, 15#/0.04, 20#/0.04, 25#/0.04, 30#/0.04, and 40#/0.04) and treated with either Er:YAG + NaOCl (0.3 W, 20 sec) or NaOCl alone. Then, the ATWW were fixed at 15#/0.04, and the canals were treated with Er:YAG + NaOCl at 0.3 W for 40 and 60 sec, or at 0.5 and 1.0 W for 20 sec. Finally, bacterial reductions were evaluated using the cell count method.

RESULTS
Er:YAG + NaOCl showed a higher disinfection efficacy at each ATWW compared with NaOCl alone (p < 0.001). The maximum bacterial reduction was 99.9% for the 40#/Er:YAG + NaOCl group and 93.6% for the 40#/NaOCl group. To achieve similar disinfection efficacy, the Er:YAG + NaOCl group needed a smaller ATWW than the NaOCl group. At a fixed ATWW, increasing the output power of the Er:YAG laser was more effective than increasing the radiation time to improve the disinfection efficacy of Er:YAG + NaOCl. The 15#/Er:YAG + NaOCl group reached the maximum bacterial reduction of 99.2% when the Er:YAG laser was activated at 1.0 W for 20 sec.

CONCLUSIONS
The 15#/Er:YAG + NaOCl with the Er:YAG laser irradiation at 1.0 W for 20 sec may be considered a promising procedure for MIE.


Informational content of linear macromolecules (DNA, RNA, and proteins) is analyzed by the method of digital signal processing. Each element (amino acid or nucleotide) of macromolecules is represented by the corresponding value of electron-ion interaction potential. This numerical representation of the primary structure of macromolecules is subjected to digital signal processing in order to extract the information corresponding to biological function. It is shown that the multiple cross spectrum of functionally related sequences exhibits significant peak frequencies. In the case of functionally unrelated sequences such peaks were not found. Peak frequencies are different for different biological functions. Based on this, we conjecture that the peak frequencies in the multiple cross spectrum of sequences with the same boilogical function are related to this biological function.


In this work the preliminary temporal analysis of ground deformations in the area of Dabrowski Coal Basin was performed. In this region the intensive coal exploitation has been performed for about 200 years. The studied region covers the mining areas of seven coal mines. Moreover this area is crossed by many faults. In the described work the analysis concerned only the small, long lasting deformations that were detected using PSInSAR technique. The aim of this work was to analyze the changes in the deformations' trend between years 1992 and 2003 for each PS point. In order to perform this task the special algorithm was developed. It allows detecting maximum one (the most significant) trend change in the considered period of time. Performed analysis revealed that in the study area the changes of trend deformations occurred for about 40% of PS points. The spatial and temporal distribution of PS points with trend changes showed some regularity. This regularity may indicate the influence of coal exploitation on the values of small, long period deformations that were previously explained only by neotectonics movements.


The immune response of turtles to giant keyhole limpet hemocyanin was studied by means of the precipitation of I*-hemocyanin by antiserum. The pertinent findings were:

1. 1. The 18 S protein constitutes 13 to 26% of the total normal serum protein in the turtle.

2. 2. In an antibody response rapidly sedimenting antibody predominates for the first month and is gradually replaced by slowly sedimenting antibody.

3. 3. The slowly sedimenting antibody activity as well as that of the rapidly sedimenting antibody activity is almost entirely destroyed by 2-mercaptoethanol treatment.

4. 4. No anamnestic response occurred.

5. 5. The precipitin reaction between turtle antibody and antigen remains, throughout the course of immunization, similar to a mammalian primary response in that it is greatly effected by dilution of the test system.


The present paper reports results of a study of cytologic smears obtained from a group of research gynecological patients and is concerned with inflammatory and precancer conditions that show cells with « perinuclear halos ». It is pointed out that the pathological degenerations of the cytoplasm are initially similar to granules, vacuoles, or drops, which later grow and conglomerate, pushing the nucleus to the periphery. In the clear cells the morphological picture is very different: the pale area always surrounds the chromatin, growing from the center to the periphery, and being separated from the cytoplasm by a clearcut membrane. The lesion is thus considered as a « pale turgescence of the nucleus », caused by an acute or chronic irritation, resulting in an alteration of the physicochemical equilibrium between the nucleoplasm and the hyaloplasm. Some considerations in favour of this theory are presented, but future cytochemical and electromicroscopical studies will complete this first morphological finding.


In 2008, the French government announced an important shift in agricultural policy, calling for halving the use of pesticides in the next ten years. Since then, it has spent 40 million euros a year on implementing the so-called Ecophyto plan. In this paper, we evaluate the success of this program, focusing on its flagship scheme, which has provided technical assistance to 3,000 volunteer pilot farms since 2011. To do so, we use panel data collected from a representative sample of vineyards: the agricultural systems known as the largest users of pesticides. We use a slate of quasi-experimental approaches to estimate the impact of participation in the program on pesticide use and crop yields on enrolled vineyards. We find that participants have achieved reductions in pesticide use that ranges from 8 to 22 percent, thanks to the program. We moreover find that the reduction in the use of chemicals was accompanied by an increase in the use of biocontrol products. Finally, we find that this change of practices resulted in a reduction in yields for a fraction of enrolled farms while others seems to have maintained yields. Although below the expectations of the French government, these results seem rather encouraging, as they suggest that technical assistance alone can be effective in reducing significantly pesticide use in the agricultural sector.


The shortest path problem is a well-known routing problem which received a considerable amount of attention for several decades. Furthermore, there has been a renaissance of interest in the shortest path problem in recent year for use in various transportation engineering applications. Without any doubt it could be directly attributed to the recent developments in Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), particularly in the field of Route Guidance System (RGS) and real time Automated Vehicle Dispatching System (AVDS). In both cases, there is a definite need to find the shortest paths from an origin to a destination in a quick and accurate manner. This presentation address to the first step in definition of efficient routing algorithms tuned for mobility. More precisely, it is targeted to the field of pedestrian mobility in an urban environment. As we know, specific constraints could be taken into account to define an efficient system in the mobile environment: for example, the treatment of wireless network traffic disturbances that could require conception of a mobile solution where a graph is saved into the mobile device allowing computation of a shortest path with the mobile processor. The proposed algorithm is implemented as a web service and tested using a mobile client in the real life situation. Using of such architecture offres a new approach in spreading operational research algorithms and our contribution stands at the crossroads of optimization research community and the web service community expectations. This work pushes us into accepting the mobility as a new promising research area and that could permit to address new advances in operational research.


The oxidative demethylation of ortho-dimethoxyacridone with ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) regioselectively furnished an ortho-quinone leaving a methoxyl group unreacted, which further condensed with aromatic ortho-diamines to afford angularly fused π-extended acridone derivatives. Crystallographic analysis reveals the distinct manner of molecular packing in the crystals according to the dimension of π-extension. The benzene at the turning point possesses a shorter outer bond and a longer inner bond, which affects molecular conjugation and results in weakened aromaticity.


The aim of this paper is to examine the transposition of teaching the theory of ecological succession from scientists to science textbooks used in compulsory secondary education. The contents of ecology textbooks derive meanings that do not coincide with what scientists say about the same facts and theories. In general, the implementation of the educational theory of ecological succession is carried out from college textbooks simplifying the content of these and this simplification is the cause of environmental non-scientific interpretations. For example, some publishers are ecological succession based on the idea of monoclimax, while in science this idea is not accepted as a reality of ecosystems.


As part of its development, the software company 'Softone Technologies', decided to apply agile methodology. The purpose of adopting this methodology was the better planning of the development and maintenance of its main product, the Softone ERP, as well as the improvement of the communication between the various departments and the Research and Development department which is mostly responsible for the productive part of the company. This thesis examines the effect of the application of the agile methodology to the efficiency of the Research and Development department.
For the needs of this study, key performance indicators (KPIs) were developed based on real data from the request management platforms. From the first platform, which is the foremost ticketing system of external environment (partners and customers), data were extracted for the period 2015-2020 - the last six operational years of the company. From the second platform, which is the system of recording, organizing and monitoring requests in agile terms, data were extracted for the period 2018-2020 - the last three years, that this method has been applied to the Research and Development department.
The study of all the above and the results obtained from the key performance indicators, showed that the application of the agile methodology had multiple benefits for the Research and Development department and consequently for the overall image of the company. Some of the benefits presented are; the increase in the number of the newly implemented specs by the developer of each scrum team per year, the better integration of the newly acquired developers which in its turn lead to a faster increase in the potential of the Research and Development department, as well as the significant reduction of errors reaching the final customer.


Fungal infections of the lung are an increasing problem worldwide and the search for novel therapeutic agents is a current challenge due to emerging resistance to current antimycotics. The volatile defence substance allicin is formed naturally by freshly injured garlic plants and exhibits broad antimicrobial potency. Chemically synthesised allicin was active against selected fungi upon direct contact and via the gas phase at comparable concentrations to the pharmaceutically used antimycotic amphotericin B. We investigated the suppression of fungal growth by allicin vapour and aerosols in vitro in a test rig at air flow conditions mimicking the human lung. The effect of allicin via the gas phase was enhanced by ethanol. Our results suggest that allicin is a potential candidate for development for use in antifungal therapy for lung and upper respiratory tract infections.


The Willis Graded School Orchestra and Band Series-J. E. Maddy and T. P. Giddings. Volume three comes resplendent in many colors. The useful scheme inaugurated, I believe, by Breitkopf and Hartel, of distinguishing parts by adopting a different colored cover for each orchestral choir has been adopted. The large type and open page will invite the eye and clarify the mind of the young reader. There are ten compositions in the volume, among them Marche Militaire, Schubert; Minuetto, Third Symphony, Haydn; Spanish Dance, No. 4, Moszkowski; March from "Leonore" Symphony, Raff; Raymond Overture, Thomas. The special arrangement which has made this


Abstract Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have been gaining much attention as a therapeutic approach to type 2 diabetes and obesity. Stinson et al recently reported that fasting GLP-1 is higher in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity and that it associates with cardiometabolic risk factors in a cross-sectional study comprising more than 4000 subjects. Obvious questions include why fasting GLP-1 is significantly increased in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity and why this is correlated with cardiometabolic risks. It has been shown that the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) stimulates GLP-1 secretion from pancreatic α-cells. IL-6-induced GLP-1 secretion could therefore play a role in expanding the β-cell reservoir in compensation for increased insulin needs due to exacerbation of insulin resistance. On the other hand, augmented GLP-1 secretion leads to increased insulin secretion, thereby enhancing hepatic lipogenesis and stimulating adipogenesis, which might underlie the associations of fasting GLP-1 with % body fat, triglycerides, and alanine aminotransferase. It is also possible that GLP-1 levels are naturally increased to oppose body weight gain to maintain body weight. However, it is important to note the differing biological effects of GLP-1 at physiological and pharmacological levels, which are evident in body weight reduction by GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors. The Stinson study clearly demonstrated that fasting GLP-1 associates with overweight/obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents. However, additional experiments need to be carried out to fully understand the relevance of these observations to human disease and health.