Three cases are reported in which gastric resection according to the Billroth I technique was later followed by symptoms of fullness after meals and vomiting. X-ray examination showed a bezoar-like mass with the radiopacity of soft tissue in the remnant of the stomach in each case. Gastric aspiration produced mucous material which on microscopic examination and culture was found to be swarming with yeasts. The authors discuss the frequency and clinical significance of the condition.


Nowadays, the facilitated access to increasing amounts of information and scientific resources means that more and more effort is required to conduct comprehensive literature reviews. Literature search, as a fundamental, complex, and time-consuming step in every literature research process, is part of many established scientific methods. However, it is still predominantly supported by search techniques based on conventional term-matching methods. We address the lack of semantic approaches in this context by proposing an enhancement of established literature review methods. For this purpose, we followed design science research (DSR) principles in order to develop artifacts and implement a prototype of our Tool for Semantic Indexing and Similarity Queries (TSISQ) based on the core concepts of latent semantic indexing (LSI). Its applicability is demonstrated and evaluated in a case study. Results indicate that the presented approach can help save valuable time in finding basic literature in a desired research field or increasing the comprehensiveness of a review by efficiently identifying sources that otherwise would not have been taken into account. The target audience for our findings includes researchers who need to efficiently gain an overview of a specific research field, deepen their knowledge or refine the theoretical foundations of their research.


Pilomatrix Carcinoma (PC) is seldom reported in the literature. These cancerous lesions present secondary to malignancy of the hair matrix. The consensus is that these malignancies tend to demonstrate an aggressive infiltrative pattern even in the face of local excision, with a subsequently elevated propensity for recurrence. Lymph node involvement and distant metastases are periodically witnessed. The primary treatment modality should comprise of surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy were deemed prudent. Regular follow up appointments are judicious since systemic metastases and nodal involvement can, unfortunately, unveil following the initial diagnosis and treatment plan. The case presented here illuminates an unusual encounter of a large cutaneous forehead pilomatrix carcinoma invading the frontal sinus, eroding the skull, and infiltrating the intradural/intracerebral compartment of the brain. This tumor was treated with wide local excision of the cutaneous tumor invading the surrounding skull, nasal bone with intradural/intracerebral components, en block excision of the bifrontal abscesses, and reconstruction with a scalp rotational flap and a split skin thickness graft harvested from the thigh for the cutaneous defect. The patient also had adjuvant radiotherapy as there was histological evidence of microscopic tumor cells at the margins of the resection. The patient has been followed up for 3 years and there were no signs of local or regional recurrence.


The use of high temperature superconducting material in its bulk form for engineering applications is attractive due to the large power densities that can be achieved. In brushless electrical machines, there are essentially four properties that can be exploited; their hysteretic nature, their flux shielding properties, their ability to trap large flux densities and their ability to produce levitation. These properties translate to hysteresis machines, reluctance machines, trapped-field synchronous machines and linear motors respectively. Each one of these machines is addressed separately and computer simulations that reveal the current and field distributions within the machines are used to explain their operation.


This paper compares the muscle firing patterns of 12 shoulder girdle muscles in competitive butterfly swimmers with painful and normal shoulders. Seven of the 12 muscles revealed statistically significant differences between the two populations. The posterior deltoid demonstrated more activity in the painful shoulders during hand entry while the upper trapezius and serratus anterior exhibited less activity. This alteration in muscle firing patterns allowed for the humerus to be positioned for a wider hand entry, which decreased the pain of impingement of the supraspinatus on the coracoacromial arch. Correspondingly, there was significantly less activity in the supraspinatus. The teres minor and serratus anterior revealed significantly less muscle action throughout pulling as they respectively failed to balance the humeral rotation and did not reverse their origins and insertions to pull the body over the arm. Also, the subscapularis and infraspinatus displayed increased activity in the painful shoulders as they depressed the humeral head to avoid impingement. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the rhomboids, pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, or the anterior and middle deltoids. From this information, accurate preventative and rehabilitative exercise programs for the competitive butterfly swimmer can be developed.


We have developed the apparatus for monitoring changes in humidity in the test environment and mass of the rusted steel in order to detect the moisture absorbed into and desorbed out of the steel rust. The rusted steel was set in the container in which the air was controlled to be dry or humid. Change in mass of the rusted steel due to absorption or desorption of moisture was continuously monitored by an electric analytical microbalance, and humidity in the container was spontaneously determined by a digital hygrometer. In the air of a relative humidity ( RH ) more than 90 % , mass of the rusted steel increased rapidly and parabolically due to absorption of moisture into the rust, and then increased gradually and linearly due to adsorption of moisture on the surface. As the test lasted, the mass oscillated ; sudden decrease in mass corresponded to falling a water droplet with some pieces of the rust, and linear increase in mass thereafter did to re-adsorbing moisture. In the case of RH less than 90 % , mass change was similar to that of RH more than 90 % , but there was no falling of a water droplet from the rusted steel. It is revealed from the long-term test in the air of RH 88 % that mass of moisture absorbed into the rust was independent of test time and that mass of new rust increased linearly with test time. In addition, it is suggested that the mass increase rate, that is corrosion rate, corresponds to the cathodic reaction rate limited by diffusion of dissolved oxygen in the thick water film.


Registry‐based cancer incidence and mortality data are widely used for etiologic research, cancer control and health care monitoring and planning. The complete coverage of all cases is the key criteria of data quality but it is difficult to assess because the alternative sources of data may be flawed. The aim of our study was to examine, at a nationwide level, the completeness of the Swedish Cancer Registry (CR) regarding persons who died of cancer, based on the Cause of Death Registry (DR), and using the Hospital Discharge Registry (HDR) as an additional source of data. Individuals who died of cancer from years 1999 through 2008 recorded in DR were linked to CR and HDR. A total of 190,692 individuals were identified from DR with cancer as the underlying cause of death; the mean identification rate of concordant cancer in CR was 79.8%, depending on tumor site and age at death. Breast, bladder and prostate cancers showed the highest rate of identification, whereas bone, liver and pancreatic cancers showed the lowest rate of identification. CR had no records on 10.6% of cancer cases recorded in DR. Similarly, the identification rate in HDR was 84.5% for concordant cancer and with 9.6% of cases missing. Neither source reported cancers for 3.4% of cancer cases recorded in DR. In conclusion, some 10% of cancer deaths had no cancer records in CR or in HDR, and 3.4% were missing in both sources. The identification rate depended on tumor site, age at death and, to some extent, death outside hospital.


Fluorescence lifetime measurements for a variety of substituted indoles were taken in cyclohexane and in supersonic gas expansions. When the two data sets were compared, a strong trend became evident. Solvent polarizability effects can be seen as stabilizing intramolecular charge-transfer quenching processes in the substituted indoles that are stimulated by the correct placement of charge accepting/releasing substituents


Satellites typically operate in isolation from their orbiting neighbours, leaving them susceptible to even the most minor of failures. Loss of a payload, radio or critical supporting sub-system could render the platform useless, an unfavourable situation for mission stakeholders. There is however a partial solution through the addition of inter-satellite networking, which offers not only value in terms of general performance, but added resilience to failure in the form of degraded operations. While a traditional platform exhibits two fundamental states: operational (which includes the collection and dissemination of data) and failed, a network-capable platform (i.e. one with an inter-satellite communication capability) exhibits six states, each reached through a unique combination of sub-system failures. The result of this added resilience is a reduction in the likelihood of the satellite reaching a fully-failed state, at the burden of higher financial cost and complexity.


ABSTRACT This article introduces the concept of compassionate celebritization as a framework for analyzing how Danish media reporting on a deportation case enacted a transformation of its subjects, a young child, and her mother, from deportable migrants to celebritized Danish citizens. I suggest that the reporting subjected the migrants to a process of celebritization premised on the affectivity of the white Danish public's compassionate intervention in their situation. The analysis demonstrates how celebritization unfolded compassion as a "true feeling" of the Danish people, orientating emotionally towards the migrants as worthy objects of white Danish compassion, most significantly through the positing of the figure of "the innocent child." Additionally, the reporting framed the compassionate intervention as a restoration of a forgotten Danish humanitarianism. This happened through a displacement of the object of emotion to the Danish public itself, and an orientation towards it of pride and being moved by the efforts made to intervene. The celebritization also became a celebrated revelation of the "true" character of the Danish people, which gained the momentum to act as a force for good in the face of the inhuman decision made by the state authorities.


A new AJCC/UICC staging classification of malignant melanoma was published in 2001 and has been in use since then. Compared to the TNM classification used for the previous 15 years, the new classification contains fundamental changes. The classification of the primary tumor is now based on newly defined classes for Breslow's tumor thickness (0 - 1.0 mm; 1.01 - 2.0 mm, 2.01 - 4.0 mm; > 4.0 mm). Histopathologically diagnosed ulceration is the second prognostic factor in primary melanoma and its presence leads to upstaging into the next higher T category. Clark level of invasion is now only relevant for tumors up to 1 mm thick; levels IV and V are also reasons for upstaging. Classification of regional lymph node metastasis distinguishes between microscopic metastasis only as detected with sentinel lymph node biopsy and clinically detectable macroscopic metastasis. Additionally, the number of metastatic nodes and the presence of satellite and in-transit metastasis are prognostic factors for classification of regional lymph node metastasis. In distant metastasis, the kind of organ involvement has a role for classification (only skin and lymph nodes vs. lung vs. other organs) and an elevated LDH value leads to upstaging. A critical analysis of data of the German Central Malignant Melanoma Registry did not confirm the strong role of histopathological ulceration of the primary tumor in all T- and N-stages. Furthermore, there is an inconsistency of the classification as stage IIC displays a significantly worse prognosis as compared to stage IIIA. In spite of these drawbacks the new staging classification should used particularly in clinical trials in order to make data internationally comparable.


Individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities reproductively mature at the same rate as the general population. However, they often lag far behind their peers in access to education about the emotional, social, and medical challenges that accompany the physical changes of the emerging adult. By the time a young adult with a disability or chronic condition reaches an internist, preventative reproductive health has largely been rationalized as not necessary or simply forgotten. Access to education and reproductive health services is essential for the development of a sense of self; establishing fulfilling physical and emotional relationships; and protection from abuse and poor outcomes that can be anticipated and prevented. The approach to a patient's sexuality and reproductive health needs varies across disabilities and chronic conditions and may require the support of physicians in other specialties. Understanding that each patient is a sexual being who requires attention to his or her sexuality and reproductive health needs will optimize the mental health, safety, and general health outcomes across the spectrum of physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities.


Introduction Research suggests that prenatal inflammatory exposure could accelerate age-related cognitive decline that may be resulted from neuroinflammation and synaptic dysfunction during aging. Environmental enrichment (EE) may mitigate the cognitive and synaptic deficits. Neurite growth-promoting factor 2 (NGPF2) and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) play critical roles in neuroinflammation and synaptic function, respectively. Methods We examined whether this adversity and EE exposure can cause alterations in Ngpf2 and Psd-95 expression. In this study, CD-1 mice received intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (50 μg/kg) or normal saline from gestational days 15–17. After weaning, half of the male offspring under each treatment were exposed to EE. The Morris water maze was used to assess spatial learning and memory at 3 and 15 months of age, whereas quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used to measure hippocampal mRNA and protein levels of NGPF2 and PSD-95, respectively. Meanwhile, serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The results showed that aged mice exhibited poor spatial learning and memory ability, elevated NGPF2 mRNA and protein levels, and decreased PSD-95 mRNA and protein levels relative to their young counterparts during natural aging. Embryonic inflammatory exposure accelerated age-related changes in spatial cognition, and in Ngpf2 and Psd-95 expression. Additionally, the levels of Ngpf2 and Psd-95 products were significantly positively and negatively correlated with cognitive dysfunction, respectively, particularly in prenatal inflammation-exposed aged mice. Changes in serum levels of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α reflective of systemic inflammation and their correlation with cognitive decline during accelerated aging were similar to those of hippocampal NGPF2. EE exposure could partially restore the accelerated decline in age-related cognitive function and in Psd-95 expression, especially in aged mice. Discussion Overall, the aggravated cognitive disabilities in aged mice may be related to the alterations in Ngpf2 and Psd-95 expression and in systemic state of inflammation due to prenatal inflammatory exposure, and long-term EE exposure may ameliorate this cognitive impairment by upregulating Psd-95 expression.


UVB exposure of epidermal cells is known to trigger early and late molecular pathways dependent on receptor tyrosine kinases and reactive oxygen species (ROS). We have recently reported that UVB irradiation induces tyrosine phosphorylation, kinase activation, and internalization of the receptor for the keratinocyte growth factor (KGFR), a paracrine mediator of epithelial growth, differentiation, and survival. Here we analyzed in more detail the UVB‐induced endocytic pathway of KGFR and the role of KGFR activation and internalization in regulating UVB‐promoted apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Immunogold electron microscopy and confocal analysis revealed that the UVB‐induced endocytosis of KGFR occurs through clathrin‐coated pits and that the internalized receptors are sorted to the degradative route and reach the lysosomal compartment with a timing similar to that induced by their ligand KGF. Treatment with the anti‐oxidant Nacetylcysteine inhibited KGFR endocytosis, suggesting that the receptor internalization is mediated by the intracellular production of ROS. The ligand‐independent KGFR endocytic pathway induced by UVB requires receptor kinase activity and tyrosine phosphorylation and involves transient receptor ubiquitination. Inhibition of KGFR activity reduces both the KGF‐mediated proliferative response and the UVB‐promoted apoptotic cell death, indicating a different effect of ligand‐induced and UVB‐induced KGFR triggering. In addition, receptor internalization leads to protection from apoptosis caused by UVB exposure. Finally, we compared directly the behavior of KGFR with that of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) upon UVB exposure. Surprisingly, biochemical and immunofluorescence analysis showed that EGFR, differently from KGFR, does not undergo UVB‐induced tyrosine phosphorylation and internalization. Taken together, our results suggest a differential role of KGFR and EGFR in the response of epidermal cells to UVB possibly because KGFR endocytosis could be crucial for attenuation of survival signals in the suprabasal layers of human skin.


ABSTRACT – Forty‐three outpatients with "midwinter insomnia" (an early type insomnia commonly seen north of the Polar Circle when the sun stays below the horizon) were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups, receiving either 15 mg midazolam, 1 mg flunitrazepam, or placebo, for 5 nights, double blind, after 3 nights without drug. In all three groups, this was followed by 5 nights on placebo (single blind). Several subjective sleep variables were recorded every morning, some variables also at noon. Placebo had practically no effect on any sleep variable, whereas both active drugs markedly improved sleep with regard to the following variables: sleep latency, number of awakenings, total duration of sleep, quality of sleep, total evaluation of sleep, and feelings of drowsiness in the morning and at noon. In the withdrawal period, patients who had Received active drug showed a deterioration of sleep on most variables, but not beyond the baseline level. A true "rebound insomnia" could thus not be demonstrated. There was no significant difference in any of the variables between midazolam and flunitrazepam treatment. Side effects were reported by very few patients. Midazolam seems to be as effective as flunitrazepam in this type of insomnia, in spite of its much shorter biological half‐life.


Pavement Management Systems (PMSs) are cost effective tools for helping local agency engineers manage the significant investment that has been made in their pavements. PMSs can also estimate future pavement conditions. This capability supports local engineers in making critical funding decisions about valuable pavement assets. Like any computerized system, PMSs are only as good as the data that is put into them and the analysis algorithms that drive them. Data collection, validation, and updating can be expensive. Accurate life cycle analysis is critical for making a PMS effective. However, automation and other new tools offer opportunities for reducing costs and improving the results coming out of PMSs. This report was developed as a resource for Minnesota local agencies, focusing on the capabilities, applications, and benefits of current pavement management systems used on local road systems in Minnesota. This resource will provide information to help local agencies without a PMS to evaluate, select, and justify the purchase and operational costs of a PMS; additionally, it will help local agencies who have a PMS to better use and enhance their capabilities. This report has a related PowerPoint and Brochure.


1. The preparation and characterization of manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc metalloporphyrins is described. Ferrihaem was also esterified with pyrid-4-ylpropanol and the derivative characterized as the diester. 2. Complexes of these various porphyrins, as well as protoporphyrin IX, with apomyoglobin were formed and the resulting artificial myoglobins characterized. 3. Very little complex-formation was obtained with nickel, cobalt and manganese metalloporphyrins and apomyoglobin. 4. Myoglobin prepared with copper metalloporphyrin was immunochemically identical with native ferrimyoglobin. All the other artificial myoglobins were less reactive to varying degrees. 5. The changes in antigenic reactivities were attributed to conformational reorganization caused by the different co-ordination tendencies of the various metals or by the modification of the side chains of the haem.


Susceptibility to smoking has been identified as predictor of smoking onset in adolescence. Aim of the study was to investigate whether receptivity to tobacco marketing, for which a link to adolescent smoking already could be shownin the past, was also associated with susceptibility to smoking. A cross-sectional survey of 1,478 Polish students who reported having never smoked wasconducted. Mean age was 10.1 years and about 53.3% were female. Overall, 84 (5.7%) students were classifiedas susceptible to smoking, and 33 (2.3%) were considered as receptiveto tobacco marketing, operationalised by asking students to name a brand of their favourite cigarette advertisement. Crude logistic regression analyses as well as logistic regression analyses adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, personality characteristics, factors of social influence and smoking-related cognitions revealed a positive association between receptivity to tobacco marketing and susceptibility to smoking (adjusted odds ratio=3.49 [95% confidence interval: 1.28-9.46], p=0.014). In conclusion, this study revealed that receptivityto tobacco marketing increases susceptibility to smoking. Results providesupport for the almost comprehensive ban of tobacco marketing as existing in Poland and recommend its further expansion towards a total ban including e.g. ban of promotion at point of sale.


This research studies the relationship between home country intercultural experience, intercultural competence and creativity among Russian students. We assume that students from culturally heterogeneous groups or/and students having a course dedicated to intercultural issues are more creative, as cultural diversity and cultural learning are associated with a higher level of intercultural competence, and intercultural competence may be positively related to creativity. The sample of the first study included 72 students and the sample of the second study included 272 students of HSE University. Creativity was measured by the indicators of creative thinking (fluency, flexibility, and originality) via "Many instances game" from the creativity test battery of Runco; intercultural competence was measured using "Assessment of intercultural competence" of Fantini & Tirmizi. Home country intercultural experience was operationalized via the presence of students from other countries in the study groups and via the inclusion of a Cross-Cultural Psychology course in the students' curriculum. The results of the first study show that cultural learning in the home country institution leads to higher levels of creativity, while the cultural heterogeneity of the groups is associated with an increase in creativity only when cultural learning was applied. The results of the second study show such components of intercultural competence as attitudes and the adaptability of behavior play an important role in the creativity of Russian students: attitudes are positively and the adaptability of behavior is negatively related to creativity.


While the cause of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire had played an important role in shaping Western attitudes and ideas about humanitarian intervention and national self-determination, the collapse of efforts to create an Armenian state in the wake of genocide and World War I led the nascent League of Nations to elaborate efforts within the repertoire of humanitarianism to preserve the Armenians as a distinct community. Those efforts bring into relief evolving interwar thought and policies about refugees, human trafficking, and the place of international institutions in the protection of civilians. The practical failures of the League's projects provided a field in which "rights talk" could take place and the modern refugee régime emerge.


Laparoscopy by electrocoagulation requires some formal training because the margin of error in selftaught laparoscopy is great. Pertinent electrical information is reviewed to acquaint physicians with a system mandatory for patient safety and the physician's medicolegal protection. The bipolar electrocoagulation method offers great safety compared with the unipolar method, and Kleppinger bipolar forceps facilitate sterilization and ancillary procedures. Omission of division and resection after tubal coagulation reduced the number of peritoneal fistulae and, therefore, procedural failures. The possibility of ectopic pregnancy remains. Opposition to using electricity in the abdomen occurred because of the possibility of thermal bowel injury. With the bipolar components described here it is virtually impossible to acquire a bowel burn unless a portion of the bowel is mistakenly treated. Since the inception of this bipolar program, no forceps-related complications have occurred.


The significance of rare, recessive genes occurring at a frequency that could be maintained by recurrent mutation alone is poorly understood. This paper presents the results of a genetic study and certain biochemical observations on a slowly migrating electrophoretic species of albumin which was found in the family of a 7-year-old boy suffering from the nephrotic syndrome. The gene controlling this slowly migrating albumin is apparently rare; however, at least I2 families with this trait have been reported (Scheurlen, I955; Knedel, 1957, I958; Nennstiel and Becht, I957; Earle, Hutt, Schmid, and Gitlin, I959; Bennhold, Ott, and Scheurlen, I958; Franglen, Martin, Hargreaves, Smith, and Williams, I960; Wieme, I960; Miescher, I960; Adner and Redfors, I96I; Robbins, Hill, Marcus, and Carlquist, I963; Braend, Efremor, Fagerhol, and Hartmann, I965). These data suggest that the mutant allele is as efficient as the wild type allele.


Cataplexy is present in 70% of narcolepsy patients; narcolepsy with cataplexy is now named as narcolepsy type 1 in recent classification of sleep disorders. Cataplexy is defined as short lasting decrease or loss of muscle tone. Here we present a 9-year-old girl misdiagnosed as epilepsy due to distortion in her face but diagnosed to have narcolepsy type 1 and partial cataplexy. In detail questioning, loss of muscle tone in her facial muscles and facial distortion occurred for a short time upon tiredness and in association with daytime sleepiness without any unconsciousness. No response was observed with antiepileptic agents, but they totally resolved upon administration of anticataplectic therapy. (JTSM 2015;1:22-4)


Humorous language play is integral to the building of many relationships. Research into its role in social interactions has tended to focus on native speakers in a shared cultural context, while the humorous language play of second language learners, especially in the classroom setting, has only recently attracted attention. The limited research to date has tended to focus on discrete episodes of humorous language play, neglecting its contribution to the building of rapport and the development of an in-group culture. This thesis focuses on lower-level learners from a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and investigates the ways in which they play with English for their own social ends, despite a lack of language proficiency and common socio-cultural reference points.

The setting for this investigation was an intensive English course for business people, run by a private training organisation. The participants were low-proficiency learners from various professional fields and nationalities. The classroom interactions of particular groups were audio or video recorded, with two learners being recorded over two continuous days of their three-day course. This enclosed setting allowed the opportunity to trace the role of humorous language play in the establishment and development of the learners' relationships with each other and with their teacher. Goffman's concept of frame and Bakhtin's ideas about the heteroglossic and dialogical nature of language inform the analysis of the data.

Findings show that the impulse to play can overcome the linguistic and cultural challenges the learners face. In order to have fun, they exploit the 'play' between the interpretative frameworks that a language classroom provides. They build a common pool of prior talk and reference points, alluding to them humorously to create rapport, to shape their learning environment, and to take ownership of the target language.


Ontologies are formalism whose purpose is to support humans or machines to share some common knowledge in a structured way. They allow the concepts and terms relevant to a given domain to be identified and defined in an unambiguous way. As such, ontologies are seen as the key technology used to describe the semantics of information at various sites, overcoming the problem of implicit and hidden knowledge and thus enabling exchange of semantic contents. In this report we survey the work on ontologies that has been carried out in recent years. In particular, we first overview the languages that have been proposed for representing ontologies, and present the work on reasoning over ontologies. We then overview the work on ontologies from four different points of view: (i) We survey methodologies for designing and maintaining ontologies, presenting automated tools suitable for such tasks. (ii) We present languages and architectures for accessing, processing and in general making use of ontologies. (iii) We presents several approaches for integrating and merging ontologies by detecting correspondences among them. (iv) Finally, we present different approaches for making heterogeneous and autonomous ontologies interoperate, in the sense that the various ontologies are not modified as an effect of interoperating with the others. c ©2005/TONES – Dec. 29, 2005 1/81 D01– v.2.2 FP6-7603 – TONES Thinking ONtologiES WP1 Document Change Record Version Date Reason for Change v.1.0 Oct 15, 2005 First draft distributed to partners v.2.0 Nov 20, 2005 Integration of contributions by partners v.2.1 Dec 9, 2005 Refinement of section on representation and reasoning v.2.2 Dec 29, 2005 Final version c ©2005/TONES – Dec. 29, 2005 2/81 D01– v.2.2 FP6-7603 – TONES Thinking ONtologiES WP1


This paper examines the features of two systems for allocating pension rights accrued as a spouse the survivor's pension and pension splitting. The survivor's pension enables the surviving spouse to maintain his/her living standard after the other spouse's death: under a non-means-tested system, the higher the survivor's own pension with respect to that of the deceased spouse, the higher his/her standard of living (or the smaller its decline) after widowhood. This means that the income of widowers is generally higher than that of widows. A pension splitting system, on the other hand, guarantees the same income to both widows and widowers. In the event of divorce, pension splitting provides an own pension to each ex-spouse, independently of their subsequent life choices, and partially equalizes men's and women's incomes. But the system penalizes the spouse with the higher income. In the event of death or divorce, equal pension splitting is less costly for the pension system than a non-means-tested survivor's pension. However, it is rarely an attractive option for the pension recipients, women included. Pension splitting at a higher rate (above 50%), whose overall cost to the pension scheme is equivalent to that of the survivor's pension, would be an interesting alternative option.


In Migori County, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is an economic activity that uses mercury during the amalgamation process to obtain gold. The waste generated in the form of soil tailings and pan-pond water contains mercury and is located close to community boreholes. The proximity may predispose groundwater to mercury contamination. Boreholes are one of the main water sources in Migori County. Ingestion is one of the ways mercury can get into the human body. This study was conducted to establish mercury concentration in groundwater from boreholes, soil tailings and pan-pond water located near five mine sites in Migori County during dry and wet seasons in comparison with drinking water standards required by KEBS and NEMA effluents discharge standards. The five mines were: -Masara, Osiri Matanda, Macalder, Kitere and Kehancha. The study used a cross-sectional-analytical study design and focused on boreholes found within a distance of 6 km from each of the five mines. Fifteen boreholes were proportionately sampled to obtain groundwater samples. 20 pan-pond water and soil tailing samples were collected in both dry and wet seasons as per the respective sampling protocols applied. Inductively Coupled Plasma –Mass Spectroscopy (7900 ICP-MS) was used to measure mercury levels. A paired t-test was used to compare the means of the levels of mercury in groundwater obtained within the two seasons. The study established that during the dry season, all of the boreholes had groundwater mercury levels higher than the recommended limit by KEBS of 0.001 mg/L. There was a decrease in the levels of mercury in groundwater as distances from the mine increased. However, during the wet season, all of the boreholes had mercury levels below the limit of detection. The study established a significant difference in the levels of mercury in groundwater between wet and dry seasons at a 95% confidence level. Mercury levels in soil tailings and pan-pond water were above the NEMA effluents discharge standards of 0.05 mg/kg and 0.05 mg/L, respectively, in the dry season. During the wet season, all pan-pond water achieved the recommended mercury level of NEMA effluent discharge limits, while the soil tailings had mercury levels above the recommended limit. This study recommends that there is a need to implement mine waste remediation. Communities near the mines continuously conduct groundwater heavy metal analysis during the dry season to protect their health


The reflectivity map is theoretically investigated by applying the transfer matrix method in a metal-dielectric mirror structure at normal incidence. The existence of multiple optical Tamm states (OTSs) is demonstrated in this structure. It is found that an OTS is periodic resonance with the variation of the top-layer thickness of the dielectric mirror for a given wavelength. The energy for the corresponding OTS mainly depends on the thickness of the top layer. The appropriate thicknesses of metal film are proposed for the convenient observation of OTSs. This work may be useful in designing a new type of multichannel filter in optical communication systems.


Slickwater fracturing has increased over the past decade with the advent of shale gas plays. Horizontal wells are now the standard with up to 1 million gallons of water in as many as 6 to 9 frac stages per well. The objective is to create as much contact with the reservoir as possible and many times a secondary goal is to prop open the created fractures. Additive packages have been minimized to save money. Due to environmental concerns and fresh water availability, the flowback and produced water is collected and used for subsequent fracture treatments. The purpose of this work is to examine water treatment techniques and critically evaluate the performance of additives that are employed in slickwater fracs of shale reservoirs and give guidelines for selecting additives that will optimize performance during pumping, fluid recovery and production. Comments will be made on the topic of proppant selection. Following the proppant, the major additive in most jobs will be the friction reducer which is required to reduce the friction pressure while pumping at the extreme rates of 50 to 120 barrels per minute (bpm). The second concern should be additives to treat bacteriological activity. The injection of water will ultimately result in the cultivation of sulfate reducing bacteria which produce Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and biproducts such as black iron sulfide on the surface if not treated properly. Scale inhibitors become vitally important as water dissolves salts from the formation. Shales have sub microDarcy matrix permeability with natural fractures and cleats providing avenues for gas desorption and flow to the wellbore. Shales can have as much as 50% clays. Are additives necessary to stabilize clays? Finally, the use of surfactants can be beneficial in promoting the flowback of injected fluids to restore the relative permeability to gas. Which surfactant types are the most beneficial?


Following a traumatic spinal cord injury, a 53-year-old male developed a central cord syndrome with at-level neuropathic pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a classical "snake eye" appearance myelopathy, with marked hyperintensities at C5-C7. Clinical examination revealed intact pinprick sensation coupled with lost or diminished thermal/heat sensation. This dissociation could be objectively confirmed through multi-modal neurophysiological assessments. Specifically, contact heat evoked potentials were lost at-level, while pinprick evoked potentials were preserved. This pattern corresponds with that seen after surgical commissural myelotomy. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a dissociation has been objectively documented, highlighting the diagnostic potential of multi-modal neurophysiological assessments. In future studies, a comprehensive assessment of different nociceptive modalities may help elucidate the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain.


Perfection is a fiction. In cooking we demand minute traces of herbs and spices to add flavour. All technologies are similar since only when we add impurities do the materials meet our needs. This is true for everything from making Stone Age tools to semiconductors, steel, glass optical fibres etc. In chemistry, impurities can speed up reactions (catalysis), in biology we call them enzymes. Without imperfections there would be neither evolution nor personal individuality. With understanding we have exploited imperfections to our advantage and enjoy technological benefits. When we fail to recognize our own faults, we revert to human failings of oppression, warfare, ill health and destruction of the planet. No previous science is required as the concepts are basically simple. Nevertheless, the book gives deep and useful insights into what is possible in technology. Recognizing and addressing human imperfections is far harder, but absolutely essential or we will destroy ourselves.


Africa is under pressure from climate stresses and is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In Kenya, agriculture is the backbone of the economy making it an important contributor to food security of rural households. Currently crop productivity is being affected by continued climate variations and decline in soil fertility. Adaptation to climate change requires to be given high and urgent priority for sustainable crop production. A study was conducted in Mavuria ward, Mbeere South Sub-County, Embu County to evaluate the effects of climate change adaptation on crop production. The study used both descriptive and experimental research designs. The primary data on adaptation measures was collected from farmers and institutions using questionnaires. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics were used to organize the climate data and that of the respondents into frequencies. Further, a Pearson correlation test was done to determine the Original Research Article Nyaga et al.; IJECC, 10(12): 171-182, 2020; Article no.IJECC.63837 172 relationship between farmer and institutional based mechanisms on adaptation to climate change at α=0.05. The main adaptation mechanisms identified were soil fertility improvement, soil and water conservation, early planting, pest and disease control, provision of certified seeds, and awareness creation. In view of these findings, the study recommends continuous implementation of these measures that can help strengthen farmers and institutional adaptation mechanisms towards climate change for improved crop production.


OBJECTIVE
To study the status of infection and type-specific distribution on human papillomavirus (HPV) in the urban areas of Shenyang city, China and to provide data for vaccine introduction.

METHODS
A list of 1000 women aged 15-59 years were obtained randomly from the local population, and a questionnairey was filled in. Samples of cervical cell were obtained from 702 women who had had sexual experience and were not pregnant during the study was carried on. HPV type was detected using a GP5+/6+ -based PCR, liquid-based cytology, VIA, VILI and electronic coloscopy were used for screening on cervical cancer.

RESULTS
The prevalence of any HPV type was 17.0% among the 702 women who had been enrolled in this study, 64.1% in women with abnormal cytology, 11.1% in women with normal cytology and the difference was significant. The prevalence of high-risk HPV type was 11.9% and the low-risk type was 6.5%. The prevalence of either high-risk or low-risk HPV type was significantly higher in women with abnormal cytology than those with normal cytology. There were a total number of 32 HPV types identified and the most common HPV types were 16 (3.4%), 52 (2.4%) and 58 (1.9%). The prevalence rates of either high-risk or low-risk HPV type were not statistically different among different age-groups with P>0.05. HPV types with high risk were predominantly distributed in the groups below 45 years old and the difference was significant with P < 0.05. There was no significant difference between high-risk and low-risk types above 45 years old.

CONCLUSION
The prevalence of HPV in women with abnormal cytology was statistically higher than those with normal cytology. The most common HPV types in this population were 16, 52 and 58, and the validity of present vaccines was not good enough for cervical cancer prevention in this local area.


This paper gives a method to experimentally determine the dynamic characteristics of arc sensor in GMA welding in dip transfer mode. The method mainly involves a vibration device to excite sinusoidal wave forms of torch height and data processing by means of FIR digital low-pass filter as well as digital fourier transformation (DFT). Experimental results show that the sensitivities of arc sensor are quite greater than that in DC open arc welding. The response of welding current to the variation in torch height gets to reach the highest level at around 3 Hz in our experiments. Although the response continues to hold higher level when the frequency exceeds about 5-6 Hz, the SN ratio becomes poorer than that at 3 Hz. The response of welding current shows a delayed phase relative to the variation in torch height. Contrary to this, the response of welding voltage has an advanced phase relative to the variation in torch height, and the response becomes higher and higher with the increase of the variation frequency of torch height, but it's SN ratio is quite poorer than that of the response of welding current.To clarify the effects of shielding gases on the arc sensor, experiments were made by using different mixed gases of Ar and CO2. It is found that contrary to these in open arc welding, the responses in short-circuit arc welding using pure Ar are higher than that using mixed gases of Ar and CO2.Simulation analysis was also made based on an arc sensor's model proposed by authors for the short-circuit arc welding. The results displayed that the theoretical and experimental results are quite similar in qualitatively but did not yet achieve agreement quantitatively. The theorectical results also show that not only the average short-circuit frequency, but also the change rate of the short-circuit frequency induced by the variation in arc length have great effect on the sensitivities of the arc sensor.


Section 1983 is the federal statute that allows us to enforce our federal constitutional rights against state and local government. The significance of Section 1983 cannot be overstated. The United States Supreme Court well understands the importance of Section 1983. Over the last two decades of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court rendered an unusually large number of decisions fleshing out the meaning and intricacies of Section 1983. It seems however, that no matter how extensive the Supreme Court's involvement, there is always another Section 1983 issue.The United States Supreme Court decided a broad range of questions dealing with Section 1983 in the 2000-2001 Term. This Article analyzes those issues that arose in such cases. First, the author discusses the threshold question of state action. Next, the author moves to the issue of due process requirements when disputes arise out of governmental contracts, then discusses the exhaustion of state remedies requirements in prisoner litigation, followed by a discussion of qualified immunity in excessive force cases. The final issue discussed is the right to recover statutory attorney's fees.


Efficacy of 4 medications--topiramate, valproate, gabapentine and carbamazepine--was studied in 180 patients: 84 with chronic migraine, 63 with chronic headache of tension and 33 with a combination of the above types of headache. Mean age of the patients was 40,4+/-11,7 (from 19 to 65 years), most patients were female (n=152). The treatment was conducted during 12 weeks with assessment of efficacy every 2 weeks and 4 weeks after the end of the treatment. The response was high for all anticonvulsants, with the highest efficacy in chronic migraine. Among antidepressants used topiramate proved to be most effective. The use of anticonvulsants allows the reduction of the dosage of analgetics as much as twice and the complete withdrawal of the latter in 20% of cases.


The aim of the present study was to examine if sleep amount prior to sleep restriction mediated subsequent task acquisition on serial addition/subtraction and reaction time (RT) sub‐tasks of the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric. Eleven males and 13 females [mean (SD) age = 25 (6.5) years] were assigned to either an Extended [10 h time in bed (TIB)] (n = 12) or Habitual [Mean (SD) = 7.09 (0.7)] (n = 12) sleep group for 1 week followed by one baseline night, seven sleep restriction nights (3 h TIB) and five recovery nights (8 h TIB). Throughout baseline, restriction and recovery, mathematical and serial RT tasks were administered hourly each day (08:00–18:00 h). Math and serial RT throughput for each task (speed × accuracy product) was analysed using a mixed‐model anova with fixed effects for sleep group, day and time‐of‐day followed by post hoc t‐tests (Bonferroni correction). Math throughput improved for both groups during sleep restriction, but more so compared with baseline for the prior sleep Extended group versus the Habitual group during recovery. In sum, 1 week of sleep extension improved resilience during subsequent sleep restriction and facilitated task acquisition during recovery, demonstrating that nightly sleep duration exerts long‐term (days, weeks) effects.


The notion of Ubiquitous (or Pervasive) Computing was first eloquently described by Mark Weiser at Xerox PARC in the early 1990's. He proposed a vision in which the personal computing model would evolve from one person using one computer, to many (perhaps hundreds) of computers per person; and that computing would become wirelessly embedded in the world around us, tacitly supporting our work practice. Today, twenty years later, we find ourselves surrounded by smartphones, tablets, and digital televisions much like the components of his vision: Tabs, Pads and LiveBoards. This talk will look back on what was envisioned, compare it with the reality of todays mobile market, examining what was correctly predicted, what worked and what did not. And then, reviewing key market trends, we will look forward to consider the future opportunities for pervasive computing, and some of the challenges and important use cases that we now need to consider.


This paper identifies the development of and gaps in knowledge in business and management research on resilience, based on a systematic review of influential publications among 339 papers, books and book chapters published between 1977 and 2014. Analyzing these records shows that resilience research has developed into five research streams, or lines of enquiry, which view resilience as (1) organizational responses to external threats, (2) organizational reliability, (3) employee strengths, (4) the adaptability of business models or (5) design principles that reduce supply chain vulnerabilities and disruptions. A review of the five streams suggests three key findings: First, resilience has been conceptualized quite differently across studies, meaning that the different research streams have developed their own definitions, theories and understandings of resilience. Second, conceptual similarities and differences among these streams have not yet been explored, nor have insights been gleaned about any possible generalizable principles for developing resilience. Third, resilience has been operationalized quite differently, with few insights into the empirics for detecting resilience to future adversity (or the absence thereof). This paper outlines emerging research trends and pathways for future research, highlighting opportunities to integrate and expand on existing knowledge, as well as avenues for further investigation of resilience in business and management studies.


Two different scalable models developed based on enhanced 1-π and 2-π topologies are presented for on-chip spiral inductor modeling. All elements used in the two topologies for accurately predicting the characteristics of spiral inductors at radio frequencies are constructed in geometry-dependent equations for scalable modeling. Then a comparison between the 1-π and 2-π scalable models is made from the following aspects: the complexity of equivalent circuit models and parameter-extraction procedures, scalable rules and the accuracy of scalable models. The two scalable models are further verified by the excellent match between the measured and simulated results on extracted parameters up to self-resonant frequency (SRF) for a set of spiral inductors with different L, R and N, which are fabricated by employing 0.18-μm 1P6M RF CMOS technology.


One of the disadvantages of convergent steel frames, is loss of strength of this brace under cyclic loading. Studies in recent years show that in the event of changes in raw form Gusset plate sheet, and the creation of suitable geometry and as well as the type of consumable materials used for it; initial conditions can be provided to increase ductility and resulting increased in energy dissipation. Braces as earthquake resistant elements in different ways are applied to cope with lateral forces of earthquake. One important element of these systems is Gusset plate sheets which plays an important role in the transmission of lateral forces. The behavior of these members can be investigated under tensile and comprehensive loading uniform. The pressure behavior due to its complexity and more failure modes have been less studied. According to investigation conducted, the desired failure mode of Gusset plates under the pressure is surrendered. However, in most cases the connection sheet under pressure surrenders to bucking load and cannot be lodged with the brittle failure and the result does not show good ductility. In order to change the dominant failure mode and delaying bucking of stiffeners Gusset plate the stiffness and changes in their geometry are used. In this study, using Abacus software to evaluate the impact of changes in plate Gusset and the stiffeners edge of sheets have been examined. The results obtained indicate that the postponement of bucking curves in the modified connector plate and thereby improve behavior of connector plates under the pressure forces and also represents the high configurability of modified connector sheets. Keywords : Gusset Plate, Plasticity, Buckling, Brittle Failure.


: Each European Union Member State keeps a register of data on properties located in its territory. The number, type and scope of these properties are determined by each Member State's needs. The INSPIRE Directive enables the scope of data to be harmonised, and the data to be made available for the purpose of assisting legislators in taking decisions and actions likely to have either direct or indirect impact on the environment. The aim of the study was to indicate the basic differences between the data contained in Polish and Latvian cadastres. Unlike other similar studies analysing the content of data in the cadastre, this article pays special attention to the number of available sets of data about the parcel and its surroundings, the ease of access to these data and the possibility for acquiring them by an interested party without incurring additional fees. This is particularly important in activities related to spatial management and the development of an information society. The results show that in both countries, the decision makers have approached the INSPIRE Directive differently. Direct analyses conducted for the cities of Wrocław (Poland) and Riga (Latvia) demonstrated that the information system in Wrocław contains a considerably greater scope of information available free of charge, is easier to use and offers more services. The Latvian Republic's spatial information system provides a less-developed scope of information about real estate (without fees) that is dispersed on several websites, which slows down and hinders its use.


An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed to quantitate faecal Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin in the investigation of C perfringens food poisoning. The sandwich ELISA could be carried out in 24 h and was sensitive enough to detect as little as 5 ng/g of enterotoxin in faeces. Specificity of the assay was shown by comparing results with those obtained from other standard toxin assays, such as double gel diffusion and counterimmunoelectrophoresis, and by the assay of faecal material from control groups. By means of the ELISA method, 515 faecal samples from 50 separate outbreaks of C perfringens food poisoning were examined, together with 21 food samples from 12 of the outbreaks. A clear distinction was noted between faecal samples collected on the first two days of an outbreak, where 77% were enterotoxin positive, and those specimens collected later than the second day, when only 33% had detectable enterotoxin. The ELISA is recommended as a valuable tool in the investigation of C perfringens foodborne illness.


Objective: To investigate the differential salivary protein expression profiles between children with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) and caries-free (CF) children at the age of 3 years. Methods: We used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) combined with weak cation exchange magnetic beads, and peptide mass fingerprints were created by scanning mass spectrometry signals. Salivary samples from 20 children were analyzed (10 for each group). Results: Eleven protein peaks were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the two groups. Eight of these peaks were higher in the S-ECC group and three were higher in the CF group. To establish a diagnostic model for discrimination between the two groups, we chose three peptides (3,186.2, 3,195.8 and 3,324.8 Da) that exhibited the best fitted curve, by which the two groups were better separated when compared with other combinations. Conclusions: The salivary biomarkers identified revealed significant differences between the CF and the S-ECC group. Our results provide novel insight into the salivary protein profile of preschool-age children with dental caries and may lead to the development of a new strategy for screening high-risk populations.


According to Trianto, one of the main problems in learning mathematics in schools today is the low absorption of students. The way that can be used to overcome these problems is by using media in learning mathematics. From the results of writing conducted by Luh Made Suriwati, et al, it was found that learning with the help of visual media is more effective in improving student learning outcomes compared to conventional learning methods. One of the media that can be used in learning mathematics is Congklak game media.This type of writing is action research aimed at developing an action plan to improve what is being done now. This writing is descriptive writing, where this writing is writing that really only describes what is contained or occurs in a particular scene, field, or region, namely SD N 1 Toyareka. This writing uses data collection techniques in the form of interviews, observation and documentation while the technical analysis of data uses data reduction, data presentation and data conclusion. The purpose of this writing is to describe the use of Congklak game media in learning mathematics in class IV and the use of Congklak game resources in instilling student character.The results of the writing show that the Congklak media can be used in learning Mathematics of Multiples Small Guilds. Where in the use of the media, the authors modify the game board by giving writing numbers in each hole of the board. Through the use of these media students can actively and enthusiastically participate in chases that have an impact on improving student learning outcomes. In addition, through the use of the Congklak game media can help teachers to convey the concept of Multiple Small Guilds (KPK) easily and at the same time be more acceptable to students. Through the use of congklak game media can also instill the character of students' curiosity.


In a 20-year-old woman one of the presenting signs of multiple sclerosis was recurrent oscillopsia. Fixation of eyes while reading released during upward and downward gaze oscillopsia with variable amplitude and frequency. Electronystagmographic investigation failed to reveal signs of damage to the vestibular organ or vestibulo-oculomotor pathways. The most likely explantation of oscillopsie was, in this case, lesion of the pathway connecting the cerebellum with oculumotor nerve nuclei.


Here presented as a biographical novel is the life of one of the most forceful figures of the sixteenth century. His hardships, his convictions, his tenacity, his victories, his influence are all depicted with vividness and understanding. The narrative generally is substantiated by available evidence; in detail, of course, the author has exercised the novelist's prerogative. Despite a skill clearly manifested at many points in revealing the personalities of the protagonists through their conversations, he not infrequently handles some scenes amateurishly. Although no notice to that effect is given, the author seems to have had in mind primarily a youthful audience, for whom the book should have definite appeal. It would serve well in a church library. W. Morgan Patterson


ABSTRACT Objectives (1) To report the distribution of injuries per body site and time lost from participation in female NCAA Division I rowers and (2) to present an updated summary of the existing evidence regarding the analysis of injuries per body site in rowers. Methods Case series: The distribution of injuries per body site in female NCAA Division I rowers and the time lost from participation were retrieved from an institutional registry. Injuries per body site were reported as number of athletes with site-specific injury per total number of injured athletes. Systematic review: Based on the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, three electronic databases were searched for studies reporting the epidemiology of injuries per body site in rowers and analyzed. Results Case series: One-hundred and thirty-seven injuries were recorded in 92 female rowers over 5 years. The risk of injury (number of injured athletes over total number of athletes on roaster) was 52% (92/176). Among the 92 injured athletes, 38% sustained injury to the lower back, while 23% and 16% of these athletes sustained injury to the ribs and hip–groin area, respectively. Systematic review: Ten studies were included. The level of evidence was IV and the mean MINORS score was 13.2(9–15) (fair quality). Most studies reported injuries to the lower spine (8/10,80%) whereas injuries to the ribs or other anatomic sites were reported in ≤4 (40%) studies. Significant heterogeneity of the injury reporting methodologies (injury definition; measures of injury occurrence; description of the injury site) was detected and precluded meta-analysis. Conclusions Most injuries recorded in a single team of female NCAA Division I athletes occurred in the lower back followed by injuries to the ribs and the hip. The existing injury epidemiology literature in mostly focuses on injuries to the lower back, while injuries to other anatomic sites were less frequently analyzed. No conclusions can be made regarding the most common injuries in rowers based on the current evidence due to substantial heterogeneity of injury reported methodologies which warrants further investigation.


ABSTRACT This article presents the results of a study conducted with 243 Native American students who were part of a multi-ethnic sample of adolescents attending middle school in a large urban center in the Southwest region of the United States. Native adolescents who felt a stronger sense of belonging in their school were found to report a lower lifetime use of alcohol and cigarettes, lower cigarette and marijuana use in the previous month, lower frequency of current use of these substances, fewer substances ever used, and a later age of initiation into drug use than other Native students. Research implications are discussed in relationship to school environment, culturally-grounded prevention curricula, and school social work practice.


Since the discovery of cortisone, the gold treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has been overshadowed by the dramatic action of this new remedy. As both cortisone and ACTH have been shown to be capable of maintaining their effect in a proportion of cases with appropriate maintenance dosage, and particularly as cortisone can be given by mouth, it would appear at first sight that there can no longer be a place for chrysotherapy in the treatment of this group of disorders. Though this may come to be the position in the future it certainly is not so at present, and until supplies of these newer agents are adequate to serve the needs of all rheumatoid sufferers, gold will continue to be used. It is essential, therefore, that it be used to the greatest advantage and any means by which toxicity can be reduced without impairment of therapeutic benefit must be carefully investigated. The ability of gold to induce remissions in rheumatoid arthritis has been shown by controlled therapeutic trials (Ellman and Lawrence, 1938a, b; Ellman and others, 1940; Fraser, 1945; Kling and others, 1949), but the high relapse rates (Egelius and others, 1952) show that the effect at least with present therapeutic dosage is not curative, relapse being particularly frequent when low dosage has been used (Short and others, 1948; Browning and others, 1947). Owing to the very slow excretion rate of gold, however, relapses may not occur for some considerable time, and even after an observation period of 9 years patients treated with gold have been found to fare better than those receiving other methods of treatment (Kling and others, 1949). That the effect of gold is proportional to dosage has been shown in animals by Sabin and Warren (1940), and in man by Ellman and others (1940). Some workers have suggested that dosage of the order of 50 mg. weekly may be as effective as a larger dose (Freyberg and others, 1941 ; Comroe, 1945), but they have produced no statistical evidence in support of their claim. The indications from animal experiments are that the optimum total dosage is of the order of 100 mg./kg. (6 g./60 kg.) given over the shortest possible time. It would appear, therefore, that successful gold treatment depends on administering a maximum dosage of gold whilst at the same time avoiding its more dangerous side-effects. Before discussing how this may best be achieved, it is necessary to consider certain pharmacological properties of gold. Gold compounds injected intramuscularly are slowly absorbed from the site of injection, attaining, with normal therapeutic dosage, a maximum blood level of up to 2 mg./100 ml. of plasma by the 4th weekly injection. After stopping treatment the blood level slowly falls; reaches half its final level by the 9th week, but still continues to show detectable amounts at the end of the 4th month. Gold can be detected in the urine up to 10 months after stopping treatment (Freyberg and others, 1941; Hartung and others, 1941), and has been discovered in the tissues after periods of up to 3 years. In the blood, gold is combined with the plasma proteins (Freyberg and others, 1944). This gold-protein complex is a chemical compound and does not release gold ions in solution (Libenson, 1945). As colloids and other substances of high molecular weight present in the plasma can pass out of the circulation only through damaged capillaries, they tend to become concentrated at a site of induced inflammation (Menkin, 1936). It follows that gold in its combination with protein will not readily pass into the tissues except at a focus of inflammation. In a patient with active rheumatoid arthritis the gold will thus pass largely into the inflamed synovial tissues, and the concentration in such tissue has, in fact, been found to be some 18 times as great as in, for example, the skin (Bertrand and others, 1948). Thus, so long as there is active exudation into the diseased tissues, the danger of toxic effects in the skin, mucous


Physical simulation of semiconductor devices at high frequencies involves not only semiconductor transport issues but also electromagnetic wave propagation issues. In order to obtain the nonlinear and the large-signal characteristics of the semiconductor devices, an electromagnetic model should replace the traditional quasi-static model in the device simulator. In this paper, the advantages of a semiconductor device simulator combining an electromagnetic and an electron transport models are presented. This study is based on a semiconductor device simulator that couples a semiconductor model to the 3D time-domain solution of Maxwell's equations. The electromagnetic wave propagation effects on the millimeter-wave FETs are thoroughly analyzed. The use of the electromagnetic model over the conventional quasi-static model provides the actual device response at high frequencies. It also shows the nonlinear energy build-up along the device width whereas the quasi-static model provides a linear increase of energy. The combined model is capable of predicting the device nonlinearity and harmonic distortion of amplifier circuits at large signal.


This paper aims to identify factors that could affect knowledge application capability effectiveness (KACE) in information technology service management (ITSM) context. One of the most important parts of ITSM is IT service desk (SD) function that maintains and keeps IT services running. Such function deals with various IT problems and incidents on a daily basis. The problems and incidents are addressed using available knowledge resources (i.e., organizational knowledge and personal knowledge). Building on the literature of knowledge management (KM) in ITSM, it has been noted that research has been focusing on knowledge creation (KC) and sharing while neglecting the importance of knowledge application or implementation. Research in the field of KM and IT services shows that it is not KC and sharing per se that create value or improve the performance of functions in organizations (i.e., ITSM), but the effectiveness of knowledge implantation. Individuals have several reasons to create and access knowledge but not apply it. Causes are not clear to date, but include lack of opportunity and time, risk, and distrust of the source of knowledge. Our review of IT service literature suggests that the effectiveness of knowledge application will improve the performance of IT SD function (e.g., reduce time of handling incidents). Identifying factors that help influence KACE in IT SD function is a significant aspect for ITSM. This study employed a set of semi-structured interviews for purpose of identifying factors that facilities KACE in ITSM. Four major factors are shown to be related to the extent to which IT SD managers feel that KACE can be influenced immensely. The results are founded on a qualitative data in which manual and computer-aided content analysis was undertaken of 23 IT SD managers in higher education sector in Austrian (HESA). The results are based on work conducted in the IT SD function in HESA, thereby the findings are specific to that setting.

Aus. J. Bus. Sco S. & IT. Vol 6(1), January 2020, P 1-14.


Cross-modal grouping interactions between auditory and visual sequences have previously been demonstrated (O'Leary and Rhodes 1984, Perception & Psychophysics 33 565–569; Rahne et al 2008, Brain Research 1220 118–131). Three experiments were conducted here to determine whether cross-modal interaction precedes unimodal grouping and whether the temporal ventriloquism effect could be found between grouped auditory and visual sequences. We used a repeating four-tone auditory sequence (high–middle–middle–low) where the middle tones could group with either the high tone or the low tone, paired with a sequence of light flashes with a single flash one side and three the other. Experiment 1 showed that the temporal position of the isolated flash in the visual sequence had no effect on which of the auditory tones were perceived as isolated. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that the temporal ventriloquism effect occurs between grouped auditory and visual sequences, as participants reported that the isolated light and tone from grouped visual and auditory sequences seemed to synchronise when they were between 120 and 240 ms apart. These results suggest that unisensory grouping can occur prior to cross-modal interaction.


Objectives To explore the effects of weight change on the risk of metabolic abnormalities in the Chinese population. Methods A total of 1895 metabolically healthy adults aged 21–78 years completed anthropometric and biological measurements at baseline (2012) and at an eight year follow-up (2020). Based on absolute weight change and relative weight change, the participants were split into five classes. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the risk of metabolic abnormalities using stable weight as the reference group. Stratified analysis was used to explore this relationship in participants with different baseline body mass index (BMI) levels. Results During the follow-up period, 35.41% of the participants retained a stable weight, and 10.71% had metabolic abnormalities. After covariate adjustment, for every kilogram gained over eight years, the risk of developing metabolic abnormalities increased by 22% (RR: 1.094; 95% CI: 1.063–1.127). Compared with stable weight participants, weight gain of 2–4 Kg and weight gain ≥ 4 Kg exhibited significantly higher risks of metabolic abnormalities, with RR of 1.700 (95% CI 1.150–2.513) and 1.981 (95% CI 1.372–2.859), respectively. A weight gain of ≥ 4 Kg had an opposite effect on the overweight/obesity and non-overweight/obesity groups, with an increased risk of metabolic abnormalities only in the non-overweight/obesity group (RR, 2.291; 95% CI, 1.331–3.942). Moreover, weight loss ≥ 4 Kg significantly reduced the risk of metabolic abnormalities only among overweight/obese adults (RR 0.373; 95% CI 0.154–0.906). Similar results were observed in relative body weight change analyses. Conclusions Long-term excessive body weight gain is positively associated with an increased risk of metabolic abnormalities among adults with non-overweight/obesity, whereas long-term body weight loss is a protective factor for metabolic health among adults with overweight/obesity.


The objective of the study was to assess the family environment of persons with thalassemia major disorder. The clinical profile of the persons with thalassemia, the family awareness about the disorder and the social, financial, emotional and the couple relationship aspects due to thalassemia were also studied.

The parents of the persons with thalassemia major were included in the study. Interviews were carried out with each of the subjects using a standard questionnaire to assess the family environment. The other aspects were studied using a semi structured questionnaire.

The results show that 42 percent has a family income of less than 5000 Rupees per month. There is no mutual emotional support among 54 percent of the couples. 66 percent of the parents are not involved in any social activities. 14 percent of the parents feel burden and another 14 percent feel burnout and 38 percent are anxious about the sick child. The relationship with the non thalassemic child in the family is affected among 55 percent of the parents. 86 percent of the parents are aware about the need of iron chelation and the genetic nature of thalassemia. Family environment is significantly affected by the duration of the illness, treatment cost, number of thalassemia persons in the family, lack of awareness on the genetic nature on thalassemia. Hospital admissions restrict the recreational activities and also lead to lose of control in the family. Organization in the family is significantly affected where there is more number of persons with thalassemia.

The subjects assessed expressed varying concerns about the family relationships, life long illness of the child and other psycho social issues. They feel that their competitiveness, career development, financial needs and relationships with their spouse and with their normal child are hampered by the illness of the child. It establishes that various psycho social interventions are imperative for such families.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of our study was to identify relevant and reliable CT signs of bowel injury, to determine the overall performance of CT in detection of bowel injuries, and to establish the effect of the training level of radiologists on this performance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Abdominal CT scans of 112 patients with blunt abdominal trauma were prospectively and retrospectively reviewed. Fifty patients had proven bowel injuries (with or without other visceral injuries), whereas 62 patients had no bowel injury and comprised the comparison or control group. Thirty-one of the 62 patients in the comparison group had surgical proof of abdominal but not bowel or mesenteric injuries. The retrospective review of the 112 CT scans was performed randomly and individually by nine radiologists unaware of the diagnosis, including three faculty abdominal radiologists, three senior residents in training, and three junior residents in training. Individual performance and group performance were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis, and interobserver agreement was tested. Individual CT signs as relevant predictors of bowel injury were identified by logistic regression.

RESULTS
Relevant predictors of bowel injury included mesenteric infiltration, bowel wall thickening, extravasation of vascular or enteric contrast agent, and the presence free air. In the retrospective blinded review, CT showed good to excellent interobserver reliability for individual CT signs as well as for diagnosis of bowel and visceral injuries. Faculty radiologists tended to diagnose injuries with greater accuracy and confidence, but they showed significantly better performance than residents only in diagnosing duodenal perforation. For the prospective CT diagnosis of bowel injury, CT had a sensitivity of 64%, an accuracy of 82%, and a specificity of 97%.

CONCLUSION
Bowel injuries are challenging to diagnose on CT. Radiologists with various levels of experience and expertise can achieve accurate and reproducible results using a variety of CT criteria.


Recent years have seen a growth in proposals around the globe to develop new urban areas incorporating ambitious sustainability objectives. These projects are often planned by a small, elite group of international architecture, engineering and planning consultants, the Global Intelligence Corps (GIC). This dissertation describes and conceptualizes how and why urban planning ideas travel internationally, using sustainable urbanism as a case study. The dissertation draws on qualitative research conducted between 2010 and 2012. The data is interpreted through a conceptual framework grounded in assemblage thinking, that provides a way of understanding how a model can crystallize in a particular form, but still remain dynamic and flexible. The research found that sustainable urbanism, as it is applied by the GIC, has three key objectives: the creation of "good", high-performance and integrated urban places. The GIC have a substantial influence on international conceptions of sustainable urbanism, in part as a result of their close involvement in the development and application of some of the key devices for coordinating the model's travels. Sustainable urbanism's international success is linked to two factors in particular: its flexibility, which allows it to be expressed in ways that speak to the key drivers of individual urban development projects, and the ease with which the model can be deployed in an entrepreneurial climate. The GIC encourage the take-up of sustainable urbanism in new environments through the use of materials and experiences to introduce their ideas. For practitioners, these findings point to the importance of developing a broad awareness of how the objectives of sustainable urbanism can be achieved, to think critically about where their ideas come from, and to look widely for examples and inspiration. Practitioners also need to apply a pragmatic and iterative ethical frame to guide decision making in the planning process.


tRNAHis guanylyltransferase (Thg1) post-transcriptionally adds a G (position −1) to the 5′-terminus of tRNAHis. The Methanosarcina acetivorans Thg1 (MaThg1) gene contains an in-frame TAG (amber) codon. Although a UAG codon typically directs translation termination, its presence in Methanosarcina mRNA may lead to pyrrolysine (Pyl) incorporation achieved by Pyl-tRNAPyl, the product of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase. Sequencing of the MaThg1 gene and transcript confirmed the amber codon. Translation of MaThg1 mRNA led to a full-length, Pyl-containing, active enzyme as determined by immunoblotting, mass spectrometry, and biochemical analysis. The nature of the inserted amino acid at the position specified by UAG is not critical, as Pyl or Trp insertion yields active MaThg1 variants in M. acetivorans and equal amounts of full-length protein. These data suggest that Pyl insertion is akin to natural suppression and unlike the active stop codon reassignment that is required for selenocysteine insertion. Only three Pyl-containing proteins have been characterized previously, a set of methylamine methyltransferases in which Pyl is assumed to have specifically evolved to be a key active-site constituent. In contrast, Pyl in MaThg1 is a dispensable residue that appears to confer no selective advantage. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Thg1 is becoming dispensable in the archaea, and furthermore supports the hypothesis that Pyl appeared in MaThg1 as the result of neutral evolution. This indicates that even the most unusual amino acid can play an ordinary role in proteins.


This article analyses Catholic responses to persecution of the Church by the Mexican state during Mexico's cristero rebellion (1926–9) and seeks to make a new contribution to the revolt's religious history. Faced with the Calles regime's anticlericalism, the article argues, Mexico's episcopate developed an alternative cultic model premised on a revitalised lay religion. The article then focuses on changes and continuities in lay – clerical relations, and on the new religious powers of the faithful, now empowered to celebrate 'white' masses and certain sacraments by themselves. The article concludes that persecution created new spaces for lay religious participation, showing the 1910–40 Revolution to be a period of religious, as well as social, upheaval.


In each of his twelve novels, Jim Crace, who likes to refer to himself as a "landscape writer", created a distinct yet recognisable imaginary landscape or cityscape, which led critics to coin the term "Craceland" to denote this idiosyncratic milieu. Through Crace's remarkable ability to both authentically and poetically render these milieux, they appear other and familiar at the same time. Moreover, he occupies these places and spaces with communities in transition, which include people who are caught on the verge of a historical shift that necessitates certain social, economic, political and cultural changes that affect all spheres of their private and public lives. Consequently, they shatter essential aspects of their identities. A crucial role in this process is assumed by the locations through which these individuals move or reside, either permanently or temporarily. Crace's debut novel, Continent (1986), comprises seven thematically linked stories that are variations of a fictitious realm, an imaginary seventh continent whose inhabitants are going through an identitarian crisis which is, symptomatically for Crace, reflected in their spatial experience. The aim of this paper is to provide a geocritical analysis of the novel and explore how it dramatises the intricate interaction between the geographic and topographic properties of landscapes and the protagonists' psyches.


This paper describes CodeSyn, a retargetable microcode synthesis system for applicationspecific instruction-set processors (ASIP). With respect to commercial or publicly available compilers, the main strengths of the CodeSyn system are in three main areas: ● Flexible and powerful instruction-set specification style which supports quick retargeting to new processors. . A pattern matching algorithm and representation that supports complex instruction recognition and utilization. . Allocation of special purpose registers taking into account the overlapping roles to which a given register can be assigned at a given time. This leads to effective use of complex instructions and special purpose registers. We illustrate the use of the CodeSyn system for an in-house custom DSP processor. This is a complex, application-specific, and extremely irregular architecture. It is also a very parallel architecture with a large micro-instruction word that allows up to five parallel operations. It is shown that the code produced by CodeSyn is within 2070 of the compactness of handgenerated assembly code.


We have applied a technique based on levitation of a single charged grain in the quadrupole. We have used 3–6 micrometer spherical grains from amorphous carbon. These grains were charged by an electron beam with the energy tunable up to 10 keV and the grain charge was continuously monitored. If the grain is charged by an constant energy, its surface potential is set to the value when incident electrons are slow down to the energy where the secondary emission yield is equal to unity. Our investigations reveal that this energy changes proportionally to the grain surface field. Moreover, we have observed a shift of charging characteristics after a long‐time electron bombardment.


Partial trisomy 12q and monosomy 12p lead to multiple malformation syndromes. Instead of trisomy 12q that has been reported as a clinically identifiable syndrome, monosomy 12p is characterized by a wide phenotypic spectrum. We report two cousins suffering from severe mental retardation, seizures, and dysmorphic features related to a trisomy 12q24.3→qter and a monosomy 12p13→pter resulting from a familial pericentric inversion of chromosome 12. In an attempt to improve the clinical delineation of these two syndromes, we compared our two patients with previous reports of these aneusomies. This review emphasizes the high frequency of familial translocations, including a breakpoint at 12q24 involved in trisomy 12q whereas monosomy 12p occurs most frequently de novo. Despite the poor specificity of the signs, this comparison allowed us to determine the clinical features present in more than 20% of patients with trisomy 12q or monosomy 12p. We particularly emphasize some consistent leading features of monosomy 12p, including microcephaly, dental, cardio‐vascular, extremity, and sensorial abnormalities, initially not reported as recurrent in this syndrome. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The change in topology with increasing temperature of liquid GeSe2 was studied by using neutron diffraction to measure the Bhatia-Thornton number-number partial structure factor, SNN(Q), where Q is the scattering vector. As the temperature is raised from 800 to 1100 °C there is a broadening but little other change in the peaks describing the local coordination environment. There is, however, a collapse of the intermediate range atomic ordering of the network associated with the Ge-Ge correlations as manifest by a substantial reduction in the height of the first sharp diffraction peak and a shift in its position from 0.99(1) to 1.05(1) Å-1. The changes in the structure with increasing temperature mimic those observed as the composition of liquid GeSe2 is changed to the GeSe stoichiometry by the addition of germanium. The significance of the results for recent Car-Parinello type ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations is briefly discussed.


In this paper, we have developed a rapid prototyping process using hybrid master molds for hot-embossing lithography. The hybrid master mold developed here typically consists of a structural layer of SU-8, an overlayer of copper, and a top layer of antistick compound. The structure is first formed by the negative photoresist SU-8 layer with conventional photolithography. On the structural SU-8 layer, a nanoscale copper thin film is deposited to enhance the mechanical strength of the mold and improve heat transfer during the hot-embossing process. Finally, an outermost antistick layer is formed by the reaction of trichloro-(1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoroctyl)-silane with the oxidized copper surface. These three layers cooperatively yield a hybrid mold which can be fabricated on a silicon wafer or any other suitable substrates for subsequent hot-embossing lithography. Our tests have verified that the molds fabricated with this method do not show any degradation of their structural design features and surface smoothness after 30 hot-embossing cycles. In comparison to other methods of making master molds for hot-embossing lithography such as laser machining and electroplating, the present method is simple and fast, with no reliance on any additional replication steps and fabrication procedures. Hence, the present method can remarkably reduce cost and the processing time in hot embossing, which is particularly attractive in prototyping or small volume production.


Student performance is crucial to the success of tertiary institutions. Especially, academic achievement is one of the metrics used in rating top-quality universities. Despite the large volume of educational data, accurately predicting student performance becomes more challenging. The main reason for this is the limited research in various machine learning (ML) approaches. Accordingly, educators need to explore effective tools for modelling and assessing student performance while recognizing weaknesses to improve educational outcomes. The existing ML approaches and key features for predicting student performance were investigated in this work. Related studies published between 2015 and 2021 were identified through a systematic search of various online databases. Thirty-nine studies were selected and evaluated. The results showed that six ML models were mainly used: decision tree (DT), artificial neural networks (ANNs), support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), linear regression (LinR), and Naive Bayes (NB). Our results also indicated that ANN outperformed other models and had higher accuracy levels. Furthermore, academic, demographic, internal assessment, and family/personal attributes were the most predominant input variables (e.g., predictive features) used for predicting student performance. Our analysis revealed an increasing number of research in this domain and a broad range of ML algorithms applied. At the same time, the extant body of evidence suggested that ML can be beneficial in identifying and improving various academic performance areas.


Abstract Incidence and faunistic composition of insect pests and the associated predators on roselle plants, Hibiscus sabdariffa L. have been studied during the 2002 and 2003 growing seasons in El-Kanater El-Khayria (about 30 km north Cairo), Kalubia governorate, Egypt. Fourteen phytophagous insect species and six insect predators were recorded. The dominance percentage of insect pests was found to be higher than those of the predators. The most dominant pests were the following piercing sucking insects Empoasca spp., Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green), Aphis gossypii Glover, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.), Oxycarenus hyalinipennis (Costa) and Earias insulana (Boisd.). However, the most dominant predators were Polistes sp., Orius spp., Coccinella undecimpunctata and Scymnus interruptus. Also, results exhibited distinct compatibility between the abundance of the above mentioned pests and their associated predators. These results may indicate the importance of the recorded predators on biological control agents in su...


The literature on short-term rental emphasises the heterogeneity of the hosts population.
Some argue that professional and opportunistic hosts differ in terms of their
pricing strategy. This study highlights how differences in market perception and information
create a price differential between professional and non-professional players.
Proposing an original and accurate definition of professional hosts, we rely on a large
dataset of almost 9,000 properties and 73,000 observations to investigate the pricing
behaviour of Airbnb sellers in Corsica (France). Using OLS and the double-machine
learning methods, we demonstrate that a price differential exists between professional
and opportunistic sellers. In addition, we assess the impact of seasonality in demand
on the size and direction of this price differential. Professionals perceive a higher degree
of market power than others during the peak season and it allows them to enhance
their revenues.


SUMMARY The aim of this study was to verify if hyoid myotomy without hyoid suspension is effective in surgical treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). We recruited six patients with OSAS, aged between 34 to 60 years, with retropalatal and retrolingual upper airway obstruction, non-obese (BMI < 27) and non-compliant to continuous positive airway pressure therapy. Pre-surgical clinical and instrumental evaluations included clinical examination, cephalometry, polysomnography (PSG) and sleep endoscopy. Surgical treatment included nasal surgery, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, tonsillectomy and hyoid myotomy without hyoid suspension. Follow-up evaluations were performed with serial PSGs, performed early (one week after surgery), and at 1, 6 and 18 months after surgery. We observed that surgery was followed by immediate normalisation of breathing parameters evaluated by PSG that persisted after 18 months. Thus, hyoid myotomy without suspension combined with nasal and palatal surgery may be considered a valid treatment of non-obese OSAS patients with retrolingual and retropalatal collapse. Furthermore, we suggest that hyoid bone suspension, binding it to mandibular or to thyroid cartilage, might be unnecessary in selected cases.


To specify and localize carboxyl-terminal domain functions of human hepatic lipase (HL) and human lipoprotein lipase (LPL), two subdomain chimeras were created in which portions of the carboxyl-terminal domain were exchanged between the two lipases. The first chimera (HL-LPLC1) was composed of residues 1–344 of human HL, residues 331–388 of human LPL, and residues 415–476 of human HL. The second chimera (HL-LPLC2) consisted of just two segments, residues 1–414 of human HL and residues 389–448 of human LPL. These chimeric constructs effectively divided the HL C-terminal domain into halves, with corresponding LPL sequences either in the first or second portion of that domain. Both chimeras were lipolytically active and hydrolyzed triolein emulsions to a similar extent compared with native HL and LPL. Heparin-Sepharose chromatography demonstrated that HL-LPLC1 and HL-LPLC2 eluted at 0.80 and 1.3 m NaCl, respectively, elution positions that corresponded to native HL and LPL. Hence, substitution of LPL sequences into the HL carboxyl-terminal domain resulted in the production of functional lipases, but with distinct heparin binding properties. In addition, HL-LPLC2 trioleinase activity was responsive to apoC-II activation, although the -fold stimulation was less than that observed with native LPL. Moreover, an apoC-II fragment (residues 44–79) was specifically cross-linked to LPL and HL-LPLC2, but not to HL or HL-LPLC1. Finally, both chimeras hydrolyzed phospholipid with a specific activity similar to that of HL, which was unaffected by the presence of apoC-II. These findings indicated that in addition to a region found within the amino-terminal domain of LPL, apoC-II also interacted with the last half of the carboxyl-terminal domain (residues 389–448) to achieve maximal lipolytic activation. In addition, the relative heparin affinity of HL and LPL was determined by the final 60 carboxyl-terminal residues of each enzyme.


We report a multiframe blind deconvolution algorithm that we have developed for imaging through the atmosphere. The algorithm has been parallelized to a significant degree for execution on high-performance computers, with an emphasis on distributed-memory systems so that it can be hosted on commodity clusters. As a result, image restorations can be obtained in seconds to minutes. We have compared and quantified the quality of its image restorations relative to the associated Cramér-Rao lower bounds (when they can be calculated). We describe the algorithm and its parallelization in detail, demonstrate the scalability of its parallelization across distributed-memory computer nodes, discuss the results of comparing sample variances of its output to the associated Cramér-Rao lower bounds, and present image restorations obtained by using data collected with ground-based telescopes.


Multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) typically requires assessment of numerous designs, each of which involves computationally expensive analyses (computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element based methods (FEM), computational electromagnetics (CEM) etc.). Apart from using multiple processors, one way to contain the computational time of a MDO problem is to use cheaper approximations (surrogates) in lieu of the actual analyses during the course of optimization. A major problem in using surrogates within an evolutionary algorithm lies with its representation accuracy and the problem is far more acute for multiobjective (MO) problems where both the proximity to the Pareto front and the diversity of the solutions along the nondominated front are equally important. In this paper, we introduce a surrogate assisted evolutionary algorithm for multiobjective optimization that relies on a surrogate model based on Radial Basis Function (RBF) network. The optimization algorithm performs K generations based on actual function evaluations followed by S generations based on the surrogate model and is referred as K-S model. The accuracy of the surrogate model is maintained via periodic retraining and the number of data points required to create the surrogate model is identified by a k-means clustering algorithm. We compare the performance of our algorithm with and without surrogates on a number of standard MO test cases and engineering design examples.


To validate the standard model of diffusion in white matter, we characterized injured rat brain microstructure using 3D EM and ex-vivo MRI. Using histology, we demonstrated that the rotational invariants $$$p_l$$$ of the fiber orientation distribution follow a power-law and that the axon diameter histogram is described well by a generalized extreme value distribution. Comparing 3D EM and dMRI, we found that the SM parameters correlate specifically with their histology counterpart, and revealed the specificity of the intra-axonal diffusivity to axonal beading in traumatic brain injury.