Diversity may change in two ways—changing the number of species within an ecological group, or by changing the number of ecological groups. This second method has been invoked to explain changes in global diversity (Vermij, 1977; Thayer, 1979; Ausich and Bottjer, 1982, 1985; Bambach, 1983; Bush and Bambach, 2004; Bambach et al., 2007; Bush et al., 2007; among others), but is it responsible for changes in diversity at smaller spatio-temporal scales? The middle to late Eocene has previously been identified as a time of molluscan diversity decline in the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain (Dockery, 1986; Hansen, 1987, 1992). Here we assess the magnitude of this decline and examine associated changes in ecospace utilization. Methods We compiled a database of bivalve, gastropod, and coral abundance data derived from published datasets, unpublished theses, and our own collections. Toulmin (1977) yielded data for all units, Harrison (1994) for the Gosport Sand, Elder (1981) for the Moodys Branch Formation, and Haasl (1993) and Haasl and Hansen (1996) for the Yazoo Formation. We supplemented these existing datasets with our own collections from the upper Lisbon and Moodys Branch formations. Because these formations are largely unlithified, samples are wet or dry sieved through a 2 mm (0.08 in) screen to remove matrix material. This process allows for a high percent recovery of fossil material. Bivalves, gastropods, and solitary corals are identified to species. To obtain abundance data we counted gastropod apices, bivalve umbos, and whole corallites. Bivalve counts are divided in half and rounded up to a whole number to obtain the number of individuals. The resulting combined dataset contains over 70,000 individuals of 546 different species from 188 collections. To assess changes in diversity, we calculate both alpha and gamma diversity. Here, alpha diversity of a horizon is the average number of species found within each collection from that horizon. Gamma diversity is the total number of species found in all of the samples for a particular horizon. Because we have an abundance of data, we are able to use the subsampling method rarefaction to mitigate the effects of unequal sampling intensity that are unavoidable in a combined dataset. Three hundred individuals were subsampled from each collection, and richness tabulated. To assess changes in ecospace utilization, we assign each species to a mode of life based on a modified version of the three-dimensional ecospace framework proposed by Bush et al. (2007). The three axes that make up this framework are tiering, motility, and feeding. Tiering refers to location of an adult organism with respect to the sedimentwater interface. It includes such categories as pelagic and shallow infaunal. Motility refers to the ability of the organism to move. This division ranges from freely mobile to immobile attached. Feeding primarily refers to the mechanism of feeding, though the food source is a secondary consideration. In the case of suspension feeders, no delineation is made for those that primarily feed on suspended detritus versus those that feed on zooplankton. However, we can separate organisms that graze primarily on sessile animals versus those that graze on plants. Figure 1 summarizes all possible categories in theoretical ecospace. To determine ecological characteristics of the taxa, we use the Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America (NMBTA) online database (see NMBTA, 2008), which was described by Jackson et al. (1999). This database primarily relies on extant genera to determine ecological characteristics of Neogene taxa. We base our ecological assignments on these genera when possible, but in many cases we rely on familial similarity. Species are then grouped by their modes of life regardless of their taxonomic relationships. For each formation we calculated the proportional abundance and the proportional species richness of each mode of life for each formation. In addition, we tabulated the number of modes of life represented in each formation. Figure 1. Theoretical ecospace utilization cube illustrating all possible modes of life (modified after Bush et al., 2007). For example, the gray box represents deep-infaunal, fully-mobile browsers.


Background The beneficial effect of corticosteroids and anti-interleukin (IL)-5 on exacerbations of airway disease becomes apparent at blood eosinophil counts above 0.15 × 109/L, well within the normal range. One potential explanation is that the upper limit of the normal range is artificially high because studies have included patients with allergic disease and eosinophilic inflammation. We have assessed the normal range for blood eosinophil counts in volunteers with no self-reported history of allergic disease and compared this with the findings from a more traditional control population. Methods We recruited 78 volunteers (15 male) with a mean age of 38.8 years. Volunteers with a self-reported history of asthma, allergic rhinitis and/or eczema were excluded. The differential cell count was carried out using sysmex XN analyser and serum IgE measured using automated enzyme immunoassay by Phadia Immunocap equipment. Result were compared with an unscreened population (n = 120) used to calculate our local normal ranges. Results One outlier value of 0.79 × 109/L, (>5 SD above the mean) was excluded from further analysis. In the remainder the mean blood eosinophil count was 0.15 × 109/L with an upper limit of normal range of 0.27 × 109/L. Volunteers with no self-reported history of allergic disease but an IgE >120 iu/L and/or positive specific IgE to house dust mites or grass were not statistically different. The mean blood eosinophil count in the laboratory population was 0.19 × 109/L (p 0.018 vs our population) and the upper limit of normal range 0.42 × 109/L. Conclusions The upper limit of the normal range for blood eosinophil count is lower in a population who have no clinical history of allergic disease.


Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental concerns. Besides passive monitoring, the recent trend is shifting towards prediction of pollutants levels for near and far future. Since the pollution sources are constantly changing the need for adaptive modeling and prediction rises. This results in usage of variety of different machine learning algorithms for modeling. Recently, support vector machines (SVMs) and fuzzy identification are becoming very popular tools for modeling environmental systems. Both methods have short learning and execution time. The aim of this study is to examine the performances of the models built with these two methods. The modeling techniques are applied to real data for summer and winter 2005.


vigorous popular journalism. The author laments the rjpublique pure et dure of which the resisters dreamed; not until page 233 does he turn to the Fourth Republic of fact. His themes are the decadence of prewar France, the hopes of regeneration born in the Resistance, and their disappointment through Communist betrayal, socialist pettiness, and conservative inertia and blind selfishness. The depressing case is argued with force and pungency. The work is chatty in style and slipshod over details. &dquo;No one liked it, the new constitution&dquo; (p. 227) is a typical sentence. French railwaymen retire at 55, not 50 (p. 295); the prewar parties number thirtysix on page 30, but thirty-two on page 204; Ribbentrop, Hindenburg, Baudouin, Robert Schuman, and Manila are misspelled (pp. 44, 57, 75, 245, 297). No authorities are cited. Controversial statements (for example, that the late Yves Farge was a secret Communist in 1944) are made with-


The author of this work presents ideological currents which led to establishing, in the second half of the 20th century in Habsburg monarchy, a strong current of reformist ideology in the Church called Theresianism and Josephinism. The author describes Jansenism which appeared in the Netherlands and then in France in the 17th century, Gallicanism, Episcopalism dating back to medieval Concilliarism and also Febronianism. These currents were established in different countries and led to the "The New Thinking" in Austria which resulted in the reforms carried out in relations between the State and the Church in Galicia. They had diverse character in the reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II and were characterized by considerable radicalism.


The semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forest is an important vegetation type in vertical zone of the Mts. Wuliangshan, which is on the edge of extinction. Based on the analysis of the disposition in vertical structure of 177 dominant and frequent species in the forest and in other areas of the mountains, it shows that there are only Tropical Asia, Sino-Himalayan and Chinese endemic elements appearing in all the synusiae from the canopy to the ground layer, including A, B and C tree layers, shrub layer ground layer and inter-layers. It is floristically subtropical in the forest rather than temperate according to a further analysis of distributions on Chinese endemic species. In the semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forest zones there are four types of common deciduous broad-leaved forests. They are Alnus nepalensis forest, Juglans sigillata forest, Populus bonatii forest and Leucosceptrum canum forest respectively. They are secondary forests after the original vegetation was destroied. It is necessary to protect the secondary forests because we do not know what stages they are belonging to in ecological succession. It may be an ideal places for studying the secondary succession and restoration ecology. The semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forests of Mts. Wuliangshan are of obvious significance in biodiversity conservation because of its important characters and the location harbpring many endemic and endangered taxa.


In this paper, a new method to perform channel estimation is presented. It is shown that accurate estimation can be obtained when a training sequence is actually arithmetically added to the information data as opposed to being placed in a separate empty time slot: hence, the word "implicit." A closed-form solution for the estimation variance is derived, as well as the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Conditions are derived for the training sequences that result in a channel estimation performance that is independent of the channel characteristics. In addition, estimation performance is shown to be independent of the modulation format. A procedure to synthesize optimal training sequences is presented, and the problem of synchronization is solved. The performance of the algorithm is then compared with other methods that use explicit training under GSM-like environmental conditions, and the new algorithm is shown to be competitive with these. Finally, comparisons are also carried out against blind methods over realistic bandlimited channels, and these show that the new method exhibits good performance.


Organization theorists have increasingly recognized the need to incorporate dynamic processes that include individual intentionality into theories of organizing. In particular, the leadership and human interaction aspects of organizing and their role in the development of organizational and managerial capabilities have been identified as an under researched area. This paper addresses this gap. Using complexity-informed theories of human interaction dynamics (HID), the paper defines leadership as the process that evolves organizational capabilities. More specifically, it describes three leadership processes that serve three system survival functions, and it identifies three mechanisms that operate locally to enable organizing through local interactions within a complex adaptive system. In sum, leadership evolves the ways in which individuals interact with one another to survive and prosper as collectives. It thus shapes the particular expression of dynamic, operating and managerial capabilities that emerge...


Vygotsky argued that children are cultural beings, living in particular communities at particular times and living and constructing a particular history. Research framed from a socio-cultural perspective is less about revealing 'the eternal child' and more about uncovering 'the historical child' (Vygotsky, 1987). Socio-cultural perspectives take into account the social, historical and cultural dimensions of everyday activities and seek to better understand children within this richly framed research context. In this book, the authors have taken a socio-cultural view of research and practice for framing their analysis of early childhood education in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Many scholars have built on Vygotsky's original writing, with important strands in activity theory, social-constructivism and socio-historical research. The materials introduced in the chapters of this book have foregrounded existing taken-for-granted practices, illuminated historically located activities and problematised cultural practices. As such, the authors have located the historical and the contemporary side-by-side in order to envisage new directions for early childhood education. This final chapter brings together the emerging themes and concepts presented in the preceding four parts of the book with a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings and their implications for early childhood pedagogy, knowledge, assessment and quality. Collectively, the material contained in this book gives a glimpse of the cultural baggage as well as the cultural capital that we have acquired. Through the rich material presented in each of the chapters, it is possible to see both the transformations of early childhood education in practice and the building of cultural capital for our profession. In bringing together respected scholars of socio-cultural theory in early childhood education from three nations, we seek to build a new community of practice, with new conceptual tools for strengthening our understanding of and practice in early childhood education.


In August 1913, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands formally opened the Peace Palace, the seat of the Permanent Court of International Arbitration at The Hague. World peace, it seemed, had broken out, and it resided in neutral Holland. The country, argued one of its leading international lawyers, Cornelis van Vollenhoven, was predestined, as a small power, to play the role of moral leader of internationalism and arbitrationism. The Great Powers, by contrast, could not further these causes, for 'the foundation of their state affairs is nothing but egotism'. 1 Not all contemporaries were infected by such optimism. 'The Peace Palace has been opened', quipped a socialist-anarchist: 'The war can now begin'. 2 His scepticism proved to be prescient. Less than twelve months after the grand opening of the building, their egotism had plunged the European powers into a global conflict, and the war would challenge Van Vollenhoven's notion of neutrality. For the belligerents on both sides, the Netherlands, straddling as she did some of the main commercial arteries in North Western Europe, was of great strategic significance. For their part, the authorities at The Hague were only too aware of the potential risks entailed in a continental war. Within living memory, during the post-Crimean international crises and the critical year of 1870, Dutch neutrality had been challenged. Especially in the latter year, British diplomatic intervention had helped to shield the Low Countries against French hegemonic ambitions. 3 Since then, successive Netherlands governments had pursued a policy of cautious and equidistant neutrality, indeed pacific aloofness from European politics.


HfO2 films were atomic layer deposited from HfCl4 and H2O on Si(100) in the temperature range of 226–750°C. The films consisted of dominantly the monoclinic polymorph. Elastic recoil detection analysis revealed high residual chlorine and hydrogen contents (2–5at.%) in the films grown below 300–350°C. The content of residual hydrogen and chlorine monotonously decreased with increasing growth temperature. The effective permittivity insignificantly depended on the growth temperature and water partial pressure. Capacitance-voltage curves exhibited marked hysteresis especially in the films grown at 400–450°C, and demonstrated enhanced distortions likely due to the increased trap densities in the films grown at 700–750°C. Changes in water pressure led to some changes in the extent of crystallization, but did not induce any clear changes in the capacitance of the dielectric layer.


Weirs are conventional structures that control water level and velocity in streams to facilitate water resource management. Despite many weirs built in streams, there is little information how weirs change hydrology regime and how that translates to sediment and phosphorus (P) responses. This study evaluated the influence of weirs on P retention and mobilization in an urban tributary of the Han River in Korea. Total P concentrations in sediments upstream of weirs were higher than the downstream site, mainly due to the increase of potentially available fractions (labile P and aluminum- and iron-bound P) (p < 0.05). Equilibrium phosphorus concentrations (EPCo) were lower than soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations of stream waters, but there was an increasing trend of sediment EPCo upstream of weirs compared to the downstream site (p < 0.001) indicating a greater potential for P release upstream of weirs. Sediment core incubation showed that SRP release rates upstream of weirs were higher than the downstream site under anoxic conditions of the water column (p < 0.01), but not under oxic conditions. SRP release rates under anoxic conditions were greater than that measured under oxic conditions. Un-neutral pH and increased temperature could also enhance SRP release rates upstream of weirs. We conclude that weirs can increase P retention within stream sediments and potentially promote significant P releases into waters, which in turn cause eutrophication.


The authors report the fabrication of porous silicon material using a xenon difluoride (XeF2) dry etching technique. Using a XeF2 fabrication process, porous silicon can be formed selectively on silicon by employing a standard hard-baked photoresist layer as a masking layer. The authors demonstrate porous silicon with different pore sizes and configurations rendering this material as an attractive candidate for a wide spectrum of potential applications. The pore size, porosity and thickness of the various developed porous silicon samples were characterised with electron microscopy and optical reflectance measurements. This XeF2 etching technique offers flexible and straightforward fabrication of porous silicon and could allow simple monolithic integration of porous silicon devices with microelectronic circuitry, following the current trend of integrated microsystems.


There is little to no evidence concerning the efficacy of heart failure caregiver interventions in hospice populations. The objective of this study was to examine heart failure caregivers' responses to a hospice caregiving intervention and elicit recommendations for future interventions. A qualitative descriptive design was used with a one-time semistructured interview conducted within 2 weeks of completing the intervention. The interview began with general questions related to the helpfulness of the intervention and continued with probes regarding the particular parts of the intervention used to explore more deeply the caregivers' perceptions. Analysis involved constant comparison of the interview transcriptions according to established approaches with codes generated through a line-by-line reading of the interviews by two investigators. A sample (n = 7) made up of spouses, adult children, and sibling caregivers responded to the intervention based on their length of caregiving (with early caregivers embracing the intervention, experienced caregivers ignoring it) and experience with hospice. They were able to give detailed feedback and make recommendations for future studies—targeting less experienced caregivers, discussing multimorbid symptom management, and streamlining the information and contact with help. Heart failure caregivers recommend providing interventions earlier (or upstream) in the disease trajectory.


Background Lupus nephritis (LN) is a prominent feature in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), present in 15–30% of patients with lupus at the time of the initial diagnosis and in 30–50% during the disease progression. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the significance of anti-ribosomal P protein (anti-P) antibodies and LN and their relation to disease activity and other SLE manifestations. Patients and methods Fifty active LN patients were subjected to full clinical examination (assessment of SLE disease activity using the systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index and assessment of SLE disease severity using Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index), routine laboratory investigations, anti-dsDNA antibodies, and anti-P antibodies. Results Comparison between the data of LN in both groups (anti-P positive/anti-dsDNA negative and anti-P negative) shows that there was a statistically significant difference in age (P=0.042), hypertension (P=0.00), and psychiatric manifestations (P=0.004). On comparison of both groups as regards vasculitis, there was a borderline statistical significance (P=0.050). Comparison of both groups as regards creatinine level or biopsy class V showed a statistically significant difference with a higher percentage in the anti-P positive/anti-dsDNA negative group (P=0.024 and 0.040, respectively). Conclusion Anti-P antibody-positive patients have younger ages, lower creatinine level, lower incidence of hypertension, usually class V in renal biopsy, but more susceptible to have psychiatric manifestations compared with anti-P antibody negative patients.


We analyze the effects of a limited number of snapshots on a general class of multidimensional signal subspace estimation methods, termed totally weighted subspace fitting (TWSF) methods. This class is an extension of the weighted subspace fitting technique that includes row weighting and column weighting of the signal subspace matrix. We quantify the asymptotic statistical properties of the TWSF method by means of a second-order statistical analysis. The main contribution of this article is that it provides, for the first time, the estimator bias. Some simulation results are included to validate our analytical results. >


The creation and distribution of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) involves a continuing violation of the victims? privacy beyond the original harms they document. A large volume of these materials is distributed via the Freenet anonymity network: in our observations, nearly one third of requests on Freenet were for known CSAM. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a novel approach for investigating these violations of exploited childrens' privacy. Our forensic method distinguishes whether or not a neighboring peer is the actual uploader or downloader of a file or merely a relayer. Our method requires analysis of the traffic sent to a single, passive node only. We evaluate our method extensively. Our in situ measurements of actual CSAM requests show an FPR of 0.002 ± 0.003 for identifying downloaders. And we show an FPR of 0.009 ± 0.018, a precision of 1.00 ± 0.01, and a TPR of 0.44 ± 0.01 for identifying uploaders based on in situ tests. Further, we derive expressions for the FPR and Power of our hypothesis test; perform simulations of single and concurrent downloaders; and characterize the Freenet network to inform parameter selection. We were participants in several United States Federal Court cases in which the use of our method was uniformly upheld.


Abstract 4′-Ethynyl-2-fluoro-2′-deoxyadenosine (EFdA) is a novel nucleoside analog of great interest because of its superior activity against wild-type and multidrug-resistant HIV-1 strains, and favorable safety profiles in vitro and in vivo. The aim of this work was to provide preformulation information of EFdA important for delivery system development. A simple, accurate and specific reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method with UV detection was developed for quantification of EFdA. In addition, physicochemical characterizations including pH solubility profile, octanol/water partition coefficient (Log Po/w), DSC analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and stability studies under various conditions were conducted. EFdA existed in planar or flake shape, with a melting point of ∼130 °C, and had a pH dependent solubility. The log Po/w value of EFdA was −1.19. The compound was stable upon exposure to pH levels from 3 to 9 and showed good stability at elevated temperature (65 °C). In vitro cytotoxicity assessments were performed in two different epithelial cell lines. In cell-based studies, the EFdA selectivity index (50% cytotoxic concentration [CC50] values/50% effective concentration [EC50]) was found to be greater than 1 × 103. Permeability studies using cell- and tissue-based models showed that EFdA had an apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) < 1×10−6 cm/s and that the paracelluar pathway was the dominant transport route for EFdA. Overall, EFdA possesses favorable characteristics for further formulation development.


This book is a revision of the editors' 2006 edition, "Evidence-Based Imaging: Optimizing Imaging in Patient Care," and includes parts of their 2010 book, "EvidenceBased Imaging in Pediatrics." The objective of this book, as with the other 2 books listed, is to judiciously apply rigorous evidence-based medicine criteria, review the appropriateness of medical imaging, and present a concise analysis of the optimal imaging options for patient care. This revised book has 10 added chapters that involve radiation risk in medical imaging, the economic and regulatory impact of evidence-based imaging in the new health care reform environment, and new topics on common disorders. The book is divided into 6 parts and 40 chapters. Part I contains 4 chapters and describes principles, methodology, and radiation risk. It also contains an excellent chapter, "The Economic and Regulatory Impact of Evidence-Based Medicine on Radiology," that is a must-read. Part II is dedicated to oncologic imaging involving the more common cancers: breast, lung, colorectal, brain, and prostate. There are 7 chapters in part III, which deals with neuroimaging of Alzheimer disease, stroke, brain injury, seizures, headaches, and sinusitis. Part IV (6 chapters) covers topics in musculoskeletal disorders such as infection, joint problems, trauma, back pain, and pediatric spine disorders. The 6 chapters in part V deal with selected cardiovascular and chest imaging topics from the solitary pulmonary nodule to cardiovascular disease, pulmonary embolus, and blunt trauma. Part VI (12 chapters) involves various pediatric and adult disease of the gastrointestinal tract, hepatobiliary disease, genitourinary disorders, and gynecologic disorders. The format for the chapters is concise, consistent, commendable, and user-friendly. Each chapter presents issues and key points related to the clinical problem. There then is a precise discussion on definition and pathophysiology, epidemiology, overall cost to society, goals, and literature review methodology. A summary of evidence is presented for the clinical issues and for the appropriateness of the imaging modalities that can be used to address the clinical issues. Well-designed tables and flowcharts are included with sample views of various imaging modalities, and in some chapters there are high-quality color images of clinically acquired photos, such as with endoscopy. At the end of each chapter is a section for future areas of research, followed by an excellent collection of references. The image quality is superb, and the authors are to be commended for this labor. The chapters are easy to read, reflecting the skilled editorship, and the paper of this softcover book is of high quality. This book has a wide reading audience ranging from radiologists, clinicians, and radiation therapists to the trainees in each discipline. However, this book should also be read and used by third-party payers and individuals who are responsible for allocating imaging resources from the state to national levels, such as Medicaid and Medicare, as well as those intimately involved with the new health care program in the nation. This book should also be introduced in the fourth year of medical school so as to prepare future physicians for the dynamic changes they will face in health care delivery. Given that not all clinical problems are covered, it is easy to see that this book lends itself to multiple future revisions, and I recommend that medical and nonmedical readers give input to the authors. This is a must-have book for individual libraries, and copies should also be available to all individuals dealing with health care issues. Other evidence-based health care resources are available online, such as the Physicians' Information and Education Resource (American College of Physicians), the Cochrane Library, and Medline (Ovid Medline and PubMed). I commend the authors for adding this book to the literature.


A process set up by Digital to monitor and quantify the availability of its systems is described. The reliability data are collected in an automated manner and stored in a database. The breadth of data gathered provides a unique opportunity to correlate hardware andsoftware failures. In addition, several hypotheses have been tested, e.g. the relationship between crash rate and system load, the interdependence of crashes, the cause of crashes, and the effect of new releases in the operating system. It is concluded that the process (in operation since 1988) has yielded worthwhile information on the products monitored. The usual availability metrics are calculated regularly for the machines monitored. Trends in system fault occurrence have been identified, leading to suggestions for both software and hardware improvements. The monitoring process and analysis methodology are revised on an ongoing basis to improve the quality of information obtained and to extend the analysis to Digital's new systems. The recently announced VAX9000 mainframe and fault-tolerant VAXft 3000 are two such systems. >


Purpose: To determine which dose and non‐dose features of patients undergoing thoracic radiotherapy best predict the incidence of possible lung pneumonitis and to estimate the corresponding risk of developing pneumonitis. Method and Materials: The study employed a database of 235 patients, out of which 34 were diagnosed with Grade 2+ pneumonitis. A total of 94 dose and non‐dose features of each patient were analyzed. To determine the most significant features likely to affect patient outcome, a two‐fold optimization approach was developed. First, the feature values were evaluated by four machine learningmodels for accurate prediction. The model accuracy was measured in terms of tenfold cross‐validation‐based area under ROC curve (AUC). Next, the ROCs of the four models were combined. Towards that end, a Bayesian decision fusion methodology was developed. Finally, based on the combined ROC, the fusion model isolated the set of most significant features and also computed patient‐specific risk of injury. Results: Out of 94 original features, 27 were selected by the four models. AUC values corresponding to the four models were 0.75, 0.70, 0.79, and 0.73, respectively. Most notably, when the four models were combined, the AUC improved to 0.85. Furthermore, the fusion model identified only six features as most significant. They consisted of two dose features: EUD (a=2) and V30; and four non‐dose features: gender, tumor location, histology type, and chemotherapy schedule. The corresponding probabilities for injured patients were found to be significantly higher than those for non‐injured patients, demonstrating robustness of the over all predictive model.Conclusion: A framework was developed to predict the incidence of pneumonitis in lungcancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. The predicted probabilities of injury were found to correspond well with the known injury status of the patients. The framework may potentially be used in the clinic to improve the treatment decision‐making process.


ABSTRACT We propose a test for state dependence in binary panel data with individual covariates. For this aim, we rely on a quadratic exponential model in which the association between the response variables is accounted for in a different way with respect to more standard formulations. The level of association is measured by a single parameter that may be estimated by a Conditional Maximum Likelihood (CML) approach. Under the dynamic logit model, the conditional estimator of this parameter converges to zero when the hypothesis of absence of state dependence is true. Therefore, it is possible to implement a t-test for this hypothesis which may be very simply performed and attains the nominal significance level under several structures of the individual covariates. Through an extensive simulation study, we find that our test has good finite sample properties and it is more robust to the presence of (autocorrelated) covariates in the model specification in comparison with other existing testing procedures for state dependence. The proposed approach is illustrated by two empirical applications: the first is based on data coming from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and concerns employment and fertility; the second is based on the Health and Retirement Study and concerns the self reported health status.


The introduction to Hurwitz's The Skin and Systemic Disease in Children notes that it was written during his long recuperation from legionnaire's disease. I read on with mixed emotions—concerned about his health, but elated about the product of his convalescence. Clinical Pediatric Dermatology , published in 1980, established Hurwitz as a substantial clinicianauthor. The Skin and Systemic Disease in Children , which complements and extends the earlier work, clearly elevates him into the upper echelon of veteran authors. I have read many second books that are clearly disappointments, the previous attempt obviously having drained all the enthusiasm and intelligence from the subsequent effort. This is certainly not the case with Dr Hurwitz's most recent volume. It is thorough but not encyclopedic, easy to read but not trivial, directed toward a broad group of family practitioners, pediatricians, and dermatologists but still containing enough in-depth material to be of interest to this reviewer whose


We previously reported that anti-CD3 mAb treatment induced massive DNA fragmentation and the subsequent detachment of the mucosal epithelial cells of the intestine. To elucidate the role of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) in the mucosal immunity of the small intestine, we designed experiments to inactivate the IEL by immunosuppressant, FK506 and to examine the subsequent changes of the enterocytes. Daily administration of FK506 for 2 weeks resulted in a decrease in both the potential cytotoxicity and the expression of TNFmRNA in i-IELs. The inactivation of i-IELs by daily administration of FK506 disappeared apoptosis of enterocytes in villus. Then, in the enterocytes, the long term daily adminisyration of FK506 caused decrease in the expression of amino acid transporter, CD98. Furthmore, these treatments induced the disappearance and heterogenous expression of F-actin in microvilli of enterocytes. Next, to estimate alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity by flow cytometry (FCM), we established analysis of ALP activity using UV-excited fluorochrome, ELF97 phosphate and BD LSR flow cytometer. In same condition, comparison of FITC, PE or ALP plus ELP97 phosphate revealed that combination of ALP plus ELF97 phosphate showed the strongest intensity among these fluorochromes. Therefore, we used the combination of ALP and ELF97 phosphate to measure ALP activity by FCM. In the fixed enterocytes, the long term daily adminisyration of FK506 caused decrease in the ALP activity. These results were also comfirmed the histological examinations. Taken together, our study showed that the inactivation of i-IELs by daily administration of FK506 could inhibit apoptosis of enterocytes which resulted in the dysfunctional enterocytes remained in the villi.


Congestion in major cities around the world calls for the proper management of space vehicles occupy on road networks. The paper develops models that combine the density of car usage in an area, space occupies by vehicles and the damage they cause to roads in the payment of vehicle registration, renewal, and towing rates. The paper confirms that larger vehicles cause greater congestion on roads by virtue of the space they occupy and causes greater damage to the road, as compared to small-sized vehicles. Vehicles should pay road rates commensurate with the density of vehicles, the space they occupy and the damage they cause to the road. From our models, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, Camry are undercharged across all the offices in the country, except for Tema and Bolga, which charges 120 and 80 Ghana cedis respectively above the 60 Ghana cedis national charge. For new car registration fees, we found that the current charge is higher for New Audi A1 Sportback 2019 except at theTema registration office, which charges more than 20 Ghana cedi above the national charge of 100 Ghana cedis. The paper also provides models for costing the removal of vehicles that park at unauthorized places as well as broken-down vehicles on highways. The paper suggests that this method of road user rates payment, aside being a good source of revenue for governments would encourage people to patronize public transport. This will ease road congestion, road rage as well as other unwanted road behaviors, particularly around and within city centres.


A proposed optomechatronic module is intended for the automatic and efficient calibration procedure of compact autocollimators utilized for high precision angle measurement. Conventional autocollimators have the disadvantages, e.g. the large volume and high cost, hence novel compact autocollimators have been developed in the past decade. To satisfy the practical applications, the measuring performance of a compact autocollimator must be determined and it has become important to offer a proper and efficient calibration module for the compact autocollimator.


Making top-K predictions for state-of-the-art Matrix Factorization models requires solving the Maximum Inner Product Search problem. Solving MIPS can be computationally expensive, thus spurring the recent development of several indexing techniques for this task. These techniques generally exploit similarity between user or item weights in the models to accelerate predictions. In this paper, we show that the current state of the art does not always outperform bruteforce matrix multiplication: these models may have significantly less similarity than can be exploited by these techniques. To address this problem, we propose RECOPT, a system that uses an efficient, sampling-based estimation technique to automatically choose between indexing or brute force. In addition, we propose a new baseline indexing scheme, RECDEX, that can leverage blocked linear algebra to improve indexing-based serving performance. Together, RECOPT and RECDEX outperform state-of-the-art indexes by 3.2× on average, and up to 10.9×, on widely studied models for recommendations and MIPS. PVLDB Reference Format: F. Abuzaid, G. Sethi, P. Bailis, M. Zaharia. To Index or Not to Index: Optimizing Maximum Inner Product Search. PVLDB, 12(3): xxxx-yyyy, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/TBD


In the current work, we spotlight the novel key features of L-alanine L-alaninium picrate monohydrate (LALAPM) using a dual approach comprised of experimental and computational techniques. Single crystals of LALAPM have been grown indigenously in three different ratios (1 : 1, 1 : 5, 2 : 1) through a slow cooling technique. The formations of different types of crystals were recorded during the growth process and found to vary significantly from each other. The grown crystals were subjected to single crystal powder X-ray diffraction analysis to confirm their respective crystal structures. Additionally, ultraviolet-visible-near infrared, diffuse reflectance measurements and optical parameter analysis were performed. The state-of-art computational techniques were used to get the ground state molecular geometry of LALAPM at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. Different important electro-optical parameters (complementary to the experimental results) including IR, Raman, and UV-visible spectra have been calculated at the same level of theory. The polarizability and first hyperpolarizability (both static and dynamic) were calculated to see the potential applications of LALAPM in nonlinear optics. Furthermore, several novel molecular level insights have been obtained in the form of the total and partial density of states, the HOMO–LUMO gap and electrostatic potential maps etc. The obtained quantum chemical findings were compared with experimental results. The static and frequency dependent dynamic first hyperpolarizability values of the LALAPM molecule are found to be 8.06 × 10−30 and 10.24 × 10−30 esu that are about 37 times and 59 times larger than those of the prototype urea molecule, respectively, at the same B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. The obtained results indicate that the titled compound contains good nonlinear optical properties and can be treated as a good contender for optoelectronic device fabrications.


The fruit hull of mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana L. has been used as a Thai indigenous medicine for many years. However, its mechanism of action as a medicine has not been elucidated. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of mangosteen extracts (100% ethanol, 70% ethanol, 40% ethanol and water) on histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis. We found that the 40% ethanol extract of mangosteen inhibited IgE-mediated histamine release from RBL-2H3 cells with greater potency than the water extract of Rubus suavissimus that has been used as an anti-allergy crude drug in Japan. All extracts of mangosteen potently inhibited A23187-induced prostaglandin E2 synthesis in C6 rat glioma cells, while the water extract of Rubus suavissimus had no effect. The 40% ethanol extract of mangosteen inhibited the prostaglandin E2 synthesis in a concentration-dependent manner with relatively lower concentrations than the histamine release. In addition, passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reactions in rats were significantly inhibited by this ethanol extract as well as by the water extract of Rubus suavissimus. These results suggest that the 40% ethanol extract of mangosteen has potent inhibitory activities of both histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis.


Oil and gas pipelines are inspected for corrosion using magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection tools. It has been found that varying line pressure, bending or residual stresses cause changes in the MFL signals. Changes in the amplitude are thought to be due to stress-induced changes in the bulk magnetic anisotropy or preferred easy axis of the steel pipe wall. This suggestion is supported by results presented here of finite element calculations of the effects of changes in anisotropy on MFL signal amplitudes.


Membrane topology of the H+,K+-ATPase has been studied after proteolytic degradation of the protein by proteinase K. Proteinase K had access to either the cytoplasmic part of the protein or to both sides of the membrane. Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy indicated that membrane-associated domain of the protein represented about 55% of the native protein, meanwhile the cytoplasmic part represented only 27% of the protein. The secondary structure of the ATPase and of its membrane-associated domains was investigated by infrared spectroscopy. The secondary structure of the membrane-associated structures and of the entire protein was quite similar (α-helices, 35%; β-sheets, 35%; turns, 20%; random, 15%). These data were in agreement with 10 α-helical transmembrane segments but suggested a participation of β-sheet structures in the membrane-associated part of the protein. Polarized infrared spectroscopy indicated that the α-helices were oriented nearly perpendicular to the membrane plane. No preferential orientation could be attributed to the β-sheets. Monitoring the amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange kinetics demonstrated that the membrane associated part of the ATPase molecule is characterized by a relatively high accessibility to the solvent, quite different from that observed for bacteriorhodopsin membrane segments.


Previous research indicates that men are affected when their female partners have breast cancer. However, little is known about what predicts men's psychological well-being in this context. The current investigation involved couples in which the woman had early stage breast cancer and explored the degree to which men's positive and negative well-being was related to women's well-being, women's physical symptoms, relationship functioning, and relationship duration. The findings indicate that all of these factors play a role and interact in predicting men's well-being. In particular, when women have a high level of physical symptoms, the typical associations between men's well-being with women's well-being and relationship adjustment no longer persist. Implications for working with couples addressing health problems are provided.


The nanoparticle coagulation is investigated by using a couple of fluid models and aerosol dynamics model in argon with a 5% molecular acetylene admixture rf microdischarges, with the total input gas flow rate of 400 sccm. It co-exists with a homogeneous, secondary electron-dominated low temperature γ-mode glow discharges. The heat transfer equation and flow equation for neutral gas are taken into account. We mainly focused on investigations of the nanoparticle properties in atmospheric pressure microdischarges, and discussed the influences of pressure, electrode spacing, and applied voltage on the plasma density and nanoparticle density profiles. The results show that the characteristics of microdischarges are quite different from those of low pressure radio-frequency discharges. First, the nanoparticle density in the bulk plasma in microdischarges is much larger than that of low pressure discharges. Second, the nanoparticle density of 10 nm experiences an exponential increase as soon as the applied voltage increases, especially in the presheath. Finally, as the electrode spacing increases, the nanoparticle density decreased instead of increasing.


Jay Schwartz's Philadelphia-based micro-cinema, The Secret Cinema, named after the 1968 Paul Bartel short film of the same name, has for sixteen years been devoted to the screening of a wide spectrum of 16mm films. Culling from his vast collection of educational, industrial, amateur, and no-budget films, cartoons, lost classics, and cult oddities, Schwartz's programming exemplifies the historical labor of cinephilia in an era of digital reproduction. In a cultural moment in which DVDs and online "clip culture" rule, and small gauge film formats have become historical curiosities, Schwartz tracks and lovingly re-circulates the traces of the popular-and unpopular-film culture of previous eras. The Secret Cinema gained its underground reputation as a floating repertory space, setting up shop in unexpected, nontraditional spaces, such as nightclubs and coffee shops, transformed into film venues for an evening by Schwartz's creative programming. His early efforts were part of a larger trend of emerging alternative exhibition spaces in the United States in the 1990s, as art houses and repertory theaters began to suffer-the flourishing of indie film notwithstanding-with the advent of home video and the hegemony of the multi-and megaplex. What distinguishes The Secret Cinema from other ongoing series such as Other Cinema in San Francisco, which focuses on experimental film, or micro-cinemas that feature work by contemporary filmmakers, is Schwartz's attentiveness to the ephemera of film history-from Scopitones1 to home movies to travel shorts to "exotica" music films and vintage stags. In bridging his film collecting and public exhibition, Schwartz's long-running project sustains an atmosphere of perennial discovery and cultural archeology, in which the traces of the past are unearthed afresh, for both the devoted cineaste and the curious viewer. As a mobile space of film exhibition that champions the collective pleasures of filmgoing, The Secret Cinema continues to thrive in Philadelphia despite the economic and cultural challenges of running an ongoing film series. I met with Jay Schwartz in March 2008 to learn about the genesis and meandering itinerary of the Secret Cinema from its beginnings to its current location at the Moore College of Art & Design. Elena Gorfinkel: When did you start collecting, and what kinds of films did you collect? Jay Schwartz: I started collecting films very randomly. My parents had an 8mm Kodak Brownie projector that I liked to watch get used, and later use myself. I began reading about silent movies and watching them on TV, and I would get these tremendous catalogs of 8mm and 16mm films from Blackhawk Films. At that time I would use my mother's home movie projector and watch them on regular 8mm. I bought up this little library and would watch them over and over again. I was interested in all kinds of old movies at the time. I didn't have a sound projector, so though I knew about the Castle catalog, which sold cut down versions of features, and subtitled editions of sound films for people that only had silent projectors, I wanted complete films. That was chapter one of my film collection, which took me from tenth grade till the time I went to Temple University, majoring in Radio, TV, Film. I saw a classified ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer for a used 16mm sound projector for $100. I called the guy-he told me he would throw in some movies with it. I thought it would be a neat toy to play with, and since I was starting film school it would be a good investment for watching my own films. So I bought this early 1950s DeVry projector. The seller threw in five or six reels of films he thought were junk films, which were educational: an Encyclopedia Britannica film about pilgrims, and a sponsored film that I still use called Figure Forum-it starts off and says Warner Brothers Presents, but it was a different Warner Brothers, a company that made bras and girdles. It had an interesting pastel fading that has not turned red, and it was about how to pick the right bra and girdle. …


Abstract Background Local excision (LE) after chemoradiotherapy is a new option in low rectal cancer, but morbidity has never been compared prospectively with total mesorectal excision (TME). Early and late morbidity were compared in patients treated either by LE or TME after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer. Method This was a post-hoc analysis from a randomized trial. Patients with clinical T2/T3 low rectal cancer with good response to the chemoradiotherapy and having either LE, LE with eventual completion TME, or TME were considered. Early (1 month) and late (2 years) morbidities were compared between the three groups. Results There were no deaths following surgery in any of the three groups. Early surgical morbidity (20 per cent LE versus 36 per cent TME versus 43 per cent completion TME, P = 0.025) and late surgical morbidity (4 per cent versus 33 per cent versus 57 per cent, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the LE group than in the TME or the completion TME group. of LE, was associated with the lowest rate of early (10 versus 18 versus 21 per cent, P = 0.217) and late medical morbidities (0 versus 7 versus 7 per cent, P = 0.154), although this did not represent a significant difference between the groups. The severity of overall morbidity was significantly lower at 2 years after LE compared with TME or completion TME (4 versus 28 versus 43 per cent grade 3–5, P < 0.001). Conclusion The rate of surgical complications after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the LE group was half that of TME group at 1 month and 10 times lower at 2 years. LE is a safe approach for organ preservation and should be considered as an alternative to watch-and-wait in complete clinical responders and to TME in subcomplete responders.


The migration of tumor cells of different degrees of invasivity is studied, on the basis of the traction forces exerted in time on soft substrates (Young modulus ∼ 10 kPa). It is found that the outliers of the traction stresses can be an effective indicator to distinguish cancer cell lines of different invasiveness. Here, we test two different epithelial bladder cancer cell lines, one invasive (T24), and a less invasive one (RT112). Invasive cancer cells move in a nearly periodic motion, with peaks in velocity corresponding to higher traction forces exerted on the substrate, whereas less invasive cells develop traction stresses almost constant in time. The dynamics of focal adhesions (FAs) as well as cytoskeleton features reveals that different mechanisms are activated to migrate: T24 cells show an interconnected cytoskeleton linked to mature adhesion sites, leading to small traction stresses, whereas less invasive cells (RT112) show a less‐structured cytoskeleton and unmature adhesions corresponding to higher traction stresses. Migration velocities are smaller in the case of less invasive cells. The mean squared displacement shows super‐diffusive motion in both cases with higher exponent for the more invasive cancer cells. Further correlations between traction forces and the actin cytoskeleton reveal an unexpected pattern of a large actin rim at the RT112 cell edge where higher forces are colocalized, whereas a more usual cytoskeleton structure with stress fibers and FAs are found for T24 cancer cells. We conjecture that this kind of analysis can be useful to classify cancer cell invasiveness. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Land reform in Ukraine attracted quite an attention since the independence of the country. In particular a lot of studies were done by World Bank. However most of previous research was directed to the investigation of impact of already passed legislation on restructuring of collective and state farms and emergence of private farms. The present work considers the politics of decision-making in Ukraine, which hasn't been investigated a lot up to now. The main goal of the paper is to show the dependence of steps in land reform on the political changes taking place in the country.


Abstract State and local pension plans are increasingly moving from the traditional defined benefit (DB) model to non-DB models that generally allow for participant-directed investment. This shift has important implications for the management of the more than US$3 trillion in assets held to finance public employee retirement benefits. To investigate these implications, we introduce new data from a nationwide survey of public DB and non-DB plans and a unique data set on thousands of individual investors in the state of Florida's defined contribution (DC) plan. Using these sources, we explore how participant involvement in the public sector affects the distribution of asset class allocations, management fees, investment outcomes, and portfolio rebalancing at both the individual and aggregate levels. We found that there is little difference between the DB and non-DB plans in terms of asset mix, returns, and fees, except that DB plan have greater access and allocations to alternative investments. We also found that while the average individual DC plan participant allocated their asset similarly to the DB plan, black females and older white males, on average, invested on opposite tails of the risk spectrum.


Abstract A new optical instrument was deployed in the surf zone in a trial experiment to measure bubble size distributions and visualize air entrainment and bubble formation mechanisms within breaking surf. Images of bubbles and the evolving air–water mixture inside and beneath breaking wave crests are presented. The images resolve features of the air–water mixture to length scales of hundreds of microns across a 3.7-cm field of view. Two qualitatively different large-scale air entrainment processes are observed. First, intrusions of air and water, thought to be created by jets penetrating the water's surface, fragment into plumes of bubbles. Second, an air cavity trapped by the overturning wave crest is observed to disintegrate into bubbles. The timescale for the evolution from a compacted air–water mass to individual bubbles was on the order of 90 ms or less for both of these processes. In addition, small-scale air filaments hundreds of microns wide and millimeters long have been discovered beneath wave...


Purpose of review Bladder outlet obstruction in women results from a remarkable diversity of underlying pathologies. The potential array of presenting symptoms often makes the diagnosis complex, although the condition is predominantly assessed by the urologist as a consequence of incontinence surgery. Recent advances in the diagnosis and management of outlet obstruction in women and the impact on clinical practice are outlined. Recent trials have defined the importance of early intervention for successful resolution of acute, surgically induced obstruction in women. Methods of management for persistent symptoms due to induced obstruction have been reported that render improved symptomatic response. Recent findings We present strategies for diagnostic evaluation of bladder outlet obstruction, including history taking and physical exam, as well as a review of appropriate imaging modalities and utilization of videourodynamics. Common conditions resulting in bladder outlet obstruction are discussed along with disease-specific treatment strategies. Diagnostic definitions of obstruction have evolved and improved nomograms have been developed to define study populations. Summary Recent data have underscored the need for a structured management algorithm. Areas of future research should focus on understanding the natural history of outlet obstruction in women, especially when it occurs in women who have undergone surgery for incontinence and have developed obstruction. Lower urinary tract response to acute obstruction and method of optimal management remain to be defined.


: The crystallization of speleothems can be interrupted by the invasion of allogenic water into cave passages. These interruptions were studied, both in speleothems currently submerged in an underground river and in speleothem sections, which were found at the lowermost fluvially active passage level of the Demänová Cave System. The interaction between speleothems and allogenic water, undersaturated with respect to calcite, is manifested in the presence of siliciclastic material and the corrosion of calcite crystals. The progressive development of corrosion features depends on the duration of the interaction of calcite crystals with allogenic water. Moreover, the movement of the water and siliciclastic deposition over the speleothems can influence the corrosion process. The estimated rate of corrosion, caused by the underground Demänovka River and measured by the weight loss of experimental tablets, is up to 0.029 mm/y. U-series dating indicated that the interaction of speleothems with allogenic water occurred during the Vistulian (Weichselian). The identification of corrosion episodes, caused by al - logenic water, is a step towards understanding the origin of hiatuses and establishing criteria for recognition of them.


This paper presents an innovative system comprising a water/water heat pump connected to a solar roof and a geothermal heat exchanger. This unit is able to invert its cycle and operate as an Organic Rankine Cycle. The solar roof is producing a large amount of heat throughout the year. This allows covering the building annual heating needs and furthermore, electricity is produced thanks to the surplus of heat in a so-called HP/ORC reversible unit. This paper is focusing on these three main points: modeling, design and experimentation of the prototype. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of such a prototype with encouraging performance in ORC and HP modes. First simulations of the HP/ORC system, with components optimally sized, indicate that, in ORC mode, for the weather conditions of Copenhagen, the electrical energy produced over one year reaches 4030 kWh and the nominal efficiency of the cycle is 7.6%. The nominal COP of the heat pump is 4.2 (condenser exhaust temperature of 60°C and evaporator supply temperature of 15°C). Experimentally, a COP of 4.21 (condensation temperature of 61°C and evaporation temperature of 21°C). is achieved in heat pump mode and a global ORC efficiency of 5.7% is obtained in ORC mode (condenser exhaust temperature of 25°C and evaporator supply temperature of 88°C).


The method of palpating the thyroid lobes presented here was developed by me and is based on the following facts: The thyroid gland is fixed only at one point, its attachment to the trachea at its isthmus. Its lateral lobes are freely movable, so much so that when lifted from their beds by the finger inserted behind them,1they may be almost completely inverted. In this position, as I have many times demonstrated, the only fixed attachment of the gland is at the isthmus, the two lateral lobes hanging free as thick wings of thyroid tissue. The usual anterior palpation of the thyroid gives information only as to its anterior surface, and when the lateral lobes are small, one may not be able to palpate them at all, as they sink back into their pockets beside the trachea and esophagus. The usual methods of palpation give little information as


This wide-ranging book investigates the emergence of modern ideas about the natural world in Britain from 1680--1860 through an examination of the cultural values common to the sciences, art, literature, and natural theology. During this critical period, spanned by Newtonian science, natural theology, Darwin's Origin of Species, and Ruskin's Modern Painters, the fundamental conception of nature and humanity's place within it changed. P. M. Harman calls for a new understanding of the varied ways in which the British comprehended natural beauty, from the perception of nature as a "design" flowing from God's creative power to the Darwinian naturalistic aesthetic. Harman connects a variety of differing views of nature deriving from religion, science, visual art, philosophy, and literature to developments in agriculture, manufacturing, and the daily lives of individuals. This ambitious and accessible book represents intellectual history at its best.


A practical algorithm is described, with examples, for deciding whether or not a given network of 2*2 photonic switches is truly unblocking. Nonblocking photonic networks with specific additional properties, e.g. planarity, short path length, are also discussed, and specific networks, which have advantages over the square networks so far fabricated, are described. It is also shown that a correspondence can be set up between classical switch networks and networks of 2*2 switches, so that the classical results on blocking can be carried over to these networks. >


Progress in the areas of multi-party computation (MPC) and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) caused the demand of new design strategies, that minimize the number of multiplications in symmetric primitives. Rasta is an approach for a family of stream ciphers with an exceptional low AND depth, which equals the number of ANDs per encrypted bit. This is achieved in particular by randomizing parts of the computation with the help of a PRNG, implying that the security arguments rely on the provided randomness and the encryption/ decryption is potentially slowed down by this generation.In this paper we propose a variant of Rasta that achieves the same performance with respect to the AND depth and the number of ANDs per encrypted bit, but does not rely on a PRNG, i.e. is based on fixed linear layers.


Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Rational use of antibiotics can reduce the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, cost of treatment, length of stay in hospitals, and improve health outcomes. This study aims to analyse the output of AMR control program implementation on the rational use of antibiotics in hospitals. Method: This research is a retrospective study, using descriptive analysis with Gyssens' algorithm. Data were assessed from the medical records of patients treated at Eka hospital in 2017. The number of samples 877, in the ICU wards amounted to 307 and Hopea B 570. The analysis was performed by assessing the suitability of antibiotic therapy. The results are presented in therapeutic terms: the antibiotics used and the percentage of use based on the Gyssens algorithm. Result:The results of data analysis found there is an increase in the rationality of the use of antibiotics on the unit ICU (67.77%), Hopea B (67.36%). There is a decrease in Patients Length of Stay (LOS) in ICU (26%), in Hopea B (58%). The level of antibiotic use without indication in ICU (8.82%). in the Hopea B ward (5.34%.). Attitude of non-compliance of doctors against hospital guidelines and inadequate monitoring of antibiotic therapy. In the case of prophylactic antibiotics remain unobserved because of the lack of pharmacists who can monitor their use. Conclusion: Eka Hospital has established an AMR Control program, but it has not been implemented properly. Continuous evaluation, awareness raising and understanding of doctors, the addition of monitoring officers (pharmacists), patient screenings and hospital staff on an ongoing basis, are worthy of consideration in order to improve the implementation of the program.


The large next generation liquid-scintillator detector LENA (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) offers an excellent opportunity for neutrino oscillometry. The characteristic spatial pattern of very low monoenergetic neutrino disappearance from artificial radioactive sources can be detected within the long length of detector. Sufficiently strong sources of more than 1 MCi activity can be produced at nuclear reactors. Oscillometry will provide a unique tool for precise determination of the mixing parameters for both active and sterile neutrinos within the broad mass region 0.01 - 2 (eV)^2. LENA can be considered as a versatile tool for a careful investigation of neutrino oscillations.


The recently manifested interest in the surgery of the sympathetic nervous system has been stimulated largely by the work of Jonnesco (1922) concerning cervical sympathectomy for angina pectoris, of Leriche (1916) in regard to peri-arterial sympathectomy and of Hunter and Royle (1924) in their effort to relieve spastic paraplegia by ramisection. During the past two years, the division of a sympathetic trunk has been performed on a large scale, both experimentally and clinically, in an attempt to study and relieve various ill defined disorders. The following work was done with the purpose of determining the exact character of the local morphologic changes following simple section of such a trunk, especially with regard to neuroma formation. MATERIAL AND METHOD The left thoracic sympathetic trunk was divided in thirty-two dogs and in seven cats. All the animals were full grown and in good health prior to operation, and their behavior after operation


A number of key management challenges are encountered when operating tactical communication systems using a group-wide shared key. A large portion of such communications occurs over low bit-rate channels, and all communication channels must be available at any moment for mission action. Current over-the-air rekeying protocols consume too much channel bit-rate to be practical for large tactical radio networks. This caused an off-line pre-placed key (PPK) approach to become most commonly used key distribution method in these environments. Unfortunately, with this key management scheme, revoking group membership requires a full intra-mission rekey, which can be dangerous in a battlefield situation. This paper introduces a new group key distribution method called Viral Electronic Key Exchange (VEKE). This paper examines the protocol as an extension to the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol, but any electronic key exchange protocol can be used (Ex. IKE v2). A feature of this protocol is a parallel key distribution scheme enabled by propagating the key management role to authenticated nodes while establishing security associations across the network. We performed a comprehensive stochastic analysis to develop a model for computing the expected rekey time across the entire group, taking into account the likelihood of node jamming, channel failures, and message corruption. This model was verified with a Monte-Carlo simulation. Our results confirmed that the VEKE protocol can accomplish an over-the-air rekey in a short period of time, even over low bit-rate systems, while preserving rigid security and channel availability properties of the network. It also allows for the amount of pre-placed public-key material and other preparations necessary in tactical networks to be minimized.


As an economy approaches maturity, the relative importance of the construction sector would gradually decline. Without effective policies and strategies, the construction industry will suffer irreversably and this may trigger a knock‐on effect to the overall economy. The experiences of selected advanced economies are examined, including Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the UK in coping with structural changes in construction. Strategies employed by the government and the construction industry of these advanced economies to reinvent the construction industry were captured through an extensive literature review and a series of interviews with indigenous industry practitioners. In order to revitalize the construction industry, governments would accelerate publicly funded projects; provide financial support to ease the burden of industry stakeholders; and stimulate the market demand. In contrast, the industry would explore various market alternatives while companies would sharpen their competitive advantage locally and internationally through merger and acquisition. The identified strategies are corresponded to a construction industry development framework, which could therefore serve as a valuable reference for policy makers and practitioners to rejuvenate construction demand when a country approaches an urban service economy.


The purpose of this study is to evaluate the shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete columns quantitatively through the experimental program. For this purpose, the volume fraction of steel fiber is determined to main parameter (0%, 1%, 2%), and the cyclic lateral loading tests of columns were performed with constant axial loads. According to the test results, the shear strength of the column with 1% of steel fiber increased 1.61 times and shear strength of the column with 2% of steel fiber increased 1.67 times compared to RC column. Also, it was investigated that the cracks are distributed and angle of cracks is reduced in specimens with steel fiber. This resulted in an increase of the number of transverse reinforcement located on the crack face. Therefore, the shear strength of columns was evaluated by dividing the shear strength contribution by the concrete, transverse reinforcement, and the shear strength increase by the steel fiber. As a result, the shear strength contributions of concrete increased about 29% with 1% of steel fiber and increased about 36% with 2%. Also, the shear strength contributions of transverse reinforcement increased when steel fiber is mixed.


Backgrounds The optimal blood pressure of elderly people with frailty or prefrailty is still unclear. We aimed to explore the relationship between blood pressure and mortality in the elderly with (pre)frailty. Methods A total of 528 participants aged 60 years and older were exacted for analyses of the association between blood pressure and mortality from the database of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1999–2004). Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank tests were used to investigate the differences in survival between groups. Multivariable Cox regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses were applied to explore the relationship between blood pressure and mortality. Results During the median follow-up time of 116.5 [interquartile range (IQR) of 60–186] months, 363 all-cause deaths and 122 cardiac deaths were documented. For all-cause mortality, more participants died with systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 110 mmHg and SBP ≥ 170 mmHg (log-rank p = 0.004). After adjusting for confounders, SBP < 110 mmHg [hazard ratio (HR) 1.52, 95% CI: 0.96–2.41] and SBP ≥ 170 mmHg (HR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.09–2.15) had higher risks of all-cause mortality compared with SBP within 130–150 mmHg. There were no significant differences in all-cause mortality among DBP categories. A J-curve association was identified between the SBP and hazard ratio for all-cause mortality (p for non-linear = 0.028), with 138.6 mmHg as the lowest hazard ratio of all-cause mortality; each 10 mmHg of SBP rise was associated with a 9% increased risk in all-cause mortality (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.00–1.18). Additionally, a non-linear relationship was determined between SBP and the hazard ratio for cardiac deaths (p for non-linear = 0.030), with 140.1 mmHg as the lowest hazard ratio of cardiac deaths. When SBP was higher than 140.1 mmHg, each 10 mmHg rise in SBP was associated with a 17% increased risk of cardiac deaths (HR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.02–1.34). Conclusion Both lower and higher SBP levels are associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality in older individuals with (pre)frailty. There are J-shaped associations between SBP and mortality, with the optimal SBP being approximately 140 mmHg for this population specifically.


In July 2021, a series of gruesome videos exposed a case of brutal torture perpetrated by a guru or leader of the trans feminine hijra community in eastern India. This guru was allegedly of a Bangladeshi Muslim background, and various community members used the case as an alibi to target hijras of such national and religious origin, sometimes even demanding their expulsion from India. This phenomenon paralleled increasing affiliations between certain sections of trans/hijra communities and the Hindu Right. This article situates this case within the broader rise of queer and trans Hindutva or Hindu nationalism and locates it as indicative of Hindutva's expansion to its erstwhile 'elsewheres': areas outside its traditional strongholds such as eastern India and communities such as hijras who are known for their mixed religious practices and have been historically stigmatised by Hindu society. However, the article also analyses the case to show how hijras and related communities evidence contingently wavering political alliances and complex dynamics of intra-community power and resistance that remain irreducible to typical equations of Hindu right-wing politics. Queer/trans Hindutva might become disrupted by its potential constituents themselves, showing how Hindutva's 'elsewheres' trouble its assimilationist capacities.


In 2005, the Responsible Care (RC) program implemented a major structural change that mandated independent third party certification for all participants. The goal of this paper is to explore whether the introduction of mandatory third party certification has reduced accidents in RC facilities compared to non-RC facilities in the U.S. chemical industry. Using a sample of 21,741 observations from 1,460 facilities owned by 956 firms between 1995 and 2010, we estimate the average treatment effect by comparing RC facilities to statistically equivalent non-RC facilities before and after the introduction of third party certification. We find that, on average, the effect of third party certification on reducing the accidents is statistically insignificant. The results do not change when we account for self-selection into RC and endogenous treatment.


To study disulphide bridge formation by Streptomyces lividans TK 24 in secreted single chain precursors of insulin a fusion protein (PTF 1) was investigated consisting of monkey proinsulin and the aminoterminal sequence Asp1 to Gly43 of the alpha-amylase inhibitor tendamistat from Streptomyces tendae. The purified soluble protein PTF 1 has a molecular mass of 14.4 kDa. The primary structure was elucidated after digestion with lysyl endopeptidase and fragment analysis. In this system, disulphide bond formation occurs in a way that the first cysteine in proinsulin is linked to the next following cysteine in the amino-acid chain resulting in a non-natural folding of the insulin part of the fusion protein. Re-folding of PTF 1 by reduction and re-oxidation followed by proteolytic digestions led to insulins which are identical to authentic material. The ease of correct disulphide bond formation in solution and incorrect processing during secretion suggests involvement of yet unknown factors leading to an unfavourable folding of proinsulin.


Closing development gap and avoiding middle income trap are currently considered as the main challenges for the new EU member states. To obtain both those aims the countries must implement policies that support total factor productivity (TFP) growth. The main scientific purpose of the article is to examine the influence of quality of human capital (QHC) on TFP in Central European countries in the years 2000-2010. All the EU countries must be able compete internationally in reality of global knowledge economy. Thus, the QHC was analysed from the perspective of the knowledge-based economy. As the QHC is a multidimensional phenomenon in order to measure it and obtain time series for further econometric research, TOPSIS method was applied. To evaluate TFP the parameters of the Cobb-Douglas production function for the new EU members were estimated. Finally, it was possible to identify the relationship between the QHC and the level of TFP with application of dynamic panel model. The analysis was conducted for the years 2000-2010 based on Eurostat data. It confirmed a significant influence of the QHC on the level of TFP in the new EU members states.


While robotics has made tremendous progress over the last few decades, most success stories are still limited to carefully engineered and precisely modeled environments. Getting these robots to work in the complex and diverse world that we live in has proven to be a difficult challenge. Interestingly, one of the most significant successes in the last decade of AI has been the use of Machine Learning (ML) to generalize about and robustly handle diverse situations. From detecting objects in cluttered visual scenes to translating sentences between languages, ML has become an integral part of modern technology. So why don'twe just apply current learning algorithms to robots? Arguably, one of the biggest reason is the lack of large-scale data. A key ingredient that sparked progress in Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing was internet-scale data: 1-10 million labelled images for computer vision; 100 million word-pairs for language translation. Unfortunately, this scale of data is not available for robots. Hence, effectively integrating learning to robots requiresus to rethink our use of robotic data. In this thesis we draw inspiration from other data driven fields of AI (Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, etc.) to develop data-centric robot learning techniques. However, unlike the aforementioned fields, robotics involves interactions with real hardware systems, which presents three unique challenges for large-scale learning. The first challengeis the physical nature of robotics where every piece of data needs to be executed on a real system. To scalably collect large amounts of data with minimal human supervision, wepresent 'self-supervised' robot learning techniques where the robot both collects and labels real-world data. From manipulating unseen objects in new homes to avoiding previously unseen obstacles while flying, we demonstrate that large-scale, self-supervised data, when combined with off-the-shelf ML tools, can produce generalizable robotic skills. The second challenge is that real robots are slow, which limits the amount of data we can collect even with 'self-supervised' techniques. This limitation necessitates the development of algorithms that can efficiently utilize available robot data. We do this by instilling notionsof robustness via adversaries and sharing representations across multiple tasks. Finally, in several applications, robotic data may not be easy or practical to collect. Insuch scenarios, we can turn to data from simulated models of the real world. Towards this, we present algorithms to learn generalizable skills in a simulator that can transfer to the real world.


The objective of my dissertation is to understand the role of leasing in the merger of Lan and Tam. This merger was one of the events of the year in the industry, as it created the 3rd largest airline group by market capitalization, controlling 42% of the traffic in Latin America and 6% of the world. This case study tries to answer questions related with the merger and the influence of leasing on the decision-making process before and after the merger. Among the questions addressed by this paper are the impact of the onand off-balance-sheet contracts on the decision to merge, the possibility of Latam being able to (re) negotiate past and future contracts with the objective of better conditions and whether this merger would be possible if the leasing policy were different. We conclude that the most appropriate leasing strategy for Latam Group is the use of Operating Leases in order to meet the objectives and shareholders expectations.


Abstract Objectives To apply the lupus low disease activity state (LLDAS) definition within a large cohort of patients and to assess the agreement between the LLDAS and the physician's subjective evaluation of lupus activity. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective multicentre study of SLE patients. We applied the LLDAS and assessed whether there was agreement with the clinical status according to the physician's opinion. Results A total of 508 patients [92% women; mean age 50.4 years (s.d. 3.7)] were recruited and 304 (62.7%) patients were in the LLDAS. According to physician assessment, 430 (86.1%) patients were classified as remission or low activity. Overall agreement between both evaluations was 71.4% (95% CI: 70.1, 70.5) with a Cohen's κ of 0.3 [interquartile range (IQR) 0.22–0.37]. Most cases (96.1%) in the LLDAS were classified as remission or low activity by the expert. Of the patients who did not fulfil the LLDAS, 126 (70.4%) were classified as having remission/low disease activity. The main reasons for these discrepancies were the presence of new manifestations compared with the previous visit and a SLEDAI 2K score >4, mainly based on serological activity. Conclusions Almost two-thirds of SLE patients were in the LLDAS. There was a fair correlation between the LLDAS and the physician's evaluation. This agreement improves for patients fulfilling the LLDAS criteria. The discordance between both at defining lupus low activity, the demonstrated association of the LLDAS with better outcomes and the fact that the LLDAS is more stringent than the physician's opinion imply that we should use the LLDAS as a treat-to-target goal.


Posterior rectus sheath hernias are exceptionally rare, with around twelve reported cases to date. This case report examines a 38-year-old female who demonstrated symptoms of intermittent small bowel obstruction five days following an abdominal hysterectomy. The patient was diagnosed via CT to have a small bowel obstruction within the rectus abdominis. Exploratory laparotomy determined the etiology to be an interparietal hernia through a posterior rectus wall defect, which was repaired with primary closure. Postoperatively, the patient was again unable to tolerate food. Repeat CT showed concern for repeat SBO, though symptoms subsided without intervention. The patient had no complaints during her follow up at one month. This report was aimed at building upon the few reported cases as well as enumerating potential risk factors that may allow for the consideration of this diagnosis in the future.


Appropriate antibiotic prescription contributes to reducing bacterial resistance; therefore, it is critical to provide training regarding this challenge. The objective of this study was to develop a virtual learning environment for antibiotic prescription and to determine its impact on dentists' awareness, attitudes, and intention to practice. First, the learning content on multimedia resources was developed and distributed into three challenges that participants had to overcome. Then, a quasi-experimental study was performed in which the virtual learning environment was implemented on dentists from seven Colombian cities. The median of correct answers and the levels of awareness, attitudes, and intention to practice were compared before, immediately after, and 6-months post-intervention. Wilcoxon signed-rank and McNemar's tests were used to determine the differences. A total of 206 participants who finished the virtual learning environment activities exhibited a favorable and statistically significant impact on the median of correct answers of awareness (p < 0.001), attitudes (p < 0.001), and intention to practice (p = 0.042). A significant increase occurred in the number of participants with a high level of awareness (p < 0.001) and a non-significant increase in participants with high levels of attitudes (p = 0.230) and intention to practice (p = 0.286). At 6 months, the positive effect on the median of correct answers on awareness and intention to practice persisted (p < 0.001); however, this was not evident for attitudes (p = 0.105). Moreover, there was a significant decrease in the number of participants who showed low levels of awareness (p = 0.019) and a slight increase in those with high levels of the same component (p = 0.161). The use of a virtual learning environment designed for dentists contributed to a rapid improvement in awareness and intention to practice antibiotic prescription; however, their attitudes and information retention need reinforcement.


The experience of being diagnosed with dementia can be shocking. This may be compounded if individuals feel that there is a lack of signposting onto further avenues of support following diagnosis. This study, then, examines how social support is promoted in the diagnostic process. Using purposive sampling and a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 members of a dementia empowerment group in Northern Ireland, discussing both their experience of diagnosis and also their subsequent group membership. Respondents reported both positive and negative experiences of diagnosis. Feelings of shock and bewilderment accompanied this process. Only one was able to identify a direct link between a medical professional and referral to the empowerment group, others being referred by other health professionals or dementia navigators. The study indicates that, due to disorienting feelings, one diagnostic consultation is insufficient to explain both the diagnosis and offer follow-up support. Therefore, more explicit links to navigators or other services need to be made at the point of diagnosis to prioritise information regarding opportunities for social engagement for those being diagnosed.


Enhanced creativity among U.S. engineers and scientists is required in the face of strategic needs for innovation in numerous technical areas including: energy, the environment and health. NSF's third generation Engineering Research Centers explicitly require an educational component to enhance creativity to improve innovation. We have applied an approach to improving creativity that has traditionally not been used in technical innovation. The approach uses improvisational humor exercises to generate innovative ideas. The equivalence of humor and innovation is well established, and recently Sweeney and co-workers have systematically applied improvisation to enhance innovation. While this approach has been successful in non-technical fields, such as business and marketing, success has been limited in technical fields such as engineering. We have suggested a protocol based on a combination of humorous improvisation and stochastic molecular simulation to effectively search technical idea space. Humorous improvisation is the random idea generator for a stochastic search algorithm in innovation space; just as random number generators are used to sample molecular conformation space. We hypothesize that a more comprehensive refinement of idea space is required to make this approach effective for technical innovation. We have made some preliminary investigations of this protocol by carrying out workshops with undergraduate engineering design students. These preliminary results have suggested a basic protocol that uses a two-stage process: an improvised random idea which then inspires a technical problem solution. This two step approach is not used in Sweeney's approach, and may be responsible for its lack of effectiveness in technical areas, such as engineering.


Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been deemed to be microRNA (miRNA) sponges that are involved in multiple biological processes. It has not yet been corroborated whether the regulation of circular RNA HIPK3 (circHIPK3) can be used for the treatment of myocardial dysfunction. Methods In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardioprotective effects and apoptosis inhibition of circHIPK3 regulation on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced myocarditis in vivo and vitro. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to LPS with or without knockdown of circHIPK3. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing was used to evaluate the expression of circHIPK3. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, immunohistochemistry (IHC), Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8), flow cytometry, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blotting were used to evaluate histopathology, proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammatory response, respectively. Cardiac function and myocardial damage were also evaluated. Results It was proven that short hairpin RNA1 (shRNA1) was a superior interference of circHIPK3. The results revealed that knockdown of circHIPK3 effectively alleviated myocardial tissue damage, improved cardiac function, and suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis in the animal model of LPS-induced myocarditis. Furthermore, LPS-induced oxidative injuries and inflammation in the myocardium were also partly reversed after circHIPK3 knockdown. In vitro, being LPS-induced enhanced the levels of heart damage markers, simultaneously inhibited proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and stimulated oxidative stress and inflammation of H9C2 cells. Fortunately, the abnormalities mentioned were partly reversed following circHIPK3 knockdown. Conclusions In this study, we characterized the expression and regulation of circHIPK3 in LPS-induced myocarditis in the animal model and H9c2 cells. The results demonstrated that circHIPK3 expression is significantly upregulated when exposed to LPS in vivo and in vitro. Knockdown of circHIPK3 effectively alleviated LPS-induced myocarditis.


This paper presents the continuation of the work completed by Satori and all. [SCH07] by the realization of an automatic speech recognition system (ASR) for Arabic language based SPHINX 4 system. The previous work was limited to the recognition of the first ten digits, whereas the present work is a remarkable projection consisting in continuous Arabic speech recognition with a rate of recognition of surroundings 96%.


Aralin is a novel cytotoxic protein from Aralia elata and selectively induces apoptosis in transformed cells as compared to normal cells (1). Aralin is a lectin specific for sugar chain such as galactose and possesses RNA N-glycosidase activity. In this study, antitumor potency of aralin was analyzed using the poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG)/streptavidin co-immobilized infrared-to-visible upconversion phosphors, Y2O3 nanoparticles (2). Cy3-conjugated aralin could clearly detect the surface of SV40-transformed VA13 and human cervical carcinoma HeLa cells, but to a lesser extent on the normal human fibroblast WI-38 cells. Conjugation of aralin with PEGylated Y2O3 nanophosphor was carried out via biotin-avidin binding. The Y2O3-conjugated aralin also clearly visualize by a fluorescence microscope measurements equipped with near-infrared excitation source scanning in HeLa cells. It is also important to note that no remarkable damage to the cells was observed during these observations. Thus, these data imply that the Y2O3-conjugated aralin would potentially be useful material for tumor detection in vivo.


A 75-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who was receiving methotrexate (MTX) therapy developed Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated CD8+ T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD) and meningoencephalitis. She was successfully treated with acyclovir and corticosteroids plus MTX cessation. T-cell LPD is relatively rare in RA patients receiving MTX. To our knowledge, this is the first report of CD8+ T-cell LPD with EBV genome occurring during MTX therapy for RA. EBV infection should be carefully monitored to assess severe EBV-associated complications.


Background: Increasing evidence suggests that de novo T790M mutation occurs at a low frequency in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the effects of this mutation on the formation of T790M resistant clones and efficacy of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) remain unclear. Methods: Fifty-nine treatment-naïve in-patients with advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC were enrolled in this study between 2017 and 2018. We dynamically monitored T790M mutation in ctDNA of patients before and during treatment with first-generation EGFR-TKIs, which were administered every 2 to 3 months until disease progression. Results: Among the patients, 28.81% (17/59) had a low-frequency de novo T790M mutation, 66.67% (10/15) of them retained T790M mutation and resistance in this group was defined as "selection" resistance. T790M mutation was detected after treatment in 42.3% (11/26) of patients without de novo T790M mutation who experienced disease progression and resistance in this group was defined as "acquisition" resistance. After treatment with third-generation EGFR-TKI, patients with the "selection" T790M resistance mutation had significantly better objective response rate (ORR) and longer progression-free survival (PFS) than those with the "acquisition" T790M resistance mutation. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that low-frequency de novo T790M mutation is not rare in patients with advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC. T790M resistance mutations can have two origins: the selection of low-frequency de novo T790M clones or the acquisition of the mutation in initially T790M-negative cells clinically. Since the origin of T790M resistance mutations can affect the efficacy of third-generation EGFR-TKIs, these EGFR-TKIs may be more effective for the treatment of NSCLC patients with "selection" T790M resistance mutations.


China's intervention in general and the aid involvement in Africa in particular have provoked contentious debates. This study with the help of interdependence theory attempted to examine the nature of China–Africa aid relations and demonstrate the overall impact of the Chinese aid relation on Africa as well as the traditional Western influence. Employing a single-holistic case study qualitative approach, it attempts to provide a theoretical understanding of the aid relations and make sense of Africa's position within this relationship and beyond. Accordingly, the empirical data that are used in this study show that the nature of the China-Africa aid relations is driven by their respective interest greatly facilitated by the quick and politically untied Chinese aid in exchange of Africa's abundant resources and access to market. Here, China's divergent approach to aid and its economic engagement in Africa presents an alternative to the Western donors and Western financial institutions, and this is seriously challenging the traditional Western hegemony while giving leverage to Africa. The situation has intensified competition between China and Western powers placing Africa at the center of emerging geopolitical tensions. Furthermore, this study confirms that the convergent of Chinese aid with its commercial interest has negatively impacted the infant industries and labor market in some African countries; however, the enormous economic opportunities created by Chinese aid far outweigh the threats. Despite the imbalance in the benefits and the challenges posed, interdependency between China and Africa is mutually reinforced. Thus, this study concludes that the fundamental imperatives for the interdependence of China and Africa are the growing domestic needs in both sides and their long term strategic interest.