We study the dependence of the exponent γ of the power law rigidity R spectrum of the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity variations ( γ δ − ∝ R R D R D ) ( / ) ( ) on the range of the GCR particles rigidity using data of neutron monitors a nd ground meson telescopes. We found that the rigidity spectrum of the GCR intensity variations is hard for neutron monitors with the effective rigidi ties ∼10-15GV and soft for neutron monitors and ground me son telescopes with the effective rigidities ∼25-50GV. Based on the early found relationship betw e n the rigidity spectrum exponent γ of the GCR variations and the exponent ν of the power spectral density (PSD) of the IMF tur bulence it was shown that the change of the exponent γ versus the rigidity of the GCR particles is stipul ated by the changes of the exponent ν versus the frequencies of the IMF turbulence. Name ly, when the frequency decreases (or a rigidity of GCR particles increases ) the exponent γ increases; so, in limit, when ν–> 0, γ–> 2.


The purpose of this note is to present the different fractional order derivatives definition that are commonly used in the literature on one hand and to present a table of fractional order derivatives of some functions in Riemann-Liouville sense On other the hand. We present some advantages and disadvantages of these fractional derivatives. And finally we propose alternative fractional derivative definition.


Map and compass allow orienteers navigating point to point in unfamiliar and uneven grounds. High levels of fitness and running speed are requested to cover successfully long distances and climbs. Lower limb muscular strength is necessary to sustain challenging descents on rough terrains (Fong et al., 2007). Eight male junior (age, 19±1.6yr) Italian national team orienteers (OR), and 8 cross country track and fields (TF) experienced runners (20±4.5yr), all with right lower limb dominance volunteered. Ages, weights, heights, and BMI of OR and TF did not differ (ANOVA, p>0.05). Each participant performed, and an isokinetic dynamometer measured 5 repetitions of right and left foot dorsal and plantar flexions at the angular speeds of 60-120-180deg/sec respectively. Each value was normalized to the body weight of the respective subject. Descriptive statistics were computed within subject, group, movement, angular speed, and side. For each movement, the effects of group and side on the peak torques at different speeds were compared by ANOVA (statistical significance 5%). On average in both groups, right foot dorsal and plantar flexor muscles were stronger than those of contralateral limb, for all the angular speeds, but no significant differences were found. OR performed peak torques larger than those obtained by TF, in both sides and movements. Differences were significant in foot plantar flexor muscles at 60-120-180deg/sec, and in foot dorsal flexor muscles at 60-120deg/sec (p≤0.04 for all comparisons). The investigation should be extended to a larger group of participants and to other muscular districts. Data could be of interest for athletes, coaches, and physicians to set a correct training planning, to prevent accidental injuries, or to quantify the effects of rehabilitation (Fong et al., 2007).


Abstract: Some avowals are what Dorit Bar-On calls "Reportive Avowals"; they express the avower's mental state directly, but nevertheless have propositional content. I argue that some poems are Reportive Avowals ("PARAs"). They are tools for expressing strong but conflicting emotions; poems by Emily Dickinson are examples. Wittgenstein was right about intentions not being clearly separable from their expressions. The intentions of a poet in writing a poem cannot be neatly separated from the poem. Therefore, understanding a PARA requires understanding the poet's intentions. Writing and reading PARAs can enhance our understanding of what it means to avow.


The paper presents the Lewisham Community Child and Family Service (LCCFS), a community-based intervention providing psychosocial help for children, young people, parents and families. The service is focused on early intervention, prevention and promotion in the improvement of local health. It works under a service framework based on inter-agency collaboration, and a counselling model based on community and interpersonal partnerships, grounded in personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). The policy demands and local need for accessible and acceptable mental health are discussed, and quantitative and qualitative findings of the needs assessment preceding the establishment of the LCCFS are presented, supporting the need for community mental health provision. The feasibility for the LCCFS to reconcile and meet the policy demands and the needs of parents with respect to child psychosocial help and services are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


First records in the East Atlantic are reported for the North-West Atlantic endemic mysid Neomysis americana (S. I. Smith, 1873), previously known as an invader of South-West Atlantic coasts. Two specimens were caught in 2010 in coastal waters of The Netherlands. The new records provide the first evidence for a west to east transfer of a mysid species across the Atlantic, whereas previously published transfers were observed only in the opposite direction. Major diagnostic characters are reconsidered and the validity of the European species of Neomysis and Acanthomysis is discussed. A pictorial key to these species is given to facilitate future assessments of potential range expansions of N. americana.


espanolEsta tesis doctoral surge con el objetivo principal de caracterizar la I.G.P. Queso de Valdeon estudiandose la influencia que tiene el tiempo de maduracion, la estacion de elaboracion y el tratamiento termico aplicado a la leche en la calidad final de esta variedad. Para ello, se elaboraron un total de 12 lotes, 8 de ellos a partir de leche pasterizada (2 en cada una de las estaciones del ano) y 4 a partir de leche cruda en la Queseria Picos de Europa S.L. (Posada de Valdeon, Leon, Espana) EnglishIn recent years, it has conducted several studies to characterize cheeses in Spain, encompassing almost all Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) currently in existence. However, there are some protected varieties for which only a few studies have been reported such as PGI Valdeon cheese. This Doctoral Thesis Report arises with the main aim of characterize PGI Valdeon cheese studying the influence of ripening time, season of manufacture and heat treatment applied to milk on the final quality of this variety. For this, 12 batches of Valdeon cheese were elaborated, 8 of them from pasteurized milk (2 of them in each season of the year) and 4 from raw milk in Queseria Picos de Europa S.L. (Posada de Valdeon, Leon, Spain). The study of the first part of the main aim, that is, the influence of ripening time was dealt with in four of the papers of this Doctoral Thesis. Firstly, it was found that Lactic acid bacteria, mainly lactococci, were the predominant microbial groups during the early stages of ripening, gradually being replaced by moulds and yeasts. Enterococci and Enterobacteriaceae counts were very low or zero. This variety was characterised by a total solids content of 61.80 g per 100 g-1 of cheese, a salt/moisture ratio of 8.92 g salt per 100 g-1 moisture, a pH of 6.4–7.6 and a water activity of 0.917. At the end of ripening, primary and secondary proteolysis were very high, which resulted in an almost total degradation of αs1- and β-casein. In addition, as consequence of this fact, the peptide profile of the aqueous soluble extracts at pH 4.6 showed great complexity during ripening and it was observed an increase in free amino acids content, especially during the first two months at which a slowing down was observed coinciding with the huge biogenic amines increase. At the end of ripening, Glu, Ala, Pro, Tyr, Lys, Asp, Leu and Phe were the predominant amino acids, while spermine and tyramine were the majority biogenic amines. Free fatty acids content study showed a significantly increase during ripening, reaching values of 6370.15 mg 100 g-1 cheese at 120 days. Except at 2 days, oleic and palmitic acids were the predominant free fatty acids. The ratios of short, medium and long chain fatty acids to total FFAs were indicative of ripening time. Furthermore, the principal components analysis showed that oleic, palmitic, butyric and myristic acids presented the best correlation with the variables as a function of ripening time. The rheological and textural study showed that 120-day-old cheese was characterized by higher G', G'' and G* values, showing a more elastic disposition, as well as, lower fracturability, gumminess and chewiness values and higher adhesiveness values. Moreover, as time increased cheeses were characterized by a decrease in L* and a* values. Finally, the sensory attributes that most influenced the perception of Valdeon cheese were: saltiness and pungenty tastes; sour and pungent odours; adhesiveness and granularity; and taste strength. The second part of the main aim, the influence of season of manufacture, was dealt with in three of the papers that constitute this work. Cheese elaborated in summer and autumn presented lower total mesophilic counts as result of the high total solids and salt/moisture ratio and low water activity. Nitrogen fractions determination showed a great extent and profound of proteolysis in autumn batches, which agreed with the high casein degradation observed. On the other hand, spring cheeses showed the lowest extent and profound of proteolysis. As consequence of proteolytic variations, it was observed significant differences in both, total and individual free amino acids content allowing characterize cheeses according to amino acids profile. However, these differences were not reflected in biogenic amines content. For its part, free fatty acids profile also was influenced by season of manufacture showing the highest concentration in cheeses made in summer and allowing classified the cheese as function of short, medium and long chain fatty acids to total FFAs ratios. Meanwhile, cheeses made in autumn and summer showed higher rheological parameters values, thus they were characterized by presented a more elastic disposition with better capacity to resisting deformation and a more firmness matrix. These results agreed with those observed in texture profile analysis in which autumn and summer batches presented greater hardness. Finally, cheeses made in summer were given higher overall scores, although no significant differences were observed between cheeses elaborated throughout the year. The influence of heat treatment applied to milk on Valdeon cheese characteristics third part of the main aim of this Thesis, was dealt with in three papers. In general, cheeses made from pasteurized milk showed with respect to those elaborated from raw milk lower microbiological counts (5.30 versus 7.57 log units in Rogosa agar), higher total solids content (60.87 g 100 g-1 of cheese versus 51.49 g 100 g-1 of cheese), higher salt/moisture ratio (7.60 versus 6.57), pH values (7.08 versus 6.57) and lower aw (0.937 versus 0.957). It was observed greater extent proteolysis in pasteurized-milk cheeses while raw-milk cheeses showed higher deeper proteolysis. These differences in proteolytic activity were reflected in free amino acids profile, although they were not reflected in total amino acids content. However, it was found significant differences in both, total and individual, biogenic amines content, especially in tyramine content. Similarly, cheeses made from raw milk showed higher free fatty acids content although short, medium and long chain fatty acids to total FFAs ratios were not affected by heat treatment applied to milk. On the other hand, it was observed a more elastic with better capacity to resisting deformation and a more compact matrix in batches elaborated from pasteurized milk, as well as, higher fracturability and hardness values. Finally, cheeses made from raw milk showed overall scores slightly higher. Finally, in the last study the characterization of the peptidome of a Spanish blue cheese, Valdeon, has been conducted before and after gastrointestinal digestion. In addition, the digest were compared to those obtained, in the same conditions, from pasteurized skimmed milk powder using a bioinformatics platform. Peptidomic profiling of digests revealed several regions that are especially resistant to digestion (among them β-casein 60-93, 128-140, and 193-209). Some of them correspond to wellconserved regions between species (human, cow, sheep, and goat) and include peptide sequences with reported bioactivity. The great peptide homology found between both digests, cheese and SMP, suggests that the gastrointestinal digestion could bring closer the profile of products with different proteolytic state. Although most of the biologically active peptides found in cheese after digestion were also present in SMP digest, there were some exceptions that can be attributed to the absence of the relevant precursor peptide before digestion.


Teresa has hit that in-between stage—too big for her tricycle, but not ready for a two-wheeler. Abuelito Benito sends her the perfect ride, a smokin' lime-green pedalable low rider with dazzling chrome and flame decals. She's instantly the envy of her block, the winner of the playground car show, and the object of attention from the neighborhood dandy. Even the best toys lose their literal and figurative shine over time, and although Teresa won't let her sister play with her carrito, she won't keep it up herself, and soon it's hardly fast enough to help her escape from a toothy dog on the loose. Grandpa Benny arrives for a visit and remarks, "Pues, it looks older than me. . . . Ready for the scrap heap" and that's just the prompting Teresa needs to get her ride back in shape with Grandpa's help. Paparone's acrylic artwork is as sizzling as Teresa's wheels, with an eye-popping fruit-stand palette, and textures slightly softened to suggest urban murals. Compositions incorporate both realistic elements and magical detailing such as haloes around the carrito, thought bubbles of Grandpa tricked out in a lime-green suit, and a Lady of Guadalupe statue that looks decidedly nervous at the approach of the loose dog. Soto includes a glossary of Spanish terms—but insiders won't need it, and newcomers probably won't use it, since a hot ride and a loving grandfather transcend linguistic barriers. EB


Most of the earlier work on clustering has mainly been focused on numerical data whose inherent geometric properties can be exploited to naturally define distance functions between data points. Working only on numeric values prohibits it from being used to cluster real world data containing categorical values. Recently, the problem of clustering categorical data has started drawing interest. The k-means algorithm is well known for its efficiency in this respect. It is also well known for its efficiency in clustering large data sets. However, in this paper we use the k-means algorithm to categorical domains by assigning rank value to the attributes


ABSTRACT We apply cumulative advantage (CA) theory to understand the social hierarchies behind the accumulation of skills and rewards through Adult Learning and Education (ALE) – formal, informal, and non-formal. Using representative data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE), we confirm the assumption of CA theory that advantages are accumulated through ALE, not only within social groups, but also between them. For individuals coming from educationally advantaged families but without higher education, participation in informal non-job-related ALE and formal ALE enhances employment chances. It is therefore a strategy to compensate for the lack of higher education for those coming from educationally advantaged families. For those coming from less educationally advantaged families, higher education moderates the positive effect on wages of non-formal ALE without employer support. Rather than being a way to compensate for between-group inequalities, this type of ALE allows for labour market adaptation for the educationally disadvantaged and has positive effects within the group. We conclude that various types of ALE are institutionalised into different paths of human capital accumulation.


The downlink capacity of WCDMA systems is highly important due to the expected asymmetrical nature of the traffic. It is thus of paramount importance that highly efficient downlink receivers are implemented. The conventional RAKE receivers, as are likely to be initially implemented in UMTS networks, suffer significant performance degradation under high traffic loads. A candidate receiver for the downlink of such networks is the LMMSE chip level equaliser. The principal of such receivers is to restore the orthogonality of users from one cell by equalising the received signal from that cell at chip level before despreading. This technique is not only able to suppress the intra-cell multiple access interference (MAI) but may also be used to reduce the inter-cell MAI. This paper addresses the use of the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) criteria for the construction of a linear MMSE chip equaliser for a WCDMA downlink receiver. Channel coding, as specified in the 3GPP technical specifications, is employed in both single and multi-cell scenarios. Simulation demonstrate such receivers are able to achieve considerable performance gains when compared to the conventional RAKE receiver.


Stomachs of four dogs with uremia and four normal dogs were examined. Uremic stomachs represented four types of disease: atrophic, amyloidotic, ulcerative and necrotic gastropathy. Pathologic changes common to all uremic stomachs were expansion of the lamina propria, atrophy of gastric glands, and submucosal arteriopathy; lesions were limited to body and fundic zones. Lamina propria was markedly expanded by edema, mastocytosis, deposition of acidic mucosubstances, fibroplasia and mineralization. Capillaries in lamina propria had swollen endothelium and calcium salts were present extracellularly as amorphous granular laminae. Gastric glands were distorted and irregular and had fewer cells per unit of tissue. Parietal cells were swollen and had fragmentation of cytocavitary network and mitochondrial swelling with calcification. Chief cells were shrunken, agranular and atrophic with foci of glycogen and dilation of endoplasmic reticulum. Argentaffin cell content was diminished. Muscular arteries of submucosae had segmental degenerative lesions characterized by myocyte necrosis, calcification, and deposition of acidic mucosubstances and fibrin; thrombosis and obstructive arteriopathy were common. These studies suggest that uremic gastropathy is a disease of mucosal lamina propria and that lesions were due to anoxia caused by diffuse vascular injury and to altered parietal cell function.


Abstract In order to minimize the invasiveness of laparoscopic surgery, different techniques are emerging from research to clinical practice. Whether the incision is performed on the outside – as in Single Port Laparoscopy (SPL) – or on the inside – as in Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) – of the patient's body, inserting and operating all the instruments from a single access site seems to be the next challenge in surgery. Magnetic guidance has been recently proposed for controlling surgical tools deployed from a single access. However, the exponential drop of magnetic field with distance makes this solution suitable only for the upper side of the abdominal cavity in nonobese patients. In the present paper we introduce a polymeric anchoring mechanism to lock surgical assistive tools inside the gastric cavity, based on the use of mucoadhesive films. Mucoadhesive properties of four formulations, with different chemical components and concentration, are evaluated by using both in vitro and ex vivo test benches on porcine stomach samples. Hydration of mucoadhesive films by contact with the aqueous mucous layer is analyzed by means of in vitro swelling tests, whereas optimal preloading conditions and adhesion performances, in terms of detachment force, supported weight and size are investigated ex vivo. Mucoadhesion is observed with all the four formulations. For a contact area of 113 mm2, the maximum normal and shear detachment forces withstood by the adhesive film are 2,6 N and 1 N respectively. These values grow up to 12,14 N and 4,5 N when the contact area increases to 706 mm2. Lifetime of the bonding on the inner side of the stomach wall was around two hours. Mucoadhesive anchoring represents a fully biocompatible and safe approach to deploy multiple assistive surgical tools on mucosal tissues by minimizing the number of access ports. This technique has been quantitatively assessed ex vivo for anchoring on the inner wall of the gastric cavity or in gastroscopic surgery. By properly varying the chemical formulation, this approach can be extended to other cavities of the human body.


In some situations, investment capital seems to move slowly towards profitable trades. We develop a model of a financial market in which capital moves slowly simply because there is a proportional cost to moving capital. We incorporate trading fees in an infinite-horizon dynamic general-equilibrium model in which investors optimally and endogenously decide when and how much to trade. We determine the steady-state equilibrium no-trade zone, study the dynamics of equilibrium trades and prices and compare, for the same shocks, the impulse responses of this model to those of a model in which trading is infrequent because of investor inattention.


The stability properties as characterized by the fluctuations of finite-time Lyapunov exponents around their mean values are investigated in a three-level quasigeostrophic atmospheric model with realistic mean state and variability. Firstly, the covariance structure of the fluctuation field is examined. In order to identify dominant patterns of collective excitation, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the fluctuation field of all of the finite-time Lyapunov exponents is performed. The three leading modes are patterns where the most unstable Lyapunov exponents fluctuate in phase. These modes are virtually independent of the integration time of the finite-time Lyapunov exponents. Secondly, large-deviation rate functions are estimated from time series of finite-time Lyapunov exponents based on the probability density functions and using the Legendre transform method. Serial correlation in the time series is properly accounted for. A large-deviation principle can be established for all of the Lyapunov exponents. Convergence is rather slow for the most unstable exponent, becomes faster when going further down in the Lyapunov spectrum, is very fast for the near-neutral and weakly dissipative modes, and becomes slow again for the strongly dissipative modes at the end of the Lyapunov spectrum. The curvature of the rate functions at the minimum is linked to the corresponding elements of the diffusion matrix. Also, the joint large-deviation rate function for the first and the second Lyapunov exponent is estimated.


The Cu-Zr-Ag system is characterized by a miscibility gap. The liquid separates into Agrich and Cu-Zr rich liquids. Yttrium was added to the Cu-Zr-Ag and Cu-Zr-Ag-Al systems and its influence on liquid immiscibility was studied. This alloying element has been chosen to check the effect of the heat of mixing between silver and the given element. In the case of Ag-Y system it is highly negative (-29 kJ/mol). The liquid becomes immiscible in the Cu-Zr-Ag-Y system. To the effect of Y addition the quaternary liquid decomposed into Ag-Y rich and Cu-Zr rich liquids. The Y addition increased the field of miscibility gap. An amorphous/crystalline composite with 6 mm thickness has been successfully produced by liquid-liquid separation based on preliminary calculation of its composition. The matrix was Cu38Zr48Al6Ag8 and the crystalline phases were Ag-Y rich separate spherical droplets. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.


Question-Answer Relationships (QAR) is a reading comprehension strategy developed to clarify how students approach the tasks of reading texts and answering questions. This study aimed to know how the significant effect and the effects of Question-Answer-Relationship strategy (QAR) on the reading comprehension of narrative text students at eight grade SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Giri. The researcher took 48 students as the sample. They grouped into two classes, one of experiment group VIII A that consist of 24 students and VIII B as control group that also consist of 24 students.
The design of the study was Quasi Experimental Design. The instrument used collect data was reading test to set scores of students' reading comprehension. In this research, there are five procedures of research design that was giving pre test, giving treatments, giving post test, analyzing the data using t-test formula and wrote the hypothesis.
The research finding showed that this strategy was effective to teach reading for eight grade at SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Giri. The students' average score in pre test between experimental and control group was 57.50 and 58.54. The score improved in post test. The significant value of experimental group was 0.00 it was lower than the level of significant at 0.005. Based on the hypothesis result, there is significant different between experimental and control group.
The researcher concluded that QAR strategy could improve students' reading comprehension especially in narrative text. By using this strategy, students could learn by working in groups. In general, the use of QAR strategy to teach reading comprehension was quite good. Students appeared more active and cooperative in discussion section.
Three are suggestions are provided. The first, the English teacher is recommended to use QAR as an effective additional strategy in teaching reading narrative text and to avoid monotonous activities in the class. The second, for the students is the researcher hopes the use of QAR can be used to alternate and motivate students in reading and can be used to maximize teaching and learning process in the class. The third, for the next researcher was who wants to conduct a research using QAR were recommended to conduct this research in different areas and levels.


. This work proposes a formalization of discrete event time algorithms. A Church type thesis, its proof, and the notion of stability for discrete event time algorithms are presented. The Church thesis for discrete algorithms motivates us to consider the Church thesis for the case when we are dealing with discrete event time algorithms. The notions of discrete event time algorithm and discrete event time dynamical system are postulated to be equivalent. The stability concept for discrete event time algorithms is defined. The stability analysis presentation starts concentrating in discrete event time algorithms, i.e., discrete event time dynamical systems, whose Petri net model is described by difference equations, and continues considering Lyapunov energy functions in terms of the logical structures of the vocabulary. A stability analysis based on the reachability tree of the Petri net model is also discussed.


Research on the macroeconomic impact of capital account liberalization finds few, if any, robust effects of liberalization on real variables. In contrast to the prevailing wisdom, I argue that the textbook theory of liberalization holds up quite well to a critical reading of this literature. The lion's share of papers that find no effect of liberalization on real variables tell us nothing about the empirical validity of the theory, because they do not really test it. This paper explains why it is that most studies do not really address the theory they set out to test. It also discusses what is necessary to test the theory and examines papers that have done so. Studies that actually test the theory show that liberalization has significant effects on the cost of capital, investment, and economic growth. Correspondence to firstname.lastname@example.com. I gratefully acknowledge financial support from an NSF CAREER Award, the John and Cynthia Fry Gunn Faculty Fellowship, and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. I thank Anusha Chari, Roger Gordon, Diana Kirk, John McMillan, Paul Romer, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. Diego Sasson provided excellent research assistance. Finally, I thank Sir K. Dwight Venner and the Research Department of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank for hosting me in the summer of 1994, when I first started thinking about the issues addressed in the paper.


Abstract Problem: A series of long-term field experiments is described, with particular reference to monitoring and quality control. This paper addresses problems in data-management of particular importance for long-term studies, including data manipulation, archiving, quality assessment, and flexible retrieval for analysis Method: The problems were addressed using a purpose-built database system, using commercial software and running under Microsoft Windows. Conclusion: The database system brings many advantages compared to available software, including significantly improved quality checking and access. The query system allows for easy access to data sets thus improving the efficiency of analysis. Quality assessments of the initial dataset demonstrated that the database system can also provide general insight into types and magnitudes of error in data-sets. Finally, the system can be generalised to include data from a number of different projects, thus simplifying data manipulation for meta-analysis. Nomenclature: Stace (1997).


We propose a new adaptive hypothesis test for inequality (e.g., monotonicity, convexity) and equality (e.g., parametric, semiparametric) restrictions on a structural function in a nonparametric instrumental variables (NPIV) model. Our test statistic is based on a modified leave-one-out sample analog of a quadratic distance between the restricted and unrestricted sieve NPIV estimators. We provide computationally simple, data-driven choices of sieve tuning parameters and Bonferroni adjusted chi-squared critical values. Our test adapts to the unknown smoothness of alternative functions in the presence of unknown degree of endogeneity and unknown strength of the instruments. It attains the adaptive minimax rate of testing in $L^2$. That is, the sum of its type I error uniformly over the composite null and its type II error uniformly over nonparametric alternative models cannot be improved by any other hypothesis test for NPIV models of unknown regularities. Data-driven confidence sets in $L^2$ are obtained by inverting the adaptive test. Simulations confirm that our adaptive test controls size and its finite-sample power greatly exceeds existing non-adaptive tests for monotonicity and parametric restrictions in NPIV models. Empirical applications to test for shape restrictions of differentiated products demand and of Engel curves are presented.


The mobile adhoc network is highly dynamic and the nodes are mobile. It is a challenge to develop routing protocol that can meet different application needs and optimize routing paths according to the topology change in mobile adhoc networks. Basing their forwarding decisions only on the local topology, geographic routing protocols have drawn a lot of attentions in recent years. Providing reliable broadcasting is a challenging task. This paper analyses about various routing protocols available for routing packets between mobile nodes in Mobile Adhoc Network.


It has long been established in the literature that the set of pure strategy Nash equilibria of any binary game of strategic complements among a set N of players can be seen as a lattice on the set of all subsets of N under the partial order defined by the set inclusion relation (⊆). If the game happens to be strict in the sense that players are never indifferent among outcomes then the resulting lattice of equilibria satisfies a straightforward sparseness condition. In this paper we show that in fact this class of games expresses all such lattices. In particular we prove that any lattice under set inclusion on 2N satisfying this sparseness condition is the set of pure strategy Nash equilibria of some binary game of strategic complements with no indifference. This fact then suggests an interesting way of studying some subclasses of games of strategic complements: By attempting to characterize the subcollections of lattices that each of these classes is able to express. In the second part of the paper we study subclasses of binary games of strategic complements with no indifference, defined by restrictions that capture particular social influence structures: 1) simple games, 2) nested games, 3) hierarchical games 4) clan-like games and 5) graphical games of thresholds.


The Kenyan informal sector is characterized by an ecosystem of self made informal savings and credit groups as well as informal money lenders that target the unbanked and marginalized populations for credit at exorbitant interest rates. Huge sums of money are intermediated through the informal models on an annual basis. However, these models have several challenges. In addition, majority of those in the groups are vulnerable groups that have no assets to enable them get affordable credit from banks. The unemployment rate in Kenya is also very high meaning that the immediate option is self employment and consequently startup capital. The demand for affordable credit and the need for a convenient savings channel calls for innovative models that nurture a saving culture as well as a sustainable social support system. M-ASCA (mobile accumulating savings and credit association application) is a new end to end mobile phone-based platform which allows anyone anywhere in the country to register on phone, save, borrow, guarantee and request to be guaranteed, repay loans and exit. Members accumulate savings from their virtual wallet little by little and borrow up to three times or more of their savings depending on group rules at affordable interest leveraging on their friends and relatives as guarantors from anywhere in the country. The platform also allows groups to manage common accounts with ease.


Most studies concerning the effects of oral buspirone in the rat elevated plus-maze (EPM) test, spontaneous motor activity (SMA) test, and Vogel conflict (VC) test have used Sprague-Dawley or Wistar rats. Although it has been documented that the behavior of Long-Evans rats is more sensitive to detection of anxiolytics when compared to the aforementioned strains, the effects of oral buspirone have not been fully characterized in the Long-Evans strain in the EPM and VC tests. Thus, we studied the effects of orally administered buspirone (0.03-10.0 mg/kg) in the EPM, SMA, and VC (0.3-60.0 mg/kg) tests in Long-Evans rats. In a separate experiment, brain and plasma concentrations of buspirone and 1-(2-pyrimidinyl)-piperazine (1-PP) were determined after oral administration of buspirone (0.3 and 10 mg/kg) to relate the behavioral effects of buspirone with brain and plasma concentrations of buspirone and 1-PP. Our results showed that buspirone exhibited an inverted-U-shaped dose-response curve in both the EPM and the VC tests. In the EPM, buspirone produced anxiolytic activity in a low, narrow dose-range (0.03, 0.1, 0.3 mg/kg, p.o.) with maximum efficacy at 0.3 mg/kg, whereas in the VC test, significant anxiolytic activity was observed in a high, narrow dose-range (10, 30 mg/kg, p.o.) with maximum efficacy occurring at 10 mg/kg. In the SMA test, buspirone (10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly decreased horizontal activity and vertical movements suggestive of sedation. Also, one hour following oral doses of buspirone (0.3 and 10 mg/kg), both buspirone and 1-PP concentrations were higher in brain when compared with those in plasma. Additionally, the concentrations of 1-PP were always higher in brain and in plasma compared with the concentrations of buspirone. Of particular interest is our finding of the shift in the dose-response curve between the EPM and VC tests. This shift in the dose-response curve is discussed in relation to brain levels of buspirone and 1-PP levels and their anxiolytic action.


Introduction Gastric cancer typically presents late when few options for curative treatment remain. Therefore, emphasis is placed on early detection. Gastric ulceration identified at gastroscopy (OGD) can be a feature of malignancy, which is reported to cause 3% of ulcers (1). Repeat OGD to confirm ulcer healing is recommended within 6–8 weeks by NICE and within 12 weeks as a JAG quality standard. Our aim was to identify the utility of follow-up OGD in the diagnosis of gastric cancer and its impact on patient outcomes at our Trust. Methods We analysed follow-up OGDs conducted over a 14 month period (21/02/2013 to 28/04/2014) in patients with gastric ulceration identified and reported at index OGD. Endoscopies were performed at three centres (Boston, Grantham and Lincoln). We consulted electronic histology records and the EndoSoft® patient database. Results 171 patients underwent follow-up endoscopy (45% male, mean age 66 years). Two patients had underlying malignancy at follow-up OGD (gastric adenocarcinoma). Initial biopsies were negative in both. Patient one (44 years, female) was diagnosed by histology. Patient two (69 years, male) had macro- and microscopic evidence of malignancy. Staging for patient one at time of diagnosis was cT3/4 cN0 M1. She underwent explorative laparotomy, which revealed linitis plastica. She received 6 cycles of chemotherapy. The time from diagnosis to death was 436 days Patient two was staged with T3 N2 M0 disease and he underwent a total gastrectomy. Unfortunately an interval CT scan subsequently revealed metastatic spread to the liver. He died 398 days after his diagnosis. Conclusion Although our cohort was limited in size, malignancy detection rate at repeat OGD was 1.2%. Furthermore, follow-up OGD in this cohort did not impact on 5 year survival. Standardised reporting of gastric ulcer could improve local audit and be useful in JAG assessment of future OGD quality standards. The UK gastroenterology community should also consider whether recommended biopsy protocols should be implemented (2) and whether there is a cohort of our patients for whom repeat OGD can be safely avoided. References 1 Ingram, et al. PUD Ch 56 Yamada's 6th edition. 2015. 2 Loughrey BM, Johnston BT. Guidance on the effective use of upper gastrointestinal histopathology. Frontline Gastroenterol. 5(2):88. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Many real-world networks show community structure characterized by dense intra-community connections and sparse inter-community links. In this paper we investigated the synchronization properties of such networks. In this work we constructed such networks in a way that they consist of a number of communities with scale-free or small-world structure. Furthermore, with a probability, the intra-community connections are rewired to inter-community links. Two synchronizability measures were considered as the eigenratio of the Laplacian matrix and the phase order parameter obtained for coupled nonidentical Kuramoto oscillators. We found a power-law relation between the eigenratio and the inter-community rewiring probability in which as the rewiring probability increased, the eigenratio decreased, and hence, the synchronizability enhanced. The phase order parameter also increased by increasing the rewiring probability. Also, small-world networks with community structure showed better synchronization properties as compared to scale-free networks with community structure.


Children with ventricular septal defect (VSD) often demonstrate failure to thrive (FTT). Such patients usually have reduced systemic cardiac output which has been postulated as a cause for their growth retardation. This study was conducted to ascertain the mechanism of the reduced cardiac output in children with VSD and FTT and also in a porcine model of VSD. Forward stroke volume was reduced in VSD-FTT children, 31 +/- 8 ml/m2, compared to normal children, 49 +/- 15 ml/m2 (P less than 0.05), but was not reduced in children with VSD and normal growth and development (41 +/- 16 ml/m2). Forward stroke volume was also reduced in swine with VSD compared to controls. Contractility assessed by mean velocity of circumferential shortening (Vcf) corrected for afterload was similar in normals and VSD-FTT children. Contractile performance was also similar in normal and VSD swine. Afterload assessed as systolic stress was similar in FTT-VSD children and normal subjects. Preload assessed as end-diastolic stress was increased in the VSD-FTT group. End-diastolic volume was not larger in the VSD-FTT group. We conclude that the reduced stroke volume seen in VSD-FTT children and VSD-swine was not due to reduced contractility, increased afterload or reduced preload. The reduced stroke volume may have been due to failure of end-diastolic volume to increase adequately.


Abstract Adaptive quizzing as a course requirement is presumed to proactively engage students to learn effectively while also promoting the mastery of course content. This study evaluates the strength of correlation between adaptive quizzing as a pre-exam course requirement and course exam success. Results showed a positive correlation between the number of adaptive quizzes completed and mastery level attained on course exam scores in the adaptive quizzing program.


Advances in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cell replacement therapies are promising approaches to treat cartilage and bone defects since substantial differentiation capacities of MSCs match the demands of tissue regeneration. Our understanding of the dynamic process requiring indispensable differentiation of MSCs remains limited. Herein, we describe the role of RHEB (Ras homolog enriched in brain) regulating gene signature for differentiation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) into chondrogenic, osteogenic, and adipogenic lineages. RHEB-overexpression increases the proliferation of the ASCs. RHEB enhances the chondrogenic differentiation of ASCs in 3D culture via upregulation of SOX9 with concomitant increase in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and type II collagen (COL2). RHEB increases the osteogenesis via upregulation of runt related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) with an increase in the calcium and phosphate contents. RHEB also increases the expression of osteogenic markers, osteonectin and osteopontin. RHEB knockdown ASCs were incapable of expressing sufficient SRY (Sex determining region Y)-box 9 (SOX9) and RUNX2, and therefore had decreased chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation. RHEB-overexpression impaired ASCs differentiation into adipogenic lineage, through downregulation of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein beta (C/EBPβ). Conversely, RHEB knockdown abolished the negative regulation of adipogenesis. We demonstrate that RHEB is a novel regulator, with a critical role in ASCs lineage determination, and RHEB-modulated ASCs may be useful as a cell therapy for cartilage and bone defect treatments.


Spotted leaf mutant belongs to a class of mutants that can produce necrotic lesions spontaneously in plants without any attack by pathogens. These mutants have no beneficial effect on plant productivity but provide a unique opportunity to study programmed cell death in plant defense responses. A novel rice spotted leaf mutant (spl30) was isolated through low-energy heavy ion irradiation. Lesion expression was sensitive to light and humidity. The spl30 mutant caused a decrease in chlorophyll and soluble protein content, with marked accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) around the lesions. In addition, the spl30 mutant significantly enhanced resistance to rice bacterial blight (X. oryzae pv. oryzae) from China (C1–C7). The use of SSR markers showed that the spl30 gene was located between markers XSN2 and XSN4. The genetic distance between the spl30 gene and XSN2 and between spl30 and XSN4 was 1.7 cM and 0.2 cM, respectively. The spl30 gene is a new gene involved in lesion production and may be related to programmed cell death in rice. The ability of this mutant to confer broad resistance to bacterial blight provides a model for studying the interaction between plants and pathogenic bacteria.


OBJECTIVES
to identify nurses' competences in promoting women's health.

METHODS
descriptive study with a qualitative approach that adopted the Galway Consensus as a theoretical-methodological framework. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews.

RESULTS
most of the Galway Consensus' competence domains were present in the nurses' interventions related to health promotion in women's care. "Assessment of needs" and "Implementation" were the most highlighted domains, followed by "Leadership" and "Impact assessment". The domain "Defending/Advocating Rights" was not identified.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
within the nurses' work with women, some of the Galway Consensus domains of competencies for health promotion were present. However, there is a need, in the context of continuous health education, to expand strategies and enhance the development and application of these health promotion competences.


In theory, translation studies does not exclude intralingual translation, but de facto empirical studies or discussions on the subject of intralingual translation are few and far between. This article argues for the proper inclusion of intralingual translation on the grounds of its many similarities with interlingual translation. For the sake of comparison, a general description of intralingual translation and its characteristics on the basis of five different Danish versions of a section of the Bible and an analysis of the microstrategies employed in each version are proposed. Similarities as well as differences between rewording and translation proper are discussed, the conclusion being that the differences between intralingual and interlingual translation seem to be more a question of degree


An online video-based learning program in nerve surgery was developed in this
thesis as an educational framework to (1) translate expertise globally into clinical
practice, (2) implement the constant improvements and innovation in surgery which
essentially comes to a halt after surgical training, and (3) address the training disparities
and need for improved outcomes. Innovation is a vital process for the advancement
of surgery and contributes to improved life expectancy and enhanced quality
of life. However, this passive process from ideation to implementation can take
many decades, an estimated 17 years for just 14% of medical research to translate
from benchtop to bedside and influence patient care. The expert-performance approach
proposes to identify superior performance, study performance, and create
training methods to facilitate cognitive representations associated with expertise.
Video is a rich medium to capture expertise and promote visual learning from modeled
examples especially in nerve surgery, a specialty with an illustrious history of
innovation and defined management paradigms. When combined with expert-performance,
video-based learning provides an opportunity to accelerate surgical innovation
through the active process of dissemination and implementation. In this
thesis, an online video-based learning program in nerve surgery was developed as
an educational framework to translate expertise globally into clinical practice by
using YouTube for audience outreach and a surgeon-focused platform to maximize
educational value. The program recruited 1,500+ surgeons (54% in-practice, 46%
trainees) and received 4M+ views (69% outside the U.S.) from across the world. Of
the registered users, 43% were active learners at least once a month. To validate
this model, learning analytics were introduced to establish surgeon engagement
as a benchmark for quality in surgical videos and dynamic lectures teaching clinical
reasoning. To examine the role of surgical videos in learning technical skills,
novice residents improved performance by having fewer operative errors and improved
confidence when learning from videos in a simulated cadaveric study. To
teach clinical reasoning to our membership and accompany the surgical videos, a
video-based module was designed using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning
(CTML) and demonstrated knowledge acquisition and retention in surgeons, indicting
potential long-term practice change and adoption of novel evidence-based
procedures. Ethical development of innovative procedures is paramount and mandates
robust evaluation for safety, efficacy, and effectiveness. In designing training
methods to translate expertise and reduce learning curves, an ethical dilemma was
encountered regarding the use of an atlas, derived from victims of the Holocaust,
in surgery and education. To address this issue, the use of Pernkopf's atlas was assessed
in surgical practice to develop a four-point proposal for its ethical handling
to include disclosure, bioethical and religious considerations, and remembrance.
Based on the authority of the Vienna Protocol, ethical and religious guidelines were
created using a four-option framework to permit its use in surgery and education
when physicians acknowledge and disclose its immoral origins, in a manner that
honors the victims. These combined results indicate video-based learning as an
effective approach for the dissemination and implementation of surgical innovation
when guided by expert-performance and CTML, and thereby creates a learning environment to develop guidelines that address ethical issues encountered at the
intersection of surgery, anatomy, and education. This educational framework warrants
identifying expertise in surgery to expand training opportunities that transcend
geographic, economic, racial, gender, and language barriers and address
disparities in healthcare across the world.


Three imidazolium-based linear tricationic ionic liquids (LTILs) have been simulated to study their structural and dynamical properties and obtain a fundamental understanding of the molecular basis of the microscopic and macroscopic properties of their bulk liquid phase. The effects of temperature and alkyl chain length on the physiochemical, transport, and structural properties of these LTILs have been investigated. A nonpolarizable all-atom force field, which is a refined version of the Canongia Lopes and Paudua force field, was adopted for the simulations. Densities, mean square displacements, self-diffusivities, viscosities, electrical conductivities, and transference numbers have been presented for various ions from MD simulations. The detailed microscopic structures have been discussed in terms of radial distribution functions and spatial distribution functions. The results show that, similar to that in monocationic and dicationic ILs (MILs and DILs, respectively), the anions are mainly organized around the imidazolium rings. The diffusion coefficients of the studied LTILs are smaller than those of both MILs and DILs, with comparable viscosities. Unlike those of MILs and DILs, the diffusion coefficients of the cations and anions of the studied LTILs increase with an increase in the length of the alkyl chain between the rings for LTIL-1 and LTIL-2 but then decrease for LTIL-3, which is in a good agreement with the trend of viscosity data. The calculated transference numbers show that, similar to that in MILs and DILs, cations have a major role in carrying electric current in LTILs, but this role increases from MILs to LTILs.


Day care settings offer many opportunities for students to participate in comprehensive primary healthcare and preventive health education. Additionally, day care sites provide experiences beyond those typically associated with well-child healthcare. The author discusses practical issues for faculty members to address when seeking experiences for their students in day care environments.


The shortage of sufficient, reliable and continuous traffic data in many developing countries makes it difficult for traffic engineers and researchers. Traffic data are essential for both planning and design of transportation facilities.

 This work tries to provide data that in order to help local experts in Gaza city to provide better estimates of the average daily traffic (ADT) and hence better transportation facilities.

 The analysis and discussion are based on continuous traffic flow counts conducted on three selected main streets in Gaza. Data were collected for 24 hours on seven consecutive days on each street.

 The results indicate that the average hourly expansion factors(HEFs) have a margin of error for the period between 7:00 and 16:00 that does not exceed ±3%. The results also indicate that the average daily expansion factors (DEFs) on the three streets have a maximum margin of error of 3.2% on both Sunday and Monday. On the other hand, the analysis proved that the maximum peak hour volume was 2864 vehicles/hour on Al Jalaa Street between 7:00 and 8:00 and the average peak-to-daily ratio (p/d) of the three streets was found to be 7.18%. The maximum directional traffic split (D) was found to be 60% in the heaviest direction of traffic flow during the peak period.

 The HEFs and DEFs produced in this work can be used with a 95% confidence on the main streets of Gaza city.


Introduction. Neurofibromatosis is a hereditary disorder, in which scoliosis is the most common orthopedic problem. The goal of this study is a retrospective analysis of results of scoliosis surgery in patients with neurofibromatosis, depending on the type of spinal deformity, and with assessment of spinal balance both in coronal and sagittal planes. Material consists of 28 consecutive patients with von Recklinghausen disease, treated surgically due to scoliosis between 1986 and 2008. Dystrophic scoliosis was observed in 21 cases, "normal" scoliosis – in 7. At the surgery, average patients' age was 13.5 yrs. The mean follow up period was 5.4yrs. Methods. Radiologic data before and after treatment were analyzed as well as at last control examination. Type of surgery and intra- and postoperative complications were noted. Posterior fusion was performed in 11 patients, anterior fusion (with or without instrumentation) and posterior fusion with implants in second stage – 8 cases, anterior release + posterior fusion (one operation) – 8 patients, anterior fusion with implants – 1 case. Results. Prior to surgery, average Cobb angle was 85.3o, and it decreased postoperatively to 53.8o. At follow up mean Cobb angle was 60.8o, so mean final correction was 28.2%. Preoperatively, the mean kyphosis angle was 63o and lordosis angle was 41o. After surgery kyphosis equaled 56.4o and after follow up period 68.9o. After surgery the mean lumbar lordosis was 39.7o and 48o at last examination. Before surgery mean coronal balance was 5.3mm, after treatment -3.3mm, and after follow up -11.3mm. Sagittal imbalance was reported in 16 cases before treatment, in 10 cases after surgery and in 13 cases after follow up. Conclusion. Correction achieved in scoliosis with neurofibromatosis is smaller than in idiopathic scoliosis, and surgery is connected with greater risk of loss of correction. Correction of pre-existing sagittal imbalance is very difficult. Wide anterior release and posterior fusion seems to be the best surgical solution.


Events such as player protests can create image crises that require sport organizations to engage in political issues. In this manuscript, we blend image repair theory with the social identity approach to leadership to advance knowledge about how sport organizations communicate in response to crises. Applying a discursive social psychology framework to analyze 21 NFL communications and interview statements, we explored how the NFL's rhetoric evolved in response to the 2016–2020 national anthem and Black Lives Matter protests. The NFL augmented its traditionally militarized patriot identity as the crisis progressed, to address the social change issues raised by protestors. We show that sport organizations use rhetoric to mobilize support for their version of events to manage threats to organizational image. Accordingly, we provide theoretical and managerial implications arguing that apolitical identities are increasingly untenable in sport.


In many species sperm competition selects for large ejaculates while females eliminate or disable a high percentage of the spermatozoa in their storage organs in order to control paternity. Therefore, sperm viability is an excellent measure of the reproductive success of both males and females. Here we assess the viability of spermatozoa in males, freshly mated queens and old queens at the end of a colony cycle of the monandrous bumblebee Bombus terrestris. We found that the accessory testes of males contained a significantly lower percentage of dead sperm (i.e. higher average viability) than the spermathecae of both freshly mated and old queens. In each case, however, the percentage of dead spermatozoa was very small. No differences could be detected between sperm viability in freshly mated and old queens. To test for the possible incompatibility of the sperm and the environment provided by female spermathecae males and females either from different geographic regions (north and south of the Alps) or the same region were mated. We did not find any differences between matings of individuals from within or between regions. The mechanism that causes the lower sperm viability in females remains unknown.


textabstractHow do offshoring strategies impact firm performance? And how are innovation, absorptive capacity and firm size influencing this relationship? This research investigates how firms of varying size, well-established firms and growing firms may profit from relocating business activities to foreign locations. Offshoring strategies are conceptualized as consisting of both organizational attributes – i.e. function offshored, governance mode and location – and strategic attributes – i.e. cost, resource and entrepreneurial drivers. Data has been collected in Europe and the US in collaboration with (1) the Offshoring Research Network (ORN), (2) Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and Statistics Europe (Eurostat), and (3) business partners.

First, the results show that firms of different sizes, i.e. small, medium-sized and large firms, may all profit from offshoring strategies. Different theories, among which transaction cost economics, the resource-based view and entrepreneurship theory, help to explain the different rationales these firms may have their respective strategies. Second, this research indicates that well-established firms do not – or not yet – move beyond cost advantages to improve their competitive position. By applying learning theory, innovation is shown to have an impact on the relationship between offshoring strategy, i.e. function diversity and governance diversity, and competitive position. Third, the knowledge-based view of the firm helps to demonstrate that companies realize additional firm growth by offshoring core functions, while the effect of outsource offshoring on firm growth is contingent upon absorptive capacity. Fourth, the changes over time that firms exhibit in their location choice are explained by way of internationalization theory. While nearshore experience is important for farshoring, experience with farshoring also increases the likelihood of nearshoring, which is an indication of the importance of experience.


This paper proposes a geometric control scheme to stabilize the full-actuated mobile manipulating unmanned aerial system (MM-UAV) to a desired configuration. For this purpose, we firstly describe the kinematics and dynamics of the full-actuated mobile manipulating unmanned aerial system by incorporating the standard concepts from Lie group and Lie algebra. Then, a controller with a proportional derivative (PD) linear action and a nonlinear gravity compensating action is designed by introducing a Morse function. Finally, a number example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller.


The benefits of physical activity in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) are thought to be mediated through changes in blood lipids, insulin sensitivity, and thrombogenic factors. Few studies have addressed the effects of both long-term physical activity and inactivity on these factors. The authors assessed associations between long-term leisure-time physical activity, television watching, and biomarkers of CVD risk among 468 healthy male health professionals. Prior to blood collection in 1993-1994, physical activity and television watching were assessed biennially from 1986 to 1994 by a questionnaire. Physical activity was expressed as metabolic equivalents-hours per week. Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that metabolic equivalents-hours in 1994 were significantly associated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL cholesterol) (positively) and with leptin and C-peptide (inversely). The average number of hours of television watching assessed in 1994 was significantly positively associated with low density lipoprotein cholesterol and significantly inversely associated with HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1. Average hours of television watching per week assessed in 1988-1994 was positively associated with leptin levels (p < 0.01). The associations of television watching and vigorous activity with leptin and HDL cholesterol were independent of each other. In conclusion, physical activity and television watching were significantly associated with several biochemical markers of obesity and CVD risk.


SARS-CoV-2 is a novel virus causing mainly respiratory, but also gastrointestinal symptoms. Elucidating the molecular processes underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how the genetic background of an individual is responsible for the variability in clinical presentation and severity of COVID-19 is essential in understanding this disease. Cell infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus requires binding of its Spike (S) protein to the ACE2 cell surface protein and priming of the S by the serine protease TMPRSS2. One may expect that genetic variants leading to a defective TMPRSS2 protein can affect SARS-CoV-2 ability to infect cells. We used a range of bioinformatics methods to estimate the prevalence and pathogenicity of TMPRSS2 genetic variants in the human population, and assess whether TMPRSS2 and ACE2 are co-expressed in the intestine, similarly to what is observed in lungs. We generated a 3D structural model of the TMPRSS2 extracellular domain using the prediction server Phyre and studied 378 naturally-occurring TMPRSS2 variants reported in the GnomAD database. One common variant, p.V160M (rs12329760), is predicted damaging by both SIFT and PolyPhen2 and has a MAF of 0.25. Valine 160 is a highly conserved residue within the SRCS domain. The SRCS is found in proteins involved in host defence, such as CD5 and CD6, but its role in TMPRSS2 remains unknown. 84 rare variants (53 missense and 31 leading to a prematurely truncated protein, cumulative minor allele frequency (MAF) 7.34×10−4) cause structural destabilization and possibly protein misfolding, and are also predicted damaging by SIFT and PolyPhen2 prediction tools. Moreover, we extracted gene expression data from the human protein atlas and showed that both ACE2 and TMPRSS2 are expressed in the small intestine, duodenum and colon, as well as the kidneys and gallbladder. The implications of our study are that: i. TMPRSS2 variants, in particular p.V160M with a MAF of 0.25, should be investigated as a possible marker of disease severity and prognosis in COVID-19 and ii. in vitro validation of the co-expression of TMPRSS2 and ACE2 in gastro-intestinal is warranted.


TheHigh-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) sintering is an established process for reclaiming Waste Tire Rubber (WTR) into Magnetorheological Elastomers (MREs). Even though the WTR is generally recycled to other products, the usage of WTR as the main matrix of MRE is a new and novel concept. Therefore, this research focuses on studying the physicochemical and viscoelastic properties of the WTR based MRE produced through HPHT process. The WTR, carbonyl iron particles, and additives were mixed and compacted by applying simultaneous temperature and pressure at 200oC and 25 MPa, respectively. Swelling test, morphological examination, infrared spectroscopy, magnetization, and thermal analysis were among the physicochemical properties studied. Meanwhile, the magneto-induced viscoelastic properties were assessed through shear mode test in both steady and dynamic conditions. The highest degree of reclamation based on swelling test, achieved up to 54 % confirming that crosslinking occurred during reclamation process. The dispersion of the magnetic particles were examined through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the morphology of the fractured matrix indicated that the WTR blended well without any grain boundaries of uncured WTR. The highest magnetization saturation was achieved at 76.079 emu/g. While, the infrared spectroscopy identified rubber substances including synthetic and natural rubbers based on the band characteristics. Additionally, the thermogram patterns and decomposition rates of the samples also approved the matrix composition. The glass transition temperatures were also measured at -60.6 ±0.5oC showing conformity with the reclaimed pure WTR. The WTR based MRE achieved maximum static stress ranging from 9 to 13 kPa (at 700 mT) with Linear Viscoelastic (LVE) region above 3% strain amplitude. The MRE exhibited MR effect up to 24 % with the range of storage modulus between 0.6 to 0.74 MPa (at 700 mT). Based on the examination results, the WTR based MRE demonstrated acceptable physicochemical characteristics and presented outstanding viscoelastic properties for future potential applications of MREs.


: With the vigorous development of new media, aesthetic education plays a pivotal role as a vital and necessary link for the development of quality-oriented education in colleges and universities. However, colleges and universities nowadays value knowledge education more than aesthetic education, aesthetic education curriculum remains to be diversified and enriched, and aesthetic education practice activities tend to be in a superficial form, all of which have turned aesthetic education into an obstacle affecting the overall development of college students. We should practically grasp the development status and problems of college aesthetic education, and systematically analyze the reasons of such problems, which is of great practical significance for the establishment and development of contemporary aesthetic education curriculum system.


Brucellosis caused by the bacterium Brucella affects various domestic and wild species. The outer membrane proteins 25 and 31 play key roles on stimulation of cell‐mediated immune response against Brucella. GroEL as one of the major Brucella antigens stimulates the immune system and increases intracellular survival of bacteria. In the present study, we assumed injection of GroEL in combination with OMP25 and OMP31 would offer higher immunity levels. So, the impact of GroEL with different concentrations of recombinant outer membrane proteins emulsified in Chitosan Nanoparticles on immune responses was evaluated in mice model. Results showed both univalent (except rGroEL) and divalent immunized groups induced higher IFN‐γ, TNF‐α, and IL‐4 titers in comparison to negative control groups. While GroEL showed negative effect on TNF‐α titer, there were positive increase trends in IFN‐γ in some treatments. Analysis of humoral antibody response revealed both univalent and divalent immunized groups induced higher IgG2a titer than IgG1 titer, indicating strong bent of Th1 immune response. Also, results showed GroEL can have positive impact on lymphocyte proliferation response. Overall, mice immunization using individual OMP25 or OMP31 demonstrated more effective cell‐mediated immunity, although some combinations of rGroEL and rOMP31 vaccines were more efficient than other divalent ones.


The finite element model of the 1000kV Ultra High Voltage (UHV) AC transmission line porcelain insulator string voltage distribution and grading ring surface electric field distribution calculation has the characteristics of large size, complicated structure and various mediums. To insure the accuracy, related influencing factors should be considered to simplify the model reasonably for improving computational efficiency. A whole model and a simplified 3D finite element model of UHV AC transmission line porcelain insulator string were built. The influencing factors including tower, phase conductors, hardware fittings, yoke plate and phase interaction were considered in the analysis. And finally, the rationality of the simplified model was validated. The results comparison show that building a simplified model of three-phase bundled conductors within a certain length, simplifying the tower reasonably, omitting the hardware fittings and yoke plate and containing only single-phase insulator string model is feasible. The simplified model could replace the whole model to analyze the voltage distribution along the porcelain insulator string and the electric field distribution on the grading ring surface, and it can reduce the calculation scale, improve optimization efficiency of insulators string and grading ring parameters. DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v12i2.3833


XQuery is the XML query language currently under development in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). XQuery specifications have been published in a series of W3C working drafts, and several reference implementations of the language are already available on the Web. If successful, XQuery has the potential to be one of the most important new computer languages to be introduced in several years. This tutorial will provide an overview of the syntax and semantics of XQuery, as well as insight into the principles that guided the design of the language.


ABSTRACT The tcr gene cluster mediates in vitro copper resistance in Enterococcus faecium. Here we describe the selection of tcr-mediated copper resistance in E. faecium in an animal feeding experiment with young pigs fed 175 mg copper/kg feed (ppm), which is the concentration commonly used for piglets in European pig production. tcr-mediated copper resistance was not selected for in a control group fed low levels of copper (6 ppm). We also show coselection of macrolide- and glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium in the animal group fed the high level of copper. Finally, we identify the tcr genes in the enterococcal species E. mundtii, E. casseliflavus, and E. gallinarum for the first time.


Abstract—The present experimental study insights the decontamination of instantaneous velocity fluctuations captured by Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) in gravel-bed streams to ascertain near-bed turbulence for low Reynolds number. The interference between incidental and reflected pulses produce spikes in the ADV data especially in the near-bed flow zone and therefore filtering the data are very essential. Nortek's Vectrino four-receiver ADV probe was used to capture the instantaneous three-dimensional velocity fluctuations over a non-cohesive bed. A spike removal algorithm based on the acceleration threshold method was applied to note the bed roughness and its influence on velocity fluctuations and velocity power spectra in the carrier fluid. The velocity power spectra of despiked signals with a best combination of velocity threshold (VT) and acceleration threshold (AT) are proposed which ascertained velocity power spectra a satisfactory fit with the Kolmogorov "–5/3 scaling-law" in the inertial sub-range. Also, velocity distributions below the roughness crest level fairly follows a third-degree polynomial series.


Bayesian optimization (BO) has become an established framework and popular tool for hyperparameter optimization (HPO) of machine learning (ML) algorithms. While known for its sample-efficiency, vanilla BO can not utilize readily available prior beliefs the practitioner has on the potential location of the optimum. Thus, BO disregards a valuable source of information, reducing its appeal to ML practitioners. To address this issue, we propose $\pi$BO, an acquisition function generalization which incorporates prior beliefs about the location of the optimum in the form of a probability distribution, provided by the user. In contrast to previous approaches, $\pi$BO is conceptually simple and can easily be integrated with existing libraries and many acquisition functions. We provide regret bounds when $\pi$BO is applied to the common Expected Improvement acquisition function and prove convergence at regular rates independently of the prior. Further, our experiments show that $\pi$BO outperforms competing approaches across a wide suite of benchmarks and prior characteristics. We also demonstrate that $\pi$BO improves on the state-of-the-art performance for a popular deep learning task, with a 12.5 $\times$ time-to-accuracy speedup over prominent BO approaches.


Distinguishing reactive mesothelial cells from metastatic disease, typically adenocarcinoma, in effusion cytology can be challenging at times. We currently use a panel of immunocytochemical markers for select cases including MOC‐31 and BerEp4, but difficulties still exist. Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) plays important roles in epigenetic silencing and cell cycle regulation and is upregulated in a wide variety of malignancies. Thus, we hypothesized that EZH2 immunocytochemistry, which to our knowledge has not yet been reported on cytology material, might serve as a unique marker of malignancy in morphologically equivocal effusion specimens by highlighting aberrant protein expression in malignant cells. A total of 96 (48 benign and 48 malignant) effusion cases were selected retrospectively from our department archives. All malignant cases were metastatic adenocarcinomas except for three high grade neuroendocrine carcinomas (two lungs and one ovary), one cervical squamous cell carcinoma, and one epithelioid endometrial stromal sarcoma. The 48 benign cases were all negative for EZH2, and 43 of 48 malignant effusions were positive. As a solitary marker, EZH2 exhibited a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 100% (P < 0.0001). EZH2 functioned as a unique and accurate marker of malignancy in this series of effusions. Relative to published data, EZH2 demonstrated a sensitivity comparable to MOC‐31 and superior to BerEp4, and a specificity superior to both of these commonly used immunostains. Thus, EZH2 is likely to be of great value as an adjunct to morphology in diagnosing malignancy in effusion specimens. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2014;42: 111–116. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Corporate social responsibility is no more a luxury but a must that will ensure the inclusion of the population and the sustainability of resources. It is a voluntaries integration by companies of social and environmental concerns into their strategy and their stakeholder's relations. This paper, through the literature review, allows, as a first step, to find similarities in each decade of CSR definitions and to highlight how theorists evolve in defining the concept. The objective of the research is to identify the gap in developing countries, by ranking companies according to their CSR perception, and how they link this discipline to doing business. The purpose is to highlight the decennial gap, mainly when CSR is defined more as philanthropies acts, without any coercive system that strives for companies to comply with CSR values. The problems can be summarised in the following question: Is CSR having the same perception in developing countries? If there is a hole, how many years represent this gap according to different segments of companies? The paper presents the result of empirical analysis relied into qualitative study that targeted the companies from different sizes. The random sample is complicated to apply since the proportion of SMBs is very high, and therefore the results can be biased and cannot be generalised. Thus, the choice is about convenience sample of a total of 80 companies surveyed regarding awareness of CSR as a concept, Kind of applied purposes, CSR motivations, CSR brakes and CSR perspectives. The use of IT knowledge management allows us to find similarities between these perceptions and different categories of companies. As the first conclusion, a reverted triangle confirms that the small and tiny companies, still have the 70's perception of CSR, as a voluntaries commitment, and they represent the most significant proportion of firms. At the opposite, large companies and Moroccan subcontractor companies, that represent deficient proportion (5%) perceive CSR as an imperative of survival and are in the same trend as the global vision of CSR. So, as an answer of the problematic, the perception is not the same for the small companies but tend to be the same as the international perception once they are larger or they are doing business with the international market. The results of this research can be useful for abroad companies that need to know about the Moroccan vision of CSR, or for sensibilization of local companies regarding the gap that needs to fill in.


Promoting dependents' perceptions of point-of-injury care robots as social actors may elicit feelings of companionship and diminish stress. However, numerous rescuers may control these robots and communicate with dependents through the robot, creating communication and interaction challenges that may be best addressed by creating a pure medium robot expressing no social identity. In addition, setting dependents' expectations regarding the robot's social role may improve perceptions of the robot and trust in the robot's suggestions. In a 3 (role: pure medium vs. social medium vs. social actor) × 2 (framing: framed vs. unframed) between-participants design, participants interacted with a simulation of a robot in a search and rescue context (N=84). Robot social behavior decreased participants' fear, yet made participants feel more isolated. Framing generated increased trust in the robot. Implications for the theory and design of robots and human-robot interaction are discussed.


In this introduction, we address three distinct aspects of the special issue topic "human-computer interaction (HCI) in health and wellness". First, we assess the trajectory of HCI research in health topics in top HCI journals during the 1995-2012 period. We then contrast this overall publication trajectory with the health sector component of gross domestic product (GDP)—applied as a proxy measure of social need— across seven countries that are top producers of HCI research. Second, we describe how one can use the human-technology innovation framework to understand the range of settings in which HCI research in health topics can be conducted. Grounded in this framework, we propose a structure to categorize health related HCI publication and to identify gaps in this research. Third, we apply the proposed structure to categorize and introduce five papers chosen to represent the special issue topic.


Regnellidium diphyllum Lindm. is a heterosporous fern which grows in shallow waters and wetlands, and water pollution contributes to its vulnerability. Environmental lead contamination is mostly caused by industrial and agricultural residues as well as domestic sewage. Given its persistence in the environment, lead can cause important toxicity in living organisms. Megaspore germination and the initial growth of R. diphyllum sporophytes were assessed in Meyer's solution with lead nitrate (Pb(NO3)2) concentrations of 0 (control), 1, 5, 10 and 50 mg L(-1). The study was conducted in a growth chamber at 25 ± 1°C and a 12 hour photoperiod with a nominal irradiance of 100 μmol m(-2) s(-1), for 28 days. Lead concentration in sporophytes was assessed using atomic absorption spectrometry. In the absence of lead, 74% of spores germinated, while significantly lower germination percentages were observed in Pb(NO3)2 concentrations of 1, 10 and 50 mg L(-1). The presence of lead did not significantly influence root growth. At 28 days, primary leaf development was significantly lower in Pb(NO3)2 concentrations of 5 mg L(-1) and higher in relation to the control. The length of secondary leaves did not significantly differ between sporophytes exposed to different concentrations of lead and those of the control at 28 days. Sporophytes exposed to 10 and 50 mg L(-1) Pb(NO3)2 accumulated 1129 mg kg(-1) and 5145 mg kg(-1) of Pb, respectively. The presence of high levels of lead in R. diphyllum sporophytes did not prevent initial development. Future studies should investigate the ability of the species to accumulate and tolerate high levels of lead in advanced stages of its development and in environmental conditions.


Laser resistor trimming, an effective tool for producing accurate and reliable electrical elements is discussed. Laser trimming has minimum effect on power handling capability; element value variation with time, temperature, and voltage; and electrical noise. The principles of laser trimming, laser types used, trimming techniques, and technology trends are described. Laser cutting of ceramics in such applications as electronic packaging and the use of lasers to pattern thin films are also discussed.<<ETX>>


Monoclonal gammopathy, especially monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) with IgM M-components, are associated with demyelinating neuropathy. In approximately 50% of these patients, the IgM M-component reacts with myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) or other subcomponents of myelin such as glycolipids or gangliosides and a pathogenetic role of the M component has been proposed. Polyneuropathies associated with monoclonal gammopathies are of interest because of the potential relationship between the monoclonal protein and immune-mediated nerve damage. Many patients have been described in whom polyneuropathy is associated with IgM or IgG monoclonal gammopathy. While some such patients have MGUS, others have a variety of malignant plasma cell dyscrasia. The associated polyneuropathies clinically, electrodiagnostically, and histologically heterogeneous, but some exhibit primarily demyelination features, while others show axonal features. I have reviewed clinical, and immunological data in patients with MGUS and polyneuropathy in our clinic. The mechanism of neuropathy in patients with monoclonal gammopathy in the field of immunological studies is also reviewed. In summary, antibody activity in patients with monoclonal gammopathies associated with peripheral neuropathies almost exclusively found in monoclonal proteins of the IgM class. The most prevalent antibody is directed against MAG. IgG and IgA monoclonal proteins did not react components of peripheral nerve myelin. IgM-MGUS neuropathy should be separated conceptionally from monoclonal IgG neuropathies from my data.


Microwave transmission loss in a natural snowpack was measured to provide fundamental data for snow subsurface radar. The snowpack consisted of many horizontal stratified layers of relatively large density and water inclusion. Field strength measurements were carried out in the vertical direction across horizontal snow layers in the frequency range 0.6-7.0 GHz. The transmission loss and the extinction coefficients were obtained as a function of frequency. >


Retinoids have been studied as chemopreventive treatment for patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma. Vitamin A modulates growth and differentiation of cells, and its deficiency enhances susceptibility to carcinogenesis. The chemopreventive mechanism of action of vitamin A is discussed, and a review of clinical results and side effects of the systemic use of vitamin A is included. The objective of the current report was to review the possible role of topical vitamin A and vitamin A derivatives in the management of patients with oral lesions with a risk of transformation to carcinoma.


ABSTRACT Hou, F.-J.; Li, S.-C.; Li, W.-J.; Li, X.-Z., and Han, X.-M.; 2019. Mechanical analysis of large-span tunnel construction in urban seaside. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 255–259. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. A tunnel in urban seaside is designed as a two-way eight-lane with a span of nearly 20 meters. The stratum is a horizontal layered rock mass and a three-level surrounding rock. In order to achieve rapid construction of large-span tunnels, combined with engineering background, horizontal layered rocks. The constitutive calculation model of the body is optimized and analyzed, and the whole time and space analysis of the tunnel construction process is carried out. The results show that for the layered rock mass stratum, the tunnel surrounding rock stress field is also the displacement field and the plastic zone distribution, and the transversely isotropic medium model is adopted. The root can fully reflect the engineering characteristics of the horizontal layered rock mass; The deformation of the tunnel surrounding rock after excavation shows that the horizontal layered rock mass is beneficial to the stability of the tunnel arch and the cavern; The settlement of the surrounding rock dome of the horizontal layered rock mass tunnel .The convergence deformation (6.0 mm) accounts for about 50% of the final deformation. The horizontal layered surrounding rock should actively control the deformation of the front of the face to enhance the stability of the cavity.


In his first book written for children, well-known Appalachian painter Paul Brett Johnson has created a wonderful story which can be enjoyed by all ages. Using expressive text and illustrations filled with amusing detail, he has introduced a feisty, funny, and resourceful heroine. There is much unexpected delight in this book, as Mr. Iohnson has combined the unlikely scenario of a flying cow with an equally unlikely owner. Miss Rosemary uses a fishing pole, a lasso, and even climbs the roof in her attempts to retrieve her stubborn animal. Children will be particularly drawn to his use of unique language and unusual visual images, as well as to the possible sequel presented at the end of the book. This is certain to become a family favorite.


Human pubic skin was obtained from normal subjects and patients with abnormal sex differentiation. Skin samples (200 mg) supplemented with NADPH, were incubated for 1 h with labelled testosterone. The conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, 3alpha- and 3beta-androstanediol was calculated. This conversion averaged 14.9 plus or minus 3.4% (SE) in 11 normal men and 3.6 plus or minus 1.4% (SE) in 8 normal women. In 4 children as in 4 young hypogonadotrophic hypogonadal men, the conversion rate of testosterone to 5alpha-reduced metabolites was low (0.8 to 3.5%) and increased at puberty (13.5 to 19.2%). After administration of HCG for 3 months to 1 of the hypogonadal men, it reached 30.2%. Inversely, the formation of dihydrotestosterone and androstanediols from testosterone was suppressed in 2 men treated with large doses of oestrogen. In 3 subjects with an incomplete form of testicular feminization syndrome, the conversion rate of testosterone to 5alpha-reduced metabolites was in the normal male range (6.4 to 18.3%), whereas it was low in one case of the complete form of the syndrome (1.5%). In 9 women with idiopathic hirsutism the rate of 5alpha-reduced metabolites recovered from testosterone was close to that of normal men (13.5 plus or minus 5.5% (SE). From these results, it is postulated that in human subjects, there is a good correlation between hair growth in skin from a sexual area and the extent of testosterone 5alpha-reduction in this tissue. Such an enzymatic activity might be induced by active androgens; this latter hypothesis is in good agreement with the increase of 5alpha-reduction activity observed at puberty or after treatment of young hypogonadal males. In addition, it is pointed out that a positive correlation is observed between the 5alpha-reductase activity present in each skin sample studied and the urinary 3alpha-androstanediol found for the same individual. This confirms our previous findings suggesting that the determination of urinary 3alpha-androstanediol might prove of clinical interest in the evaluation of the androgenic status in human subjects.


It's no longer enough to merely ensure that the systems we work on meet the most basic security requirements; we have to realize that in the current political climate, the threats that we previously chose to ignore - the worst-case scenarios, the one percent - can no longer be overlooked


Previous studies have revealed that paravirtualization imposes minimal performance overhead on High Performance Computing (HPC) workloads, while exposing numerous benefits for this field. In this study, we are investigating the memory hierarchy characteristics of paravirtualized systems and their impact on automatically-tuned software systems. We are presenting an accurate characterization of memory attributes using hardware counters and user-process accounting. For that, we examine the proficiency of ATLAS, a quintessential example of an autotuning software system, in tuning the BLAS library routines for paravirtualized systems. In addition, we examine the effects of paravirtualization on the performance boundary. Our results show that the combination of ATLAS and Xen paravirtualization delivers native execution performance and nearly identical memory hierarchy performance profiles. Our research thus exposes new benefits to memory-intensive applications arising from the ability to slim down the guest OS without influencing the system performance. In addition, our findings support a novel and very attractive deployment scenario for computational science and engineering codes on virtual clusters and computational clouds.


The Moab fault, a basin-scale normal fault that juxtaposes Jurassic eolian sandstone units against Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous shale and sandstone, is locally associated with extensive calcite and lesser quartz cement. We mapped the distribution of fault-related diagenetic alteration products relative to the fault structure to identify sealing and conductive fault segments for fluid flow and to relate fault–fluid-flow behavior to the internal architecture of the fault zone. Calcite cement occurs as vein and breccia cement along slip surfaces and as discontinuous vein cement and concretions in fault damage zones. The cement predominates along fault segments that are composed of joints, sheared joints, and breccias that overprint earlier deformation bands. Using the distribution of fault-related calcite cement as an indicator of paleofluid migration, we infer that fault-parallel fluid flow was focused along fault segments that were overprinted by joints and sheared joints. Joint density, and thus fault-parallel permeability, is highest at locations of structural complexity such as fault intersections, extensional steps, and fault-segment terminations. The association of calcite with remnant hydrocarbons suggests that calcite precipitation was mediated by the degradation and microbial oxidation of hydrocarbons. We propose that the discontinuous occurrence of microbially mediated calcite cement may impede, but not completely seal, fault-parallel fluid flow. Fault-perpendicular flow, however, is mostly impeded by the juxtaposition of the sandstone units against shale and by shale entrainment. The Moab fault thus exemplifies the complex interaction of fault architecture and diagenetic sealing processes in controlling the hydraulic properties of faults in clastic sequences.


Nowadays, opinion texts play an important role, in fact, people read opinions before they do an activity, buy a product or take a decision. However, the amount of opinion text is increasing rapidly and reading all opinions about a subject is unfeasible. 'Sentiment analysis' is a part of Natural Language Processing whose aim is to process opinion texts. This work is a part of 'sentiment analysis' and presents a first approximation to the assignment of polarity to texts written in Basque. Rhetorical Structure Theory has been used to assign different weights to text spans and an analysis has been performed at the lexical level. This method has been compared with other approaches and the results are promising.


In 1961, on completion of a chief residency in pediatrics, becoming the assistant director of the Outpatient Department at St Christopher's Hospital, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa, was not considered by most to be a prestigious academic position. "A true academician would become a neurologist, cardiologist, or some other legitimate subspecialist," was a frequent reminder. Despite these jibes, one's commitment, and even devotion, to Dr Waldo Nelson made the decision to assume this faculty position, under the mentorship of Dr Richard Olmsted, very easy to accept. Even the salary of $11000 per year seemed excessive after the lean residency years. Primary care or even ambulatory care were not common jargon in those years and we "OPD [outpatient department] pediatricians" found ourselves apologizing and defending our positions. 1 The first meeting of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA) in 1963 was held in Atlantic City, NJ, in conjunction with the American Pediatric Society


ObjectivesTo estimate the extent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among Italian women and to assess its impact on mortality. Further, to assess the incidence of AIDS and the main characteristics of women affected by AIDS, with particular attention to those aged 25–34 years, and to identify differences in these characteristics compared with men infected with AIDS. MethodsIncidence data were derived from the Italian National Register of AIDS Cases (RAIDS). The most recent complete data refer to cases diagnosed to the end of 1994. Mortality data were collected from the Italian mortality database, which is held by the Italian National Census Bureau (ISTAT) and processed by the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the National Institute of Health of Italy (Istituto Superiore di Sanitá; ISS). The most recent mortality data refer to 1992, but projections were made to obtain mortality data up to 1994. All the rates were standardized by age and sex. ResultsA total of 26 957 cases of AIDS, 21 441 men (79.5%) and 5516 women (20.5%), diagnosed before the end of 1994 were reported to RAIDS. The majority of cases and deaths occurred in individuals aged 25–34 years. The incidence of AIDS among women increased from 2.1 per 100 000 in 1987 to 17.2 per 100 000 in 1994. The sex ratio (men:women) fell from 5.2 in 1987 to 2.9 in 1994. In 1992, AIDS was the second most common cause of death (slightly behind cancer and ahead of traffic accidents) in Italy, but was the most common cause in three regions of northern Italy (Liguria, Lombardia and Emilia). ConclusionsAlthough the AIDS epidemic in the past has predominantly affected young men, AIDS is now rapidly becoming a major health problem for young women in Italy. Moreover, as these women are at reproductive age, this may have important consequences in terms of increased morbidity and mortality among children.


The Aleutian cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii leucopareia) was listed as endangered in 1967, downgraded to threatened in 1990, and removed from protection under the endangered species act in 2001. Accurate determination of population status continues to be a priority for management agencies because of the population's past listing as endangered, the species status as a game bird, and because population expansion has resulted in increased crop damage complaints. We compared estimates of marked Aleutian goose abundance from available mark-resight data during 1996–2012 using capture–recapture Jolly–Seber (POPAN formulation) and robust design (closed capture) models. We derived an estimate of Aleutian goose abundance by expanding an estimate of marked-bird abundance by the ratio of total to marked geese. Robust design models provided strong evidence of even-flow and Markovian temporary emigration from observable to unobservable states between annual sampling periods, and POPAN estimates were biased as a result of this movement. The observable population increased in abundance from 790 in 1975 to 134,703 (SE = 10,866, 95% CI = 113,405–156,002) geese in 2012. However, total (observable and unobservable) population size was 216,564 geese based on an estimated probability (0.622) of being available for observation. Annual survival probability was 0.80 (SE = 0.05). Current data collection allows estimation of annual observable abundance with a coefficient of variation of ≤8%. Robust design offers a means of estimating abundance of partially marked wildlife populations in the presence or absence of temporary emigration, which can result from partial study area access and is likely a common situation for many populations. Mark-resight is a cost-effective approach (compared to capture–recapture studies and aerial surveys) that can be applied to successfully estimate demographic parameters of other populations. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.