The relationship between contraction changes and cAMP production under long-term application of ritodrine was investigated using longitudinal muscle strips of pregnant (Day 21) rat uterus. Cellular cAMP gradually increased up to 20 min, then decreased to the control level and fluctuated after 90 min in the presence of 1.5 x 10(-7) M ritodrine. When the dose was raised to 3.1 x 10(-4) M, cAMP contents markedly increased. However, it then decreased after 30 min and reached the control level after 180 min. To clarify the actual relationship between the changes in spontaneous contraction and cAMP contents of the same muscle strips, the strips were obtained during control contraction, suppression by 1.5 x 10(-7) M ritodrine and reactivation after suppression in the presence of the drug. Consequently, the cAMP content of reactivated muscle was significantly lower than that of suppressed muscle (p less than 0.01), however it was still higher than the control (p less than 0.05). It is speculated that the reactivation of spontaneous contractions might not depend solely on the cellular cAMP level, and that another activating mechanism, such as changes in ion permeability, might be involved in this type of desensitization phenomenon.


The analysis of large amounts of data from electronic medical records (EMRs) and daily clinical practice data sources has received increasing attention in the last years. However, few systematic approaches have been proposed to support the extraction of the wealth and diversity of information from these data sources. Specifically, Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) data are available in many hospitals and health units because ACS shows elevated morbidity and mortality. This work proposes a method called Data Science Analysis and Representation (DSAR) to scrutinize and exploit, in a univariate way, scientific information content in limited ACS samples. DSAR uses Bootstrap Resampling to provide robust, cross-sectional, and non-parametric statistical tests on categorical and metric variables. It also constructs an informative graphical representation of the database variables, which helps to interpret the results and to identify the relevant variables. Our objectives were to validate DSAR by comparing it to conventional statistical methods when looking for the most relevant variables in the secondary prevention of ACS, and to determine the degree of correlation between them and the Exitus event (associated with patient death). To achieve this objective, we applied DSAR on an anonymized sample of 270 variables from 2377 patients diagnosed with ACS. The results showed that DSAR identified 44% significant variables while conventional methods offered weak correlation results. Then, the scientific literature was reviewed for a set of these variables, validating the agreement with clinical experience and previous ACS research. The conclusion is that DSAR is a valuable and a useful method for clinicians in the identification of potentially predictive variables and, overall, a good starting point for future multivariate secondary analyzes in the clinical field of ACS, or fields with similar information characteristics.


The number of domestic flights at Juanda Airport in Surabaya at around 131 daily
flights and 14 international flights.Although the number of passengers increased 10%
per year.Maximum takeoff flight and landing traffic at Juanda International Airport 47
hour flight.The Airport activity has brings noise impact which disturbing the
communications, work activities and life activities of public people who live around the
Airport's area. And it can also make the degradation of environmental.The research is
to determine the level of noise from aircraft engines, aircraft engine noise influence to
public and operational staff, and formulate the perception of noise. the result research,
it can take results Apron got 76.41 dBA, Raya Sedati 77.48 dBA, 67.43 dBA H.abd
Rahman, and Bypass Juanda 72.38 dBA. From the results of noise due quesioner
aircraft engine noise does not provide a significant impact on public health around and
operational employees.According to some rules about noise issued from the Ministry of
Environment and Minister of Labour show that the areas around Juanda Airport does
not meet quality standardsaspublicresidential.
Key Word : airport activity, noise, noise impact


Elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) in PM2.5 were measured simultaneously at the campus of Peking University from January 2006 to April 2007 by two common used methodologies. One is quartz filter sampling followed by off-line SUNSET Lab EC/OC analyzer and the other is SUNSET in-situ on-line EC/OC analyzer. The comparison shows significant differences on OC measurements between the two methods. The results by filter sampling off-line analysis were as twice high as those by in-situ on-line method. The volatile organic carbons (VOCs) adsorbed by quartz filter led to considerable positive error of OC. The use of parallel plate organic denuder can eliminate such error but cause the evaporation of semi-volatile organic carbon on the filter which induces another negative error of OC, about 10%. The improved method of filter sampling off-line analysis using both parallel plate organic denuder and backup filter has a good agreement with in-situ online measurement.


Abstract Objective: We investigated the risk of gastric cancer among men with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection or atrophic gastritis (AG) in a 15-year follow-up. Materials and methods: Study population consists of 12,016 men aged 50–65 years at the beginning of the follow-up in 1994–1996. Serum levels of pepsinogen I (SPGI) and antibodies (IgG) to H. pylori (HpAb) were assayed from serums collected in 1994–1996. Incidence of gastric cancer in the study population was assessed in follow-up from 1994 to 2011 by data from the nationwide cancer registry. Based on SPGI and HpAb values, standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of gastric cancer were calculated in three subgroups, that is, in those with a healthy stomach, those with H. pylori infection but without AG and those with AG. Risk ratios (RR) of gastric cancer were calculated using SIR of subgroups. Results: During 15 years, seven gastric cancers appeared per 79,928 person years among men with healthy stomachs, 50 cancers per 92,533 person years in men with H. pylori infection but without AG, and 8 per 8658 person years in men with AG. Risk ratio (RR) of stomach cancer in men with H. pylori infection was 5.8 (95%CI: 2.7–15.3) compared to men with healthy stomachs, and 9.1 (95%CI: 2.9–30.0) in men with AG. There were no differences in cancer risk between cardia and distal stomach. Conclusions: Risk of gastric cancer is low in men with healthy stomachs. It is significantly increased in those with H. pylori infection and more in those with AG.


Onchocerciasis or "river blindness" is a vector-borne tropical disease resulting from infection with the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Disease manifestations include dermatitis, rheumatic complaints, and blindness. Recent findings have suggested an autoimmune etiology for the occurrence of chorioretinopathy, a disease of the eye which together with sclerosing keratoconjunctivitis is responsible for approximately 400,000 onchocerciasis-related cases of blindness. The identification of onchocerciasis as an important cause of tropical rheumatism prompted us to evaluate serologically the presence of systemic autoimmune disease in onchocerciasis patients and local controls from a hyperendemic area in Sierra Leone. In both groups there was a marked autoimmune response against cytoplasmic non-RNA-associated proteins consisting of autoantibodies against five major Ag with respective m.w. of 35, 51, 64, 83, and 110 kDa. These five proteins are novel autoantigens that could be distinguished from calreticulin, the human homologue of the onchocercal Ag RAL-1, and known autoantigens such as the 50-kDa La/SS-B or 52- and 60-kDa Ro/SS-A proteins by immunoblotting and ELISA assays. Furthermore, autoantibody reactivity against calreticulin was significantly higher in O. volvulus-infected individuals than in endemic controls. Autoantibody reactivity against the five major autoantigens, anti-calreticulin reactivity, and antibody reactivity against the 65-kDa arthritis-associated mycobacterial heat shock protein were intercorrelated as parts of an onchocerciasis-associated autoimmune response. The implication of autoimmunity in the disease pathogenesis of onchocerciasis could have important consequences for future research on therapeutical regimens, pathogenetic mechanisms, and serological diagnosis of onchocerciasis.


The Kamanves slum in the town of Mijar (Maharashtra State) is an impoverished area of about 2500 people, most living in 1-room mud-walled houses. About 70% have either no or only nominal education, and more than half are only informally or temporarily employed. The average income amounts to less than $0.85 per day for an average family of 5. In 1974 a group of Kamanves residents formed a committee, backed by the Director of the Department of Community Health of the Miraj Medical Center, to try to alleviate some of the area's problems. Through community discussions, the 1st priority of the committee was held to be to provide for the nutritional needs of the children (about 35% of the population). The group tried to raise money internally, but when this was seen to be impossible, funds were sought from outside (Terre des Hommes in Germany, and the National Committee for People's Self Development of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.). Steps were taken to build an extension of the local school, and the local school board was used as the legal base for the organization of a public trust, with its own bank account and constitution (later revised to cover additional projects). The 1st projects were provision of a morning meal for some 150 children under 5, and an evening meal for older children, with special supplementary foods for those suffering from nutritional diseases. The meal includes rice and meat twice a week and fruit 3 times a week. Health care is provided through monitoring of weight, regular medical examinations, treatment of worms and minor ailments. Personal hygiene is taught. A very small fee is charged for each child weekly. Additional projects later included a communal meal for the very poorest adults and expansion of the kitchen (run on a rotating basis by community mothers under management of specially trained women) to help feed the poorer patients at the Miraj Medical Center (this project will undergo evaluation by the community to see if they can continue it). Self-help activities led to the registration of the program as an Institute of Self Development, providing vocational training (in sewing 1st and later in other crafts), a cooperative to finance small enterprises, a modest recreational program, tutoring and night classes, educational loans for those in need to help keep them in school or go beyond the primary education system, and a health education program.


The effects of trunk girdling and crop load levels on skin color, juice composition, and root elongation of a red table grape, 'Aki Queen' (Vitis labrusca L. × V. vinifera L., tetraploid) were investigated. The treatment of a low crop load with girdling significantly elevated the anthocyanin concentration in berry skin compared to that of a high crop load without girdling. The total soluble solid content of berries was significantly greater in a low crop load with girdling than in other treatments. Titratable acidity was not different among treatments. Root elongation stopped for two weeks as a result of the girdling treatment, regardless of the crop load level. Root elongation after girdle healing was vigorous when the crop load was low.


We have investigated the effect of triiodothyronine (T3) on the transformation of normal rat kidney (NRK) cells by the Kirsten strain of murine sarcoma virus (Ki-MSV). When NRK cells were grown and infected with Ki-MSV in medium lacking T3, the yield of transformed foci was about one-half that observed in the cultures supplemented with T3. Individual foci appeared somewhat later in cells grown out in medium devoid of T3. The yield of Ki-MSV released from transformed NRK cells was lower when these cells were maintained in T3-depleted medium. The results cannot be attributed to cell growth modification by T3. Normal and Ki-MSV-transformed NRK cells grew equally well in mono-layer culture in medium containing or lacking T3. Selective maintenance and removal of T3 during various phases of the transformation process indicated that T3 exerted its maximum effect on transformation rates when added to the medium 24 h prior to virus infection. T3 was less effective in modulating transformation when added simultaneously with virus infection and was ineffective if added 24 h after virus infection. The results indicate that thyroid hormone is a required factor for optimal transformation by Ki-MSV and that the hormone exerts its effects during the early phase of Ki-MSV-induced transformation.


[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine foot pressure and trunk muscle activity during reaching tasks performed by patients with hemiplegia, and compare them with healthy subjects. [Subjects] Ten left-side hemiplegia patients and ten healthy subjects were recruited for this study. [Methods] The foot pressure and trunk muscle activity were measured while performing four reaching tasks in the diagonal and horizontal directions in a sitting position. [Results] In patients with hemiplegia, the foot pressure on the non-paretic side increased when performing the tasks on the paretic side, while the muscle activities of the erector spinae on the paretic side were lower than those of healthy subjects. [Conclusion] We found that the proper selection of the starting point for a task is more important than the direction of the task for the rehabilitation of patients with hemiplegia. We consider that performing the task on the non-paretic side to encourage symmetric weight distribution on the feet and trunk stability may be effective.


Based on daily data from the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA-55) covering the springs from 1958 to 2018, this study examines the formation mechanisms and climate impacts of springtime western Pacific (WP) pattern as subseasonal climate variability over North Pacific. Results suggest that the springtime WP pattern arises from a weak dipole-like disturbance over North Pacific and disturbances over East Asia. The energetic analysis suggests that the baroclinic energy conversion acts as an important energy source to balance the available potential energy loss caused by transient eddies and diabatic heating and acts as a kinetic energy (KE) source for the WP pattern. For the feedback forcing by total transient eddies, it acts as a major KE source for the WP pattern before day 0 and acts as a strong KE sink after day 0. It turns out that the barotropic energy conversion makes only weak KE contribution to the WP pattern.Once the WP pattern forms, East Asia and North America experience strong surface air temperature anomalies of opposite signs, while strong sea surface temperature anomalies are found to occur over mid-latitude and tropical North Pacific at the same time. Concurrently, the Pacific jet and the storm track shift north-southward around their climatological position. In addition, a dipole-like shallow convective anomaly appears over mid-latitude North Pacific, and a band of anomalous deep convection tends to occur in the tropics as the energy of the WP pattern propagates into the region.


The author presents a high capacity 3-dimensional radio location system which provides the geographic coordinates and elevation of a user, whether it be a person, an airplane, a car, a rescue helicopter, a school bus or a child playing. The locator's mobile unit is a handset. This is a small portable pocket set similar to the cellular mobile phone set. With this the user can send a radio pulse by means of which he can be located. The location is performed at the master station by determining the latitude, longitude and elevation of the caller. In addition the user can be directed to a requested location. It can be used for vehicle navigation on highways, as well as to control vehicles automatically on pre-established highways. It can also monitor and locate an unsupervised child with a handset attached to his vest.<<ETX>>


The catalytic and regulatory properties of aspartate transcarbamoylase from Pyrococcus abyssi were studied in the GE5 strain isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent located in the North-Fiji Basin in the SW Pacific Ocean. The enzyme from this hyperthermophilic archaeobacterium shows homotropic cooperative interactions between catalytic sites for the utilization of its two substrates, carbamoylphosphate and aspartate. The activity of this enzyme is subject to allosteric regulation. It is feed-back inhibited by the end-product cytidine triphosphate independently of temperature. In contrast, its sensitivity to the feed-back inhibitor uridine triphosphate and to the activator adenosine triphosphate disappears at high temperature. The unusual response of this aspartate transcarbamoylase to carbamoylphosphate analogues suggests a particular mode of binding of this substrate to the catalytic site as compared to the homologous enzymes of other organisms. Aspartate transcarbamoylase of Pyrococcus abyssi exhibits a remarkable stability towards high temperature and pressure.


Starting from an open problem in (Matheron, 1975, p. 50-51) related to the existence of the so-called specific area of a random closed set, we consider here a class of d-dimensional inhomogeneous Boolean models inR d and we provide an explicit formula for the specific area. This turns out to be closely related to the notion of outer Minkowski content of sets. In particular, we show that the specific area may differ from the mean density of the topological boundary of the random set in general, and we provide sufficient conditions ensuring the equality.


The effect of the pre-harvest treatment with ethanol (EtOH), methyl jasmonate (MJ) and both of them in combination on volatile compounds in strawberry was investigated by applying different concentrations of the hormonal compounds to strawberry plants. In general terms, all treated strawberries exhibited higher total volatile content than untreated control strawberries. Surprisingly, the level of total volatiles dropped significantly by exposing the berries to the highest MJ concentration. This is probably owing to a delay in the strawberry ripening process. The effect of the pre-harvest treatments on specific volatile compounds varied with the chemical structure of the studied compounds. Some of the most important contributors to strawberry aroma (i.e. ethyl butanoate, butyl acetate, hexyl acetate and 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-2H-furan-3-one) were not significantly affected by MJ/EtOH treatments whereas others (i.e. ethyl hexanoate and methyl hexanoate) were significantly modified. Similarly, some minor compounds, such as styrene, 2-hexenal, 2-heptanone, exhibited insignificant changes with the pre-harvest exposition of strawberry to natural hormonal compounds whilst the levels of linalool, nonanol and nerolidol were significantly distinct between controls and treated samples. No significant variations of the enantiomeric composition of chiral volatile compounds with the treatments were observed, however. The results suggest that the pre-harvest treatment of strawberry plants with natural hormonal compounds is able to slow ripening process by affecting the biochemical pathways implicated in the formation of their components. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The aim of this work is to investigate what after-school teachers from various schools and after-schools feel about the importance of physical activity. But also how they work to stimulate and support children/pupils physical activity development in the after-school center.The work also highlights health from a physical perspective. The study provides a historic look of the conditions for the after-schools. Through qualitative interviews I want to find out how the after-school pedagogue thinks of physical activities importance for the health and development of the children. How they work with their new assignment Lgr11 to be a supplement to school. In summary the results indicate that all the respondents think that it is important to work with physical activity. Childrens interest have decreased in physical activities while the mobile, the Ipod and the computer have become more interesting hobbies. The leisure pedagogue likes to offer a "smorgasbord" to the children/pupils that contain various activities. It is very important that they are allowed to choose activity themselves.The physical activity should be done in an enjoyable way. Some leisure- pedagogues thought that by being flexible in their planning, they could stimulate childrens interest in physical activity and also social interaction at the after-school center.Keyword, Leisure-pedagogue, after-school center, physical activity


ABSTRACT Walking is an important part of the tourist experience and a significant element of sustainable mobility. Although the concept of walkability has substantial health, social, economic and environmental dimensions for permanent residents, little attention has been given to the concept of walkability from a tourist perspective. This study examines the relationships between walkability and indicators of successful tourism as measured by visitor numbers and TripAdvisor reviews for leading English visitor attractions. Walkability is measured by using the Walk Score® index that assesses the walking potential of an origin point through a combination of the shortest distance to a group of preselected destination points, the block length and the intersection density around the origin. The Walk Score algorithm includes built environment characteristics but not route characteristics. The study found only weak relationships between walkability and visitor numbers and walkability and number of TripAdvisor ratings for the top 330 visitor attractions in England. No significant relationships were found for London's attractions although a weak relationship was noted between walkability and TripAdvisor ranking. It is concluded that tourism-specific assessments of walkability and transport choice are required if visitors are to be encouraged to engage in active transport at destinations.


The existence of a parallel equity jurisdiction is a fascinating peculiarity of the legal tradition of common law. For centuries, the Court of Chancery was the most important of the English equity courts. Any investigation of the development of English equity law must therefore start here. Over the years, numerous studies have been written on the historical development of the Court of Chancery, which have, however, failed to adequately explain the peculiarity of its subject. By examining the late medieval sources from the perspective of modern legal theory and classifying the development in a broader European context, this book is intended to provide a better understanding of this at first glance irritating phenomenon.


OBJECTIVE
To review basic blood components and currently acceptable transfusion practices.

DATA SOURCES
Professional journals, current texts, and the author's experience.

STUDY SELECTION
Not applicable.

DATA EXTRACTION
Not applicable.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Red blood cells, platelets, cryoprecipitate, and fresh-frozen plasma are the basic blood components ordered daily in hospitals and transfusion services all over the world. To notify the laboratory medical director of inappropriate orders for components, the clinical laboratory scientist must be aware of currently acceptable transfusion practices. This article reviews these four components and indicates acceptable processing methods and appropriate use.

CONCLUSION
Considering the known risk factors of blood and blood component transfusions, it is essential that components be used only when necessary. Criteria for appropriate transfusion have changed over the years; old transfusion triggers are no longer acceptable. To provide the best medical care to the patient, the clinical laboratory scientist must stay abreast of currently acceptable transfusion practices.


Magnetophysiology is the use of a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based instrument to detect neuromagnetic fields evoked by electrical stimulation of brain tissue slices. In this paper we show that a SQUID based on high temperature superconductors (HTSs) would have considerable advantages over a low Tc device in this application. We construct a model of electrical activity in a hippocampal brain slice, which enables the neuromagnetic field to be determined as a function of position and distance from the tissue. We then describe the design of HTS SQUID systems for magnetophysiology and the two styles of system we are developing. Finally we use our model to show that an existing HTS SQUID magnetometer would give a superior signal to noise ratio compared to a low Tc system for the hippocampal brain slice preparation at least. 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.


Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is expected to support many promising applications in next-generation wireless networks. The recent development of integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) technology offers new opportunities to meet the stringent sensing and communication (S&C) requirements in V2X networks. However, considering the relatively small radar cross section (RCS) of the vehicles and the limited transmit power of the road site units (RSUs), the power of echoes may be too weak to achieve effective target detection and tracking. To handle this issue, we propose a novel sensing-assisted communication scheme by employing an intelligent omni-surface (IOS) on the surface of the vehicle. First, a two-phase ISAC protocol, including the S&C phase and the communication-only phase, was presented to maximize the throughput by jointly optimizing the IOS phase shifts and the sensing duration. Then, we derive a closed-form expression of the achievable rate which achieves a good approximation. Furthermore, a sufficient and necessary condition for the existence of the S&C phase is derived to provide useful insights for practical system design. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed sensing-assisted communication scheme in achieving a high throughput with low transmit power requirements.


INTRODUCTION
The majority of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are acquired through unprotected sex between partners; only male or female condoms can reduce the chances of infection with HIV during a sexual act.

AIM
This study was therefore designed to describe sexual risk history and identify factors associated with condom use among people living with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (PLWHAs) in Ogun State, Nigeria.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Main outcome measures are sexual and HIV risk history, safe sex practices, and condom use.

METHODS
This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. A total sample of all people living with HIV/AIDS attending secondary health facilities in Ogun State were recruited into the study.

RESULT
A total of 637 were interviewed; median age at first sexual intercourse among the study participants was 19 years (mean age = 18.95, standard deviation [SD] = 4.148) with a median of two lifetime sexual partners (mean = 3.22, SD = 3.57). Majority (71.4%) of the respondents had not been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection other than HIV. Precisely 47.7% of men and 52.3% of women had two or more sexual partners in the last 6 months. Men were statistically significantly more likely to have multiple sexual partners when compared with women (P = 0.00). Significantly more women (69.8%) than men (30%) had sexual partners whose HIV status they did not know (P = 0.006). Predictors of condom use were individuals who had multiple sexual partners (odds ratio [OR] = 1.41, confidence interval [CI] = 1.05-1.83) and married (OR = 3.13, CI = 1.15-8.51) with higher level of education (OR = 2.78, CI = 1.39-5.79), with knowledge of partner's serostatus (OR = 2.53, CI = 1.50-4.28), and awareness of reinfection (OR = 1.90, CI = 1.22-2.95).

CONCLUSION
The study indicates that the establishment of effective safe sex practices and condom use behavior among PLWHAs in low-income countries such as the study population requires adequate health education on the transmission of HIV/AIDS and the understanding of the dynamics of family life and gender issues.


Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of nudge activities at school on the students' body mass index (BMI). Design: School-based factorial randomized community trial. Setting: Eighteen public schools in the municipality of Duque de Caxias, metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Participants and intervention: The 18 schools will be randomized into 4 group arms: group 1—control (without any activity); group 2—will receive educational activities in the classroom; group 3—will receive changes in the school environment (nudge strategies); group 4—will receive educational activities and changes in the school environment. Activities will occur during the 2018 school-year. Main outcome measure(s): The primary (BMI) and secondary (body fat percentage) outcomes will be assessed at baseline and after the study using a portable electronic scale with a segmental body composition monitor. The height will be measured by a portable stadiometer. Analysis: Statistical analyses for each outcome will be conducted through linear mixed models that took into account the missing data and cluster effect of the schools.


The impact of anthropogenic aerosol on climate forcing remains uncertain largely due to inadequate representation of natural aerosols in climate models. The marine boundary layer (MBL) might serve as a model location to study natural aerosol processes. Yet source and sink mechanisms controlling the MBL aerosol number, size distribution, chemical composition, and hygroscopic properties remain poorly constrained. Here aerosol size distribution and water uptake measurements were made aboard the R/V Hi'ialakai from 27 June to 3 July 2016 in the subtropical North Pacific Ocean. Size distributions were predominantly bimodal with an average integrated number concentration of 197 ± 98 cm−3. Hygroscopic growth factors were measured using the tandem differential mobility analyzer technique for dry 48, 96, and 144 nm particles. Mode kappa values for these were 0.57 ± 0.12, 0.51 ± 0.09, and 0.52 ± 0.08, respectively. To better understand remote MBL aerosol sources, a new algorithm was developed which decomposes hygroscopicity distributions into three classes: carbon‐containing particles, sulfate‐like particles, and sodium‐containing particles. Results from this algorithm showed low and steady sodium‐containing particle concentrations while the sulfate‐like and carbon‐containing particle concentrations varied during the cruise. According to the classification scheme, carbon‐containing particles contributed at least 3–7%, sulfate‐like particles contributed at most 77–88% and sodium‐containing particles at least contributed 9–16% to the total aerosol number concentration. Size distribution and hygroscopicity data, in conjunction with air mass back trajectory analysis, suggested that the aerosol budget in the subtropical North Pacific MBL may be controlled by aerosol entrainment from the free troposphere.


Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are relentlessly progressive neurodegenerative disorders that are likely to represent two ends of a disease spectrum. It is well established that both are characterised pathologically by widespread cortical Lewy body deposition. However, until recently, the pathophysiological mechanisms leading to neuronal damage were not known. It was also not understood why some cells are particularly vulnerable in PDD/DLB, nor why some individuals show more aggressive and rapid dementia than others. Recent studies using animal and cell models as well as human post-mortem analyses have provided important insights into these questions. Here, we review recent developments in the pathophysiology in PDD/DLB. Specifically, we examine the role of pathological proteins other than α-synuclein, consider particular morphological and physiological features that confer vulnerabilities on some neurons rather than others, and finally examine genetic factors that may explain some of the heterogeneity between individuals with PDD/DLB.


OBJECTIVES
To determine and correlate preoperative serum levels of CEA and Dickkopf-related protein 1 (DKK-1) in stage II and III colon cancer and so identify the patients at high risk for early relapse.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 100 patients with stage II (n = 50; median age: 53 years, 31 males) and III (n = 50; median age: 57 years, 32 males) colon cancer and 50 controls (median age: 53.9 years, 25 males) were included. Serum levels for CEA and DKK-1 were recorded in each subject.

RESULTS
Mean (SD) levels for serum CEA and DKK-1 were significantly higher in stage III patients than in stage II patients and controls (p < 0.001 for each). There was a significant correlation between serum levels of CEA and DKK-1 in stage II (r = 0.71, p < 0.001) stage III (r = 0.62, p < 0.001) patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Preoperative serum levels for DKK-1 seem to be a potential marker in prediction of tumor invasion and relapse in stage II-III colon cancer.


Study on mass ive sulfide ores of the Shimokawa mine disclosed that the ores ha ve been crea ted by two distinctive phascs of mineralization; One is characterizcd by precursory cubic·colloform pyrites (py( J» probably related to the formation of pillow lavas in a fore-a rc basin. The other is markcd by presence of chalcopyritc-pyrrhotite-sphalerite assemblage associated with accessory cubanite, cobalt · pcntlanditc, mackinawite and pyrite (py( IJ ». Lead isotope data on the Shimokawa pi llow lava, diabase and copper dominant ore, and gabbros in the H idaka metamorphic belt suggest that copper dominant ore from the Shimokawa mine is not consanguineous with the Shimokawa pillow lava, bu t with the gabbros of the Hidaka mctamorphic belt. From the lead isotope data, the Shimokawa ore deposi ts have been regarded as a composite type rclated to magmatic acti vit ies in both a forc-arc basin and an island arc system. Based on the gcologic and geotectonic relationships of the Shimokawa diabase complex and the adjacent Nisama igneous complex it is concluded that the Shimokawa diabase complex is a slab obctucted onto the island arc system represented by the Nisama igneous complex. The ore solution related to the formation of Shimokawa copper dominant ores might have been created in relation to the magmat ism forming the N isama gabbroic mass possessing nickeliferous pyrrhotite deposits.


Real time collaborative interactions within CVEs rely on the low latency offered by high speed networks. When low level network troubles occur during a collaborative session, participants of networked collaborative virtual environments can suffer from misunderstanding weird behavior of some objects of the virtual universe. We want to make such a virtual world easier to understand by using some graphic visualizations in such a way that the users become aware of these problems. It is a kind of augmentation of the Virtual Environment thanks to dedicated 3D metaphors associated to some objects of the virtual environment. We also want to allow users to work while these troubles occur, maybe with only restricted interaction possibilities, by making some interactive objects migrate onto the same site than the user who wants to interact with them. This is why we present then how two independent mechanisms may be coupled together for a better management and awareness of network troubles while interacting within a networked collaborative virtual environment: an awareness system that visualizes, through special metaphors, the existence of a network trouble as strong delay or disconnection; and a virtual object migration system that allows the migration of an object from one site to another to ensure a non interrupted manipulation in case of network troubles.


At the moment, in all the regions of the world it has been informed about the human necessity of having an acceptable environ- ment in all the orders, being in fact that of their contamination one of the most sensitive from the social point of view. The susceptible natural means and that in fact they are being contaminated they are: the water, the soil and the air. Associated to processes of contamination they are metallic elements (heavy metals (MP) that are present insoils either as natural components or results of the human activity. In numerous countries it has been possible to evaluate the extension of the contamination comparing the total tenors of MP in an area given with the op- posing ones under natural conditions or through value guides (VO); however in our country they have not been possible to settle down under natural conditions and it has been had to use for their study the methodologies of countries like Brazil. Keeping in mind this antecedent in the work two types of soils was selected with low activity antropica; the tenors of Cd were determined, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn and the physical- chemical properties were analyzed to obtain the best statistical relationships that could be employees in the estimate of values of concentration of MP under natural conditions. The methodology for the extraction with regal water of the metals in the soils was proposed by ISO 11466. The obtained results allow establishing a novel methodology to propose for the first time you value guides of heavy metals in soils with little agricultural activity.


This paper presents a quantitative evaluation of the geometric accuracy that can be achieved with QuickBird imagery using the metadata provided with DigitalGlobe's image products. We explore two geometric models: the rational function model, and a rigorous sensor model based on camera, attitude, and ephemeris data included in the product metadata. We assess the rational function model against the rigorous sensor model, showing that the two models provide comparable geometric accuracy. We then assess the absolute geometric accuracy of a sample set of QuickBird products, measuring both the systematic geometric accuracy, and demonstrating the improvements which can be achieved using a full photogrammetric block adjustment.


Negative ion source technology has rapidly advanced during the past several years as a direct consequence of the discovery of Krohn that negative ion yields can be greatly enhanced by sputtering in the presence of Group IA elements. Today, most negative ion sources use this discovery directly or the principles implied to effect negative ion formation through surface ionization. As a consequence, the more traditional direct extraction plasma and charge exchange sources are being used less frequently. However, the charge exchange generation mechanism appears to be as universal, is very competitive in terms of efficiency and has the advantage in terms of metastable ion formation. In this review, an attempt has been made to briefly describe the principal processes involved in negative ion formation and sources which are representative of a particular principle. The reader is referred to the literature for specific details concerning the operational characteristics, emittances, brightnesses, species and intensity capabilities of particular sources. 100 references.


Background: This study compared vertical jump phase identification using a three-dimensional motion capture system to three common force platform based methodologies. Methods: Thirty-two semi-professional male rugby league players (23.3 ± 4.1 years) volunteered to participate in the study. Participants completed six vertical jumps on a force plate with landmark body markers for the motion capture system analysis. The data from the motion capture system was then analysed against three common methods used in vertical jump analysis. Results: Eccentric phase time, concentric phase time, time to peak force and rate of force development for method one were significantly different (p<0.001) from motion capture system data. Method 2 was significantly different (p<0.05) for eccentric phase time identification compared to motion capture analysis. No significant differences were found among the three groups for maximum concentric force when compared with motion capture system data. Conclusion: While no differences were found in the maximum force values, differences were found in the eccentric and concentric phase times. The accurate identification of the start and ending of the phases is essential to correctly measure the time to peak force and rate of force development during the vertical jump. The rate of force development and time to peak force has been identified as key predictors of sports performance and therefore care must be taken in the methods chosen to measure these important variables.


ABSTRACT Liberal practice in the medical professions has long been the tradition and de-facto position of the Japanese government. However, accountability and transparency in healthcare governance have recently drawn scrutiny, primarily due to several adverse events in hospitals. While New Public Management and risk-based approaches have not penetrated the design of regulatory management and compliance strategies, there has been increased institutional capacity and a search for a new mechanism of regulating risks in healthcare. This paper attempts to identify the directions of policy developments in Japan. It questions whether the conventional model of professional self-regulation in medicine is eroding, as in many English-speaking countries. The article demonstrates that while we may identify some common trends such as greater transparency and the creation of arm's length bodies, policy decisions prove deeply embedded in governance arrangements, and professional self-regulation in healthcare remains resilient, particularly in Japan.


Methods are presented for incorporation of parent-of-origin effects into linkage analysis of quantitative traits. The estimated proportion of marker alleles shared identical by descent is first partitioned into a component derived from the mother and a component derived from the father. These parent-specific estimates of allele sharing are used in variance-components or Haseman-Elston methods of linkage analysis so that the effect of the quantitative-trait locus carried on the maternally derived chromosome is potentially different from the effect of the locus on the paternally derived chromosome. Statistics for linkage between trait and marker loci derived from either or both parents are then calculated, as are statistics for testing whether the effect of the maternally derived locus is equal to that of the paternally derived locus. Analyses of data simulated for 956 siblings from 263 nuclear families who had participated in a linkage study revealed that type I error rates for these statistics were generally similar to nominal values. Power to detect an imprinted locus was substantially increased when analyzed with a model allowing for parent-of-origin effects, compared with analyses that assumed equal effects; for example, for an imprinted locus accounting for 30% of the phenotypic variance, the expected LOD score was 4.5 when parent-of-origin effects were incorporated into the analysis, compared with 3.1 when these effects were ignored. The ability to include parent-of-origin effects within linkage analysis of quantitative traits will facilitate genetic dissection of complex traits.


This paper describes the architecture and implementation of a mobile IP system. It allows mobile hosts to roam between cells implemented with 2-Mbps radio base stations, while maintaining Internet connectivity. The system is being developed as part of a course on wireless networks at Harvard and has been operational since March 1994.

The architecture scales well, both geographically and in the number of mobile hosts supported. It supports secure short-cut routing to mobile hosts using the existing Internet routing system without change. The implementation demonstrates a robust, low complexity realization of the architecture, and provides trade-off opportunities between efficiency and cost.

Measured performance of the mobile system is generally excellent. The system can handle a high rate of location updates, and routes packets almost as efficiently for mobile hosts as the Internet does for stationary hosts. We observe reasonable TCP behavior during hand-offs.


Divination is found in most human societies but there is little systematic research to explain [1] why it is persuasive, or [2] why divination is required for important collective decisions in many small-scale societies. Common features of human communication and cooperation may help address both questions. A highly recurrent feature of divination is "ostensive detachment", a demonstration that the diviners are not the authors of the statements they utter. As a consequence, people spontaneously interpret divination as less likely than other statements to be influenced by anyone's intentions or interests. This is enough to give divination an epistemic advantage, compared with other sources of information, answering question [1]. This advantage is all the more important in situations where a diagnosis will create differential costs and benefits, e.g., determining who is responsible for someone's misfortune in a small-scale community. Divinatory statements provide a version of the situation that most participants are motivated to agree with, as it provides a focal point for efficient coordination, at a minimal cost for almost all participants, which would answer question [2].


Apart from immediate postoperative and postpartum causes, urinary retention in women is generally thought of as rare, and the cases that do occur have usually been ascribed to neurological disease or, more vaguely, to hysteria. Recent clinical studies have indicated that the condition may be more common than suspected. A survey' in the Bristol clinical area between 1972 and 1974 found 103 cases of acute urinary retention in women, of which 58 were postoperative or postpartum and temporary. Analysis of the remainder showed a gynaecological cause (pelvic mass, prolapse, pessary, or vulval haematoma) in 17; and urological abnormality (usually urethral stenosis or inflammation) in 15. Seven patients had neurological disease, including multiple sclerosis, traumatic paraplegia, sacral agenesis, and cerebral metastasis-and such conditions may also lead to chronic retention. Only three cases were attributed to psychiatric causes, while three others were related to rectal conditionsfaecal impaction and severe colitis. This review not only shows the value of using strict criteria for the diagnosis of acute retention but has also effectively debunked the textbook myth that hysteria is a common cause. Gynaecological and neurological lesions were reaffirmed as important factors, but attention was drawn particularly to the need for precise urological investigation where the cause remains obscure. Seven of the urological cases had definite obstructive lesions requiring transurethral resection of the bladder neck or urethral dilatation, while others with inflammatory disease were cured with antibiotic treatment. The urological aspects of idiopathic chronic retention in women have been discussed in a paper from Sheffield2 describing 14 cases. The age distribution was biphasic, with four patients under 30 years and the rest 50 and above. All complained of frequency, four had urgency, and two overflow incontinence. Nearly all were conscious of incomplete or difficult emptying of the bladder. In most cases symptoms had lasted for over one year. Four patients had previously undergone hysterectomy, but in only one of these was the onset of symptoms related to the operation. Investigations included intravenous urography, which, perhaps surprisingly, showed a normal upper urinary tract in all but two patients, one ofwhom had vesicoureteric reflux and pyelonephritis. The volume of residual urine varied between 120 and 1500 ml, mostly in the 120-300 ml range. Endoscopic examination was usually easy and showed trabeculation in about half the patients, with smooth "floppy" bladders in the others. In some there was projection of the posterior rim of the bladder neck, and these patients responded best to treatment by transurethral resection irrespective of whether trabeculation was present or not. Others were treated by urethral dilatation with varying success, and the Sheffield authors recommended that this should proceed at least to a size of 38 to 40F. This series reinforces the view that bladder neck obstruction in women is more common than has generally been supposed but throws little fresh light on its precise aetiology. Histological examination in the cases subjected to transurethral resection invariably showed some inflammation, together with hyperplasia of the urethral glands or senile epithelial changes in some patients. Psychological problems, which were present in six of the 14 cases, may possibly be relevant more often than in acute retention and may lead to the lax "modesty" bladder, which is used to holding a large residue. Such cases, however, require detailed urodynamic and neurological assessment to exclude organic neurological disease.


Theory predicts that cooperative breeding should only occur in species in which certain individuals are constrained from breeding independently by some peculiarity of the species' ecology. Here, we use comparative methods to examine the role of variation in ecology in explaining differences between taxa in the frequency of cooperative breeding. We address three questions. First, does the frequency of cooperative breeding vary at just one phylogenetic level, or across several levels? Second, are differences in the frequency of cooperative breeding among closely-related species correlated with ecology! Last, are ecological differences between ancient lineages important in predisposing certain lineages to cooperative breeding? We find that variation in the frequency of cooperative breeding occurs across all phylogenetic levels, with 40% among families and 60% within families. Also, variation in the frequency of cooperative breeding between closely related species is associated with ecological differences. However, differences in the frequency of cooperative breeding among more ancient lineages are not correlated with differences in ecology. Together, our results suggest that cooperative breeding is not due to any single factor, but is a two step-process: life-history predisposition and ecological facilitation. Low annual mortality predisposes certain lineages to cooperative breeding. Subsequently, changes in ecology facilitate the evolution of cooperative breeding within these predisposed lineages. The key ecological changes appear to be sedentariness and living in a relatively invariable and warm climate. Thus, although ecological variation is not the most important factor in predisposing lineages to cooperative breeding, it is important in determining exactly which species or populations in a predisposed lineage will adopt cooperative breeding. Key words: birds, comparative methods, cooperative breeding, ecological constraints, mating system.


In this paper, we study the distributed spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks. Existing distributed consensus-based fusion algorithms only ensure equal gain combining of local measurements, whose performance may be incomparable to various centralized soft combining schemes. Motivated by this fact, we consider practical channel conditions and link failures, and develop new weighted soft measurement combining without a centralized fusion center. Following the measurement by its energy detector, each secondary user exchanges its own measurement statistics with its local one-hop neighbors, and chooses the information exchanging rate according to the measurement channel condition, e.g., the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We rigorously prove the convergence of the new consensus algorithm, and show all secondary users hold the same global decision statistics from the weighted soft measurement combining throughout the network. We also provide distributed optimal weight design under uncorrelated measurement channels. The convergence rate of the consensus iteration is given under the assumption that each communication link has an independent probability to fail, and the upper bound of the iteration number of the ε-convergence is explicitly given as a function of system parameters. Simulation results show significant improvement of the sensing performance compared to existing consensus-based approaches, and the performance of the distributed weighted design is comparable to the centralized weighted combining scheme.


The three dimensional plasma boundary displacements induced by either longlasting core MHD instabilities or by applied non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations have been measured in ASDEX Upgrade, DIII-D, JET, MAST and NSTX. For the core instabilities, the displacements are usually small, although in extreme cases in MAST when the rotation braking is strong and global a significant displacement can be observed. The most concerning instability for ITER is the saturated internal kink, or helical core, which can be found in plasmas with a wide region of low magnetic shear such as the hybrid scenario, which can lead to non-negligible boundary displacements. Nonetheless, the boundary displacement resultant from core MHD instabilities in ITER is predicted to be less than ±1% of the minor radius. The displacements arising from applied resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are measured up to ±5% of the minor radius in present day machines. Good agreement has been found between these experimental measurements and a range of models – from vacuum field line tracing, to ideal three dimensional MHD equilibrium reconstruction, to nonlinear plasma amplification. The measured displacement across a range of machines is found to correlate linearly with the applied resonant field predicted by vacuum modelling. The RMP-induced displacements foreseen in ITER are expected to lie within the range of those predicted by the different models, meaning less than ±1.75% (±3.5cm) of the minor radius in the H-mode baseline and less than ±2.5% (±5cm) in a 9MA plasma. Whilst a displacement of 7cm peak-to-peak in the baseline scenario is marginally acceptable from both a plasma control and heat loading perspective, it is important that ITER adopts a plasma control system which can account for a three dimensional boundary corrugation to avoid an n = 0 correction which would otherwise exacerbate the displacement caused by the applied fields. ITPA MHD Working Group 12: 3d distortions due to saturated MHD or RMPs 3


Multipotent hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells HSPC reside in specialized stem cell niches within the bone marrow, that provide a suitable microenvironment for lifelong maintenance of the stem cells. Meaningful in vitro models recapitulating the in vivo stem cell niche biology can be employed for both basic research as well as for applied sciences and represent a powerful tool to reduce animal tests in preclinical studies. Recently we published the generation of an in vitro bone marrow niche model, capable of long-term cultivation of HSC based on an organ-on-a-chip platform. This study provides a detailed analysis of the 3D culture system including matrix environment analysis by SEM, transcriptome analysis and system intrinsic differentiation induction. Furthermore, the bone marrow on a chip model can serve to multiply and harvest HSPC, since repeated cell removal not compromised the functionality of the culture system. The prolongation of the culture time to 8 weeks demonstrate the capacity to apply the model in repeated drug testing experiments. The quality of the presented system is emphasized by the differentiation capacity of long-term cultivated HSPC in vitro and in vivo. Transplanted human HSPC migrated actively into the bone marrow of irradiated mice and contributed to the long-term reconstitution of the hematopoietic system after four and eight weeks of in vitro cultivation. The introduced system offers a multitude of possible applications to address a broad spectrum of questions regarding HSPC, the corresponding bone marrow niche biology, and pathological aberrations.


Reversible data hiding in encrypted images (RDHEI) is an effective technique to embed data in the encrypted domain. An original image is encrypted with a secret key and during or after its transmission, it is possible to embed additional information in the encrypted image, without knowing the encryption key or the original content of the image. During the decoding process, the secret message can be extracted and the original image can be reconstructed. In the last few years, RDHEI has started to draw research interest. Indeed, with the development of cloud computing, data privacy has become a real issue. However, none of the existing methods allow us to hide a large amount of information in a reversible manner. In this paper, we propose a new reversible method based on MSB (most significant bit) prediction with a very high capacity. We present two approaches, these are: high capacity reversible data hiding approach with correction of prediction errors and high capacity reversible data hiding approach with embedded prediction errors. With this method, regardless of the approach used, our results are better than those obtained with current state of the art methods, both in terms of reconstructed image quality and embedding capacity.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical manifestations, pathological types, treatment and prognosis of primary pulmonary lymphoma (PPL) and secondary pulmonary lymphoma (SPL).

METHODS
The clinical data of 40 cases of PPL or SPL diagnosed from 2003 to 2013 in the Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. All cases were diagnosed via lung biopsy or surgical biopsy.

RESULTS
There were 24 male and 16 female patients, aging from 15 to 84 years, including 10 patients with PPL and 30 with SPL. The main clinical manifestations of PPL were cough and chest pain, but 4 patients were asymptomatic. Chest CT showed lung mass in 8 patients and patchy opacities in 3. ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT showed that the SUV(max) of lung lesions was 3.96-6.70 with a median value of 4.50. The pathological types of all PPL cases were non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and 4 patients were treated with surgery combined with chemotherapy, and 3 patients were treated with surgery alone. The main clinical manifestations of SPL were cough, superficial lymph node enlargement and fever, but 8 patients were asymptomatic. The chest CT revealed pleural effusions in 20, mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement in 14, patch opacities in 13 and multiple nodules in 6 patients. In addition to pulmonary involvement, PET/CT examination confirmed that cervical lymph nodes, thyroid, stomach and pancreas were also involved. The SUV(max) was from 2.40 to 19.60, with a median value of 5.70. Twenty-one cases of SPL were NHL and 9 were Hodgkin lymphomas (HL). Of these patients with SPL, 14 were treated with chemotherapy alone, 8 chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy, and 2 surgery combined with chemotherapy. The one-year survival rate of PPL was 100%, compared with 93.3% of SPL. The shortest survival time of PPL was 13 months, compared with 2 months of SPL.

CONCLUSIONS
There were differences in the radiological features, pathological types and treatment between PPL and SPL. The chest CT manifestations of PPL were mainly lung masses, while those of SPL were mainly pleural involvement and mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement. The pathological type of PPL was all NHL while that of 9 cases of SPL was HL. Patients with PPL were mainly treated with surgical therapy, but SPL mainly with chemotherapy. PET/CT examination may be helpful for the diagnosis and staging of lung lymphoma. Since the misdiagnosis rate of pulmonary lymphoma was high, diagnosis must rely on lung tissue biopsy and immunohistochemistry. Compared with PPL, the prognosis of SPL is poorer.


Increases in medical expertise and technological advances have enabled the survival of very preterm babies who form a new and growing population. Comparisons between the foetus, full-term baby and the very preterm baby indicate that by the time the foetus is of 23 weeks gestation, many of the abilities, for example, sensing touch, hearing, seeing, moving and even learning may be common to all three. Thus, the very preterm infant who has been described as a unique organism, is not passive, but is a sentient being who is unlikely to survive without the medical and technical support of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where he/she is exposed to frequent and regular medical procedures. Many of these procedures would be, for any normal, fully developed human being at best uncomfortable and at worst painful. Reviews within the past 10 years have shown that the neurochemical, anatomic and functional systems of newborns are developed enough to perceive pain. More importantly, rat pup studies have indicated that not only may the very preterm baby experience pain but it may experience it more intensely than the more mature infant. Moreover, there may be serious consequences of repeated painful medical intervention. Alleviation of pain and/or distress in very preterm infants is, therefore, an important issue.


The aim of this work is to systematically quantify and rank the effects of nine different design parameters on the fluid mechanic abilities of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuator supplied with an alternating current. The ranking and quantification not only consider the parameters themselves but also their interactions with each other. In order to perform this ranking, a Design of Experiment approach is used. This allows the most significant design parameters for the thrust generation, power consumption and thrust to power consumed ratio (force efficiency) of DBD actuator performance to be determined in a systematic way. The results show that the thrust generation is driven by the voltage, distance between the electrodes, AC frequency, and geometry of the exposed electrode, in that order. A high voltage and high frequency, with a thin dielectric, a narrow inter-electrode gap, and a thin and narrow air-electrode results in an increase in the thrust generation.The thrust to power ratio of a DBD is employed as a proxy for the fluid mechanic efficiency. The analysis of the force efficiency shows that the voltage, frequency, distance between the electrodes, and geometry of the air electrode have significant effects. The higher force efficiency is obtained for a high voltage, low frequency, short inter-electrode gap, thin dielectric of low permittivity with a narrow and thin exposed electrode. Finally, two actuators are investigated to determine the best scaling laws for the power consumption as a function of voltage and frequency. In these experiments, the power consumption was a function of voltage to the power of 2.5 and frequency to the power of 1.5. This systematic study of the parameters and their interactions allows general guidelines to be obtained for the best fluid mechanic performance of a DBD, viz. its thrust generation and force efficiency.


The rationale of Econographicology revolves around the efficacy of graphs as the most effective analytical tool for visualization of any economic phenomena. The main motivation behind the creation of Econographicology is to evaluate graphs evolved so far in economics and to develop new types of graphs to facilitate the study of economics, as well as finance and business. Thereby, the mission of Econographicology is to offer academics, researchers and policy maker's alternative analytical tool in the research and teaching-learning process of economics, Finance and business. The theoretical framework of Econographicology draws very much on graphs designs: soft graphs design and hard graphs design. In addition, the research involved is supported by three types of graphs: analytical graphs, descriptive graphs and graphs simulations. At the inception of Econographicology, the following new types of graphs and Cartesian Spaces are presented: Pyramid Cartesian Space (PG), Diamond Cartesian Space (DG),Multi-Dimensional Cartesian Space (MD), Infinity Cartesian Space (I-Cartesian Space) and Multi-functional Cartesian Space (MF). These Cartesian Spaces are constructed based on the traditional 3-Dimensional space concept, but they represent 4-D, 5-D, 8-D, 9-D and Infinity-Dimension. The multiple-dimensional representations are to facilitate easyunderstanding of economic phenomena from a general view.


The acceptance sampling plan (ASP) is a statistical tool used in industry for quality control to determine the quality of products by selecting a specified number for testing in order to accept or reject the lot. The main objective is to develop a new ASP based on truncated life tests assuming that the lifetime follows the two parameters Quasi Shanker distribution, since this distribution showed its superiority in providing a better model for some applications than the exponential distribution. The ASP steps are carried out to find the minimum sample sizes needed to assert the certain life mean that are calculated under a given customer's risk. The operating characteristic values of the sampling plan and the producer risk values are obtained. The efficiency of the suggested plans is analyzed based on real data that is fitted to the Quasi Shanker distribution. For various values of the Quasi Shanker distribution parameters, numerical examples are presented for illustrative purposes. The results indicate that the suggested ASP provides smaller sample sizes than other competitors considered in this study. The suggested ASP has been found to provide a substantial sampling economy in terms of reducing the sample. Hence, it is recommended that the ASP can be used in industry and for future research works as double and group ASP.


Under the present Canadian Copyright Act, it appears that protection is granted to computer programs, or software, as well as to flowcharts and firmware, or chips, whithout any relevant distinction. But the real problem is one of evidence. As a matter of fact, no layman can be expected to appreciate correctly a reproduction of a substantial part of a program where even experts are facing a troublesome task. New rules of evidence should be contemplated, based on behavior, since it is easier for the defendant to show that he did exercise creativity than for the plaintif to sustain that his work has been copied. That is especially important, considering that copyright seems to be the only answer for such badly needed protection.


Unquestionably, discussions on the internationalization of higher education have gained currency in the educational context (KNIGHT, 2004; ALTBACH; KNIGHT, 2007; DELGADO-MARQUEZ; HURTADO-TORRES; BONDAR, 2011), and language policies prove to be a crucial issue in the internationalization arena. In this regard, Parana's government created the Parana Speaks Languages (English) Program in order to meet the demands of such internationalization. With this background in mind, this study aimed to provide a bibliographicanalysis of the research on the aforementioned institutional program. Moreover, the study seeks to answer the following research inquiry: What is the focus of the body of literature on the Parana Speaks English Program? Following the academic procedures of the bibliographic research, only three studies (MARSON, BORGES, 2015; EL KADRI, DI RAIMO, 2017; MARSON, 2017) were found and analyzed under a qualitative perspective. Results show that the literature in this topic is significant scarce. Besides, the studies scrutinized are centered on virtual and real gains promoted by the program. Such gains concern the improvement in language proficiency, which in turn strengthens academic mobility and the internationalization of higher education.


Endothelin-1 (ET-1) plays a key role in the regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs). In the presence of endotoxin, an increase in caveolin-1 (Cav-1) expression impairs ET-1/eNOS signaling; however, the molecular mechanism is unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanism of Cav-1 in the regulation of LPS suppression of ET-1-mediated eNOS activation in LSECs by examining the effect of caveolae disruption using methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (CD) and filipin. Treatment with 5 mM CD for 30 min increased eNOS activity (+255%, P < 0.05). A dose (0.25 microg/ml) of filipin for 30 min produced a similar effect (+111%, P < 0.05). CD induced the perinuclear localization of Cav-1 and eNOS and stimulated NO production in the same region. Readdition of 0.5 mM cholesterol to saturate CD reversed these effects. Both the combined treatment with CD and ET-1 (CD + ET-1) and with filipin and ET-1 stimulated eNOS activity; however, pretreatment with endotoxin (LPS) abrogated these effects. Following LPS pretreatment, CD + ET-1 failed to stimulate eNOS activity (+51%, P > 0.05), which contributed to the reduced levels of eNOS-Ser1177 phosphorylation and eNOS-Thr495 dephosphorylation, the LPS/CD-induced overexpression and translocation of Cav-1 in the perinuclear region, and the increased perinuclear colocalization of eNOS with Cav-1. These results supported the hypothesis that Cav-1 mediates the action of endotoxin in suppressing ET-1-mediated eNOS activation and demonstrated that the manipulation of caveolae produces significant effects on ET-1-mediated eNOS activity in LSECs.


Received October 8, 2015 Accepted January 31, 2016 In an intensive care unit (ICU), diverse types of injectable drugs are administrated as continuous infusions according to the condition of the patient. Since incompatibilities of injectable drugs can result in loss of efficacy of medications, it is important that pharmacists quickly recommend appropriate administration routes and provide information on compatibility. In this study, we developed a compatibility chart of frequently used continuous infusions in ICU and evaluated its usefulness. The compatibility chart contained information on trade name, pH, pharmaceutical characteristics, and compatibility with other continuous infusions, for 35 injections. Compatibility determinations were based on information in package inserts, interview forms, and other publications. To evaluate the usefulness of the compatibility chart, we administered a questionnaire survey to 67 nurses and 29 physicians working in ICU. The response rate of nurses and physicians was 100% and 65.5%, respectively. Among the questionees, 91.0% of nurses and 36.8% of physicians had used the compatibility chart. Of the questionees who used the chart, 86.9% of nurses and all physicians rated it as "very useful" or "useful." Many nurses found that use of the compatibility chart shortened the investigation time of compatibility. Furthermore, this chart provided the pharmacists with quick access to compatibility information. These results show that the compatibility chart for injections was useful in preventing injection incompatibilities in ICU.


The paper explores the scientific legacy of Ernest S. Burch, Jr., 1938–2010, one of the leading experts on the social life and ethnohistory of Alaskan indigenous people. Burch's professional career is viewed through the lenses of five monumental projects (initiatives) that he accomplished over 50 years: the study of subsistence ecology in Kivalina, Alaska (1960–1985); reconstruction of the early 1800s Iñupiat nations in North Alaska (1969–1980); the National Geographic map, "Peoples of the Arctic, ca. 1825" (1979–1983); the multivolume series, Cultural and Natural Heritage of Northwest Alaska (1983–2003); and the history of caribou herds in Alaska (late 1990s–2010). Several projects that Burch had started but did not bring to conclusion are also discussed. Burch's research set the highest professional standards in the discipline of arctic anthropology for over four decades, and the resulting loss of knowledge and expertise will be hard to overcome.


A helminthological material from 5 seal species (361 specimens) captured in the Pacific sector of Antarctica was examined. The host-parasite associations of cestodes, peculiarities of their locations, extensive and intensive infection rate were studied. Parasitological data are compared with the data on a host feeding.


AIMS
To examine the performance of AAIsafeR2, a new pacing mode to minimize the cumulative proportion of ventricular pacing in patients who do not need regular ventricular support.

METHODS AND RESULTS
The safety of AAIsafeR2 was examined in 123 recipients (73 +/- 12 years old, 51% men) of dual chamber pacemakers implanted for sinus node dysfunction, paroxysmal AV block or the bradycardia-tachycardia syndrome. Data were collected from pacemaker diagnostics, and the first 43 patients underwent 24-h Holter recordings before being discharged from the hospital with AAIsafeR2 activated. No adverse event related to AAIsafeR2 was observed. All ventricular pauses detected on Holter tapes triggered immediate back-up ventricular pacing. Appropriate switches to DDD occurred in 97 of 123 patients. In 69 of 123 devices (56%) switches to DDD were non-sustained, and the average % ventricular pacing in this group was 0.2+/-0.5%.

CONCLUSION
AAIsafeR2 mode seems to be safe and reliable in patients with infrequent slowing or pauses in ventricular activity, while maintaining ventricular pacing below 1%.


Background: percutaneous balloon dilation of corotation of aorta is a less invasive and alternative to surgical repair for patients with discrete coaction of aorta and although the used of balloon angioplasty in patients with recurrent postoperative coarctation gained a wide consensus, the use this technique for native coarctation is still controversial in children less one years.
Objective: to evaluate the immediate and late result of balloon dilation of native coarctation of aorta in infant and children.
Type of the study: A prospective study.
Subjects & Methods: The study was done on forty-five patients who were referred for cardiac catheterization and balloon angioplasty of native coarctation of the aorta at Ibn-AL-Bitar center for cardiac surgery between January 2015 to May 2016.Left heart catheterization was performed with evaluation of the morphology and pressure gradient across the stenotic segment of aorta. Follow up evaluations were done between 1 week and 18 months after discharge (mean 6 months) with transthoracic echocardiography.
 Results: The age of patients range from 1month to 4 years (median age at time of procedure was12.3month).  Associated lesions in 11 patients (24.4%).  Immediate results were reduction in gradient from 42.5± 17.3 to 10.3± 8.2 mm Hg in forty-two patients (93.3%). Late result during follow up period, 29 patients (69%) had maintain gradient less than 20mmHg. Complications were reported in 6 patients (13.3%). there was one procedure related death (2.2%).
 Conclusions: Balloon angioplasty for treatment of native coarctation of the aorta is effective with sustained benefit on long-term follow-up in infants and children >6 months. Transverse arch hypoplasia and children <6 months old has major effect on late outcome of recurrent coarctation of aorta.


This thesis discusses Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child, which takes the setting of England in the late 1960's. It is a story about establishing a family by young couple, David and Harriet, who have the same dreams of an ideal family, that is, having a lot of children and living in a big haouse. In my prior reading the novel, I find out tha david and harriet once reachj their dreams and have wonderful life together; yet at the end-as it is mentioned in the novel-they are torn apart. This becomes my reason for choosing the failure of the Lovatts to maintain their ideal family as the topic to be analyzed. The purpose of this study is to find out what have been the causes that make the Lovatts fail to maintain their ideal family. To answer this problem, I use literary approach, namely teh theory of characteristic and the theory of conflict. These two theories help me detech the present and potential conflicts. The findings shows tha david and harriet have financial problems as they are not able to pay the mortgage and to pay their children's school fees by themselves; yet they are able to carry on a happy famliy life until Harriet gives birth to her fifth child. Ben, the fifth child, becomes a monster of the family because he is phsically and mentally retarted and turns the family into weariness. Thus, ben is the utmost cause of David's and Harriet's failure to maintain their ideal family


A new method to analyse the optical and thermal losses in amorphous silicon solar cells is presented. It is demonstrated that PDS measurements can provide important information on the losses that limit the performance of such cells. The major advantage of the method presented is the ability to determine parameters which are not accessible by other methods, i.e. the reflection, absorption without carrier separation, thermalization and losses in p- and n-layer, field losses, recombination and electrical gain of the solar cell under operating conditions. The method can be applied to thin film solar cells of all kinds complementary to DSR which can also be measured in the same set-up. Eliminating some experimental difficulties could lead to a new comprehensive and complementary characterisation method of solar cells of all kinds.


A diagnosis of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a devastating experience, placing those with the syndrome at high risk for ineffective coping. During the acute stage of illness, when the patient is admitted to a critical care setting, a crisis can ensue and precipitate intense anxiety, anger, denial, depression, and even suicidal ideation. Although it is imperative that critical care nurses become proficient in accurately assessing, diagnosing, and treating the disease in individuals who have an increased risk of maladaptive coping, there is no systematic basis for assessing the coping of patients with AIDS. Our purpose is to present a theoretically based explanation of the coping experience of persons with AIDS and to delineate nursing interventions designed to deal with maladaptive responses. The early and deliberate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of such responses by means of a full range of psychosocial interventions are needed to enhance the coping efforts of the patients and optimize their psychosocial adjustment.


A 6-year experience of the Italian Air Force Medical Selection Centre in the audiological evaluation of candidates for employment is summarized. Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) were introduced progressively from 1993 to analyse more effectively subjects affected with sensorineural hearing loss and reduce possible bias connected to standard audiometric tests. OAEs provided a useful tool to support pure-tone audiometry, providing more accurate audiological data. Finally, a reduction of medico-legal claims was observed in candidates undergoing OAE testing.


Abstract Although the possibility of measuring and analysing all parts of the rainfall, infiltration, runoff, and erosion process as a natural hydrologic cycle in field conditions is still one of the more unattainable goals in the hydrological sciences, it can be accomplished in laboratory conditions as a way to understand the whole process. The initial moisture content is one of the most effective factors on soil infiltration, runoff, and erosion responses. The present research was conducted on a 2 m2 laboratory plot at a slope of 9% on a typical sandy-loam soil. The effects of the initial soil moisture content on the infiltration, runoff, and erosion processes were studied at four levels of initial soil moisture content (12, 25, 33, and 40 volumetric percentage) and two rainfall intensities (60 and 120 mm h-1). The results showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlation between rainfall intensity and downstream splash, with r = 0.87. The results reflected the theory of hydrological responses, showing significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlations with r =-0.93, 0.98, -0.83, 0.88, and 0.73 between the initial soil moisture content and the time-to-runoff, runoff coefficient, drainage as a part of the infiltrated water, downstream splash, and total outflow sediment, respectively.


The Insulation Performance of Compressed Gas Insulated Switchgear and Gas Insulated Transmission Line(GITL) systems can be substantially affected by the presence and movement of metallic particle contaminants. SF6 gas is the main mode of insulation in Gas Insulated Substations(GIS). The voltage withstanding capability of SF6 bus duct is strongly dependent on field perturbations. A method based on particle motion is proposed for determining the movement pattern of metallic particle in Gas Insulated Bus duct(GIB) by considering all the forces acting on the particle like gravitational, drag and the electric field forces. In this work, a single phase of GIB with inner and outer diameter to 55mm and 152mm is considered for the analysis and compared with a single phase enclosure with inner diameter of 70mm and outer diameter of 190mm. Electric fields at the instantaneous contaminated particle locations were computed using Charge Simulation Method (CSM). The simulation carried out for various bus configurations with aluminum, copper and silver wire like particles inside 100KV, 132KV, 145KV and 175KV class enclosure of GIB. The results of the simulation have been presented and analyzed in this paper.


Abstract The current investigation aimed to assess levels of knowledge about risk factors for heart disease among midlife Israeli women, and to evaluate the relationship of knowledge to personal risk factors and vulnerability to heart disease. Face-to-face interviews with women aged 45–64 years were conducted during 2004–2006 within three population groups: long-term Jewish residents (LTR), immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Arab women. The survey instrument included six knowledge statements relating to: the risk after menopause, family history, elevated cholesterol level, diabetes, obesity, and warning signs of a heart attack. The findings showed wide disparities in knowledge by educational level and between immigrants and LTR, after taking into account personal risk factors and education. Personal risk factors were not significantly related to the knowledge items, except for personal history of cardiovascular disease, which was associated with knowledge about "warning signs of a heart attack" and "family history." Women who perceived themselves as more vulnerable to heart disease were more likely to identify several risk factors correctly. These findings stress the need to increase knowledge about heart disease, especially among less educated and minority women, and to emphasize the risk of patients' personal status by health providers.


This paper presents a new gate drive method for high power IGBT to reduce the turn-off spike voltage which is appeared between collector and emitter. In the power circuit of inverter, there is a commutation loop stray inductance between the dc-link capacitors and IGBTs. It affects the turn-off spike voltage of IGBT. In general, snubber circuits are used to control the spike voltage but they are consists of passive components result in the limitation to reduce the spike voltage. In this paper, a new active method is proposed and based on the saturation voltage characteristics of IGBT which is related with collector current and collector-emitter voltage. In order to reduce the spike voltage, gate current is controlled in the active region during the turn-off. The proposed method is implemented with 220 kW inverter and verified by the experimental results.


Process model or definition is used to describe the process, either software process or business process, by means of a suitable process modeling language. Choosing one or more linguistic paradigms for a process modeling language is an important design decision during process modeling language design. This paper focuses on the study of process modeling languages from linguistic perspective. To understand what key information in process domain needs to be expressed, we propose a process conceptual framework. Existing process modeling languages can be categorized to one or more of the rule-based, state-based, functional, procedural, or object-oriented paradigm based on their linguistic features. Each paradigm has its drawbacks or benefits in describing different aspects of the process. In order to better support process evolution, several linguistic requirements, including generic, reflective, exception handling, and deviation/inconsistency support, are discussed. Especially there is no effective linguistic support for process genericity, we propose a open research question of whether higher-order function genericity could be an effective solution for process genericity. VoiceXML, the Voice Extensible Markup Language, is a language for describing call flows for Interactive Voice Response applications. PASTA, Process and Artifact State Transition Abstraction, is a process modeling language to model complex processes in a graphical, systematic, precise, and structured way. We perform a linguistic analysis on them and propose some potential extensions for them.


This paper deals with operating mode management of Discrete Event Systems (DES) and this contribution is based on Supervisory Control Theory (SCT). Our aim is to extend SCT by introducing a mechanism for managing different operating modes for the controlled system. An operating mode corresponds to a specific system structure (engagement or disengagement of different system components) and specified tasks. Mode management will consist in controlling switching between modes with a view to handling models of reasonable size. Our approach is a multi-model one and involves representing a complex system by a set of simple models, each of which describes the system in a given operating mode. The adopted approach assumes that only one attempted operating mode is activated at a time, whilst other modes must be deactivated. The switching problem may be defined as finding compatible states, when controlled system behavior switches from one operating mode to another. The major contribution of this paper is the avoidance of switching from states (called forbidden states) with ghost compatible states in the selected operating mode. These states are called ghost because their existence would potentially violate a defined selected mode specification.


Abstract The national war on obesity has prompted a race among health sector companies for body composition instrumentation that is accurate, easy to use, and will be adopted as cost-effective by doctors used to relying largely on the rule-of-thumb Body Mass Index. Libraries serving science, engineering, and medicine will particularly benefit from a review of recent literature from two somewhat disparate professional groups involved in its development, use and evaluation: the "jocks"-exercise physiologists and sports trainers; and the "docs"-medicine's own obesity specialists, working with medical physicists and biomedical imaging engineers. Although both groups owe a historic debt to the tools and literature of physical anthropology, today, they share common ground mostly in journals of clinical nutrition. Collection development advice involving major reference works, compilations, and practical guides from all three currently contributing communities is provided.


In attempting to improve treatment of gonorrhea in men allergic to penicillin or in those who refused intramuscular (IM) treatment, a comparison of the test of cure rate of doxycycline vs tetracycline was done. Tests of cure were performed one week after treatment on culture positive patients only. Doxycycline proved to have a better test-of-cure rate, primarily because of patient compliance.


Purpose: To evaluate the safety and effect on visual acuity of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin in patients with subfoveal and juxtafoveal choroidal neovascular membranes from ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (OHS). Methods: Retrospective case series. The visual outcome of 11 patients with subfoveal (n = 6) and juxtafoveal (n = 5) choroidal neovascularization treated with PDT was reviewed. At 1 to 3 months of follow-up, retreatment with PDT was performed if angiography showed leakage. Results: Within the subfoveal group, 3 patients (50%) had improved vision (two or more lines better than initial vision), 2 patients (33.3%) had no change in vision (within 1 line), and 1 (16.7%) lost four lines of vision. At last follow-up, 3 patients (50%) had vision between 20/20 and 20/40 compared with only 1 patient (16.6%) at the initial visit. Mean follow-up was 13.7 months. Within the juxtafoveal group, 3 patients (60%) had improved vision, 1 patient (20%) had no change in vision, and 1 patient (20%) lost nine lines of vision. At last follow-up, 3 of 5 patients (60%) had vision between 20/20 and 20/40 compared with 2 patients (40%) at the initial visit. Mean follow-up was 10.2 months. No significant adverse effects were reported. Conclusion: PDT is a safe and promising option for patients with OHS with choroidal neovascularization that is subfoveal or juxtafoveal.


Barremian ammonoids were collected at the Serre de Bleyton locality in the Department Drome, SE France. The cephalopod fauna from the "coulees boueuses", correlated with other macrofossil groups (belemnitoids, brachiopods, crinoids, echinoids etc.) and microfossil data (foraminifera) from the turbiditic unit, indicates Barremian age. The deposition of the allodapic limestones and marls in this interval occurred during depositionally unstable conditions which led to the formation of turbiditic layers. The ammonoid fauna comprises 8 different genera, each apparently represented by a single species. The assemblage at the Serre de Bleyton section is dominated by ammonoids of the Melchiorites-type. Ammonitina are the most frequent component (Melchiorites 52%; Holcodiscus 8%), followed by the Phylloceratina (Phyllopachyceras 3% and Hypophylloceras 2%), the Lytoceratina (Protetragonites 15%), and the Ancyloceratina (Anahamulina 10%, Karsteniceras 8% and Macroscaphites 2%). The ammonoid fauna consists solely of Mediterranean elements.


Several direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been developed that dose-dependently inhibit thrombin or activated factor X and offer potential advantages over vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), such as rapid onset and offset of action, absence of an effect of dietary vitamin K intake on their activity, and fewer drug interactions. DOACs have gained in popularity for the treatment and prevention of recurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and the prevention of stroke/systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the lack of routine monitoring means that their pharmacodynamic effect is rarely determined, leaving patients at potential risk of under- or over-anticoagulation. If adequately anticoagulated, the occurrence of thromboembolism (whether primary or recurrent) constitutes treatment failure; this has been reported in approximately 2% of patients in large DOAC clinical trials. The optimal management of such an event occurring with a DOAC remains unclear.
 In this study, we sought to characterise DOAC treatment failures in our institution, and to rationalise the subsequent anticoagulation strategies in this setting. All VTE patients starting a DOAC at our centre are followed in a consultant-led clinic. Cases of suspected treatment failure are also referred from other specialities and primary care. Between September 2014 and May 2018, we identified 59 consecutive patients (male/female: 34/25) in whom a DOAC treatment failure was diagnosed, including non-resolution of the presenting complaint, and recurrence of or a new thrombotic event. Patient mean age at DOAC initiation was 56 (23-89) years. The median time from DOAC initiation to failure detection was 42 (3-1055) days. 36/59 (61%) patients were receiving a DOAC for treatment of acute VTE, while 19/59 (32%) patients were treated for the prevention of recurrent VTE and 4/59 (7%) patients were on a DOAC for atrial fibrillation. 4 (7%) patients had a thrombophilia background while 5 patients (8%) had an active cancer diagnosis.
 On recognition of DOAC failure, 34 patients were on apixaban 5mg bd; 7 were on apixaban 2.5mg bd; 15 failed on rivaroxaban 20mg od; and 1 patient failed on each of rivaroxaban 10mg od, dabigatran 110 mg bd and edoxaban 30 mg od. All patients were compliant with their medication. For apixaban 5mg, the median time to failure was 29 (3-551) days; for apixaban 2.5mg it was 140 (26-441) days; for rivaroxaban it was 82 (20-1055) days. Two thirds of patients (39/59) were switched over to therapeutic low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), 6/59 patients (10%) were initiated to warfarin with appropriate LMWH bridging, and 11/59 patients (19%) were switched to an alternative DOAC. 3 patients (5%) continued their existing anticoagulant. Most patients (33/39, 85%) initially switched to LMWH following a median time on parenteral anticoagulation of 57 (14-472) days were subsequently switched to oral anticoagulants: 18% to warfarin, 82% to a DOAC. By the end of follow-up, 37/59 patients (63%) were taking a DOAC, including 8 patients who had been switched back to the anticoagulation regimen that failed at the outset, and a further 4 patients returned to the same drug at a higher dose. Of the remainder, 8 patients (14%) were taking a VKA, 8 patients (14%) remained on LMWH, 1 patient was on aspirin and 5 patients (8%) had stopped their anticoagulation treatment. A diagnosis of post-thrombotic leg was made in 15/36 (42%) patients with acute lower limb VTE who failed their DOAC.
 There is currently a lack of guidance on how to manage patients who fail initial treatment with a DOAC. To the best of our knowledge our study is the first to record the clinical experience in this challenging patient group. Based on our findings, a common strategy is to switch to therapeutic LMWH. After a successful period of parenteral therapy, most patients were switched back to oral treatment, typically another DOAC. Still this did not seem to prevent post-thrombotic syndrome in 42% of patients who were initially diagnosed with acute lower limb thrombosis.
 Treatment failure is a recognised risk of nearly all medical therapies including DOACs. It is therefore not surprising to encounter such patients in day-to-day practice. The growth in the number of anticoagulant choices has made it more difficult to know how to respond when one fails. As the use of DOACs continues to expand, this problem - and the need for an evidence-based solution - is likely to grow.

 Smith: BMS: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Beale:Daiichi Sankyo: Speakers Bureau. Kartsios:Bayer: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Boehringer Inglelheim: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau.


Non-Fourier microscale effects are significant during the rapid heating of metallic substrates. Recently, a two phase lag model for conduction has been proposed, which accounts for the finite propagation speed of a thermal wave and the equilibration time between the electrons and lattice. Available closed-form solutions for the dual phase lag model are found to be very different for apparently similar boundary conditions. In this study, the origin of the discrepancy in the available analytical results has been identified as the sensitivity of the predicted solution to the way of implementing the surface boundary condition. A numerical solution procedure based on the finite element method and fourth-order Runge?Kutta time marching procedure has been employed for the spatial and temporal discretisations, respectively. The predicted results for different boundary conditions clearly capture thermal wavelike and pure diffusion-type phenomena in the appropriate range of time lag values. Application of the two phase lag model to laser pulse heating illustrates that the effects of microscale phenomena on the spatial and temporal variations of temperature could become important for high frequency pulsing.


Initially present only in functional languages such as OCaml and Haskell, Algebraic Data Types (ADTs) have now become pervasive in mainstream languages, providing nice data abstractions and an elegant way to express functions through pattern matching. Unfortunately, ADTs remain seldom used in low-level programming. One reason is that their increased convenience comes at the cost of abstracting away the exact memory layout of values. Even Rust, which tries to optimize data layout, severely limits control over memory representation. In this article, we present a new approach to specify the data layout of rich data types based on a dual view: a source type, providing a high-level description available in the rest of the code, along with a memory type, providing full control over the memory layout. This dual view allows for better reasoning about memory layout, both for correctness, with dedicated validity criteria linking the two views, and for optimizations that manipulate the memory view. We then provide algorithms to compile constructors and destructors, including pattern matching, to their low-level memory representation. We prove our compilation algorithms correct, implement them in a tool called ribbit that compiles to LLVM IR, and show some early experimental results.