The Hillesden experiment is a farm-scale study evaluating the performance of options under Environmental Stewardship. We describe bird usage of winter seed patches (20 patches; three seed mixes) in relation to seed depletion and variation between individual patches. Seed retention declined exponentially in all three mixes; 50% depletion occurred by late November, reaching 80-90% before mid January. In mid winter, Fodder Beet retained more seed (c. 80%) than Millet, Kale, Fodder Radish and Triticale (20-40%). Bird numbers peaked in December/early January (seed depletion 70-90%), but declined rapidly in late January coinciding with seed exhaustion. Seed yields varied between patches (minimum < 1% of maximum). If all patches had performed at the maximum, yield would have increased by about 64%. Bird counts also varied greatly between patches, but trends with seed yield were positive. At a farm-scale, winter bird abundance was significantly greater (granivorous species + 415%) when patches were available.


Background Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) usually occurs in the basal ganglia and is highly lethal and disabling. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictors of 30-day mortality in patients with severe spontaneous basal ganglia hemorrhage. Methods This retrospective study included patients with severe basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from 2012 to 2018. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and neuroradiological data were collected. The short-term prognosis was evaluated and divided into death within 30-days and survival over 30-days. We studied the factors affecting the prognosis of patients with severe intracerebral hemorrhage, analyzed the parameters related to neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) at admission, and evaluated the predictive effect of NLR on 30-day mortality. Results A total of 105 patients was included in this retrospective study. The 30-day death group had a larger hematoma, a higher probability of ventricular hemorrhage, a higher ICH score and a lower Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission. Meanwhile, the patients in the death group had higher White blood cells (WBC) counts, neutrophil counts, NLRs and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. The risk factors for 30-day death were related to the ICH volume, GCS score, ICH score, WBC count, neutrophil count, NLR and CRP. The univariate receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the risk factors showed that the NLR had the best prediction performance. Mathematical predictive models for ICH patients showed that the model with NLR had better prediction accuracy. Conclusions The NLR is expected to be a potential biomarker for predicting the prognosis of patients with severe basal ganglia hemorrhage.


Guided wave imaging techniques employed for structural health monitoring (SHM) can be computationally demanding, especially for adaptive techniques such as minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) imaging, which requires a matrix inversion for each pixel calculation. Instantaneous windowing has been shown in previous work to improve guided wave imaging performance. The use of instantaneous windowing has the additional benefit of significantly reducing the computational requirements of image generation. This paper derives a formulation for MVDR imaging using instantaneous windowing and shows that the matrix inversion associated with MVDR imaging can be optimized, reducing the computational complexity to that of conventional delay-and-sum imaging algorithms. Additionally, a vectorized approach is presented for implementing guided wave imaging algorithms, including delay-and-sum imaging, in matrix-based software packages. The improvements in computational efficiency are quantified by measuring computation time for different array sizes, windowing assumptions, and imaging methods.


This paper presents a successful application and the lessons learned during a pilot test under which a new electrical submersible pumping technology was installed in 4 wells. These helico-axial downhole pumps, V-Pump, were installed under a program of new technologies testing, which aimed for artificial lift run life extension in an extremely high sand-producing field under current cost constraints.
 The oil price turndown forced Casabe Field to leave some wells inactive, even though they still have significant reserves. The cause of this decision was the expenses associated to the high frequency of interventions required due to the adverse sand production effects on the artificial lift systems.
 Due to the low run life of conventional artificial lift systems that are customary to use in the field, it was necessary to search for emerging technologies that would meet the challenge presented. A screening process for new technologies were conducted, and after that, these pumps were installed in four wells, which were continuously monitored with downhole temperature, vibration and pressure sensors, fluid levels measurement, VSD readings and production tests, which would allow to understand the technology performance to achieve the desired run life, oil production gain, and to obtain lessons learned to design the second phase of the testing project.
 The use of this innovative pumping technology extended the run life in the pilot wells between 180% and 420%, allowing the production of their remaining oil reserves, and giving a new approach in the production strategy of the field. One well is still running after 13 months.
 Also, based on the on the information collected during the well production phase, through downhole sensors and VSD parameters, and the findings during the pump's dismantle, some recommendations were made to improve the performance in the second phase of the project. Recommendations include both improvements in the pump design and to the screening process of candidate wells.


It is necessary for the Intelligent Decision Support System to automatic select models, but there is less the available strategy. The knowledge-based automatic model selection strategy is proposed in the paper. The model is represented by knowledge frame and the reasoning trees are established according with the fact base and knowledge base, and then the model selection scheme is provided by integrating the experience and expert knowledge. The experiment shows that the strategy has high hit rate.


: The purpose of this study is identifying the influential factors in creating query suggestions. The query suggestion has become one of the most fundamental features of web search engines that help user formulate the query and meet the information needs by providing possible keywords. In this research, in order to identify the effective factors in creating the query suggestions a systematic review has been used. For this purpose, keywords of English and Persian language related to query suggestions have been searched in foreign scientific databases such as Science Direct, Emerald, Scopus, Online Willy, IEEE and internal databases of Magiran, Scientific Information Database of Jihad, and Cilivica to find articles related with the effective contextual factors in creating query suggestions. In order to systematic review, the method of Wright et al. was used that include seven steps: determination of research question, determination of protocol, literature search, data extraction, quality appraisal, data analysis and result. After searching for Persian and English keywords and matching them with entry and exit criteria, 36 articles were selected to extract effective factors. The findings of the systematic review in the field of the query suggestion show that five factors of location, time, user search sessions (including the user's current search session and user search history), hybrid factors, and other contexts were effective in creating query suggestions. Identification of the influential factors in creating query suggestions helps researchers and those who are interested in this domain to use appropriate contexts in accordance with the characteristics and conditions of the search tools and help the user to retrieve more relevant information.


BACKGROUND
This study observed the widest ureteric diameter in negative intravenous urogram (IVU) examinations using low osmolar contrast media.

METHODS
We reviewed a total of one hundred and eighty four ureters from 92 negative IVUs.

RESULTS
The results show a mean diameter for the abdominal ureter of 4.19 mm with an SD of 1.27 mm and a mean pelvic ureteric diameter of 4.45 mm with an SD of 1.37 mm. The upper limits for abdominal ureter and pelvic ureter based on a confidence interval of 95% were 4.37 mm and 4.64 mm, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
There was no significant difference between the right and left ureteric diameter in both female and male subjects. There was no significant correlation between ureteric diameters and the age of subjects, from the second to the eighth decades.


Purpose: To report the genetic basis for congenital glaucoma with clinical aniridia in an infant and a milder phenotype in her mother. Methods: Prospective case series. Results: An infant girl with almost complete lack of iris tissue was referred and treated for congenital glaucoma. Although the presumed clinical diagnosis was aniridia (On-line Mendelian Inheritance in Man [OMIM] AN2, # 106210), PAX6 sequencing was normal. Examination of the infant's mother was significant for Axenfeld-Rieger malformation (ARM): prominent Schwabe line, subtle iris hypoplasia, iris stands bridging the angle, increased intraocular pressure, and glaucomatous optic nerve cupping. Both parents and the infant underwent diagnostic FOXC1 DNA sequencing. A heterozygous M161K FOXC1 mutation was found in the infant and her mother but not in the father, who had a normal ocular examination. Discussion: The spectrum of intrafamilial phenotypic variation associated with heterozygous FOXC1 mutation can be wide. FOXC1 mutation can be a cause of congenital glaucoma with clinical aniridia. Although such infants resemble the AN2 phenotype, the glaucoma of AN2 due to PAX6 mutation is typically secondary with onset several years after birth.


Abstract Food acquisition is an important modulator of animal behavior and habitat selection that can affect fitness. Optimal foraging theory predicts that predators should select habitat patches to maximize their foraging success and net energy gain, likely achieved by targeting areas with high prey availability. However, it is debated whether prey availability drives fine‐scale habitat selection for predators. We assessed whether an ambush predator, the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), exhibits optimal foraging site selection based on the spatial distribution and availability of prey. We used passive infrared camera trap detections of potential small mammal prey (Peromyscus spp., Tamias striatus, and Sciurus spp.) to generate variables of prey availability across the study area and used whether a snake was observed in a foraging location or not to model optimal foraging in timber rattlesnakes. Our models of small mammal spatial distributions broadly predicted that prey availability was greatest in mature deciduous forests, but T. striatus and Sciurus spp. exhibited greater spatial heterogeneity compared with Peromyscus spp. We found the spatial distribution of cumulative small mammal encounters (i.e., overall prey availability), rather than the distribution of any one species, to be highly predictive of snake foraging. Timber rattlesnakes appear to forage where the probability of encountering prey is greatest. Our study provides evidence for fine‐scale optimal foraging in a low‐energy, ambush predator and offers new insights into drivers of snake foraging and habitat selection.


High resolution radar image is always demanded. To achieve high resolution, wideband signal and longer imaging time are required. However, due to time-varying behavior of returned radar signals and due to multiple backscattering behavior of targets, radar image resolution can be significantly degraded and images become blurred. The conventional radar processor uses the Fourier transform to retrieve Doppler information. In order to use the Fourier transform adequately, some restrictions must be applied: the scatterers must remain in their range cells and their Doppler frequency contents should be stationary during the entire imaging time duration. However, due to the target's complex motion, the Doppler frequency contents are actually time-varying. Therefore, the Doppler spectrum obtained from the Fourier transform becomes smeared, and, thus, the resolution of the radar image is degraded. However, the restrictions of the Fourier processing can be lifted if the Doppler information can be retrieved with a method which does not require stationary Doppler spectrum. Therefore, the image blurring caused by the time-varying Doppler spectrum can be resolved without applying sophisticated motion compensation. By replacing the conventional Fourier transform with a time-frequency transform, a 2-D range-Doppler Fourier frame becomes a 3- D time-range-Doppler cube. By sampling in time, a time sequence of 2-D range-Doppler images can be viewed. Each individual time-sampled image from the cube provides superior image resolution and also enhanced signal-to-noise ratio. When the target contains cavities or duct-type structures, these scattering mechanisms appear in radar images as blurred clouds extended in range dimension. It is very useful to combine adaptive time-frequency wavelet transform with the radar imaging technique so that the 'clouds' can be removed and their resonance frequencies can be identified. By applying time-frequency processing for each cross-range lines of radar image, a 3-D range-Doppler-frequency cube is generated. The frequency slices of the cube provide information for identifying scattering centers as well as resonance frequencies.


Free-form optical elements face significant challenges in high-precision measurement due to their high complexity and non-rotational symmetry. Digital holographic microscopy (DHM), as one of the methods for the measurement of free-form optical elements, has promising applications due to its ultra-high precision and non-destructive and fast characteristics. Therefore, we have designed a novel measurement method that combines transmission DHM and reflection DHM to obtain thickness information and surface information of elements to deduce the 3D structure. With this method, we completed the measurement of a free-form optical element. The DHM system we built has recorded holograms under 4× and 20× objectives and successfully recovered the 3D surface shape of the element. The measurements are consistent with the designed and manufactured parameters, demonstrating the unique advantages of DHM for measuring special types of optical elements.


This paper evaluates the performance of different rate-based congestion control schemes for ABR services over broadband satellite networks (BSNs) interworking with ATM/B-ISDNs. The explicit forward congestion indication (EFCI) and explicit rate (ER) schemes are considered on their own in single loop end-to-end control, and in combinations in double loop control segmented at the gateway between the two networks. Procedures are formulated to optimize performance in the single loop EFCI scheme. The large buffer requirement at the congested switch in single loop control is effectively reduced by equalizing with the gateway buffer requirement in double loop control, thus facilitating practical interworking. Preliminary results show that in the double loop control scheme best performance is obtained by employing EFCI over the BSN and ER over the B-ISDN.


In this paper, we have proposed the sectorization method of the adaptive sector antenna and the new receiver structure for the CDMA wireless multi-media communication which uses multi-code and single-code. The sectorization and average BER performance of the adaptive sector antenna, which employs the proposed sectorization method, are obtained through simulation. The simulation results have shown that the sizes of sectors are properly controlled according to the distribution of the load and that the BER performance of the adaptive sector antenna is enhanced much more than that of the fixed sector antenna. Also, we have proposed two receivers, which are different from the positions to detect multi-code signals, for the multi-media communication. Each receiver has a simple cancellation scheme and two adaptive sector antennas, which are called the 1st adaptive sector antenna and the 2nd adaptive sector antenna, respectively. In this paper, the average BER performances of the receivers are compared through simulation. As the results of the simulation, we have recognized that all user' BER performances are greatly dependent on the positions to detect the multi-code signals. When we consider both system complexity and terget BERs of signals, we have concluded that the receiver, which detect multi-code signals in the 1st and the 2nd adaptive sector antenna, is appropriate for the CDMA wireless multi-media communication systems.


Rumination, namely a cognitive process characterized by a repetitive thinking focused on negative feelings and thoughts, is a significant predictor for the onset of internalizing symptoms and has also been found to run in families. Rumination has never been studied in children with specific learning disorders (SLD), a population that, due to its condition, might encounter more difficulties in daily life and is at risk of increased psychological distress, compared to typically developing (TD) peers. The present study covers this gap by examining whether children with SLD, and their parents, tend to use rumination more than TD peers and their parents. The study also explores associations between rumination and both children's and parents' emotional profile. Results on 25 children with SLD and 25 TD peers and their parents (n = 150), showed higher levels of rumination in children with SLD when referring to a negative social situation, as well as higher levels of rumination in both mothers and fathers of children with SLD. Modest correlations between parents' and children's rumination traits were also found. This study offers evidence on rumination as a possible risk factor for children with SLD, particularly considering when they deal with social contexts.


Abstract Roads are an essential element in the formation and shaping of cultural landscapes. This paper, by establishing some of the key aspects of the development of Spain's road infrastructures, and through mapping and fieldwork, aims to guide the reading of landscapes shaped by roads since the mid-eighteenth century. The deconstruction of landscapes formed by these roads reveals the evolution of the design and construction of transport infrastructure, of the uses and activities they supported, and of changes through time in the conditions and forms of mobility. The paper also locates and classifies sections of historic transport corridors where road routes from different periods still co-exist, reconstructing diachronic and synchronic relationships between the varying routes in an attempt to interpret the arrangement, structure and form of these landscapes of movement.


Power gating is an efficient technique for reducing leakage power by disconnecting idle blocks from power supply. Gated blocks cause changes in current densities on the grid. Even in DC conditions for some power gating configuration (PGC), current densities in some branches may increase to the extent of violating electromigration (EM) constraints. The existing DC methods optimize the grid under voltage drop (IR) and EM constraints for a single configuration of blocks. We analyze the effects of power gating and develop a grid sizing algorithm to satisfy all reliability constraints for multiple PGCs with only a small increase in area.


Microbiomes exist in all ecosystems and are composed of diverse microbial communities. Perturbation to microbiomes brings about undesirable phenotypes in the hosts, resulting in diseases and disorders, and disturbs the balance of the associated ecosystems. Engineering of microbiomes can be used to modify structures of the microbiota and restore ecological balance. Consequently, microbiome engineering has been employed for improving human health and agricultural productivity. The importance and current applications of microbiome engineering, particularly in humans, animals, plants and soil is reviewed. Furthermore, we explore the challenges in engineering microbiome and the future of this field, thus providing perspectives and outlook of microbiome engineering.


We present a dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) technique that minimizes system-wide energy consumption for both periodic and sporadic tasks. It is known that a system consists of processors and a number of other components. Energy-aware processors can be run in different speed levels; components like memory and I/O subsystems and network interface cards can be in a standby state when they are active but idle. Processor energy optimization solutions are not necessarily efficient from the perspective of systems. Current system-wide energy optimization studies are often limited to periodic tasks with heuristics in getting approximated solutions. In this paper, we develop an exact dynamic programming algorithm for periodic tasks on processors with practical discrete speed levels. The algorithm determines the lower bound of energy expenditure in pseudo-polynomial time. An approximation algorithm is proposed to provide performance guarantee with a given bound in polynomial running time. Because of their time efficiency, both the optimization and approximation algorithms can be adapted for online scheduling of sporadic tasks with irregular task releases. We prove that system-wide energy optimization for sporadic tasks is NP-hard in the strong sense. We develop (pseudo-) polynomial-time solutions by exploiting its inherent properties


The old theories of localisation of Anderson (1958) and Abou-Chacra et al (1973) are reexamined. It is argued that (a) the convergence properties of the renormalised perturbation series for the self-energy are predominantly governed by its first term; and (b) the localisation problem in a real lattice can be mapped on to the localisation problem in a Cayley tree lattice in which the non-contributing branches are trimmed off. The connectivity constant for the trimmed Cayley tree, which can be evaluated exactly, should be used in the Abou-Chacra et al method (1973-1974) to obtain results for a real lattice. Calculations for two-dimensional lattices show partial agreement with the well known result that all states should be localised at any disorder-the triangular lattice (coordination number C=6) appears to show complete localisation only above a critical value of disorder, the honeycomb lattice (C=3) shows complete localisation always, and the square lattice (C=4) is found to be the marginal case.


We demonstrate an application of the laser diffraction by a single-slit to measure the Young's modulus of the material of a wire. The standard Searle's apparatus is modified to exploit the sensitivity of the diffraction pattern for changes in slit widths of the order of laser wavelengths produced by micro elongations in the wire when a stress is applied to it. The experiment is performed using different lasers as well as for wires of different materials and produces results with an error of few percent.


To improve short-channel characteristics and increase current drive, SOI technology is shifting focus from "classical" single-gate MOSFET architectures to multiple-gate device structures. This paper traces the history of single- and multiple-gate SOI MOSFETs and summarizes the electrical characteristics of such devices.


The entropy function plays a central role in information theory. Constraints on the entropy function in the form of inequalities, viz. entropy inequalities (often conditional on certain Markov conditions imposed by the problem under consideration), are indispensable tools for proving converse coding theorems. In this expository article, we give an overview of this fundamental subject. After presenting a geometrical framework for the entropy function, we explain how an entropy inequality can be formulated, with or without constraints on the entropy function. Among all entropy inequalities, Shannon-type inequalities, namely those implied by the nonnegativity of Shannon's information measures, are best understood. The main focus of this article is the verification of Shannon-type inequalities, which in fact can be formulated as a linear programming problem. ITIP, a software package developed for this purpose, as well as two of its variants, AITIP and PSITIP, are discussed. This article ends with a discussion on the hardness of verifying entropy inequalities in general.


Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are a class of stochastic search algorithms which are applicable to a wide range of problems in learning and optimisation. They have been applied to numerous problems in combinatorial optimisation, function optimisation, artificial neural network learning, fuzzy logic system learning, etc. This paper first introduces EAs and their basic operators. Then, an overview of three major branches of EAs, i.e. genetic algorithms (GAs), evolutionary programming (EP) and evolution strategies (ESs), is given. Different search operators and selection mechanisms are described. The emphasis of the discussion is on global optimisation by EAs. The paper also presents three simple models for parallel EAs. Finally, some open issues and future research directions in evolutionary optimisation and evolutionary computation in general are discussed.


Background A high reoperation rate has been the main reason why Gamma nailing should not be recommended for routine use in the treatment of trochanteric fractures. We compared the outcome after reoperation to the out-come after primary surgery with Gamma nailing.Methods In a series of 554 patients, we compared the outcome in 52 patients who were reoperated with that in 502 patients who had no reoperations. We assessed mor-tality, pain, walking ability and habitat at follow-up. Results The most common reason for reoperation was new fracture around the implant (17), local pain after healed fracture (11), nonunion (9) and cut-out (8). A second reoperation was required in 9/52 patients. The mortality was significantly lower in the reoperated cases at 30 days and at 1–5 years, but not at 120 days, and there were no significant differences in the other out-come parameters.Interpretation Reoperation did not lead to a worse clinical outcome, nor to increased mortality.


The ability of the pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to cause disease requires rapid adaptation to changes in the host environment and to an evolving host immune response. The identification of 'virulence factors' using in vitro characterization of mutant strains has traditionally relied on a common set of phenotypic and biochemical assays (most often performed at 30 degrees C) and the subsequent correlation with their corresponding virulence in mouse models of disease. Utilizing a panel of isogenic mutants for the multifunctional signal-modulating 14-3-3 protein (Bmh1p), we have found that specific mutations affect a variety of different pathways currently associated with virulence, including those involved with the formation of filaments, as well as interaction with host immune cells. Surprisingly, our studies revealed that deficiencies in many of these pathways do not always correlate with virulence in a mouse model of disseminated infection. Mutations within the binding pocket of Bmh1p that affect the ability of the protein to efficiently bind ligand had varying effects on the results of a number of in vitro and in vivo assays. The capability, in vitro, to filament in embedment conditions, and to filament and form chlamydospores under microaerophilic conditions on cornmeal agar, does not correlate with virulence. It is likely that only a subset of hyphal signalling pathways is actually required for the establishment of infection in the disseminated mouse model. Most importantly, our results suggest that the delayed onset of log-phase [corrected] growth in vitro at 37 degrees C, and not at 30 degrees C, results in an inability of these mutants to rapidly adjust to environmental changes in vivo and may be responsible for their increased clearance and reduced virulence. It is critical, therefore, that future in vitro studies of putative virulence factors in C. albicans include careful characterization at physiological temperatures.


The Miconia genus is the most representative of the Melastomataceae family, and some species are commonly used in Brazilian folk medicine as anti-inflammatory agents. In this work we investigated the leaves from Miconia rubiginosa (Bonpl.) DC, using high-speed countercurrent chromatography, which yielded 11 substances (eight flavonoids, gallic acid, casuarictin, and schizandriside). Identification was achieved using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography-circular dichroism-diode array detection analyses.


The effect of uniaxial compression on the initial susceptibility of a variety of igneous rocks has been studied to determine the dominant factors controlling their response. Hysteresis properties, Curie temperatures, and grain size distributions of the magnetic phases of the rocks have been determined to provide control data.The changes in susceptibility varied from 1 to 10 percent for a stress of 100 bars, with considerable variation in the form of induced anisotropy. In the sample with the coarsest magnetic phases, small decreases in susceptibility (1%) were seen both parallel and perpendicular to the applied stress. The dominance of finer, but still clearly multidomain phases gave rise to larger induced anisotropy (-10%) with the "normal" pattern of an increase perpendicular to stress accompanying a larger decrease in the direction parallel to stress. Samples with pseudo-single domain grain size magnetic phases showed anomalously large increases in the direction perpendicular to stress and only very small decreases in the parallel direction. Some of these samples also showed remarkable increases in susceptibility during loading and unloading. In the finest grain size range, the magnetic particles approached the single domain state and revealed a small (-1%) increase in the perpendicular direction accompanied by a similar decrease in the parallel direction.The dominant characteristic influencing the stress response is the domain state, which is itself strongly dependent upon the grain size. Three types of response are defined. The single domain response consists of an increase in susceptibility in the direction perpendicular to stress and an equal decrease in the direction parallel to stress. The magnetoelastic energy evidently modifies the dominant anisotropy energy against which the magnetization must be rotated by the applied field. In the pseudo-single domain range, wall nucleation appears to produce an isotropic increase in susceptibility. This effect combined with the induced anisotropy characteristic of multidomain material accounts for the observations. In multidomain material, the principal effect seems to be due to loss of wall area parallel to stress, accompanied by some gains in walls perpendicular to stress.


Titers in a direct agglutination test using Formalin-fixed toxoplasma tachyzoites were significantly higher in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) than in those without TE. In contrast, when fresh (not fixed) tachyzoites were used, the titers did not differ from those in patients without TE. The direct agglutination test using Formalin-fixed tachyzoites better distinguished between patients with TE and those without TE than an agglutination test using latex particles coated with Formalin-fixed sonicated-tachyzoite antigens. Thus, both selective use of membrane-bound antigens and their fixation are important for serodiagnosis of TE in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.


Abstract The property sector has played an important role with its growing contribution in the national income and employment in the Australian economy. There is an increasing research need in measuring and analysing the economic performance of the Australian property sector at a country level and input-output tables are considered as an appropriate tool. This paper aims to analyse and measure the performance and sectoral linkages of the Australian property sector using the five latest input-output tables compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Findings suggested that the Australian residential property sector had played a more important role than the commercial sector in the economy. The backward linkage of the residential property sector showed a decreasing economic pull, while that of commercial property presented an upward pattern. Moreover, the Australian property sector showed a medium economic push to the national economy over the examined period. Findings can aid policy makers, the property sector and researchers in evaluating the competitive ability of the property sector in Australia.


textabstractPatients suffering from a certain disease generally differ greatly regarding the course
of their disease. The identification of factors from which much of this variability
between patients can be explained may be of great importance. The study of such prognostic
factors in clinical medicine is usually done for a variety of reasons which to
some extent may overlap each other. One of the reasons may be to better understand
how the disease is likely to behave. It is hardly ever possible nowadays to study the
pure natural history of a disease because usually some form of treatment will have
been undertaken. The treatment often will be curative in intent, but may also be
directed towards the relief of symptoms or avoiding or delaying these in case no
curative treatment is available. It is known from their natural history that certain
illnesses do not require treatment at all because they are self-limited processes.
Knowledge about prognostic factors in such cases will make it possible to provide
information to the patient about the probable duration and course of the disease.
Knowledge of factors which are related to the outcome of disease may be helpful to
physicians in understanding the mechanism of the disease. Such better understanding
may assist in modifying treatment protocols, searching for new treatments or fonnulating
strategies for the optimal use of expensive medical tests. Sometimes knowledge
of prognostic factors may be of use to alter the course of disease by remedial action.
This will particularly be so if these factors are elements of lifestyle such as diet,
exercise or habits. For instance, patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis who stop taking
alcohol appear to have a better prognosis regarding survival as compared to those
who continue drinking alcohol [Borowsky et ai, 1981]. Such scientifically based facts
may be helpful in encouraging patients to change their drinking habits.
Knowledge of prognostic factors often will be of importance in planning therapeutic
trials. It may be desirable to evaluate certain therapies only in patients who belong to
certain prognostic categories. Also the number of patients required in a randomized
clinical trial depends on the distribution of prognostic factors among patients to be
included in the study.


Tropical forest soils are a significant source for the greenhouse gas N2O as well as for NO, a precursor of tropospheric ozone. However, current estimates are uncertain due to the limited number of field measurements. Furthermore, there is considerable spatial and temporal variability of N2O and NO emissions due to the variation of environmental conditions such as soil properties, vegetation characteristics and meteorology. In this study we used a process-based model (ForestDNDC-tropica) to estimate N2O and NO emissions from tropical highland forest (Nyungwe) soils in southwestern Rwanda. To extend the model inputs to regional scale, ForestDNDC-tropica was linked to an exceptionally large legacy soil dataset. There was agreement between N2O and NO measurements and the model predictions though the ForestDNDC-tropica resulted in considerable lower emissions for few sites. Low similarity was specifically found for acidic soil with high clay content and reduced metals, indicating that chemo-denitrification processes on acidic soils might be under-represented in the current ForestDNDC-tropica model. The results showed that soil bulk density and pH are the most influential factors driving spatial variations in soil N2O and NO emissions for tropical forest soils. The area investigated (1113 km2) was estimated to emit ca. 439 p 50 t N2O-N yr−1 (2.8–5.5 kg N2O-N ha−1 yr−1) and 244 p 16 t NO-N yr−1 (0.8–5.1 kg N ha−1 yr−1). Consistent with less detailed studies, we confirm that tropical highland rainforest soils are a major source of atmospheric N2O and NO.


Cuba's reform and economic opening have been crucial to its post—cold-war survival and the development of a uniquely Cuban socialism. The country has moved from a public-property system to a mixed economy and from a sugar mono-economy to a diversified economy while introducing and increasing foreign investment. The result has been steady increase in growth without the abandonment of socialist principles. Some problems remain to be resolved, however, if Cuba is to rise to prominence in the global order.


The oligosaccharide structures of glycoproteins can have a profound effect on properties critical to the development of glycoprotein products for human therapeutic or diagnostic use, including clearance rate, antigenicity, specific activity, solubility, resistance to thermal inactivation, and resistance to protease attack. Therefore, it is important to understand how bioprocess factors influence oligosaccharide structure. In this presentation, I will summarize literature data concerning potential effects of bioprocess factors on glycoprotein oligosaccharide biosynthesis. These data are drawn from two recent detailed reviews published by our laboratory describing the effect of cell culture conditions on N-linked glycosylation (10) and the effects of other bioprocess factors on both N-linked and O-linked glycosylation (11).


In 2003 at the ending of the Human Genome Project, it aroused the idea that all newborns could be sequenced and its genome archived in the clinical record, in order to manage risks of diseases and response to medicaments along his whole life. Eighteen years later, promises of genomic medicine and tremendous decrease of costs of next generation sequencing technologies, continues feeding this dream that shows important practical, ethical and social challenges and genomic sequencing is presented as the next historical change in newborn screening programs. In this paper we analyze challenges and opportunities of next generation sequencing technologies, their real costs, problems associated to management, storage and protection of the enormous amount of genomic data produced and finally, according to conclusions of recent researches, there are considered the conclusions in two contexts, sick newborn with diagnostic purposes and healthy asymptomatic newborns with public health purposes (newborn screening programs). In a second part of this article it will be considered ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI). Final objective is to contribute to scientific, professional, ethics and social debate in order to promote that genome sequencing in newborn don't be used indiscriminately constituting a risk, but properly done, as a partner in the promotion of health and prevention of consequences of genetic diseases.


textabstractThe first part of this thesis comprises an introduction to prostate cancer and screening (chapter 1). The European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) has shown an effect of screening on prostate cancer mortality in favor of the screening population, however, controversies remain. One of the most important side-effects of screening is overdiagnosis with subsequent overtreatment, which has led to the introduction of active surveillance as an alternative to the radical treatment of prostate cancer (chapter 2). With active surveillance, patients with supposedly low-risk tumors receive expectant management and are strictly followed over time. In case of reclassification to higher risk or signs of true disease progression, the patient will switch to deferred radical treatment. Because active surveillance is a relatively new management strategy, its feasibility and the short-term outcomes are the main focus of this thesis (chapter 3).
The second part of this thesis focuses on low-risk prostate cancer. In chapter 4 the main findings of the ERSPC are described and the controversial points in prostate cancer screening are discussed, as well as how these issues should be dealt with. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment are indicated as major worries, but less aggressive screening methods, risk modifying calculators and the use of active surveillance can decrease the impact of these side-effects and, if applied, will lead to a better risk-benefit ratio in screening. In chapter 5, it is shown that the risk of developing prostate cancer, aggressive prostate cancer and prostate cancer death in men with initial PSA values 3.0 ng/ml (11-fold higher) and compared to the risk of other causes of death (150-fold higher). Especially men with PSA <1.0 ng/ml at first screen had a minimal risk to die from prostate cancer during an 11 year period. This finding supports the idea to prolong the screening interval to at least 8 years in this group. The overall outcomes of this study contribute to risk stratification and individual management of men in PSA-based screening programs. The long-term feasibility of expectant management as a proxy for active surveillance in contemporary practice is assessed in chapter 6 by evaluating outcomes of men with screen-detected localized prostate cancer who initially elected to withhold radical treatment for either low- or intermediate-risk disease. Although intermediate-risk men, by definition, had more unfavorable disease characteristics at diagnosis, their 10-year disease-specific survival rates did not differ from the low-risk group. The overall outcomes were favorable with a 98.4% disease-specific survival rate for the overall cohort, while radical treatment was avoided in a majority of cases. These results support the feasibility for active surveillance on the longer-term and even show that selected patients with intermediate-risk disease might profit from this strategy.
In part three, chapter 7, an effort is made to calculate correction factors based on autopsy data for the use of the prostate cancer risk calculator in contemporary practice. The original risk calculator is based on sextant biopsies, while nowadays often more biopsy cores are taken. Adjustments correcting for this increase would lead to a more accurate prediction of the probability of indolent cancer. Correction factors for 12 and 18-core schemes were calculated; however, the small number of patients and the lack of validation hamper implementation of the results and reinforce the need for further study.
Part four shows the results of the Prostate Cancer Research International: Active Surveillance (PRIAS) trial. Chapter 8 focuses on the outcome of the routinely obtained 1-year repeat biopsies and identifying prognosticators for unfavorable results. Risk reclassification to higher risk was found in 163 out of 757 (21.5%) repeat biopsies. The outcome was found to be significantly associated with the number of positive cores (2 vs. 1) and PSA density at diagnosis, as well as PSA doubling time at the time of repeat biopsy. Though reclassification is quite common and more likely due to misclassification than to actual disease progression, the relatively high rate emphasizes the difficulty of patient selection and the need for continued evaluation in active surveillance. Results of this study show that clinical features at baseline and during follow-up can be used in risk stratification of men for the prediction of unfavorable features at repeat biopsy. Radical prostatectomy results after initial active surveillance are described in chapter 9. The majority of men showed organ-confined disease and favorable Gleason grading (<3+4) in a majority of cases. Nevertheless, 29% (49/167) were found to have an unfavorable radical prostatectomy outcome. Since median time to surgery was quite short (1.3 years), it is likely that that most of the cases with unfavorable outcome were misclassified at diagnosis. More than 75% of this cohort switched to surgery based on a protocol recommendation, which may, at least in part, explain the relatively high rate of unfavorable findings due to the self-selection of men who start on active surveillance and receive surgery because of reclassification during follow-up. These results again show the importance of improvement in patient selection for active surveillance. Chapter 10 gives an up-to-date overview of the PRIAS study. Short-term data confirm the feasibility of active surveillance in the reduction of overtreatment and the use of a web-based tool to facilitate worldwide inclusion of patients. Clinical characteristics at baseline and PSA kinetics are again shown to be predictive for reclassification, as well as for switching to deferred treatment. The active therapy-free survival after 2 and 4 years was found to be 77.3% and 67.7%, respectively. The disease-specific survival rate was 100%, but follow-up is still too short to draw definitive conclusions. Finally, in chapter 11, an overview is presented of key issues in active surveillance that need to be tackled and emerging technologies and markers that will hopefully lead to optimization of patient selection and care in the near future.
The fifth part of this thesis summarizes and discusses the key findings of the studies described in all previous chapters and puts them into perspective (chapter 12). The rationale for active surveillance and the feasibility of this strategy are discussed in more detail. An overview of contemporary active surveillance trials is presented and the areas of improvement are indicated. Eventually, a balance needs to be found between maximizing the number of patients who can avoid treatment and minimizing the number of aggressive prostate cancer missed. The improvement of screening strategies and developments in the technologies for radical treatment in the future might lead to decreased rates of overdiagnosis and virtual disappearance of side-effects, which in turn would reduce the need for active surveillance as an alternative to radical treatment. Until then, research aimed at improving active surveillance strategies will continue and we will carry on providing the best care available today to our patients.


Taekwondo has been known as one of the most symbolic korean sports to publicize Taekwondo various groups have performed exhibitions. These exhibition performances have gained popularity domestically and globally due to the exhibitions' display of artistry and technical mastery. Performance wear has also received wide exposure and thus needs artistic symbolism and functional considerations. This study was done to develop Taekwondo exhibition performance wear for K-Tigers, one of the most active Taekwondo exhibition performing groups. Investigation of current Taekwondo exhibition performance wear and interviewing with K-Tigers members and staff were conducted before designing the uniforms. Interviews demonstrated 3 guidelines: First, the uniforms should not be too different from the traditional wear, but still look unique. Second, it should symbolize the Korean spirit and culture. Third, it should be casual and trendy enough to appeal to young people. Based on these guidelines, 3 styles were made: Dobok style, Hanbok style and Casual style. 5 final designs were selected among 75 sketches with the consensus of the K-Tigers members. This was followed by the 3-step correction process: wearing, check fitting, and correcting design and pattern to provide satisfaction to wearers, and give more detailed information to Taekwondo performance wear design.


The reactions between the redox-active 4-(2-tetrathiafulvalenyl-ethenyl)pyridine ligand (TTF-CH=CH-Py) and the tris(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoroacetylacetonate)Ln(III) (Ln = La and Nd) lead to the formation of compounds with the formulas {[La(hfac)(5)][(TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+))](2)} (1), {[Nd(hfac)(4)(H(2)O)][(TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+))]}(2) (2), and {[Nd(hfac)(4)(H(2)O)][(TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+))]}(2)(H(2)O)(C(6)H(14))(0.5) (3) (hfac(-) = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoroacetylacetonate anion). These compounds have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, optical, and magnetic measurements. Compounds 1, 2, and 3 crystallize in the monoclinic C2/c, triclinic P1, and monoclinic P2(1)/c space groups, respectively. La(III) adopts a tetradecahedral geometry, while Nd(III) stands in a distorted capped square antiprism one. In 1, the inorganic network is formed by the [La(hfac)(5)](2-) dianionic complexes, while it is formed by a pseudo-dimeric dianionic unit of formula {[Nd(hfac)(4)(H(2)O)](2)}(2-) in 2 and 3. In all crystal structures, the organic network is constituted by the TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+) radical cations. The inorganic and organic networks interact through intermolecular contacts between the pyridine moieties of the TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+) radical cations and the Ln(III) ions. The luminescence properties of the Nd(III) ions (9400 cm(-1)) and fluorescence band of the TTF-CH=CH-Py(*+) radical cations (10200 cm(-1)) have been observed and studied for compound 2. Complexes 2 and 3 are paramagnetic because of Nd(III) ions. Compound 2 is a paramagnetic luminescent TTF-radical-cation-based material. Resistivity measurements have also been performed on these materials.


A new nonvolatile memory with high density and high work-function metal nanodots, metal nanodot (MND) memory, was proposed and fundamental characteristics of MND capacitor were evaluated. In this work, a nanodot layer of FePt with high density and high work-function (∼5.2 eV) was fabricated as a charge storage site in nonvolatile memory, and its electrical characteristics were evaluated for the possibility of nonvolatile memory in view of cell operation by Fowler–Nordheim (FN) tunneling. Here, a nanodot FePt layer was controlled as a uniform single layer with dot size of under ∼2 nm and dot density of ∼1.2×1013/cm2. Electrical measurements of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structure with FePt nanodot layer shows a threshold voltage window of ∼6 V using FN programming and erasing, which is satisfactory for operation of the nonvolatile memory. Furthermore, this structure provides better data retention characteristics compared to other metal dot materials with similar dot density in our experiments. From these results, it is expected that this nonvolatile memory using an FePt nanodot layer with high dot density and high work-function can be a candidate structure for the future nonvolatile memory.


Thank you very much for reading international migration health and human rights. As you may know, people have search numerous times for their favorite readings like this international migration health and human rights, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful virus inside their desktop computer.


A 37-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for treatment of aortitis syndrome. Her aortogram showed critical stenosis of the innominate artery, occlusion of other arch vessels, and annuloaortic ectasia (AAE). We performed endarterectomy and patch plasty to the innominate artery using a saphenous vein graft. Graft replacement of the ascending aorta and AVR (modified Wheat's operation) were also performed at one stage. Deep hypothermic cerebral circulatory arrest was used as a method for cerebral protection. During operation, the lowest rectal temperature was 17 degrees C and the cerebral circulatory arrest time was 36 min. The postoperative course has been uneventful. In a postoperative aortogram, the innominate artery was well perfused. She has been free of complaint and been doing well for 2 years since the operation.


Professional Issues Poster Presentation Purpose for the Program To determine whether the blending of culture of caring, bedside handoffs, and safety checks will improve patient satisfaction, increase collaboration among team members, and improve patient safety in the labor and delivery unit. Proposed Change A labor and delivery unit in a community hospital developed a new process for shift‐to‐shift reporting that blends the culture of caring concept with bedside handoffs and safety checks. Implementation, Outcomes, and Evaluation Change of shift report is the time when critical information relevant to patient care is communicated and exchanged between staff members. With the initiation of the culture of caring concept and the analysis of the last two quarters' house‐wide Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores, results revealed that improving patient satisfaction and safety must be the primary goals of the unit. A voluntary labor and delivery core team of nurses and physicians named Innovative Practice Team (INPT) was created. Expectations, goals, and evaluations were developed and probable challenges and barriers were recognized and identified. Information regarding the new initiative was communicated through e‐mails before implementation. Physician and nurse champions piloted the initiative. This was followed by the go live phase. Structured bedside handoffs were implemented. Critical and private information were discussed in a brief report outside the patients' rooms. Bedside handoffs took place in the patients' rooms using the patient care board with patient friendly language. Key information, such as plan of care, was discussed with the patients, including significant events that occurred during the previous shift. Teach‐back method was used, including pain medication and plan of care. Safety checks were performed on high‐alert medications and equipment. Staff evaluations provided strong positive feedback in the areas of value of communication methods, increase in collaborative efforts among team members, and efficacy of safety checks. Leadership will continue to play an important role in sustainability through daily shift‐to‐shift rounding. Additional outcomes will continue to be assessed through house‐wide quarterly Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores. Implications for Nursing Practice The methods used enhanced the majority of staff acceptance and the participation necessary to improve patient satisfaction and maintain culture of safety and caring while including patients in the plan of care. Patients witnessed collaborative effort among team members. Staff participation has been strong and continuous efforts to bring staff to compliance through unit leadership (daily rounding) has played a considerable role.


We consider the problems of estimation and optimization of utility-based shortfall risk (UBSR), which is a popular risk measure in finance. In the context of UBSR estimation, we derive a non-asymptotic bound on the mean-squared error of the classical sample average approximation (SAA) of UBSR. Next, in the context of UBSR optimization, we derive an expression for the UBSR gradient under a smooth parameterization. This expression is a ratio of expectations, both of which involve the UBSR. We use SAA for the numerator as well as denominator in the UBSR gradient expression to arrive at a biased gradient estimator. We derive non-asymptotic bounds on the estimation error, which show that our gradient estimator is asymptotically unbiased. We incorporate the aforementioned gradient estimator into a stochastic gradient (SG) algorithm for UBSR optimization. Finally, we derive non-asymptotic bounds that quantify the rate of convergence of our SG algorithm for UBSR optimization.


Summary. General equilibrium analysis is difficult when asset markets are incomplete. We make the simplifying assumption that uncertainty is small and use bifurcation methods to compute Taylor series approximations for asset demand and asset market equilibrium. A computer must be used to derive these approximations since they involve large amounts of algebraic manipulation. We use this method to analyze the allocative and welfare effects of introducing a new security. We find that adding any nontrivial derivative security will raise the price of the risky security relative to the bond when risks are small.


In mild hypertension, a betablocker treatment could reduce cardiovascular events. But in smoking men the benefit disappears and this interaction is unexplained. In 6 healthy non smoking men, we studied the effects of acute oral administration of propranolol (80 mg) pindolol (15 mg) and placebo after cigarette smoking (CS) (two cigarettes within 10 minutes). In a double blind cross over randomized study, arterial pressure and heart rate (HR) were recorded within 20 minutes after CS. Brachial artery diameter (D), Local vascular Resistance (RL), Local arterial Compliance (CL) and pulse wave velocity (VOP) were determined non invasively (using a pulsed doppler system) before and 20 mn after CS. Under placebo, mean arterial pressure (PAM), HR and RL increased significantly after CS (+9.2 +/- 3 mmHg, +4.5 +/- 3 b/mn and +36 +/- 14 per cent, respectively). These modifications were not different after propranolol, pindolol or placebo (ANOVA). Arterial distensibility (CL) was decreased after CS and this alteration was not prevented by beta-blockers. Brachial artery diameter was not modified after CS. Our results demonstrate that acute treatment with non selective beta-blockers with or without sympathomimetic intrinsic activity does not prevent haemodynamic modifications induced by cigarette smoking.


Abstract Welsh, MC, Allen, DL, Batliner, ME, and Byrnes, WC. Revisiting the force-joint angle relationship after eccentric exercise. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2015—The purpose of this study was to evaluate force-angle curve fitting techniques pre-eccentric exercise, quantify changes in curve characteristics postexercise, and examine the relationship between curve changes and markers of muscle damage. Fourteen males unaccustomed to eccentric exercise performed 60 eccentric muscle actions of the elbow flexors. Maximal voluntary isometric force was measured throughout a range of angles pre- (Pre1 and Pre2), immediately post (IP), and 1, 2, 4, and 7 days postexercise. Force-angle curves for each visit were constructed using second-order polynomials. Changes in curve characteristics (optimal angle, peak force, curve height), range of motion, soreness, and creatine kinase activity were quantified. Optimal joint angle and force at optimal angle were significantly correlated from Pre1 to Pre2 (ICC = 0.821 and 0.979, respectively). Optimal angle was significantly right shifted (p = 0.035) by 10.4 ± 12.9° from Pre2 to IP and was restored by 1 day post exercise. Interestingly, the r 2 value for curve fit was significantly decreased (p < 0.001) from Pre2 (r 2 = 0.896) to IP (r 2 = 0.802) and 1 day post exercise (r 2 = 0.750). Curve height was significantly decreased (39%) IP and restored to pre-exercise height by 4 days postexercise. There was no correlation between optimal angle or curve height and other damage markers. In conclusion, force-angle relationships can be accurately described using second-order polynomials. After eccentric exercise, the force-angle curve is flattened and shifted (downward and rightward), but these changes are not correlated to other markers of muscle damage. Changes in the force-angle relationship are multifaceted, but determining the physiological significance of these changes requires further investigation.


We report the case of a 60-year-old man with a history of recurrent transient ischemic attacks, effort syncope, cyanosis, erythrocytosis and a systolic murmur. Echocardiography and catheterization showed severe pulmonary stenosis and a patent foramen ovale with a right-to-left shunt. The patient was submitted to combined percutaneous pulmonary valvuloplasty and patent foramen ovale closure using the Amplatzer device.


This paper presents the results of studying non-state actors' institutional support for masters' teachers. The authors analyze the tracks of the introduction and a «life cycle» of the master's educational product created with the support of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation – the only non-commercial organization in Russia which supports students and professors at the master's level. The study shows that the support for masters' teachers makes a significant contribution to changing the role of this degree in higher education. There are outlined the long-term effects of supporting masters' teachers, which are supposed to create an environment for developing talents, improving the educational results of master students, teachers' advanced training, and integrating master programs into university's and region's strategic goals of development. For higher education researchers, for teachers and managers of master programs, for university administrators, and for higher education transformation decision makers in Russia.


Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that covers a vast and diverse array of devices derived from engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology. Nanotechnology has opened up by rapid advances in science and technology, creating new opportunities for advances in the fields of medicine, electronics, foods, and the environment. Nanoscale structures and materials (nanoparticles, nanowires, nanofibers, nanotubes) have been explored in many biological applications (biosensing, biological separation, molecular imaging, anticancer therapy) because their novel properties and functions differ drastically from their bulk counterparts. Their high volume/surface ratio, improved solubility, and multifunctionality open many new possibilities. The objective of this review is to describe the potential benefits and impacts of the nanobiotechnology in different areas.


Osteoporosis is a serious social issue nowadays. Both the high morbidity and its common complication osteoporotic fracture load a heavy burden on the whole society. The adipose tissue is the biggest endocrinology organ that has a different function on the bone. The adipocytes are differentiated from the same cell lineage with osteoblast, and they can secrete multiple adipokines with various functions on bone remolding. Recently, several novel adipokines have been identified and investigated thoroughly. In this paper, we would like to highlight the complicated relation between the bone metabolism and the novel adipokines, and it may provide us with a new target for prediction and treatment of osteoporosis.


Management information systems (MIS) summarize data and prepare information reports from transaction data, usually in different functional areas. MIS deals with the planning for development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management. Operations research (OR) is defined as the application of scientific methods for decision making in managing a variety of cybernetic systems Synergy of MIS and OR is considered in the paper . Modern web based MIS are designed and implemented with the aim of providing data necessary for decision analysis . For rational analysis and finding optimal solution, techniques and tools of modern OR are used . That is why OR is becoming an important part of cyber infrastructure . The accent in the paper is given to modeling systems, modeling languages, solvers, and interface .


Objective
To assess the patient satisfaction in emergency unit by evaluating the healthcare delivery
system, attitude and behavior of healthcare givers and extent of available health facilities.
Methods
A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 500 study subjects who came
to emergency department of District Head Quarters Hospital, Rawalpindi during a period
of two weeks in September 2009. The respondents were enrolled in the study by
convenience sampling. The study participants included those patients who received
treatment and were about to be discharged or shifted to wards or referred to any other
healthcare center. Data was gathered by using interviewer administered questionnaire.
Results
Of the 500 subjects, 54.5% respondents were patients while 45.5% respondents were
their attendants. Majority (33.15%) presented to emergency department with accident
related injury. 23.3% respondents had to wait for more than 5 minutes at reception for
getting emergency ticket. 38.76% faced difficulty in getting the wheel chair and stretcher.
76.9% had their first contact with doctor in emergency unit while 19.1% and 3.93% were
firstly received by nurses and paramedics respectively. 16.38% had to wait for more than
30 minutes for consultation with healthcare providers after getting an emergency ticket.
64.97% were asked for investigations and among those investigations, 60.67% were done
in hospital. According to 29.5% respondents, more than 1 hour was spent in getting the
report of investigations. 45.51% were partially treated out of which 43.26% brought their
medicines from outside. 51.69% stayed in emergency unit for more than 2 hours. 68.54%
were satisfied with explanation of the health problems by healthcare givers. 61.8% were
fully satisfied with the management while attitude and behavior of doctors, nurses and
paramedics were found to be satisfactory by 95.5%, 94.5% and 93.3% respondents
respectively. Drinking water was not available to 52.25% respondents. 69.6% were
satisfied with seating arrangements. 60.11% had to use their own mobile phone for
conversation while telephone facility in emergency department was available to only
15.17%.
Conclusion
Attitude and behavior of healthcare providers were found to be satisfactory by the
respondents. However, some basic requirements in emergency department of the hospital
like availability of telephone, provision of safe drinking water and general sanitary
conditions need to be fulfilled. (Rawal Med J 2010;35: ).


Proceedings: AACR 107th Annual Meeting 2016; April 16-20, 2016; New Orleans, LA

Background: The immune response has been shown to impact the course of colorectal cancer (CRC). Our goal was to examine the survival of CRC patients in relation to tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic (CD8+) T lymphocytes (CTL). We quantified CTLs in tumor epithelial and stromal tissues and correlated them with clinicopathological characteristics and survival of CRC patients in the Iowa Women's Health Study.

Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissue samples were available from 465 post-menopausal women diagnosed with incident CRC in 1986-2002. Tumor microarrays were constructed and immunostained with a CD8 antibody (Clone 144B; Dako). CTLs in tumor epithelial and stromal tissues were categorized by an experienced pathologist into non-detected; mild (1-10 cells per core); moderate (11-29 cells); and strong infiltration (≥30 cells per core), and averaged over cores per each person. We used Cox regression to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CI for total and CRC death in relation to each CTL score after adjusting for age of diagnosis, SEER stage, grade, body mass, smoking history and integrated molecular pathway for CRC. The tumors were categorized by integrated pathway (traditional, alternate, serrated, unassigned) based on the combination of phenotypes: microsatellite instability (MSI) status, CpG island methylator (CIMP) phenotype; and mutations in BRAF and/or KRAS genes (described in Samadder, 2013).

Results: During follow-up until 2011, 31% of participants died from CRC, 36% from all other causes, and 33% were alive (median follow-up: 8.4 y). The Spearman correlation coefficient between epithelial and stromal CTL scores was 0.52. Both scores were inversely correlated with stage at diagnosis and were higher in tumors characterized by MSI-high, CIMP-high and BRAF mutation-positive status. The highest categories in the epithelial and stromal scores were associated with statistically significant decreases in total death (by 44% and 40%, respectively) and CRC death (by 68% and 56%, respectively) compared to lowest categories. After summing epithelial and stromal CTL scores, the combined HRs (95% CI) in the highest versus lowest category were 0.55 (0.38-0.78) for total death (p-trend = 0.0002) and 0.36 (0.20-0.63) for CRC death (p-trend<0.0001). Additional adjustment for surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and comorbidities did not markedly change the associations. Finally, there was a statistically significant quantitative interaction between stromal score and MSI status in relation to total and CRC death (P for interaction were 0.02 and 0.0001, respectively); HRs were lower for MSI-high than for MS-stable tumors. There was also a significant interaction between smoking status (current versus never) and epithelial CTL score: the HRs for total and CRC death were lowest among never smokers with the highest score.

Conclusions. Our study further supports infiltration of tumors with CTLs as an important prognostic factor in CRC.

Citation Format: Anna E. Prizment, Robert A. Vierkant, Thomas C. Smyrk, Lori S. Tillmans, Heather H. Nelson, Charles F. Lynch, Stephen N. Thibodeau, Timothy R. Church, James R. Cerhan, Kristin E. Anderson, Paul J. Limburg. Tumor-infiltrating cytotoxic T-cells are associated with improved survival of colorectal cancer patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2636.


Waste Management Technology Ltd (WMT) has developed the optimal process for immobilizing a solid waste contaminated with thorium dioxide (thoria). The physical and chemical characteristics of the waste present challenges to producing a wasteform acceptable for disposal. Also, high-energy radiation from thorium's decay progeny requires a treatment plant with shielding and remote handling facilities. Key points of the paper are as follows. 1. Treatment options were investigated and the best practicable means identified as intimate mixing of the waste with cementitious grout. 2. Samples were analysed for particle size and organic contamination. 3. Small-scale active mixes resulted in a single treatment formulation for all the waste. Leach tests confirmed that the organic material is adequately retained within the immobilised waste provided activated carbon is included in the formulation. 4. Active mixes at the two litre scale confirmed that the formulation is mixable and the product acceptable and consistent with expectations from the earlier work. 5. WMT is constructing a treatment plant at its Winfrith site, based on remote grouting in a 200 litre drum with a sacrificial mixer. Inactive full-scale trials with such 200 litre drums were carried out after selection of simulants with the appropriate physical properties.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


Summary We analyze new forms of aberrations affecting a time dependent magnetic field lens recently proposed. The lens consist of an axially symmetric ellipsoidal solenoid producing a spatially uniform but time pulsating homogeneous field. The dynamics of electrons emitted by some object and injected into this coil shows that this system is capable of focusing a parallel beam or produce images free of geometrical aberrations. The cardinal elements of this lens change periodically in positions and therefore to obtain a stationary image it is necessary to employ a chopped electron beam. Two forms of aberrations originate from the finite duration of the electron pulse and the energy dispersion of the incoming beam (chromatic aberration). Their image degradation effects are quite similar and result from recording different axially displaced images at some fixed stationary plane. We show how, by adjusting the parameters characterizing the magnetic pulse and introducing small apertures that increase the depth of focus, their effects can be reduced or in some cases eliminated. Other forms of instrumental aberrations characteristic of this time dependent magnetic field lens are briefly discussed.


The present article investigates the effect of services export diversification on economic growth by relying on a sample of 131 countries over the period 1985-2014. The empirical results, based on the two-step system Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM), has suggested that services export diversification enhances economic growth in developing countries, whereas in High Income Countries (HICs), services export specialization promotes economic growth. Furthermore, services export diversification enhances economic growth as countries experience a rise in their services exports growth, with the magnitude of this positive effect increasing as the growth rate of services exports rises. Finally, services export diversification tends to be positively associated with economic growth, but as countries enjoy greater trade openness, they tend to enhance their services export specialization so as to enjoy higher economic growth. Interestingly, it is services export specialization that promotes economic growth as countries better integrate into the international trade market. One key message conveyed by the analysis is the importance of services export diversification (or concentration) for economic growth, including when countries further open up to international trade.


This project comprised the development of a commodity-based hazard identification protocol for biological hazards in plants and animals as a decision support tree programmed in Excel. The content of the decision tree is based on the results of a systematic review of pest and pathogen characteristics, a review of risk assessment schemes and on expert judgement. Application of the protocol results in an indication of the level of likelihood of entry of animal and plant pathogens/pests in the area of destination associated with the commodity/pathway, and it guides the decision regarding potential actions to be undertaken in the search for existing and emerging pathogens/pests.


Herein, metastable spheroidal vaterite calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was prepared using a simple ultrasound technique. The fabricated material comprises an irregular nanoparticle aggregate when steamed ammonia liquid waste, that is, (CaCl2) and (NH4)2CO3, is used as the raw material at atmospheric temperature, without any surfactants. The effects of ultrasound amplitude, probe immersion depth, and solution volume on particle properties were investigated. The obtained samples were identified and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique. Our experiments show that the probe immersion depth and the reaction volume are the key parameters that impact the diameter size and size distribution of the fabricated spheroidal vaterite CaCO3 particles. The ultrasound amplitude considerably affected the particle size and the specific surface area. A possible formation mechanism for pure vaterite is proposed herein, which suggests that simple vaterite CaCO3 is formed owing to the special properties of steamed ammonia liquid waste and the synergistic effects of the ultrasonic system. This study may provide a new method for vaterite CaCO3 synthesis.


In order to evaluate the heart and liver responses after adriamycin (ADR) toxic aggression, with and without exogenous L-carnitine (CAR) protection, female Sprague-Dawley rats, body weight 40-60 g, were randomized into four groups: CON, ADR, CAR and CAR-ADR. ADR was injected i.v. at a dose of 15-18 mg/kg body wt (0.1 ml). CAR was administered i.v. at a dose of 20 mg (0.1 ml) before each subdose of ADR, and then orally at 180 mg/kg body wt daily for 12 weeks. Long-term cardiac and hepatic subcellular damage were determined by transmission electron microscopic analysis of ultrathin sections. The ADR-induced long-term cardiac subcellular pathology included loss, disruption and disassembly of myofibrils, and mitochondrial swelling and condensation. On the other hand, the ADR-induced subcellular hepatic alterations consisted of polymorphic mitochondria, cytoplasmic vacuolization and accumulation of lipid droplets. Apparently, cardiac tissue was more affected by ADR toxic aggression than hepatic tissue. However, these alterations were of less severity in protected groups, in both heart and liver, suggesting CAR as a possible hepatoprotector agent against ADR toxicity. Because of the liver-L-carnitine-heart relationship, studying ADR-hepatotoxicity could be helpful in the further understanding of severe ADR-cardiotoxicity.


Population genetic theory predicts discordance in the true phylogeny of different genomic regions when studying recently diverged species. Despite this expectation, genome-wide discordance in young species groups has rarely been statistically quantified. The house mouse subspecies group provides a model system for examining phylogenetic discordance. House mouse subspecies are recently derived, suggesting that even if there has been a simple tree-like population history, gene trees could disagree with the population history due to incomplete lineage sorting. Subspecies of house mice also hybridize in nature, raising the possibility that recent introgression might lead to additional phylogenetic discordance. Single-locus approaches have revealed support for conflicting topologies, resulting in a subspecies tree often summarized as a polytomy. To analyze phylogenetic histories on a genomic scale, we applied a recently developed method, Bayesian concordance analysis, to dense SNP data from three closely related subspecies of house mice: Mus musculus musculus, M. m. castaneus, and M. m. domesticus. We documented substantial variation in phylogenetic history across the genome. Although each of the three possible topologies was strongly supported by a large number of loci, there was statistical evidence for a primary phylogenetic history in which M. m. musculus and M. m. castaneus are sister subspecies. These results underscore the importance of measuring phylogenetic discordance in other recently diverged groups using methods such as Bayesian concordance analysis, which are designed for this purpose.


Host defense against infection and disease relies on the reciprocal communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems where sex hormones exert negative and positive feedback actions on immune functions. Indeed, sex hormones have been implicated in gender dimorphic immune response and in the potentiation of immune-related disorders. The female hormone estrogen plays a role as an immunomodulator and may exert immunosuppressive and immunostimulatory effects. Though many studies focus on estrogen's role in immunity within the female reproductive tract and autoimmunity, the modulatory effects of estrogen on vaccine responses are largely unexplored. The insufficient efficacy of some vaccines in certain target populations, as for example the elderly population, is well recognized. Hormones fluctuate throughout an individual's life, and females in particular undergo several necessary reproductive (pregnancy and menopause) and lifestyle (oral contraceptive use) changes which involve sex hormones. Vaccine efficacy might be influenced by endogenous estrogen levels or by exogenous estrogen administration. Therefore, in the pursuit of improved vaccine efficacy, it is necessary to consider such hormonal factors and their contribution to immune status. We have studied estrogen's role in modulation of vaccine responses using a mouse ovariectomy model where exogenous estrogen delivery can be controlled. Our studies included two different types of vaccines, a bacterial toxoid formulation and a bacterial secreted protein formulation. Results from these studies indicate that estrogen enhances vaccine-specific antibody production by likely supporting a general T 2 pathway and also modulates expression of genes encoding molecules critical in innate immune signaling and required for development of proper adaptive immune responses and antigen clearance through antibody-mediated mechanisms. The level at which estrogen modulates antibody responses appears to be dependent on the route of vaccine administration. The enhancement of specific humoral responses may involve mechanisms involving TLR2 and antibody Fc receptor expression on macrophages, cells that link innate and adaptive immune responses. Advances in our understanding of the relationship between sex hormones and the immune system may provide new insights into the mechanisms by which hormones act and thus may be exploited to guide the design of future vaccine strategies. H INDEX WORDS: 17β-Estradiol, Antibody Response, TLR2, FcγR, Vaccine Response, Immunomodulator, Sex hormones, Autoimmunity ESTROGEN-INDUCED MODULATION OF INNATE AND ADAPTIVE IMMUNE FUNCTION


Equipping hospitals with emergency power supply is crucial. This is especially critical for important wards of the hospital, such as the NICU. Due to the importance of this issue, the present study, for the first time, studies the power supply of vital devices of the neonatal ward in one of the hospitals in Iran. Techno-econo-enviro studies have been performed using HOMER software on 20-year average data. The case study of this article is the Social Security Hospital in Farrokhshahr, Iran, where the system under study uses tree-shaped wind turbines, solar cells, diesel generators and batteries. The use of real data for the electrical consumption of the devices, use of wind and sun data in the form of 20-year averages, and use of up-to-date costs of equipment and consumed fuel, as well as the use of a new generation of the wind turbine, are the advantages of the present study. The results showed that the use of solar energy is superior to the use of wind energy, both economically and environmentally. The cheapest simulated system among 17640 possible scenarios, with the price of each kWh equal to 0.636$, was able to use 18% of the solar energy. In contrast, the cheapest wind turbine-based system was able to use 10% of the wind energy, with the price of every kWh wind electricity equal to 0.917$. The diesel generators are used in all optimal scenarios, which indicates that either the price of solar cells and wind electricity are high compared to the diesel generator, or the intensity of sunlight or wind speed are not high enough. Moreover, compared to the conventional system only consisting of diesel generator, the optimal scenarios of using solar cells and wind turbine, benefit from a reduction in produced pollutants equal to 4.8 and 4 tones/yr, respectively.


This chapter proposes a design of hardware architecture of an improved Direct Torque Control (DTC) for a real-time implementation on a Xilinx FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA). The first contribution in this chapter consists in combining the DTC with a Space Vector Modulation (SVM) technique and an Input-Output Feedback Linearization (IOFL) approach. In fact, the classical DTC has remarkable performance in terms of fast torque response and less dependence on the system parameters. Despite the cited advantages, the classical DTC is penalized by high torque ripples and inverter-switching-frequency variations. In this context, the SVM is added to the DTC structure in order to keep the switching frequency constant and to reduce ripples. Furthermore, the nonlinear IOFL is proposed to achieve a decoupled flux and torque control. The novel structure is named in this chapter as DTC-IOFL-SVM. Moreover, this chapter presents a hardware implementation of the suggested DTC-IOFL-SVM strategy utilization. The hardware implementation is chosen in order to reduce the sampling period of the system thanks to the parallel processing of the FPGA. In order to demonstrate the performance of the FPGA implementation of the proposed DTC-IOFL-SVM, numerous simulation results are presented using the Xilinx system generator under a Matlab/Simulink.


There is an increased association between chronic urticaria (CU) and thyroid autoantibodies. We presented a case of a patient suffering from CU and newly diagnosed Hashimoto's thyroiditis in which levothyroxine therapy completely resolved the symptoms of urticaria. A 58-year-old female with a past medical history of recurrent urticaria presented with complaints of fatigue and weight gain. Laboratory investigations showed a high thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level and a low free thyroxine (T4) level. She had elevated levels of antithyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-TG). She was diagnosed as a case of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and started on levothyroxine therapy. She noticed that her uncontrolled recurrent urticaria started to get better and after a few months of therapy, she stopped taking her topical ointments and antihistamines. The reason for the association between positive serological tests for thyroid autoimmunity and CU is unclear. The resolution of chronic urticaria with levothyroxine in our patient with Hashimoto's thyroiditis suggests a common underlying mechanism between the two pathologies.


SYNOPSIS: A multicenter, prospective, nonrandomized study was performed to evaluate a new continuous cardiac output monitoring system and compare it with the currently used method, intermittent injection thermodilution. Forty-seven critically ill adult patients had cardiac output monitored over a 72-hour period simultaneously with both methods. In this study, the continuous cardiac monitoring system turned out to be a reliable method that was not adversely affected by abnormal patient temperature (<37°C or >38°C), high (>7.5 L/min) or low (<44.5 L/min) cardiac output, or duration (72 hours) of the study.SOURCE: Mihm FG et al. A multicenter evaluation of a new continuous cardiac output pulmonary artery catheter system. Crit Care Med 1998;26:1346–50.


Our objective was to explore the mechanism of essential oil that was extracted from Cinnamomum camphora chvar. Borneol (Borneol essential oil) for improving learning and memory impairment in mice. Brain tissue and plasma samples of a normal group, a model group, a Borneol essential oil group and a reference group were detected using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS) in order to find differential metabolites and analyze metabolic pathways. Results showed that there were 11 different metabolites --including glycine and azelaic acid --in plasma samples, and that there were 26 different metabolites--including adenine and aspartic acid --in brain tissue samples. These metabolites are involved in phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, arginine biosynthesis, beta-alanine metabolism, glyoxylate acid and dicarboxylate metabolism, and aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis. Thus, Borneol essential oil may improve learning and memory impairment by regulating amino acid metabolism and/or neurotransmitter changes.


3G mobile systems are designed to provide multimedia services. To fulfill QoS requirements for video applications, a robust video codec should be employed. In this paper, a robust and effective algorithm for group of blocks (GOB) intra refresh in H.264/AVC is presented. The objective is to mitigate the error propagation and improve the perceptual video quality over the mobile networks. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can efficiently improve the video quality when errors occur.


Sentiment analysis (SA) is one of a number of fields in which "big data" requires processing. The term "sentiment" refers to the feelings, beliefs, emotions, and opinions that people express in relation to certain matters in written form, more often than not in online media such as social networks. Sentiment analysis can provide enterprises with valuable insights into, for example, how customers regard their products. When sentiments are collected from social networks over a period of time, the amount of data can indeed be "big". This paper describes and evaluates a lexicon-based SA solution, implemented as a prototype using SAP HANA. Sentiments are collected from Facebook and Google+, using a combination of tools including Microsoft Excel and the Power Query add-on to Excel. As HANA employs in-memory database technology, the calculation of sentiment values will be very fast. As a result of the sentiment analysis, five categories (from strong negative to strong positive), plus a category "sentiment not found", are filled with individual sentiments and, with the help of business intelligence tools, evaluated as well. SA results are made available on a user interface created using SAP's current interface technology, SAPUI5.


Nitrogen budgets in microalgae are strongly affected by growth conditions and physiological state of the cultures. As a consequence, protein N (PN) to total N (TN) ratio may be variable in microalgae grown in batch cultures, and this may limit the usefulness of the nitrogen-to-protein conversion factors (N-Prot factors), the most practical way of determining protein content. The accuracy of protein determination by this method depends on the establishment of specific N-Prot factors, and experimental data are needed to fill this gap. Complementing a previous study, the present work was designed to quantify the fluctuations of the main nitrogenous compounds during the growth of 12 species of marine microalgae, as well as to determine N-Prot factors for them. The microalgae were cultured in two experimental conditions: (a) using a N-replete culture medium (initial N concentration, 1.18 mM) and aeration, and (b) with a N-depleted culture medium (initial N concentration, 235 μM) and no aeration. The distribution of intracellular nitrogen was studied by constructing budgets of different nitrogen pools in different growth phases of the cultures. In all species, large variations occurred in the distribution of PN and non-protein N (NPN) in the treatments tested and in different growth phases. Intracellular inorganic nitrogen (NO3  − , NO2  −  and NH3 + NH4  + ) was the most important NPN component (0.4 – 30.4% of TN) in all species, followed by nucleic acids (0.3 – 12.2% of TN), and chlorophylls (0.1 – 1.8% of TN). The relative importance of NPN was greater in the exponential phase, decreasing during growth. PN ranged from 59.3 to 96.8% of TN. N-Prot factors are proposed for each of the species studied, based on the ratio of amino acid residues to TN, with values ranging from 2.53 to 5.77. Based on current results and on the previous study, we establish an overall average N-Prot factor for all species, treatments and growth phases of 4.78 ± 0.62 (n = 354). This study confirms that the use of the traditional factor 6.25 is unsuitable for marine microalgae, and the use of the N-Prot factors proposed here is recommended.


ABSTRACT Very little empirical research has been conducted about online career and technical education (CTE). Despite the continuing enrollment growth in online education (Lokken, 2016) and the national emphasis on CTE as a means of boosting the economy (D'Amico, Morgan, Katsinas, & Friedel, 2014), relatively little is understood about the scope and impact of online CTE at the community college. In this article, I briefly summarize existing empirical literature about online CTE.


Fiber debonding and pullout are well-understood processes that occur during damage and failure events in composite materials. In this study, we show how these mechanisms, under controlled conditions, can be used to produce multifunctional textured surfaces. A two-step process consisting of (1) achieving longitudinal fiber alignment followed by (2) cutting, rearranging, and joining is used to produce the textured surfaces. This process employs common composite manufacturing techniques and uses no reactive chemicals or wet handling, making it suitable for scalability. This uniform textured surface is due to the fiber debonding and pullout occurring during the cutting process. Using well-established fracture mechanics principles for composite materials, we demonstrate how different material parameters such as fiber geometry, fiber and matrix stiffness and strength, and interface behavior can be used to achieve multifunctional textured surfaces. The resulting textured surfaces show very high friction coefficients on wet ice (9× improvement), indicating their promising potential as materials for ice traction/tribology. Furthermore, the texturing enhances the surface's hydrophobicity as indicated by an increase in the contact angle of water by 30%. The substantial improvements to surface tribology and hydrophobicity make fiber debonding and pullout an effective, simple, and scalable method of producing multifunctional textured surfaces.


The knowledge of solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) and availability of a validated computer based model is of great technical interest for developing and designing separation processes, such as crystallization and fractionation and solving industrial problems. The latest version of Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT), Perturbed Chain-SAFT (PC-SAFT), is very much successful for highly non-ideal macro-molecular weight system such as polymers. With the experimental SLE data available in literature for low molecular weight n-alkanes and aromatic compounds both at atmospheric and elevated pressure, the suitability of the developed SLE model based on PC-SAFT was tested. Subsequently sensitivity study was performed for polyethylene. The solubility of two different grade of polyethylene in mixed xylene was then determined using indigenously developed laser based technique. The viscosity average molecular weight, specific gravity, and melting point of the polyethylene samples were determined using standard technique. The validated model was then used to correlate the experimentally determined solubility of polyethylene in xylene.


In this paper, a new three-dimensional Markov model is proposed for the estimation of saturation throughput of RTS/CTS (request to send/clear to send) scheme in an error-prone wireless local area network (WLAN) channel. The model takes account of the effect of bit error on all the frames, and station short and long retry limits. Saturation throughput was re-analyzed using the new Markov model and numerical results closely matched those from simulation, confirming the accuracy of the new model. Evaluation of the influence of different parameters on throughput showed that the saturation throughput is sensitive to channel bit error rates and packet length, especially in high bit error conditions.


In order to meet the challenges of the Run 3 data rates and volumes, the ALICE collaboration is merging the online and offline infrastructures into a common framework: ALICE-O2. O2 is based on FairRoot and FairMQ, a message-based, multi-threaded and multi-process control framework. In FairMQ, processes (possibly on different machines) exchange data via message queues either through 0MQ or nanomsg. In turn, this enables developers to write their reconstruction or analysis process in whatever language they choose or deem appropriate for the task at hand, as long as that programming language can send and receive data through these message queues. This paper introduces fer, a Go-based toolkit that interoperates with the C++ toolkit FairMQ, to explore the realm of polyglot distributed frameworks.


Objective. To evaluate student pharmacists' knowledge of diabetes and self-perceptions of aptitude and confidence before and after teaching a diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) class. Methods. Students enrolled in an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in ambulatory care were randomly assigned to the intervention group (taught a DSMES class) or control group (did not teach a DSMES class) between June 2016 to April 2018. Students self-assessed their aptitude and confidence using a 14-item pre- and post-intervention survey instrument. Additionally, participants completed a 10-item diabetes knowledge evaluation at baseline and during week three or four of the APPE. Results. Forty-six students participated in the study (26 students in the intervention group and 20 in the control group). Students in the intervention cohort demonstrated a significant improvement in their knowledge score (81.8% post-intervention vs 68.4% pre-intervention). Students in the control cohort did not experience a significant change in knowledge scores from pre- to post-intervention evaluation (70.0% vs 74.1%). The intervention cohort achieved a significantly greater improvement in confidence scores compared to the control group (11.8 vs 6.7 increase in scores, respectively). Conclusion. A student pharmacist team-taught DSMES class resulted in significant improvement in diabetes knowledge, aptitude, and confidence. Student pharmacist participation in a DSMES class may improve knowledge and enhance confidence, while offering an opportunity to advance the pharmacy practice model in ambulatory care.