The rapid growth of e-commerce is imposing profound impacts on modern society. On the supply side, the emergence of e-commerce is greatly changing the operation behavior of some retailers and is increasing product internationalization due to its geographically unlimited nature. On the demand side, the pervasiveness of e-commerce affects how, where, and when consumers shop, and indirectly influences the way in which we live our lives. However, the development of e-commerce is still in an early stage, and why consumers choose (or do not choose) online purchasing is far from being completely understood. To better evaluate and anticipate those profound impacts of e-commerce, therefore, it is important to further refine our understanding of consumers' e-shopping behavior. A number of studies have investigated e-shopping behavior, and reviewing them is valuable for further improving our understanding. This report aims to summarize previous e-shopping research in a systematic way. In this review, we are interested primarily in the potential benefits and costs that the internet offers for the business-to-consumer segment of e-commerce in the transaction (purchase) channel. An overview of the 65 empirical studies analyzed in this report is provided in the Appendix. Most previous studies fall into one or more of several theoretical frameworks, including the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model, transaction cost theory, innovation diffusion theory, and others. Among them, social psychological theories (the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model) were widely applied. As shown in the applications of different theories, e-shopping behavior is not a simple decision process, and thus an integration of various theories is necessary to deal with its complexities. We suggest synthesizing these theories through the development of a comprehensive list of benefits and costs, using each of the key constructs of the pertinent theories as a guide to identifying the nature of those benefits and costs. The dependent variables mainly include e-shopping intention and actual e-shopping behavior (a few studies used attitudes toward e-shopping). E-shopping intention was measured by various dimensions. Among them, the directly-stated intention to purchase online is the most frequently used measure. Although some studies used a unidimensional measure, most adopted a latent construct to assess consumers' e-shopping intentions. Actual e-shopping behavior mainly includes three dimensions: adoption, spending, and frequency. Most studies examined one or more of these three dimensions directly, while a few studies constructed a latent variable to measure actual e-shopping behavior. When both behavioral intention and actual behavior are included in model development, attention should be paid to the time precedence between intention and behavior. With respect to sampling, a choice-based sampling approach is probably preferable given that online shopping activity accounts for a minor proportion of all consumers, and a far smaller proportion of total retail sales. In previous studies, most chose internet/computer/email users or students as their subjects. Generally, a student sample is a natural choice for some particular products such as books. However, parameter estimates developed from a student sample lack generalizability to a larger population because of its homogeneity. By contrast, a more general sample of internet/computer/email users is more applicable for e-shopping behavior research. The suitability of the internet as a shopping medium depends to a large extent on the characteristics of the products. Mixing product categories in e-shopping behavior research tends to yield vague or inconsistent results. It is therefore necessary to explicitly consider product characteristics when exploring consumers' e-shopping behavior. However, relatively little effort has been invested into product classification in the context of e-shopping. Although Nelson's dichotomized system (search and experience goods) and Peterson et al.'s three-dimensional system (cost, tangibility, and differentiability) provide useful guides for product type classification, each has some shortcomings. Therefore, more research should focus on the construction of product classification systems. Different methodologies have been applied in previous research. Generally, descriptive analysis is used to describe consumers' e-shopping behavior; correlational analysis goes beyond descriptive analysis and attempts to analyze how two variables are related; and multivariate analysis is mainly used to explain consumers' behavior using many variables considered together. Therefore, although descriptive and correlational analyses are important steps in helping to construct multivariate analyses, multivariate studies provide more information than these other two types of analyses. Multivariate analysis is ideal to study e-shopping behavior in depth. Among multivariate analysis techniques, multiple regression, structural equations modeling, and discrete choice models were most frequently used. Previous studies have identified various determinants of consumers' e-shopping behavior. These determinants mainly cover three essential elements: characteristics of e-shopping as a shopping channel, consumer characteristics, and vendor and product characteristics. Among these characteristics, the former two have been examined extensively in previous research, confirming their importance in understanding e-shopping behavior. Specifically, the dimensions of channel characteristics of e-shopping include e-shopping service quality, relative advantages, perceived risk of and confidence in e-shopping, and trust. Consumer characteristics include their shopping orientations, personality, social and psychological characteristics, computer/internet experience, in-home shopping experience, and socio-demographics.


The dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the 0.125Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.875Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 system with 0.4≤x≤0.6 were investigated. From the results of XRD and piezoelectric measurement, it was supposed that the composition with x=0.5-0.51 corresponds to MPB between tetragonal and rhombohedral phase. The 4PbO·B2O3 glass frit which has a low flow temperature and a high polarizability is doped to the system. This is helpful to the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of the system. If small amounts of 4PbO·B2O3 glass powder are added to the calcined 0.125PZT-0.875PMN ceramics, the liquid phase is formed during sintering. Hence, the sintering temperature can be reduced and the piezoelectric and dielectric properties are enhanced.


The pion-pion scattering phase shift is computed using LapH propagators. The LapH method for computing quark propagators is used to form two-particle correlation functions with a number of different operators. Excited state energies of two-particle states on 2+1 dynamical, anisotropic lattices (mp 390 MeV ) are computed to determine the phase shift in the I = 2 channel. The signal for t-to-t diagrams for the I = 0 channel are also presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the stochastic LapH method.


Oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis has been used to change the histidine residues that act as axial ligands to the central Mg(2+) ions of the "special pair" bacteriochlorophylls in the reaction center of Rhodobacter capsulatus. Histidine-173 of the L subunit has been replaced with glutamine, while histidine-200 of the M subunit has been replaced with glutamine, leucine, or phenylalanine. When leucine or phenylalanine is introduced at M200, one of the special pair bacteriochlorophylls is converted to bacteriopheophytin, which generates a heterodimer at the special pair binding site. The pigment composition of the reaction center is unaltered when either histidine is replaced with glutamine. All of these mutant reaction centers are photochemically active, although the electron transfer properties of heterodimer-containing reaction centers are altered. These mutations begin to define the structural parameters that determine whether bacteriochlorophyll or bacteriopheophytin will be incorporated into the tetrapyrrole binding sites of the photosynthetic reaction center. Our results demonstrate that the properties of the photosynthetic reaction center can be changed by directed mutagenesis, which makes this complex an excellent model for testing theories of electron transfer in biological systems.


Taking the lead from a published rating of radiology/nuclear medicine journals in which, surprisingly, Radiology ranks number 3, the author critically analyzes the formalized statistics-based assessment of the diagnostic radiologic activities. The specific ranking in question is shown to result from an inconsistent treatment of the primary data. Generalizing the discussion, he argues that the radiodiagnostic process, based on image evaluation, is not a suitable candidate for rigidly codified statistical appraisal. Attempts at obtaining by such methods meaningful and timely information on the respective values of rapidly changing radiodiagnostic techniques are not likely to succeed.


The studies published on the South Korean response to COVID-19 point to different reasons for the country's success. No reviews were identified on South Korea from January 2020 to April 2021 or that analyzed the pandemic's recrudescence. Aimed at better systematization of South Korea's success in controlling the epidemic, we conducted an integrative review to analyze that country´s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to identify the relationship between the measures adopted, the health system's characteristics, and evolution of the selected indicators. Various databases were used, beside epidemiological bulletins and press conferences of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). We also analyzed reports by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. The study's results allow identifying a set of lessons based on the South Korean experience with control and management of the disease. The response by South Korea was successful, due to action in the control of risks and harms, action on social determinants to mitigate the socioeconomic effects of the health crisis, prior experience with other respiratory disease epidemics, and effective national coordination.


From Liu and Han (2014), the accretion-dominated jet power has a linear proportionality with the accretion rate, whereas the power law index is <=0.5 at lower accretion rate. Attributing the jet power in low accretion rate AGN to the black hole spin, it implies that the jet power has a flatter spectrum than the accretion-dominated jet versus the accretion rate. The black hole must be spinning rapidly for producing such jet power efficiently, and this may allow us to find high-spin black holes in the radio-loud low-luminosity AGN.


OBJECTIVES
To compare early and late presentations of fetal haemoglobin Bart's disease in the Kowloon West Cluster in Hong Kong, and to find reasons for the re-emergence of late presentations.

DESIGN
Case series with internal comparisons.

SETTING
Two tertiary obstetric units in Hong Kong.

PATIENTS
All cases with confirmed diagnosis of fetal haemoglobin Bart's disease from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2009.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

PRIMARY OUTCOME
antenatal care in the current pregnancy.

SECONDARY OUTCOMES
clinical presentations, ultrasound features, and pregnancy outcomes.

RESULTS
A total of 59 cases (46 early presentations and 13 late presentations) of fetal haemoglobin Bart's disease were identified during the study period. All the late presentations were identified from year 2003 onwards. Late presentations were significantly associated with non-eligible obstetric patients (69% vs 11%; P<0.001), non-booked status at our antenatal service (62% vs 0%; P<0.001), and unavailability of partner's mean corpuscular volume status (23% vs 0%; P=0.009). Mothers presenting late were more likely to have symptoms or signs (85% vs 0%; P<0.001) and to suffer from gestational hypertensive disorder (54% vs 0%; P<0.001). Ultrasound features of these pregnancies included cardiomegaly (94%), placentomegaly (98%), and hydrops fetalis (77%). All pregnancies presenting early were either legally terminated or miscarried. The perinatal mortality in late presentations was 85%.

CONCLUSION
The re-emergence of late presentations of fetal haemoglobin Bart's disease after 2003 was related to influx of non-eligible obstetric patients without proper antenatal screening and diagnosis of thalassaemia. Maternal low mean corpuscular volume and characteristic prenatal ultrasound features such as cardiomegaly, placentomegaly, and hydrops fetalis are useful for detecting affected pregnancies in this group of patients. Better education of both patients and doctors is necessary to explain the importance of early diagnosis of the disease and the seriousness of complications due to late presentations, so as to reduce undesirable maternal and perinatal outcomes.


What does it mean to study supposedly global media phenomena from a Nordic perspective? In which ways could a Nordic feminist perspective on digital media make a difference in relation to dominant research traditions? What would be particular and unique about Nordic cyberfeminism compared to the unmarked version of cyberfeminism dominating the field today? These are some of the questions that this book sets out to answer. Cyberfeminism in Northern Lights: Digital Media and Gender in a Nordic Context pushes the boundaries of contemporary cyberfeminism significantly. Against the background of an expanding body of research in the field of digital media and gender which to this date has primarily been carried out from an Anglo-American perspective the book argues that feminist studies of digital media need to become more inclusive and aware of their own geographical and cultural biases and limits. The book takes as its point of departure the knowledge and experiences from the Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark. Although often grouped together under the assumed homogeneity of Scandinavia, there are important differences between the countries but also certain qualities and aspects that run across national borders, which make for an intriguing foundation of this book. Highlighting the work of several of Scandinavia's best internet researchers, this collection shows how our understanding of the intersection of gender and computer technology is both universal and cultural. It's fascinating reading for anyone interested in questions of gender, culture, or social aspects of the internet and serves as a useful corrective for those who assume these issues can be understood without considering them from multiple cultural positions. Nancy Baym, Associate professor of Communication Studies, University of Kansas. This is a very illuminating, unconventional and agenda-setting collection of essays by a new generation of scholars. Very Nordic in its pragmatic approach, egalitarian spirit and scholarly excellence, it manages to strike a global note. The range, depth and scope of the theoretical concerns, coupled with the originality of the themes discussed casts a new light on a number of crucial issues in feminist cultural studies of science and technology. A delight to read! Rosi Braidotti, Distinguished professor in the Humanities, Utrecht University.


Hypertension or high blood pressure is a disease characterized by increasing blood pressure above the normal limit with systolic is more than 140 mmHg and diastolic is over 90 mmHg. Unhealthy lifestyle like consuming higher salinity food, junk food, food containing cholesterol, and lack of physical activities can increase the number of hypertension case. Many things can be done to lower high blood pressure such as by applying non-pharmacological therapy, one of them is by granting young coconut water, it has some contents like sugar, vitamin C, protein, calcium, potassium, and magnesium. High content of potassium in young coconut water can lower blood pressure of the hypertension patients.
This study aimed at knowing the influence of granting young coconut water for lowering blood pressure of hypertension patients. This study used pre experimental design with one group pretest and posttest design with the number of sample was 72 respondents using purposive sampling. The data was analyzed using Wilcoxon test to compare pretest and posttest result.
The result of this study showed that there was a significant influence between the average of pre and post after granting young coconut water and z value was 5,729 and z table with a = 1,96 meant that z value was higher than z table therefore it could be concluded that there was an influence of granting young coconut water for lowering high blood pressure of hypertension patients in Banjar Pisang Taro village Gianyar regency.
n


Tax planning strategies are important for tax payers whose aim is to reduce their tax outgo on various types of income and capital gains. While there are several tax saving instruments that qualify under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) has a special importance. It provides the least possible lock-in period among all tax saving instruments besides providing equity asset investment exposure making it a good long-term tool for wealth creation. This paper studies the investment behaviour of a typical ELSS mutual fund investor.

Primary data is used to identify preferences of tax saving instrument by Indians and to understand if diversification across multiple ELSS schemes is done. Understanding the mode of investing helps us get insight on investor behaviour. Finally, we get to know if ELSS is being used by other family members. Secondary data study allows us to understand the trends and dynamics of ELSS. Our study checks scheme Average Assets Under Management (AAUM) data to understand if investors delay and thereby hurry their investing just before closing of the financial year. These findings are of significance for Asset Management Companies (AMCs) in their product positioning and building promotional strategies. Market regulator SEBI and the Association of Mutual Fund Industry (AMFI) can use it to improve the product offering and expanding its reach. Government and Ministry of Finance can use these findings for tweaking tax laws so as to promote investment culture.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the adoption of balanced scorecard (ABSC) as performance management system (PMS). It also proposes a framework for empirically validating the antecedents and consequences of the ABSC as PMS.

Design/methodology/approach

Through the extensive review of BSC literature, the antecedents and consequences factors of BSC adoption as PMS are explored. A conceptual model is derived which hypothesises the relationship between the antecedents and consequences of the ABSC. The data collected by surveying perception of 128 bank employees is empirically tested. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to test the validity of the proposed measurement model, and hypothesised relationships are tested using structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings confirmed the hypothesised conceptual model. They indicate that top management involvement and interdepartmental communication are the two prime antecedent factors which significantly lead to ABSC as PMS. In addition to this, the findings validate a strong causal relationship between ABSC and three consequence factors, namely, employees' behaviour, organisational capabilities and perceived performance.

Research limitations/implications

The current study broadens the understanding of the notion of BSC as PMS in a considerable manner. It overcomes the inadequacy of the previous studies which failed to explore the antecedents and consequences of ABSC in a comprehensive way. The studies' key limitation is that it is based on the perception of employees which can be overcome by using multiple methods to collect data in future studies.

Originality/value

The current study makes a significant contribution to the BSC literature. It is a first of its kind study to provide empirical validation to the conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of the ABSC as PMS. The research finding offers key implications for both researchers and practitioners.


The main concerns of this work lie in examining the role of architecture in staging the sensation of the psychological uncanny. This document describes my research and practice since the Proposal was written in 2008.

Central to this enquiry is the notion of the uncanny house - that of my childhood in post-war suburban London. Buildings and lives had been lost and damaged. I attempt in my research to acquaint myself with, and understand, the background to my early years. My memories as the child in the house, together with my later experience of being within built spaces, form the basis of the investigation.
I write about the artists who have influenced my work during the doctoral programme. The study of these artists has enabled a progression from formal considerations towards a greater psychological and emotional content. In the paintings of Antoni Tapies and Giorgio Morandi I looked at colour and form; three-dimensional spatial considerations in the work of Nathan Coley and Richard Serra; the architecture of fear of Edward Hopper and Egon Schiele; the lonely architectural settings of George Shaw and Vilhelm Hammershoi; and the psychological content of the work of Kathe Kollwitz and Hughie O'Donoghue.
Three main areas of theory have been researched. The first is the uncanny house as described in the work of Anthony Vidler. Particularly relevant to my work are his references to the uncanny house having the possibility to be both homely and cosy, and concealed and kept from sight. The dark dwellings of my memory are also recalled by his descriptions of houses in 19thc. Gothic literature.
The second area of research is photography. Part of my practice was based on a set of press photographs taken during the second world war. Theories of the photograph's relationship to time and history give an insight into the way I have used them.
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The third area of research concerns the experience of being within a built space. This resumes an enquiry begun during BA studies, about the consciousness of being within built spaces. It concludes with a reference to the writing of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and his theories of the body being sensitive to its surroundings.
My creative practice of the five years of the doctoral programme is described. Modelmaking was used during the early part of the programme. Models were used to investigate the terraced houses of the suburbs and reflect on the lives of their occupants. I write of the uncertainty experienced when I was no longer able to make models, and how this led to the use of a set of press photographs from the second world war. I describe the significance of these photographs to my creative practice and how new photographs were made from the originals, giving them a different interpretation.
Finally, the advances of the latest phase of my practice are reviewed. I acknowledge the value of drawing as an effective medium with which to express myself. I describe my reticence in confronting the people in the war photographs, how I was finally able to engage more closely with their emotions, and by doing so, how my perception was modified of how architecture could stage the sensation of the psychological uncanny.


This paper discusses the role of technology assessment in health care. The definition of health technology and its effect on health care in the Australian setting is reviewed. In particular, emphasis is placed on the work of the Australian Health Technology Advisory Committee and its approach to providing advice to clinicians on technology based healthcare services. Specific issues relating to laparoscopic services, radiation oncology, ultrasound, molecular biology and gene therapy, telemedicine and magnetic resonance imaging are outlined. The issue of the explosion of growth in the diagnostic services is also outlined.


In a longitudinal CNV study of bipolar illness we followed the evolution of this illness in six bipolar patients by recording their CNV and mood changes as well as their psychopharmacological treatment for a period of 8 months. The longitudinal CNV recordings of these patients did not show changes corresponding to their mood variations. The most salient result emerging from this study was the consistency in the patterns of the records in different patients in spite of variations in their clinical state and medications. We believe that these electrophysiological parameters cannot be used as markers of the mental state in bipolar patients nor do they reflect specific drug effect. These findings are congruent with available data which do not support a linear relationship between a complex psychological process such as manic depressive illness and a single physical dimension of brain activity. Further studies are warranted for a deeper understanding of this phenomenon.


The differences between and appropriateness of branching versus linear time temporal logic for reasoning about concurrent programs are studied. These issues have been previously considered by Lamport. To facilitate a careful examination of these issues, a language, CTL*, in which a universal or existential path quantifier can prefix an arbitrary linear time assertion, is defined. The expressive power of a number of sublanguages is then compared. CTL* is also related to the logics MPL of Abrahamson and PL of Harel, Kozen, and Parikh. The paper concludes with a comparison of the utility of branching and linear time temporal logics.


In this work, a triangle arrayed triple-screw extruder (TTSE) was used to prepare in situ polypropylene/polyamide 6,6 (PP/PA66) microfibrillar composites (MFCs) by direct extrusion at a processing temperature between the melting points of the two phases. The dispersed phase, PA66 particles, deformed, merged and was stretched into fibrils under the alternating shearing and extensional flow field in the TTSE. The fibrillar morphology was controlled through adjusting the PA66 content and processing parameters (temperature and screw speed). Dynamic oscillatory shear rheological properties and extensional viscosity of PP/PA66 microfibrils with different aspect ratio were studied. The obtained results showed that the storage modulus and complex viscosity of PP/PA66 MFCs were improved with increasing fibrillar aspect ratio. Meanwhile, the loss tangent tan δ value decreased and the radius of the Cole–Cole plot circle increased with an increase in fibrillar aspect ratio. The PP/PA66 MFCs exhibited a pseudo-solid or gel-like behavior. The gel point concentration, which was determined by the Winter–Chambon criterion, decreased with the increasing fibrillar aspect ratio due to the increased interfacial area and enhanced entangled network structure. Additionally, high-aspect-ratio PA66 fibrils have dramatically improved PP's melting temperature, crystallization kinetics, and mechanical properties.


We consider a late decaying dark matter model in which cold dark matter begins to decay into relativistic particles at a recent epoch (z ⦤ 1). A complete set of Boltzmann equations for dark matter and other relevant particles particles is derived, which is necessary to calculate the evolution of the energy density and density perturbations. We show that the large entropy production and associated bulk viscosity from such decays leads to a recently accelerating cosmology consistent with observations. We determine the constraints on the decaying dark matter model with bulk viscosity by using a MCMC method combined with observational data of the CMB and type Ia supernovae.


Falcon is a system for on-line monitoring and steering of large-scale parallel programs. The purpose of such program steering is to improve the application's performance or to affect its execution behavior. This paper presents the framework of the Falcon system and its implementation, and then evaluates the performance of the system. A complex sample application, a molecular dynamics simulation program (MD), is used to motivate the research as well as to measure the performance of the Falcon system.<<ETX>>


for the purposes of mission and outreach, and in particular for a Café Church initiative in which worshippers sit at round tables. The Victorian Society objected and, in particular, criticised as wholly inadequate the Statement of Significance prepared by the petitioners. This statement had failed adequately to note the significance of the work of the Victorian architect Henry Woodyer in the reordering of the church in 1872. The chancellor was satisfied that, whilst the statement was inadequate, it had not affected the decision of the DAC to recommend the works proposed, and that it had been replaced with a satisfactory statement prior to the hearing. The chancellor considered the Bishopsgate questions. He followed the decisions in Re St Mary the Virgin Essendon (2001) 6 Ecc LJ 415 and Re Holy Cross, Pershore [2002] Fam 1 in holding that outreach and mission are important considerations. He permitted the replacement of the pews with chairs, holding that the necessity outweighed the effect on the character of the building and permitted the installation of a wooden floor as being a visual and practical improvement on the current tiled floor. He refused to permit the removal of the font, which dates from medieval times and was altered by Woodyer in 1872, as its retention would have marginal negative impact on the proposed future use of the building. [WA]


In recent years, Reversible Logic is becoming more and more prominent technology having its applications in Low Power CMOS, Quantum Computing, Nanotechnology, and Optical Computing. Reversibility plays an important role when energy efficient computations are considered. In this paper, Reversible eight-bit Parallel Binary Adder/Subtractor with Design I, Design II and Design III are proposed. In all the three design approaches, the full Adder and Subtractors are realized in a single unit as compared to only full Subtractor in the existing design. The performance analysis is verified using number reversible gates, Garbage input/outputs and Quantum Cost. It is observed that Reversible eight-bit Parallel Binary Adder/Subtractor with Design III is efficient compared to Design I, Design II and existing design.


This scientific opinion of the EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids deals with the safety evaluation of the recycling process MOPET ®, EC register number RECYC001. The input of the process is hot caustic washed and dried PET flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET articles mainly bottles containing no more than 5 % of PET from non-food consumer applications. Through this process, washed and dried PET flakes are extruded in a twin-screw extruder to amorphous pellets before being crystallised and solid state polymerised in a batch reactor. After having examined the challenge tests provided, the Panel concluded that, although the extrusion (step 2) contributes significantly to the overall decontamination efficiency, the decontamination in the batch SSP reactor (step 3) is the critical step that determine the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control its performance are well defined and are the temperature, the pressure, the residence time and the inert gas flow. The operating parameters of this step in the process are at least as severe as those obtained from the challenge test. Under these conditions, it was demonstrated that the recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below a conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process intended for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill is not considered of safety concern. © European Food Safety Authority, 2013


Objectives: The molecular landscape of non-muscle-invasive (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive (MIBC) bladder cancer based on molecular characteristics is essential but poorly understood. In this pilot study we aimed to identify a multi-omics signature that can distinguish MIBC from NMIBC. Such a signature can assist in finding potential mechanistic biomarkers and druggable targets. Methods: Patients diagnosed with NMIBC (n = 15) and MIBC (n = 11) were recruited at a tertiary-care hospital in Nanjing from 1 April 2021, and 31 July 2021. Blood, urine and stool samples per participant were collected, in which the serum metabolome, urine metabolome, gut microbiome, and serum extracellular vesicles (EV) proteome were quantified. The differences of the global profiles and individual omics measure between NMIBC vs. MIBC were assessed by permutational multivariate analysis and the Mann–Whitney test, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of each identified analyte with NMIBC vs. MIBC, and the Spearman correlation was used to investigate the correlations between identified analytes, where both were adjusted for age, sex and smoking status. Results: Among 3168 multi-omics measures that passed the quality control, 159 were identified to be differentiated in NMIBC vs. MIBC. Of these, 46 analytes were associated with bladder cancer progression. In addition, the global profiles showed significantly different urine metabolome (p = 0.029), gut microbiome (p = 0.036), and serum EV (extracellular vesicles) proteome (p = 0.039) but not serum metabolome (p = 0.059). We also observed 17 (35%) analytes that had been developed as drug targets. Multiple interactions were obtained between the identified analytes, whereas for the majority (61%), the number of interactions was at 11–20. Moreover, unconjugated bilirubin (p = 0.009) and white blood cell count (p = 0.006) were also shown to be different in NMIBC and MIBC, and associated with 11 identified omics analytes. Conclusions: The pilot study has shown promising to monitor the progression of bladder cancer by integrating multi-omics data and deserves further investigations.


One hundred samples of specially selected spiced meat products (sausages, salami, bologna, wieners, meat loaf, canned luncheon mean, etc) were analysed for nitrate, nitrite and volatile nitrosamines. None of the samples contained high levels of nitrosamines, but many contained traces, generally in the range from 2-50 mug/kg. Some contained as many as four nitrosamines, namely, NDMA, NDEA, NPip and NPy. In a few cases the samples were reanalysed after two weeks' storage at 4 or -20 degrees C, but no significant change in the nitrosamine levels could be detected. The identity of the nitrosamines was confirmed by GLC-high-resolution-MS.


Background: High maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Mozambique, are due to adolescent pregnancies, difficulties in accessing health services, traditional constraints, and gender inequalities. An implementation research project, Alert Community to Prepared Hospital in Natikiri, Nampula, Mozambique was developed to reduce maternal and new-born mortality. From 2016 to 2020, it implemented activities to improve population knowledge and function in sexual and reproductive health, and to enable community participation in maternal health services. In this paper we will assess and discuss the impact of community participation on improving sexual and reproductive health.Methods: Implementation research with community intervention and programmed mid-term evaluations, using mixed methods research, with descriptive quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups discussions and interviews, applied from 2017 to 2020. Local health committees, traditional birth attendants, traditional healers and local leadership all participated: trained in sexual and reproductive health and participated in radio discussion groups; community and hospital members of the co-management committee enabled local programming. Maternal and child health indicators were evaluated with health unit's operational data. Quantitative data were captured in Microsoft Office Excel, analysed with SPSS21 to find frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation; qualitative data registered in Word was analysed with NVIVO. This research received bioethical approvals from both the Mozambique and Canadian universities and followed Helsinki Declaration recommendations.Results: Comparing changes from 2016 to 2019, the number of health committees operating in Natikiri rose from 7 to 20. Each committee integrated four Family Health Champions, who attained 24738 residents with health education interventions on reproductive health. A theatre group developed dramas about the same key messages, presented in communities. Population access to contraceptives was facilitated, from 42% to 91% in women and from 65% to 90% in men. At Marrere Health Centre, women with four ante-natal visits rose by 185%, and children less than one year of age' visits 89%; at Marrere General Hospital deliveries rose 60%.Conclusion: Community participation, at all levels of maternal and child health service care continuum, from community to hospital, enhanced with complementary interventions well contextualised, is effective in improving adolescent and adult sexual and reproductive health.Trial registrationThis study was not registered in any data base.


The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the widespread diffusion of Sinopean wine and its importance as evidence for economic and social exchange in Thrace during Roman and Late Roman times. The study analyses, through using amphorae as key-evidence, the phenomena that controlled trading networks and longdistance maritime routes in particular, since these would have been conditioned by political and economic evolutions. Evidence from various sources has been used in order to map what we know about the distribution of Sinopean wine, in particular in two specific regions within the Roman Empire: the western coast of the Black Sea and the Lower Danube territory. After analysing some regional contexts, a wider view on distribution patterns is considered. The analysed deposits indicate the significant role that the Thracian market played for the Sinopean wine trade. Thrace seems to be part of a broader mechanism that included also the territories along the Lower Danube.


Being this a period when human activities and creations profoundly alter many geological conditions and processes, here we conceptualise how the sustainable innovation of business models acts as yet another lever for the dissemination of human misbehaviours against the planet and its ecosystems. Departing from the Institutional Theory approach to entrepreneurship and sustainability, we identified institutional and ethical standards and norms that allow a better understanding of the institutional logic behind sustainable business model (SBM) innovation, how it is formed and its consequences in terms of inequity, oppression and exclusion. We have linked those standards with 12 constructs that can guide further empirical analyses; incubators, trainers, investors and policy makers could use them to support entrepreneurs avoid planet challenges and enhance human and non-human ecosystems.


Oilly seeds, such as those of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), have short storability (3-4 months in room condition) due to oxidative stress during storage. The objective of this research was to determine whether prestorage seed invigoration by antioxidants, could improve storability of sunflower seeds. The research was performed using fresh harvested seeds. Prestorage seed invigorations were conducted by matriconditioning with water or antioxidants solution i.e. 4.17% curcumin or 100 and 150 ppm ascorbic acid. The seeds were stored for four months at room condition (28-29 oC and 62-79% relative humidity). Observations were conducted monthly. Experiment was arranged in split plot design. The result showed that all prestorage seed invigoration treatments were not effective to enhance storability of sunflower seeds compared to control. Inefficiency exogenous antioxidants was probably due to highly endogenous antioxidants activity during storage. This was indicated by the slow deterioration rate of control seeds, or due to high concentration of curcumin which was actually potential to enhance storability of sunflower seeds. It is suggested that presowing treatment and midstorage treatment will enhance storability of sunflower seeds. Back


A series of cyclic imides and related compounds have previously been shown to possess hypolipidemic activity at the low dose level of 20 mg/kg/d. Hydrolytic and reduced products of the cyclic imides were synthesized and examined to discern if possible metabolic products were the active chemical species of these hypolipidemic agents. Phthalimide proved to be the most active cyclic imide tested. Unfortunately, the new products did not, in general, improve hypolipidemic activity in rodents. The exceptions were piperidine which demonstrated improved hypotriglyceridemic activity, and 3,4,5,6-dibenzohomopiperidin-2-one, which demonstrated improved hypocholesterolemic activity compared to phthalimide.


Abstract : As the US Air Force prepares for an age of strategic agility, we become excited with headline-grabbing emerging technologies such as hypersonic aircraft, nanotechnology, and remotely piloted and autonomous systems that will in time become core mission enablers.1 Too often overlooked are the invisible transmission control protocol (TCP) / Internet protocol (IP) networking protocols that revolutionized the military and the world by changing how humans exchange and use information. This networking protocol enhances and enables the Air Force s five core missions: air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and control. Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James notes in the recent strategy document America s Air Force: A Call to the Future that this strategy challenges our Air Force to forge ahead with a path of strategic agility breaking paradigms and leveraging technology just as we did at our inception. 2 Today, the Department of Defense (DOD), Air Force, and nation are focused on technologies important to future development. However, unbeknownst to many people, the structure of the Internet is changing for the first time in its history with the exhaustion of the IP version four (IPv4) protocol and the adoption of IPv6. The DOD as well as the Air Force in particular has a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to lead the nation in the transition to IPv6 to enhance and enable core functions and missions, assuring that our cyber operators are educated and trained to keep pace with technological change. A recent report by the DOD inspector general found several missteps on the part of the department s chief information officer (CIO), US Cyber Command, and the Defense Information Systems Agency in terms of making IPv6 a priority.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Frequently relapsing and steroid-dependent minimal-change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) that originates in childhood can persist after puberty in >20% of patients. These patients require immunosuppressive treatment during several decades of their life. We examined long-term adverse effects of persistent nephrotic syndrome and immunosuppressive medications, focusing on renal function, growth, obesity, osteoporosis, hypertension, ocular complications, and fertility in adult patients with biopsy-proven childhood-onset MCNS. Molecular analysis was performed to evaluate a possible association of a complicated course of MCNS with podocyte gene mutations.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
We performed a prospective clinical examination of 15 adult patients that included serum and urine analysis; dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; ophthalmologic examination; semen examination; and molecular analysis of NPHS1, NPHS2, CD2AP, and ACTN4 genes.

RESULTS
All patients had normal GFR. Most frequent long-term complications were hypertension (in seven of 15 patients) and osteoporosis in one third of patients. Oligozoospermia was found in one patient, reduced sperm motility in four of eight patients, and teratozoospermia in six of eight patients. Ophthalmologic examination revealed myopia in 10 of 15 patients and cataract in three of 15 patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Children with MCNS that persists after puberty are at risk for complications such as osteoporosis, hypertension, cataract, and sperm abnormalities. Our study underscores a need for more effective and less toxic therapies for relapsing MCNS.


The present study examined the effect of short‐term submaximal training on plasma acid‐base balance during exercise. The influence of water and ion exchange between plasma, active muscles and erythrocytes in the response to training were also studied. The contributions of independent physicochemical variables (i.e. strong ion difference ([SID]), total concentration of weak acids ([Atot]) and PO2) to changes in arterial (a) and femoral venous (v) plasma [H+] were examined in six subjects (age 24 ± 1.5 years; maximum oxygen consumption rate (V̇O2,max), 3.67 ± 0.24 l min−1) during steady‐state cycling for 15 min at each of 30, 65 and 75 % of V̇O2,max before (pre) and after (post) training for 7 days on a cycle ergometer (2 h daily at 60 % V̇O2,max). The rise in [H+]a during exercise was attenuated post‐training by 3 and 5 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, due first to less decrease in [SID]a, secondary to lower [Cl−]a and [Lac−]a; and second, to a reduction in [Atot]a, due to greater plasma volume and less plasma water flux (Jv) into leg muscle (P < 0.05). The rise in [H+]v was also less in post‐training by 4.5 and 6 nequiv l−1 (P < 0.05) at 65 and 75 % V̇O2,max, respectively, and attributed solely to lower [Atot]v (P < 0.05). Attenuation of exercise induced decreases in plasma [SID]a and [SID]v from rest to 75 % V̇O2,max was accompanied by reductions in erythrocyte Lac− and Cl− uptake (P < 0.05), and smaller increases in erythrocyte K+ release (P < 0.05). We conclude that the training‐induced attenuation of the rise in plasma [H+]a and [H+]v during incremental exercise resulted from adaptive changes within muscles (less Lac− production and less water uptake) and erythrocytes (less uptake of Lac−, Cl− and K+), leading to greater [SID] and lower [Atot] in both arterial and femoral venous plasma.


Purpose. Research into alcohol-related aggression has typically focused on perpetrators' externalizing characteristics. The purpose of this exploratory review is to examine the contribution of anxiety to alcohol-related aggression.Arguments. Anxiety disorders are associated with externalizing disorders in childhood, but anxiety appears to protect against extreme antisocial behaviours. In contrast, in adolescence and early adulthood, anxiety appears to be associated with increased risk of antisocial behaviour. One possible explanation for this disjunction may be alcohol use, which typically starts in adolescence. Alcohol is an anxiolytic drug, which may appeal to certain young people who are socially anxious but not socially avoidant. Alcohol myopia, the cognitive mechanism whereby alcohol exerts an anxiolytic effect, is also a mechanism by which alcohol serves to increase aggression. Therefore, in anxious antisocial people, drinking to cope with anxiety is likely to increase aggression.Conclusions. Interventions that flow from the research on anxiety, alcohol, and aggression are suggested. Language: en


"Shall vocational studies be accepted for entrance to college?" Before entering upon a discussion of the question it seems necessary to 'define "College" as the educational institution which confers upon its graduates the first bachelor's degree-A.B., B.S., or Ph.B. By vocational studies we mean those studies, which, either by their very nature or because of the point of view from which they are taught, tend to prepare directly for specific ·efficiency in handicraft, business, or profession. For example, manual training and freehand and mechanical drawing for the trades; commercial geography, history of commerce, history of the United States with especial reference to industrial aspects, commercial law, banking, and finance, and industrial chemistry for the various commercial pursuits. The question under discussion, then, is : Shall those studies which prepare directly for specific efficiency in handicrafts, commerce, and profession be accepted for entrance to those collegiate courses at the dose of which the first academic degree is granted?


Background Systemic inflammation has been postulated to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor, particularly in patients with autoimmune rheumatic disorders (ARD), such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and is associated with accelerated atherosclerosis. There is some evidence to suggest that antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) may also play a role in the development of atherosclerosis. However, it is few data about the relationship between these autoantibodies and inflammatory mediators in the development of atherosclerosis. Objectives To clarify the involvement of inflammatory mediators and aPL in the atherosclerotic process in patients with ARD. Methods The study included 87 female patients with ARD (RA (n=47), mean age 45,0 (33,0; 51,0) years old, disease duration 9,0 (3,0; 14,0) years, disease activity (DAS28=5,37 (4,69; 5,86) points); SLE (n=40), mean age 33,5 (27,5; 44,5) years old, disease duration 8,0 (5,0; 14,5) years, disease activity SLEDAI-2K 7,0 (4,0; 11,5) points). Sixty healthy women (mean age 40,5 (36,0; 47,0) years old) formed the control group. The levels of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor - α (TNF-α), LA, IgG/IgM antibodies to cardiolipin (aCL), β2-glucoprotein-1(aβ2-GP1), annexin V (aAnV) and prothrombin (aPT)) were determined with ELISA. Intima-media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery wall and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques were revealed ultrasonographically according to the described ESH/ESC Guidelines. Results The levels of hs-CRP, IL-6, TNF-α were significantly higher in ARD patients than in the control group, which indicates the disease activity. Furthermore, the patients with SLE had a significant correlation between IL-6 and SLEDAI-2K (r=0,471, p=0,002), TNF-α and SLEDAI-2K (r=0,499, p=0,001), whereas the patients with RA had only significant correlation between hs-CRP and DAS28 (r=0,355, p=0,031). The concentration of IgG aCL, IgG and IgM aβ2-GP1, IgM aAnV, IgG aPT, LA were higher in patients with SLE than in the control group, and the levels of IgG and IgM aCL, IgM aβ2-GP1, IgG and IgM aAnV, LA were higher in patients with RA v.s. the control group. We revealed a correlation between IgG aCL, IgG aβ2-GP1, IgG aAnV and TNF-α, IgG aCL and IL-6 in SLE patients, and only one between IgG aAnV and hs-CRP in RA patients. There wasn't any correlation between aPL and inflammatory mediators in the control group. Univariate analysis has demonstrated an association of IgG aAnV with IMT (r=0,320, p=0,044) in SLE patients and positive association between TNF-α and IMT (r=0,362, p=0,028) in RA patients. Furthermore, we found an association between IL-6 and IgG aPT (r=0,426, p=0,038), TNF-α and IgG aCL (r=0,419, p=0,042) in SLE patients with carotid atherosclerosis. There wasn't any association between investigated parameters in the control group. Conclusions The association between inflammatory mediators and disease activity has been confirmed in ARD patients. Increased autoimmune activity has been verified both in patients with SLE and RA. It has been determined that IgG aAnV had more significance for IMT in patients with SLE, TNF-α - in RA patients. Our data can suggest that inflammatory mediators and antiphospholipid antibodies are involved in the atherosclerotic process in patients with ARD. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Under the influence of regular acceleration (5 g for 25 min during 15 days) Mg2+-ATPase activity of native and desensitized actomyosin of the myocardium and femurs of white rats increased. This was in correlation with increases in the rate of actomyosin superprecipitation (Vspp) and in the surface charge of macromolecules. The control animals showed a decrease in the inhibition of Mg2+-ATPase and Vspp of native actomyosin by tropomyosin-troponin. Ca2+ in a concentration of 10(-7) - 10(-4) M stimulated Mg2+-ATPase of native actomyosin of experimental animals by 50% only, but the maximum activation of Vspp was significantly higher than in the controls. It is assumed that these changes tend to increase the efficiency of the actomyosin system.


Computed tomography is the most reliable method in the localization of the impalpable testis. This imaging technique permits precise preoperative localization where ultrasound cannot. Moreover, it can provide very useful information in the complicated cases of cryptorchidism (torsion, trauma, tumor) and can disclose other previously undetected coexisting anomalies.


Vegetation is a main component of the terrestrial biosphere and plays a key role in the global water, energy and carbon cycles. The need to monitor the impact of recent climate changes on vegetation brought back to light an old scientific discipline studying the timing of recurring biological events, Phenology. Phenology is experiencing a renewal over the last 15 years also by extending its traditional local or regional scope to the global scale. Satellite time series of coarse resolution sensors, recording multispectral reflectance on a daily basis for many years, stand today for being the adequate approach to study phenology on the whole land surface of the Earth. While various studies already tackled different questions in this field of land surface phenology, the ambition of this thesis is to define and implement a framework describing the "Climatology" or baseline behavior of the vegetation cycle for any squared kilometer on Earth. The strategy is to capitalize on a daily reflectance values archive of 13 years (1999-2011) acquired by the SPOT VEGETATION sensor to improve the description of the vegetation cycle, both in the spatial and the temporal dimensions. SPOT VEGETATION is selected for its very good geometric performances and two vegetation indices, EVI and NDVI, are chosen as proxies to describe the foliage development. First, the seasonal and inter-annual variations of the phenology are characterized by computing the mean, the median and the standard deviation profiles of the thirteen EVI and NDVI annual time series. At the exception of some tropical areas, a sufficient number of observations were available to capture accurately the vegetation cycle with a 7-day time step along the year. Second, these reference profiles proved to be consistent enough to estimate precisely specific moments of the vegetation cycle. The method used to compute these phenological reference metrics demonstrates its adaptability to deal with the global diversity of vegetation behaviors and its ability to handle multiple seasons patterns. This is successfully demonstrated for two very different environments, Europe and the Congo Basin in Central Africa. Third, the 13-year time series are tested for long term trend. However, the very low magnitude of the EVI and NDVI increase observed consolidated the choice of no trend removal before averaging the data. Last but not least, a new vegetation map consistent for the whole Congo Basin is realized. This map improve the description of the spatial distribution of the vegetation types in this region heavily affected by cloud coverage by taking advantage of several years of MERIS and SPOT VEGETATION data. The different sections of the thesis fit together to form a coherent framework describing the land surface reference phenology of all terrestrial biomes between 75° N and 55° S as observed by the SPOT VEGETATION instrument. Moreover, the thesis delivered two operational products for the international community, a Congo basin vegetation types map and a comprehensive EVI-NDVI phenological reference dataset. While the first one is already adopted by the "Observatoire des Forets d'Afrique centrale" as reference information, the land surface phenology reference dataset opens very exciting perspectives for further phenological studies and to detect future vegetation cycle anomalies on a near-real time basis.


ABSTRACT The use of recycled paperboard and corrugated board for food packaging is in the interest of the sustainability of resources, but in most applications the food must be protected against contamination from these materials, such as by an internal bag with a functional barrier. Producers of packaging need a specification to find the most suitable and economical barrier for a given application, and the customer needs the confidence that a solution offered to him is adequate. An accurate determination of the barrier efficiency is not possible due to the large number of migrants, most of which have not been evaluated or not even identified. Hence the specification must be based on assumptions and verifiable by a simple test. The proposed benchmark presumes that the migration of all non-evaluated or even unknown substances in recycled paperboard will remain below 0.01 mg kg–1 food, the conventional detection limit, if their transfer does not exceed 1% of the content in the paperboard. Some substances, such as mineral oil or fatty acids, will exceed the 0.01 mg kg–1 limit, but they are known, evaluated and of no concern at the reduced migration. Since the critical substances must be assumed to be unknown, the criterion of the 1% migration is tested with three surrogate substances of similar volatility and covering a broad range of polarity. The cornerstones of the method are specified.


This paper deals with Russia's military policy and with a wide range of issues related to funding the defense program. The accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation in March 2014 was not favored by the global community and resulted in Western economic sanctions against Russia, getting even tougher throughout the entire year. The sanctions were focused chiefly on Russia's defense sector, having a strong adverse impact on the fulfillment of the state armaments program and the military-industrial complex (MIC) development program planned by the Russian leadership. The key tit-for-tat measures included the development of import substitution plans in the military-industrial complex and the placement of the Military Industrial Commission under the supervision of President Vladimir Putin in September. The international sanctions in 2014 had no effect whatsoever on the performance of the plans of professionalization and combat training of Russia's Armed Forces.


Several authors and organisations have over the last 40 years suggested various ways to describe different levels of automation. In this paper we give an introduction to some of the most relevant models and present some of the challenges faced when using them. Furthermore, we suggest a new definition for autonomy, based on responsibility instead of functionality. The paper analyses some relevant cases based on the suggested definition of autonomy, and points towards some issues that should be investigated in the maritime domain related to current definitions for autonomous ships.


Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are attracting attention as pathogenic organisms of public health importance, not only as agents of various infections in human and food animals(poultry inclusive), but also due to their ability to carry multidrug resistant traits that are often transferable to other pathogens of both human and animal. Constant tracking of the antibiotic susceptibilities of these organisms at different region within each country is of great epidemiological value to formulate well informed and scientific based preventive measures to curtail the spread of drug resistant pathogens through the food chain. We screened 19 Proteus mirabilis and 35 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the cloaca swab of some commercial poultry from Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria; for their antibiotics susceptibilities to 10 commonly used antibiotics for food animals and humans in Nigeria; using standard methods. The fluoroquinolone resistant isolates were subsequently studied for point mutation at the GyrA of the quinolone resistant determining region by PCR assay. The Proteus mirabilis isolates had 100% resistance to: ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, amikacin, sulfamethoxazole,   chloramphenicol, and streptomycin and between 78.95% - 94.7% resistance to other antibiotics used. The fluoroquinolone resistant isolates possessed high MICs ranges between 16μg/mL ->128 μg/mL. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates  likewise displayed 100% resistance to: cefepime, sulfamethoxazole,    chloramphenicol, ampicillin and streptomycin and 71.43% - 97 14% resistance to the other antibiotics tested. The levofloxacin resistant isolates also exhibited a high MICs ranges between 16μg/mL ->128 μg/mL and 5/21(23.8%) of the levofloxacin resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates exhibited 4-23 point mutations at the GyrA region of the quinolone resistant determining region. The study showed that the poultry in the studied area carries multidrug resistant pathogens that can serve as a source of drug resistant pathogen through the food chain to the public. Proper public health education on the potential health risk associated with the findings is advocated in the region.


Background and Aims: During robotic pelvic surgeries, the shortening of endotracheal tube (ETT) tip-to-carina distance (DTC) during pneumoperitoneum with 450 Trendelenburg position can result in endobronchial tube migration. In the three-point ETT cuff palpation (TPP) technique, maximal ETT cuff distension is felt over the tracheal segment located between the cricoid-thyroid membrane and suprasternal notch, which is likely to provide optimal placement. However, the reproducibility and reliability of the TPP technique in preventing endobronchial tube migration are yet to be evaluated. Hence, we compared three ETT placement techniques: TPP technique, intubation guide mark (IGM) technique and Varshney's formula (VF) for the prevention of endobronchial tube migration during robotic pelvic surgeries. Methods: ETT placement by TPP was compared with IGM and VF techniques in 100 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical class II-III patients, by assessing the serial changes in DTC and incidence of endobronchial tube migration throughout the different phases of pneumoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position using t-test and Chi-square test. Changes in the DTC during various phases were also measured. Results: DTC (mean ± standard deviation) at baseline and during pneumoperitoneum was significantly better in TPP technique (2.80 ± 0.62 cm and 1.96 ± 0.66 cm) as compared to both IGM (2.50 ± 1.27 cm and 1.41 ± 1.29 cm) and VF techniques (1.83 ± 1.13 cm and 0.98 ± 1.18 cm), P < 0.001. During pneumoperitoneum, the mean shortening of DTC was 0.84 ± 0.20 cm, and no endobronchial tube migration was found in TPP technique compared to 20% in IGM and 25% in VF techniques, P < 0.001. Conclusion: TPP is a simple and reliable technique, which provides optimal ETT placement and prevents endobronchial tube migration throughout the different phases of robotic pelvic surgeries.


The operational method, similar to the theory of electricity, can be available for continuous systems in applied mechanics of solids. Two kinds of continuous beams are treated: Continuous beams with rigid supports, and continuous beams with elastic supports. According to the operational method, simultaneous equations are no longer necessary even for a large number of spans. The entire procedure of analysis is developed in matrix algebra, in which the necessary physical quantities, the boundary conditions, and the connection conditions between two consecutive spans are all expressible in terms of corresponding matrices. Thus, the solution can be obtained by formal operations, multiplications, and at times additions, among these matrices. The present analysis will demonstrate more efficiency in computations than shown in previous fundamental systems. Similar developments can be made for the case of distributed loads and for continuous systems other than those cited herein.


ABSTRACT This article examines the wartime experience of Hilaire Marteau, a teenage member of Charles de Gaulle's Free French who settled in Liverpool after the war. Marteau's tale has all the ingredients of a Hollywood adventure: courageous resistance, a daring escape from Nazi Germany, and a perilous crossing of the Pyrenees to join the fight against Hitler and Vichy France. That, at least, is the story according to Marteau's rough notebooks and conversations with his relatives, for he died before authoring a planned memoir. This article presents our efforts to reconstruct his story through these writings and through interviews with his surviving family members. It reveals not only how Marteau represented his own past but also the ways in which he passed his story on to his wife and children. In doing so, the article suggests ways in which historians might explore 'second-generation' memory of French resistance.


Twenty-three cases of blastomycosis were reported in a survey conducted in the province of Quebec from 1981-90. Thirteen patients resided south of the St Lawrence River and the other 10, north. Two small geographical clusters were apparent in and around the cities of Sherbrooke and Quebec. The male to female ratio was 1.6:1 and the median age was 47 years (range 26 to 77). Lung involvement was observed in 19 cases and was the only site involved in 11. Cutaneous manifestations were reported in 11 cases while bone infection (three cases) and central nervous system (CNS) infections were also noted. Diagnosis was confirmed by culture in 21 cases and by histopathology in two cases. Of the 21 culture-positive cases, 12 strains of Blastomyces dermatitidis were isolated from lungs, nine from skin, and one each from bone and brain. Serodiagnostic tests by immunodiffusion or complement fixation were positive for only one of the 10 patients known to have been tested. Ten patients were treated with amphotericin B, 11 with ketoconazole, one with fluconazole and eight underwent surgery. While amphotericin B was used in eight of the 10 earliest treated cases, ketoconazole was administered in 10 of the 13 more recent cases. Of the patients for whom follow-up data have been obtained, 21 are reported cured (one of whom was not treated) and one patient died of another cause. This survey confirms that blastomycosis is a rare disease in this endemic area and that patterns of therapy are changing.


Enamines, silyl enol ethers, and beta-keto ester anions derived from bicyclo[3.3.0]octan-2-one efficiently underwent a formal [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction with DMAD and ethyl propynoate leading to a large variety of electrophilic cyclobutenes. The latter were transformed into polyfunctionalized bicyclo[5.3.0]decane (or hydroazulene) ring systems in high yields by fragmentation of the cyclobutene moiety. These two-carbon ring-enlargement reactions were utilized as a synthetic tool for the construction of a polyfunctionalized hydroazulene derivative that represents a potential precursor of the tricyclic framework of ingenol.


are attached to these pillars, and a weak battery (say one or two Daniell's) and two telephones are put in circuit.* Such an arrange. met, if carefully made and adjusted, is very sensitive; and, although the wings of imagination have carried some writers much too far as regards the possibilities of the instrument, still many of the results described may be obtained by anyone with little trouble. To hear the cardiac sounds, the best arrangement I have devised is the following. The microphone is fixed on the membrane of one of lIarey's tambours placed vertically, and connected by India-rubber tubing with the cardiograpl,, also of M. Marey.-' Thus the sounds ray be transmitted to a distant telephone. It is important to note, however, that their character is Alteed. They have a reseimblance to the cardiac sounds, but they are ,iifferlcit int'i/,';:. This effect may Ie: well observed by fixing the microphone to the key-board of a piano. The soundls heard in the distant telephone, when the piano is played gently, are sharp and tinkling, like the sounds produced by a musical box, and without the resonance of the ordinary sound of the instrument. Respiratory sounds can also be heard. When the cardiograph is placed over the larynx, a whisper is transnitted quite distinctly. So far as my experience goes at present, the combination of the microphone wiLh the telephone does not reveal to the ear of the auscultatr ;;cw sounds *with which he was previously unacquainted ; but it can effect the transmission of sound to a great distance. I can conceive it quite possible that even such feeble sounds as those produced by the heart and lungs might be transmitted for many miles and be correctly interpreted by an educated ear. There is a limit, however, even to the capabilities of the microphone. The intermediate piece of carbon must be free to move, and any vibration communicated through solids, liquids, or gases must have energy sufficient to move the carbon, or, at all events, to exert a strain upon it. If it be too weak to do either, then the telephone will make no response. In these days of rapid progress, when facts are observed which startle even our most learned physicists, it is unwise to predict or conjecture; but the success hitherto obtained by others is a stimulus to every one to be up and doing.


The problem of time has captivated the attention of philosophers, theologians and poets for centuries. In the following article the author addresses the issue of time using the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera as the lens through which to view humanity's experience of time and the variety of options available for making sense out of time. The central argument of the article is explore how nihilism as portrayed through the two central characters of Kundera's novel, Tomas and Tereza, provides a unique dilemma for making sense of one's life as a whole. In explicating this aporia the article reflects on the work of Augustine, Karl Barth and Oliver O'Donovan as well as taking a fresh look at the work of Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger. In addition, the poetry of T.S. Elliott is also examined as it too reflects a Christian attempt to make meaningful what otherwise appears as something destructive of meaning, namely, the cruel contingency of time itself. If time is a creation of God and is good then what are we to make of Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being ?


The task of maximizing a monotone submodular function under a cardinality constraint is at the core of many machine learning and data mining applications, including data summarization, sparse regression and coverage problems. We study this classic problem in the fully dynamic setting, where elements can be both inserted and removed. Our main result is a randomized algorithm that maintains an efficient data structure with a poly-logarithmic amortized update time and yields a $(1/2-\epsilon)$-approximate solution. We complement our theoretical analysis with an empirical study of the performance of our algorithm.


The enigma of successful treatment of mandibular second premolars with taurodontism has been explored for very long due to its rarity of occurrence. This case report aimed to enumerate the successful nonsurgical endodontic management of left mandibular second premolar #35 with three roots and taurodontism. A 34-year-old Saudi male patient with a noncontributory medical history was referred from the prosthodontic department for nonsurgical root canal treatment of tooth #35. Clinical examination revealed rotated clinical crown with caries related to tooth #35. Pulp sensibility cold test of the tooth showed no response, with the absence of pain on percussion and/or visible pocket depth. Radiographic examination showed long and deep pulp chamber and rotated and curved roots with broken apical lamina dura. The tooth was diagnosed with necrotic pulp and asymptomatic apical periodontitis. After making an access to the pulp chamber, two orifices were easily detected while the third one was found by the aid of surgical microscope. The canals were cleaned and shaped using ProTaper Gold file and then obturated with BioCeram Sealer and Gutta-Percha points, using hydraulic bonded obturation technique. Tooth immediately received the final crown. Clinical and radiographical examination after a 3-month follow-up revealed successful peri-apical healing with no symptoms. A literature search was organized to review the past publications about management of mandibular second premolar with taurodontism or anomalies in the root canal system. The search was focused on cases reported in Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The conclusion of the seven selected studies and reported cases revealed that proper visualization with advanced microscopes or computer imaging radiographs, negotiation of the root canals, and efficient instrumentation and obturation enhance endodontic success.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Substantial population and preclinical data have indicated that the insulin growth factor (IGF) pathway plays an important role in lung cancer. Although results from early clinical trials targeting the IGF1R showed some evidence of response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), larger randomized phase III trials have not shown clear clinical benefit in combination with conventional strategies. These disappointing results have focused attention on the insulin receptor isoform A (IR-A) as one intrinsic resistance factor to anti-IGF1R therapy due to its ability to mediate growth-promoting signaling through binding to IGF-II. However, the expression status of insulin-receptor isoforms in lung cancer and its subtypes is largely unknown. In order to address this issue, the mRNA expression levels of insulin-receptor isoforms were studied in 50 normal lung samples and 183 lung cancer samples from complementary DNA (cDNA) arrays. Additionally, 31 primary small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumor samples with paired adjacent normal tissues were also evaluated.

The mRNA expression levels of insulin receptor isoform B (IR-B) were significantly lower in NSCLC than normal lung samples (n=176, p < 0.001), including adenocarcinoma (n=85, p < 0.0001), squamous cell carcinoma (n=60, p < 0.0001) and large cell lung cancer samples (n=16, p < 0.0001). The mRNA expression levels of IR-B were also significantly lower in SCLC primary tumor samples (P=0.002).

The mRNA levels for IR-A were significantly higher in primary SCLC samples (p 0.05).

When comparing tumor to normal lung samples, the IR-A:IR-B mRNA expression ratios were significantly higher in primary SCLC samples (p <0.0001). The IR-A:IR-B mRNA expression ratios were also significantly higher in all NSCLC samples compared to normal lung, (p < 0.001) including adenocarcinoma (p < 0.0001), squamous cell carcinoma (p < 0.0001) and large-cell lung cancer (p < 0.0001).

Our results indicated that the reduction of the level of IR-B expression and an increase in the IR-A:IR-B expression ratio may highlight patients with active IR-A signaling, and may be more informative than identifying those with increased IR-A expression only. Additionally, these results suggested that an increased IR-A:IR-B expression ratio might be a useful biomarker in selecting patients that may have an intrinsic resistance to anti-IGF1R therapy in lung cancer.

Citation Format: Jiaqi Huang, Katie Streicher, Chris Morehouse, Kim Lehmann, Philip Brohawn, Wei Zhu, Meggan Czapiga, Theresa LaVallee, Karen Mitz, Laura Richman, Bahija Jallal, Yihong Yao. Differential expression of insulin receptor isoforms in human lung cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5268. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-5268


Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) suppresses human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication to undetectable levels but cannot fully eradicate the virus because a small reservoir of CD4+ T cells remains latently infected. Since HIV efficiently infects only activated CD4+ T cells and since latent HIV primarily resides in resting CD4+ T cells, it is generally assumed that latency is established when a productively infected cell recycles to a resting state, trapping the virus in a latent state. In this study, we use a dual reporter virus—HIV Duo-Fluo I, which identifies latently infected cells immediately after infection—to investigate how T cell activation affects the estab-lishment of HIV latency. We show that HIV latency can arise from the direct infection of both resting and activated CD4+ T cells. Importantly, returning productively infected cells to a resting state is not associated with a significant silencing of the integrated HIV. We further show that resting CD4+ T cells from human lymphoid tissue (tonsil, spleen) show increased latency after infection when compared to peripheral blood. Our findings raise significant questions regarding the most commonly accepted model for the establishment of latent HIV and suggest that infection of both resting and activated primary CD4+ T cells produce latency.


Abstract. In drylands, microbes that colonize rock surfaces have been linked to erosion
because water scarcity excludes traditional weathering mechanisms. We
studied the origin and role of rock biofilms in geomorphic processes of hard
lime and dolomitic rocks that feature comparable weathering morphologies,
although these two rock types originate from arid and hyperarid environments, respectively. We
hypothesized that weathering patterns are fashioned by salt erosion and
mediated by the rock biofilms that originate from the adjacent soil and
dust. We used a combination of microbial and geological techniques to
characterize rock morphologies and the origin and diversity of their
biofilms. Amplicon sequencing of the SSU rRNA gene suggested that bacterial
diversity is low and dominated by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. These
phyla only formed laminar biofilms on rock surfaces that were exposed to the
atmosphere and burrowed up to 6 mm beneath the surface, protected by
sedimentary deposits. Unexpectedly, the microbial composition of the
biofilms differed between the two rock types and was also distinct from the
communities identified in the adjacent soil and settled dust, showing a
habitat-specific filtering effect. Moreover, the rock bacterial communities
were shown to secrete extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) that form an
evaporation barrier, reducing water loss rates by 65 %–75 %. The reduced
water transport rates through the rock also limit salt transport and its
crystallization in surface pores, which is thought to be the main force for
weathering. Concomitantly, the biofilm layer stabilizes the rock surface via
coating and protects the weathered front. Our hypothesis contradicts common
models, which typically consider biofilms to be agents that promote weathering. In
contrast, we propose that the microbial colonization of mineral surfaces acts to
mitigate geomorphic processes in hot, arid environments.


BACKGROUND
Difficulty sleeping is a common symptom for patients living with cancer that significantly affects their lives. However, although sleep disorders are common, it is an overlooked problem in cancer care.

PURPOSE
This study assessed the prevalence of sleep disturbances among patients living with cancer, and assessed the adequacy of sleep assessment and intervention for patients from both nurses' and patients' perspectives.

METHOD
Descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational design was used in this study. A convenience sample of 129 patients with cancer and 113 registered nurses working with cancer patients was recruited. A structured face-to-face interview was used to complete the patients' questionnaires and a self-administered questionnaire was given to nurses.

FINDINGS
The majority of patients with cancer reported having poor sleep quality (69.8%). About 86.7% (n=98) of nurses reported that they have never screened patients with cancer for any sleep problems, and 76.7% (n=99) of the patients reported that they have never been assessed for sleep problems by the nursing staff during hospitalisation. Only 8% of patients with cancer who reported having problems sleeping to a nurse received interventions to promote better sleep.

CONCLUSION
Assessment of sleep disturbances in patients with cancer should be unified using a comprehensive reliable valid instrument, as well as providing evidence-based interventions according to patient's need. A written policy should be introduced to encourage sleep documentation and to make sleep care for patients part of routine nursing care.


Employee well-being has been a popular topic of discussion in societies that are well developed. It has been linked to better individual and organizational outcomes in various populations. This study intended to empirically test whether employee well-being does have an effect on employee's affective domain in work place, specifically, whether happier employees do feel much more affectively attached to the organization. In addition, this study tests the effects of two antecedent variables of workplace happiness, supervisor's leadership behavior and employee's work locus of control, in order to better understand how to create an organizational atmosphere conducive to employee happiness.
 White-collar office workers were the target population of this study. This study used a survey research approach to collect empirical data from one of the biggest real estate agencies in Taiwan. Survey questionnaires were sent to all 2664 real estate agents located in 295 agency branches in Taiwan, of which 283 (or 11%) agents responded,. The survey questionnaire contained the measures on leadership behaviors, work locus of control, workplace happiness and affective commitment. Hierarchical regression and path model analysis were used to test the relationship among variables in this study. The results are summarized as follows,
6. Supervisor's leadership behaviors, especially consideration leadership behaviors, have a positive effect on employee's workplace happiness and affective commitment to the organization.
7. Employee's workplace happiness has a positive effect on employee's affective commitment to the organization.
8. Workplace happiness strongly mediates the relationship between supervisor's leadership behaviors and employee's affective commitment to the organization.
9. Employee's work locus of control has a direct effect on employee's workplace happiness. Employees who rely on internal work locus of control tend to be happier than those who rely on external work locus of control.
10. The relationship between both types of leadership behaviors and workplace happiness is even stronger when the subject relies on internal work locus of control.


In the last half decade, fast methods of magnetic resonance imaging have led to the possibility, for the first time, of noninvasive dynamic brain imaging. This has led to an explosion of work in the Neurosciences. From a signal processing viewpoint the problems are those of nonlinear spatio-temporal system identification. Here, the authors develop new methods of identification using novel spatial regularization. They also develop a new model comparison technique and use that to compare their method with existing techniques on some experimental data.


Designing Healthy Communities points out that our car-focused and pedestrian-unfriendly community design has significantly worsened the obesity epidemic and has created a pandemic of health crisis and inequities. Many health impacts resulting from our built environment disproportionately affect vulnerable groups. Along with a 4-hour DVD set, the Designing Healthy Communities companion book was recently published by Jossey-Bass (a Wiley imprint) and copublished by the American Public Health Association to document how the built environment and where we live affect our health. Dr. Jackson provides visionary discussions of how we can design healthy communities to address and prevent many of our devastating health concerns. A number of case studies illustrated how community issues were identified and ways communities were transformed into healthful physical environments. This text provides refreshing perspectives and challenges policy makers, health professionals, and citizens to work together, take charge, and be the change agent for our own communities.


Industries utilize two-sided assembly lines for producing large-sized volume products such as cars and trucks. By employing robots, industries achieve a high level of automation in the assembly process. Robots help to replace human labor and execute tasks efficiently at each workstation in the assembly line. From the literature, it is concluded that not much work has been conducted on two two-sided robotic assembly line balancing problems. This article addresses the two-sided robotic assembly line balancing problem with the objective of minimizing the cycle time. A mixed-integer programming model of the proposed problem is developed which is solved by the CPLEX solver for small-sized problems. Due to the problems in non-polynomial--hard nature, a co-evolutionary particle swarm optimization algorithm is developed to solve it. The co-evolutionary particle swarm optimization utilizes local search on the global best individual to enhance intensification, modification of global best to emphasize exploration, and restart mechanism to escape from local optima. The performances of the proposed co-evolutionary particle swarm optimization are evaluated on the modified seven well-known two-sided assembly line balancing problems available in the literature. The proposed algorithm is compared with five other well-known metaheuristics, and computational and statistical results demonstrate that the proposed co-evolutionary particle swarm optimization outperforms most of the other metaheuristics for majority of the problems considered in the study.


- A number of people die every year for failure of their vital organs of the body. Though, the failed organs of the human body may be replaced with the healthy one, there is the scarcity of such parts of the body. However, the idea of xeno-transplantation is one of the most viable answers to organ scarcity. Thus, biomedical researchers are very keen to promote promising research experiments related to this field. The transplantation may be of human organ to human and animal organ to human. The later one is called of xeno-transplant which is mentioned in classical Islamic law treatises and other theologies. However, the better way of meeting the scarcity of human organs is generating human organs solely through cloning. Since, contemporary scholars of the Islamic law are also in favor of such innovation viewing its permissibility. It is suggested that initiating such procedure is only acceptable to attain the highly objectives of Shariah and ensuring the fundamental rights of the individuals as guaranteed in the constitutional system of the country.


A general procedure is established to calculate the quantum phase diagrams for matter-field Hamiltonian models, via the fidelity concept of quantum information theory. For the {\it generalized} Tavis-Cummings and Dicke models of $3$-level systems interacting dipolarly with $2$ modes of electromagnetic radiation, a quantum phase diagram is explicitly established for $N_a=1$ and $N_a=4$ particles. The quantum phase transitions are classified according to their continuous or discontinuous behavior across the separatrices of the system; a finite-effect characterization of the quantum phase transitions in terms of their continuity and stability is proposed.


Depending on the flow conditions, the liquid film in annular two-phase flow in coiled tubes may be pushed towards the outer or the inner side by the centrifugal force. It is important to understand the mechanism of this 'film inversion' in order to develop a predictive model for the film thickness distribution. In this paper, this phenomenon is studied analytically, and a new criterion, based on the secondary flow in the thin liquid film, is proposed to predict its occurrence. The criterion shows good agreement with available experimental data. It is suggested that the analytical model can readily be extended to predict the distribution of the film thickness and film flow rate in coiled tubes.


The Mesaverde formation of east-central Wyoming consists of sandstone, shale, and lignite beds. These units were deposited in near-shore, littoral, lagoonal, coastal swamp, and fluvial environments along the western margin of the Late Cretaceous interior sea. Eastward regression of the sea was interrupted by periods of stillstand and minor transgressions. The facies of the Mesaverde formation can be resolved in terms of regression, stillstand, and transgression. During eastward regression the environments of deposition also migrated eastward, maintaining their same positions relative to the shoreline. The normal succession of facies in a regressive sequence includes, in ascending order, the facies of the near-shore, littoral, coastal swamp, and fluvial environments. Stillstand occurred at times of maximum regression or transgression, and during pauses in regression or transgression. The shoreline and environments of deposition were essentially stationary during stillstand. Thickening of the facies of the near-shore, littoral, and coastal swamp environments is indicative of stillstand. Westward transgressions of the sea inundated former lowland areas. The absence of persistent near-shore and littoral deposits at the base of transgressive sequences in east-central Wyoming may reflect rapid transgression. The two major regressive sequences of the Mesaverde formation in east-central Wyoming are the Phayles Reef member (new name) of the Mesaverde formation in the Wind River Basin, and the Parkman sandstone member of the Mesaverde formation in the Powder River Basin. The Teapot sandstone member of the Mesaverde formation defies a simple regressive or transgressive interpretation. The Wallace Creek tongue (new name) of the Cody shale in the Wind River Basin, and the unnamed middle member of the Mesaverde formation in the Powder River Basin are transgressive marine tongues. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1094------------


1. The torsion of the axes of the first and second plumes of the buds of Cephalodiscus described by Masterman does not take place. The grooved faces of the axes of these plumes are in the first instance directed towards the dorsal face of the buccal shield, and they maintain this relation through life. 2. The last two pairs of plumes do not arise between the first two pairs of plumes and the buccal shield, as described by Masterman, but they arise on the dorsal side of those plumes, the side remote from the shield. Their grooves are directed, not towards the shield, but away from it. 3. The evidence derived from a study of the buds of Cephalodiscus bears out the contention of Harrner that the series of plumes and post-oral lamella are continuous. The plume-axes develop in pairs successively, the median pair first, then a pair lateral to these, and so on. When the post-oral lamella appears, usually at the time when the third or fourth pair of plume-axes are beginning to develop, its edge is in contact with the last-developed pair of plume-axes. The fifth plume-axis appears between the fourth plume-axis and the end of the margin of the post-oral lamella, the sixth between the fifth and the end of the post-oral lamella, and, in the case of Cephalodiscus nigrescens, in which there are seven pairs of plumes in the adult, the seventh arises between the sixth and the end of the margin of the postoral lamella. 4. The line of plume-bases in the adult, when viewed from the front, is an ellipse, incomplete on the upper side (text fig.8); and the line of the attached edge of the post-oral lamella is another ellipse, similarly incomplete. The two ellipses join where they are incomplete. 5. Separate accounts are given in this paper of the plume-development in buds of Oephalodiscus hodgsoni, C. dodecalophus, C.nigrescens, and C.gilchristi. 6. The plumes develop relatively later in buds of C.nigrescens and C.gilchristi than those of C.hodgsoni and C.dodecalophus.


Presented in this paper is a study for construction of a simulation system for the engagement of ground weapon systems. This paper proposes architecture for the simulation system based on agent simulation design methodology. Every entity of the proposed architecture is developed by assembling modularized agent components, and it enhances the reusability and composability of the entity. Consequently, time, costs, and efforts that are required to develop a new simulation system is able to be reduced by the enhancement. In the case of ground engagement simulation, it is very important to reflect environmental effects. Synthetic battlefield of the proposed architecture has environmental data of the battlefield and interacts with entities in the simulation system. The proposed architecture based simulation system can build swiftly various simulation models by the objectives and derive reasonable results from behaviors of entities that include environmental effects. This paper contains the construction of an example system based on the proposed architecture to verify the advantages of the architecture.


Various surgical approaches in the mandibular condyle fracture have been reported and many advantages of intraoral reduction were also introduced. But there are still controversies about surgical method of condylar fractures up to date. To establish the surgical approach protocol of condylar fracture, from May 2001 to December 2004, total 65 patients with 74 fractures of the mandibular condyle were reviewed during 2 years, retrospectively. All cases were classified according to the treatment considering factors, such as the level of fracture, degree and direction of displacement of fractured segment, patient's age and gender, surgical approach methods, and their complications. Especially, advantages and surgical limitations of extraoral surgical approach, such as direct reduction and fixation via submandibular approach, Nam's method, and endaural approach, were compared with those of intraoral surgical approach, such as direct intraoral reduction with transbuccal fixation or right angle driver system, and intraoral reinsertional approach after extraoral fixation of fractured fragment. The guidelines of surgical approach of condylar fracture based on our clilnical retrospective experiences and literature reviews can be suggested.


Plasmid expression vector using the temperature-regulated promoter P'R of bacteriophage lambda is described. The vector carries a combination of two regions of lambda cI857indgenome, that contain: 1) gene cI and promoter PR, and 2) gene Q and promoter P'R. Transcription or gene Q is initiated at promoter PR, which is controlled by cI857 repressor. The Q gene product acts as a positive regulator of RNA synthesis from P'R. At 37 degrees C, sufficient amounts of protein Q are synthesised to initiate the expression of the cloned gene from P'R. Inactivation of Q gene (by elimination of a single NcoI site) results in the loss of P'R expression activity in the vector. E. coli beta-galactosidase gene (lacZ) and human leukocyte interferon alpha 2 gene (ifn alpha 2) were cloned into a single EcoRI cleavage site under the control of P'R. These constructs express high levels of beta-galactosidase and interferon alpha 2 in E. coli at 37 degrees C.


In this paper we investigate the ability of some recently introduced discrete kinetic models of vehicular traffic to catch, in their large time behavior, typical features of theoretical fundamental diagrams. Specifically, we address the so-called ``spatially homogeneous problem'' and, in the representative case of an exploratory model, we study the qualitative properties of its solutions for a generic number of discrete microscopic states. This includes, in particular, asymptotic trends and equilibria, whence fundamental diagrams originate.


Microwave remote sensing of tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification (RI; ΔV 30 kt/24 h) reveals structural differences from storms of lesser intensification rates; with 85 GHz signatures depicting a moderately intense convective ring surrounding the storm center. Overpass composites binned by wind shear magnitude show the ring is consistent for low shear RI storms, forming approximately 6 h before RI begins, then contracting and intensifying over the following 24 h. High shear RI events make up a smaller portion of all cases, with little evidence of a convective ring. With the majority of RI cases occurring in low shear, microwave observations of convective axisymmetry prior to RI onset may hold promise for its forecast, with an observed lag between the structural and heating modification and resultant intensification. Given the potential for destruction to vulnerable coastal interests and the current poor predictability of RI, any increase in RI forecast skill would be of great benefit to society.


We give a construction and algorithmic description of the fusion ring of permutation extensions of an arbitrary modular tensor category using a combinatorial approach inspired by the physics of anyons and symmetry defects in bosonic topological phases of matter. The definition is illustrated with examples, namely bilayer symmetry defects and $S_3$-extensions of small modular tensor categories like the Ising and Fibonacci theories. An implementation of the fusion algorithm is provided in the form of a Mathematica package. We introduce the notions of confinement and deconfinement of anyons and defects, respectively, which develop the tools to generalize our approach to more general fusion rings of $G$-crossed extensions.