This report provides estimates of the total external costs of LGV and HGV operations in London.

In 2006, total LGV and HGV activity imposed external costs of approximately £1.75-£1.8 billion using low, medium and high emission cost values. About 27 per cent of these costs were internalised by duties and taxes paid by LGV operators, compared with 26% in the case of HGVs. If congestion costs are excluded, taxes and duties paid by LGV operators are estimated to be 155% of LGVs' allocated infrastructural and environmental costs, compared with 85% in the case of HGVs. When using the medium emission cost values, LGVs accounted for 56% of these external costs in London and HGVs for 44%.


Gas dispersion in non-Newtonian fluids is encountered in a broad range of chemical, biochemical, and food industries. Mechanically agitated vessels are commonly employed in these processes because they promote high degree of contact between the phases. However, mixing non-Newtonian fluids is a challenging task that requires comprehensive knowledge of the mixing flow to accurately design stirred vessels. Therefore, this review presents the developments accomplished by researchers in this field. The present work describes mixing and mass transfer variables, namely volumetric mass transfer coefficient, power consumption, gas holdup, bubble diameter, and cavern size. It presents empirical correlations for the mixing variables and discusses the effects of operating and design parameters on the mixing and mass transfer process. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates the advantages of employing computational fluid dynamics tools to shed light on the hydrodynamics of this complex flow. The literature review shows that knowledge gaps remain for gas dispersion in yield stress fluids and non-Newtonian fluids with viscoelastic effects. In addition, comprehensive studies accounting for the scale-up of these mixing processes still need to be accomplished. Hence, further investigation of the flow patterns under different process and design conditions are valuable to have an appropriate insight into this complex system.


An important means for disseminating information in social media platforms is by including URLs that point to external sources in user posts. In Twitter, we estimate that about 21% of the daily stream of English-language tweets contain URLs. We notice that NLP tools make little attempt at understanding the relationship between the content of the URL and the text surrounding it in a tweet. In this work, we study the structure of tweets with URLs relative to the content of the Web documents pointed to by the URLs. We identify several segments classes that may appear in a tweet with URLs, such as the title of a Web page and the user's original content. Our goals in this paper are: introduce, define, and analyze the segmentation problem of tweets with URLs, develop an effective algorithm to solve it, and show that our solution can benefit sentiment analysis on Twitter. We also show that the problem is an instance of the block edit distance problem, and thus an NP-hard problem.


We present a novel unsupervised framework for instance-level image-to-image translation. Although recent advances have been made by incorporating additional object annotations, existing methods often fail to handle images with multiple disparate objects. The main cause is that, during inference, they apply a global style to the whole image and do not consider the large style discrepancy between instance and background, or within instances. To address this problem, we propose a class-aware memory network that explicitly reasons about local style variations. A key-values memory structure, with a set of read/update operations, is introduced to record class-wise style variations and access them without requiring an object detector at the test time. The key stores a domain-agnostic content representation for allocating memory items, while the values encode domain-specific style representations. We also present a feature contrastive loss to boost the discriminative power of memory items. We show that by incorporating our memory, we can transfer class-aware and accurate style representations across domains. Experimental results demonstrate that our model outperforms recent instance-level methods and achieves state-of-the-art performance.


Acute obstructive hydrocephalus due to infratentorial extra-axial fluid collection (EAFC) is an extremely rare complication of foramen magnum decompression (FMD) and durotomy for Chiari malformation type I. Presence of infratentorial EAFC invariably causes obstruction at the level of the fourth ventricle or aqueduct of Silvius, thereby indicating its definitive role in hydrocephalus. Pathogenesis of EAFC is said to be a local arachnoid tear as a result of durotomy, as this complication is not described in FMD without durotomy. Controversy exists in management. Usually EAFC is said to resolve with conservative management; so hydrocephalus doesn't require treatment. However, in this case EAFC was progressive and ventriculo-peritoneal shunting (VPS) was needed for managing progressive and symptomatic hydrocephalus.


The goal of data mining in DNA Database is to check some possible combinations of DNA sequences and to generate a common sympathetic code or algorithm to formulate the sequence on mutations. Since the data mining is the best technique to analyze and extract the data, it is also helpful to formulate the common algorithm. Data mining in the area of study on human genetics, an important goal is to understand the mapping relationship between the inter-individual variation in human DNA sequences and variability in disease, mutation susceptibility. In lay terms, it is used to find out how the changes in an individual's DNA sequence affect the risk of developing common diseases and mutations with high level security. This investigation also helps in parental identification algorithms for DNA sequences, genome expressions. Data mining, data extraction techniques are used to understand the need for analyses of large, complex, information-rich data sets in DNA Sequences. Regulation of gene expression includes the processes that cells and viruses use to regulate the way that the information in genes is turned into gene products. An important challenge in use of large scale gene expression data for biological classification occurs when the expression dataset being analyzed involves multiple classes. To overcome this kind of problems data mining is used. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (IJCET) ISSN 0976 – 6367(Print) ISSN 0976 – 6375(Online) Volume 4, Issue 3, May-June (2013), pp. 176-181 © IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijcet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 6.1302 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com IJCET


Forecasts help businesses allocate resources and achieve objectives. At LinkedIn, product owners use forecasts to set business targets, track outlook, and monitor health. Engineers use forecasts to efficiently provision hardware. Developing a forecasting solution to meet these needs requires accurate and interpretable forecasts on diverse time series with sub-hourly to quarterly frequencies. We present Greykite, an open-source Python library for forecasting that has been deployed on over twenty use cases at LinkedIn. Its flagship algorithm, Silverkite, provides interpretable, fast, and highly flexible univariate forecasts that capture effects such as time-varying growth and seasonality, autocorrelation, holidays, and regressors. The library enables self-serve accuracy and trust by facilitating data exploration, model configuration, execution, and interpretation. Our benchmark results show excellent out-of-the-box speed and accuracy on datasets from a variety of domains. Over the past two years, Greykite forecasts have been trusted by Finance, Engineering, and Product teams for resource planning and allocation, target setting and progress tracking, anomaly detection and root cause analysis. We expect Greykite to be useful to forecast practitioners with similar applications who need accurate, interpretable forecasts that capture complex dynamics common to time series related to human activity.


Multiplication and Squaring functions are widely used in many real time applications. They form an integral part in implementation of many Digital Signal Processing, Digital Image Processing and Multimedia algorithms. The size and power consumption of a DSP chip is influenced by the multiplication and squaring architectures that are used. The aim of this paper is to propose a novel fixed width, 16 bit parallel array multiplier. The proposed approach is aimed at providing a degree of flexibility to designers when it comes to designing fixed width multipliers with reduced area and delay. The design being proposed was implemented in Verilog, and simulation were carried out in Xilinx version 13.2.


It is relevant to understand every aspect, regarding to strategies that will determine immunization coverage. Thus the main objective in this research is to identify the prevalence of depressive symptoms as well as low immunization uptake, identifying the caretakers' profile, considering his/her level of education, social-demographic character, marital status and also knowledge about immunization in which a Beck Inventory questionnaire was applied to the children's caretakers. Children's age ranged from 0 to 5 years and the number of subjects was 339 enrolled in a group of Family Health Strategy at the city of Cachoeirinha, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The depression symptoms prevalence was 38.6%. The association between depression symptoms and the low immunization uptake was not statistical significant (OR=1.0, CI 95%, 0.62-1.73). The low immunization uptake rate was 23.3%. The high prevalence of depressive symptoms between mothers and the high percentage of immunization delay means the need of social help and the search of better effectivity of primary attention in health.


We present an analytical, epidemiological, model for the overhead of information dissemination in mobile networks, which finds application in a range of settings, including resource discovery, information dissemination in sensor networks, location services and ad hoc network routing. We consider two principal information dissemination mechanisms, one for which nodes strictly relay information for other nodes, and the other for which they also take advantage of the information already being disseminated to insert their own data to share. The latter mechanism is denoted by path accumulation.

We will show that the overhead with path accumulation scales as n3/2 and without path accumulation as n5/4. With respect to the connection rate, both scale as √λ. We also identify the cut-off point for path accumulation as ξc = 1- √2/√n. Below that threshold, path accumulation should be preferred, while above, path accumulation does not provide substantial benefits. Our model proves extremely accurate against simulation data.


The huge data traffic demand is a challenge for the next generation of wireless network. Since the majority of data is public information, a novel wireless intelligent pushing mechanism is presented by pushing public information in the way of point to multipoint (P2M) in network idle time, using limited spectrum. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is employed to establish the performance evaluation model, with the aim to determine the optimal bandwidth allocation strategy. It was indicated that the system spectrum efficiency (SE) increased obviously when the information overlap rate reached a certain value. And the user experienced data rate in network busy period improved significantly with pushing bandwidth increased, while the data rate degrading in idle period. AHP model helped to achieve the balance between the system performance of idle time and that of busy time.


We investigate the properties of galaxies as they shut off star formation over the 4 billion years surrounding peak cosmic star formation. To do this, we categorize ∼7000 galaxies from 1 < z < 4 into 90 groups based on the shape of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and build composite SEDs with R ∼ 50 resolution. These composite SEDs show a variety of spectral shapes and also show trends in parameters such as color, mass, star formation rate, and emission-line equivalent width. Using emission-line equivalent widths and strength of the 4000 Å break, , we categorize the composite SEDs into five classes: extreme emission line, star-forming, transitioning, post-starburst, and quiescent galaxies. The transitioning population of galaxies shows modest Hα emission (EWREST ∼ 40 Å) compared to more typical star-forming composite SEDs at log10(M/M⊙) ∼ 10.5 (EWREST ∼ 80 Å). Together with their smaller sizes (3 kpc vs. 4 kpc) and higher Sérsic indices (2.7 vs. 1.5), this indicates that morphological changes initiate before the cessation of star formation. The transitional group shows a strong increase of over 1 dex in number density from z ∼ 3 to z ∼ 1, similar to the growth in the quiescent population, while post-starburst galaxies become rarer at z ≲ 1.5. We calculate average quenching timescales of 1.6 Gyr at z ∼ 1.5 and 0.9 Gyr at z ∼ 2.5 and conclude that a fast-quenching mechanism producing post-starbursts dominated the quenching of galaxies at early times, while a slower process has become more common since z ∼ 2.


A solid-phase conduction problem that is a modified version of one that has been treated previously in the literature and is applicable to flame spreading over a pyrolyzing fuel is solved using a boundary integral equation (BIE) method. Results are compared to surface temperature measurements that can be found in the literature. In addition, the heat conducted through the solid forward of the flame, the heat transfer responsible for sustaining the flame, is also computed in terms of the Peclet number based on a heated layer depth using the BIE method and approximate methods based on asymptotic expansions. Agreement between computed and experimental results is quite good as is agreement between the BIE and the approximate results.


Monero is a popular crypto-currency which focuses on privacy. The blockchain uses cryptographic techniques to obscure transaction values as well as a `ring confidential transaction' which seeks to hide a real transaction among a variable number of spoofed transactions. We have developed training sets of simulated blockchains of 10 and 50 agents, for which we have control over the ground truth and keys, in order to test these claims. We featurize Monero transactions by characterizing the local structure of the public-facing blockchains and use labels obtained from the simulations to perform machine learning. Machine Learning of our features on the simulated blockchain shows that the technique can be used to aide in identifying individuals and groups, although it did not successfully reveal the hidden transaction values. We apply the technique on the real Monero blockchain to identify ShapeShift transactions, a cryptocurrency exchange that has leaked information through their API providing labels for themselves and their users.


The mechanisms in the origin of lead and manganese poisoning (Pb-Mn) are multiple, and potentially touch all the body cells. For this purpose, we are interested in oxidative stress induced by Pb-Mn at the erythrocytic level at a dose of 0.2% (Pb) and 4.79 mg/ml (Mn) during the period of gestation and lactation in wistars rats and the ability of mint essential oil, Mentha spicata (MEO) to restore or not this state of stress. The extraction of MEO "HEM" via steam distillation allows us to obtain MEO with an output of 0.49%. Moreo-ver, the analysis of the anti-oxidativeerythrocytic status showed that the co-exposure to Pb-Mn significantly increases enzymes activity of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and significantly reduces the enzyme activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx), by causing a dysfunction in the anti-oxidative defense system. In contrast, the administration of MEO via intra-peritoneal (IP) during a period of 21 days in the previously Pb-Mn intoxicated rats, that MEO contributes significantly in the improvement of the defenses against radical aggression, through a recovery at the level of anti-oxidative enzymes activities by increasing their ability to eliminate radical compounds.


OBJECTIVES
Psychological distress is common among palliative care patients. Despite this, little is known about the availability of psychological services to support palliative care patients within Australia. This study aimed to determine the level of psychological support services available within Australian Palliative Care Services. The study was based on a similar study in Australia by Crawford in 1999, allowing differences over time to be examined.

METHODS
A 12-item online survey was distributed to adult Palliative Care Services throughout Australia from November 2021 to January 2022. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of responses was conducted, with comparisons made with the 1999 study using a 2-proportions z-test.

RESULTS
Social workers were the most available professionals delivering psychological care (prevalence of 94.1%), followed by spiritual care workers (62.5%), creative therapists (43.8%), counselors (36.4%), psychiatrists (31.3%), complementary therapists (28.1%), and psychologists (25.0%). Nearly 60% of services had no access to a psychiatrist or a psychologist. The proportion of Palliative Care Services that had access to a psychiatrist, psychologist, or counselor was significantly less in 2021/22 compared to 1999, with differences of 29.4% (p = 0.002), 23.4% (p = 0.015), and 26.1% (p = 0.006), respectively.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS
Lack of access to psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors in Australian Palliative Care Services remains a significant issue and has become more prevalent since 1999. Ongoing advocacy and increased government funding to enable psychological health professionals to be readily employed in Palliative Care Services is vital.


Abstract The packing chromatic number χρ(G) of a graph G is the smallest integer k such that its set of vertices V(G) can be partitioned into k disjoint subsets V1, . . . , Vk, in such a way that every two distinct vertices in Vi are at distance greater than i in G for every i, 1 ≤ i ≤ k. For a given integer p ≥ 1, the p-corona of a graph G is the graph obtained from G by adding p degree-one neighbors to every vertex of G. In this paper, we determine the packing chromatic number of p-coronae of paths and cycles for every p ≥ 1. Moreover, by considering digraphs and the (weak) directed distance between vertices, we get a natural extension of the notion of packing coloring to digraphs. We then determine the packing chromatic number of orientations of p-coronae of paths and cycles.


This paper presents an extension of a known analytical model for the performance evaluation of nonpriority deflection routing networks in uniform traffic. The extension allows the analysis of improved access techniques. The key features of the analytical technique are described by casting it in a very simple setting: nonpriority hot-potato in a two-connected slotted shufflenet (SN) network. Results are presented for three access techniques: transmit-no-hold (TXNH), transmit-hold (TXH), and bypass queuing (BQ).


The transverse momentum distributions of identified hadrons produced in Pb-Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are studied in the low and intermediate range for pT < 5 GeV/c. All four spectra (π,K, p,Λ) can be well reproduced in the recombination model based on a common thermal parton distribution of light and strange quarks and on shower partons emitted in hard and semihard jets. Two essential parameters are adjusted to fit the data, one being the inverse slope of the thermal distribution and the other revealing the degree of momentum degradation in the medium. Various combinations of thermal and shower parton components are calculated, showing the dominance of minijets. The effect of minijets is to produce harder baryons than mesons resulting in their ratio to peak at around pT ∼ 3 GeV/c. Substantial portion of the jet energy is found to be lost to the dense medium before the partons emerge at the surface to undergo hadronization by recombination.


Background: Phlebotomy is a complex process requiring knowledge and skill to perform safely. This study aimed at identifying deviations from best phlebotomy practices among laboratory workers involved in venous blood draws in Edo State, Nigeria.
 Methods: A total of 109 participants from public and private laboratories in Edo State, Nigeria were assessed as they performed venous draws on patients.
 Results: All participants identified patients by their full names only, and did not introduce themselves to patients before initiating venous draws. Only 9 (8.2%) participants obtained patients consent before venous draws. Glove use was significantly associated with participants [medical laboratory scientists: odd ratio (OR), 14.850; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.345, 65.916; P Conclusions: Marked deviations from best phlebotomy practices were observed among study participants. Phlebotomy training of laboratory workers in Edo State, Nigeria is advocated.


We argue that CEOs have different attitudes toward the firm's stakeholders and that these differences in attitudes affect the firm's decision making. We hypothesize that these differences stem from differences in political ideology: Liberal CEOs, as compared to their conservative counterparts, pay less attention to shareholders and this is reflected in dividend policy. To test the validity of our hypothesis, we measure CEO ideology by political donations. We study the CEOs of S&P 500 firms during 1997-2014 and find that firms with liberal CEOs are less likely to pay dividends and have significantly lower dividend payouts. In contrast, conservative CEOs pay more dividends, even if this requires redundancies.


Generalized herein is the authors' experience gained in surgical management of concomitant lesions of coronary and carotid arteries,followed by substantiating advantages of stagewise surgical treatment of patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD) combined with multifocal atherosclerotic lesions of other vascular basins. A total of 192 patients were operated on using various treatment options. Group One consisted of patients subjected to simultaneous operations (n=57), whereas Group Two comprised patients having undergone stagewise interventions (n=135). The mortality rate in the group of simultaneous procedures amounted to 7% (eight patients), with perioperative stroke being revealed in five (8.8%) patients, and perioperative myocardial infarction in three (5.3%) subjects. As for the group of stagewise operations, the lethality rate amounted to 2.2% (three patients), perioperative stroke was observed to have developed in four (2.9%) patients, and acute myocardial infarction in three (2.2%) subjects.


This study examined trends in tobacco use in a random sample of 2 of the 20 top-grossing US films each year from 1960 through 1990 (62 films). The overall rate of tobacco use did not change. Films continue to portray smokers as successful, attractive White males. Smoking groups became larger, smoking alone declined, hostility and stress reduction were increasingly associated with smoking, and smoking by minor characters increased. Although smoking among elite characters fell, it remained nearly three times as prevalent as in actual population data during the 3 decades. Events involving young people more than doubled. Films do not accurately represent smoking in the United States.


The polymerisation reactions associated with foam formation have distinct stages (i.e. nucleation, growth, packing, stiffening, solidification) some of which are known to be more sensitive to external inputs than others. Consequently, precise detection of the start and end points of each of the polymerisation stages would enable the fine control of material properties such as porosity in solid foams. The development of such process control can only be pursued if those sensitive stages can be clearly distinguished during the manufacture process. This paper reports how an electrical resistivity tracking method was used to assess the differences in the foaming processes when ultrasound was irradiated to polymeric melts undergoing foaming with the aim of tailoring the architecture of the final solid matrix. The electrical resistivity tracking method is also appraised with regard to its suitability to accurately identify the formation stages in the foam.


Abstract Purpose Children and adolescents with cerebral palsy often have impaired hand function. This makes it difficult for them to deal with everyday activities. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of children and adolescents with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy when it comes to learning and dealing with activities requiring bimanual use. Method Ten participants, attending mainstream schools, with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (10–18 years, MACS-level I-III) took part in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis with verbatim transcripts were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results The learning of bimanual activities was described as a process taking place in interaction with the dynamics of everyday situations. Five categories describing the participants experiences emerged: "Reaching a point where you want to learn", "Awareness and acceptance of your own abilities", "Dealing with the boundaries of the disability", "Dealing with the impact of people around you" and "Strategies for learning". A multi-dimensional theory was derived, summarising how the participants learned bimanual activities in daily life. Conclusions Children and adolescents with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy express that the process of learning bimanual activities can only take place when it fits in with life as it unfolds. Thus, they have to adapt to a changing context and their own developing skills. Implications for Rehabilitation This study support a person-centred perspective in the process of learning bimanual activities. Interventions need to be tailored to life situations and embedding in child's and adolescents everyday lives. The therapist must be compliant with the child's and adolescents desire for learning.


We establish local and global well-posedness
for the initial value problem associated to the generalized
Benjamin equation and generalizations of this in the energy space.
We also studied the limit process of solutions when the surface
tension is becoming small. To establish these results we make use
of sharp theory developed to the study of the generalized
Korteweg-de Vries equation.


This paper examines the role of dependence analysis in defining bindingtime analyses (BTAs) for imperative programs and in establishing that such BTAs are safe. In particular, we are concerned with characterizing safety conditions under which a program specializer that uses the results of a BTA is guaranteed to terminate. Our safety conditions are formalized via semantic characterizations of the statements in a program along two dimensions: static versus dynamic, and finite versus infinite. This permits us to give a semantic definition of "static-infinite computation", a concept that has not been previously formalized. To illustrate the concepts, we present three different BTAs for an imperative language; we show that two of them are safe in the absence of "static-infinite computations". In developing these notions, we make use of program representation graphs, which are a program representation similar to the dependence graphs used in parallelizing and vectorizing compilers. In operational terms, our BTAs are related to the operation of program slicing, which can be implemented using such graphs.


In this study, the effects of vacuum steaming process parameters (temperature and duration) on tenacity properties of 100 % cotton and 100 % viscose yarns were studied. For this purpose, the yarns with different twisting coefficients and numbers were twisted and exposed to vacuum steaming at different temperatures and for durations appropriate to their raw material properties. Tenacity properties of the yarns were measured before and after vacuum steaming. The results obtained were assessed by means of SPSS statistical analysis program. Variation analysis and SNK test were carried out at 5% (0.05) level of significance. As a result of this study, it can be inferred that vacuum steaming temperature has significant effect on tenacity properties of 100 % cotton and 100 % viscose yarns but vacuum steaming duration has been found to be statistically insignificant on tenacity properties of cotton yarns, and viscose yarns.


.Ab&& This paper presents a new approach for concrete plant operations optimizstion by combining a ready mixed concrete (RMC) production simulation tool (called HKCONSIM) with a genetic algorithm (CA) based optimization procedure. A revamped HKCONSIM computer system can be used to automate the simulation model construction, conduct simulation experiments on certain scenarios of site orders and resource provisions, and optimize the system perfonnanw measums under a stochastic simulation environment. HKCONSIM is suitable for assisting a RMC plant in its resoume provision planning and concrete production scheduling in order to meet given demands at a number of sites for concrete over a working day, determine the least costly, most productive amount of truckmixer resources to improve the supply service level and the utilization level of the truckmixer resources available. To simulate and optimize the RMC production operations with HKCONSIM does not require familiarity by the user with any software-specific terminology and modeling scbematics; simulation model construction can be easily acbieved by specifying the attributes for each pour and site and providing the plant and truck-mixer resou~p available on self-explanatory on-screen forms. This paper also presents two case studies for optimiaOg concrete plant daily operations based on Hong Kong's real operations data. Conclusions are given on the research and recommendations for future work made.


The Norwegian pronoun det 'it, that' is basically third person neuter singular. Under certain conditions, it can have antecedents that are not neuter singular (for example, Marit kjøpte en kylling—Detkjøpte John også 'Marit bought a chicken.masc—John bought one too'). Used this way, the pronoun does not refer to the same object as its antecedent; Borthen 2003 refers to it as a "type anaphor." This article argues that type anaphora are not a unitary phenomenon. There are two groups with very different properties. One group realizes what was called surface anaphora in Hankamer & Sag 1976. The other group has a generic or eventive interpretation.*


Osteochondritis dessicans of the femoral head is an uncommon problem. Limited literature reports the incidence of osteochondritis dessicans and its treatment. The surgical technique used and outcomes for a 40-year-old man with symptomatic femoral head osteochonditis dissecans who was treated 11 years previously with retrograde drilling and hip arthroscopy are discussed.Despite temporary symptomatic improvement without subchondral collapse after his index procedure, increasing pain a decade later was thought to be caused by a large apical osteochondritic fragment and chondrolabral dysfunction from femoroacetabular impingement. Acetabuloplasty of acetabular overcoverage permitted arthroscopic internal fixation of the bone fragment by improving screw trajectory. Labral refixation and femoroplasty were subsequently performed. At 18-month follow-up, his nonarthritic hip score improved from 53 to 76 and his osteochondritic lesion had healed radiographically.Although clinical improvement with radiographic union has been reported following open screw fixation of femoral head osteochondritis dissecans, to the authors' knowledge this is the first published case with a similar outcome using arthroscopic techniques. Clinical improvement and union of even long-standing osteochondritis dissecans of the femoral head may occur with arthroscopic fragment fixation. Hip arthroscopy may play significant therapeutic and diagnostic roles in the treatment of this condition while offering a less invasive alternative to open osteosynthesis.


A new rationale is presented for various decomposition products obtained from the metastable 13-phase found in T i -6AI-4V alloy produced by hot isostatic pressing comminuted melt-spun fibres and cooled to room temperature by furnace cooling. This alloy has an cz-matrix with about 8 vol % retained 13-phase, which is supersaturated with 13-stabilizers to such an extent that the martensitic transformation has been suppressed. The metastable 13-phase decomposes by different modes during continuous cooling, depending on the actual composition of individual 13-grains. Less enrichment of vanadium and iron favours the direct formation of the equilibrium 0~-phase from the 13-matrix, while greater enrichment of vanadium and iron leads to a spinodal decomposition of the metastable 13-phase, resulting in a [3 + 13' two-phase structure. During further continuous cooling, the J3'-phase which is lean in 13-stabilizers will transform into isothermal c0-phase. In addition, an unknown phase has also been observed in the 13-phase, which is typified by the appearance of 1/2{1 1 2}1 ~ reflections in the SAD patterns.


In wide titanium strip cold rolling process, the high-order flatness defect is one of the most difficult problem to be solved. Based on finite element method, considering the anisotropic mechanical characteristics of titanium, an implicit integration calculation model of rolls-strip for 20-high mill was developed, which can simulate the dynamic rolling process. The model was used to analyze the adjustment characteristics of high-order flatness on the 20-high mill. The simulation revealed as the increasing of the 1# & 7# AS-U or 2# & 6# AS-U press adjustment, the high-order flatness defect was more aggravated; And as the increasing of 3# & 5# AS-U or 4# AS-U press adjustment, the high-order flatness defect was alleviated to some extent. In addition, the high-order flatness cannot be effectively adjusted by roll shifting. Finally, the industrial test showed that increasing 4# AS-U press adjustment can effectively relieve the high-order flatness defect.


This study examines the discursive strategies of contemporary transnational feminist and women's activists in their efforts to manage intramovement diversity. While ideological, strategic, and identity differences within movements are often studied at the local level, I advance this scholarship by undertaking an investigation of intramovement difference that makes central the concerns of a highly diverse, globalized social movement. Drawing on evidence collected through participant observation at three major transnational activist conferences, I use a narrative approach to document key facets of intramovement difference in the contemporary context, and show how activists are employing collective action frames as tools in their efforts to mitigate differences and build solidarities. I find that rights-based frames, oppositional frames, and internally focused frames are all utilized by activists to foster a sense of shared struggle. Such frames encompass a wide range of ideas and are not confined to particular issues or locales. Additionally, they are often deployed in conjunction with acknowledgements of intramovement differences and/or references to diversity as an explicit movement strength. Introduction and background In recent years, framing activity in contentious politics has attracted increasing attention and enthusiasm from researchers of social movements (Benford and Snow 2000; Croteau and Hicks 2003; Johnston and Noakes 2005; Snow 2004). The important role of collective action frames in movement emergence, development, and outcomes is now well documented and widely recognized in the field (Benford and Snow 2000; Cress and Snow 2000; Gamson 1992; McCammon et al. 2007; Zuo and Benford 1995).2 Another more recent trend in movement 1 The author is grateful to Holly McCammon and Brooke Ackerly for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper, and to two anonymous reviewers for their very insightful feedback. 2 Framing refers to the meaning, or "signifying," work in which movement actors engage. Snow and Benford (1988) write that "they frame, or assign meaning to and interpret relevant events and conditions in ways that are intended to mobilize potential adherents and constituents, to garner bystander support, and to demobilize antagonists" (198). Interface: a journal for and about social movements Article Volume 3 (2): 65 99 (November 2011) Hewitt, Framing across differences 66 scholarship is the explosion of interest in the dynamics of transnational social movements (della Porta et al. 2006; Juris 2008; Khagram, Riker and Sikkink 2002; Moghadam 2009; Smith 2002, 2008; Tarrow 2005). Researchers have utilized existing theoretical tools and worked to develop new ones to deepen our understanding of social movements that cross boundaries of nation, culture, religion, race, and class. This paper examines the convergence of these two vital topics through a study of framing dynamics within the contemporary transnational women's movement. While ideological, strategic, and identity differences within movements are most often studied at the local level (Levitsky 2007; Reger 2002; White 1999), I advance this scholarship by undertaking an investigation of intramovement difference that makes central the concerns of a highly diverse, globalized social movement. I consider how activists confront intramovement differences in their interactions with one another in transnational spaces and, further, how they employ collective action frames in the process. Such lines of investigation have important implications for solidarity in transnational movements and also for feminist theory and action. As feminists and women's activists across the globe have engaged in diverse forms of collective protest, they have also necessarily confronted the same rocky terrain of intersectionalities and multiple identities with which feminist theorists have grappled (Mendoza 2002; Mohanty 2003; Moya 2001; Narayan 1997; Santiago 2004; Spivak 1999). Such differences continually threaten to splinter women's movements, yet many activists remain committed to finding paths to solidarity. Movement actors have repeatedly disrupted significant boundaries and negotiated cultural, racial, national, religious, sexual, and material differences, ultimately achieving what Manisha Desai (2005) has called "solidarities of difference." The development of strategic discourses, or frames, that connect seemingly disparate issues, such as violence against women, economic development, sexual identity, and militarism has been a vital piece of this process, but to date we have little systematic evidence demonstrating how discursive practices are implicated. Reitan's (2007) examination of global activism illustrates the continued and often overlooked importance of identity solidarity in transnational social movements. Reitan criticizes scholars who have lauded reciprocal solidarity – relationships of mutual support – at the expense of what she views as the still crucial role of shared identity categories in motivating and sustaining mass-based movement action, particularly in the context of neoliberal globalization. She writes: Complex transnational movements today are comprised of identity, reciprocal, and altruistic solidarities alike, in different mixes towardsdifferent outcomes. But, perhaps more importantly, the identity solidarity that forms the foundation of contemporary, mass transnational networks is decidedly not reducible to "worker,"... It is based upon concrete identities – debtor, peasant, indigenous, youth, woman, and, indeed, worker – that have been activated as political due to their being Interface: a journal for and about social movements Article Volume 3 (2): 65 99 (November 2011) Hewitt, Framing across differences 67 threatened in some concrete way by neoliberal globalization touching down in a specific place (55-56). Taking seriously the insights offered by Reitan and Desai requires us to consider how the identity of "woman" can be activated, shared, and sustained in the face of external threats, even while resisting the homogenization that many feminist scholars and activists fear. An analysis of the discursive practices of women's movement actors promises to shed light on this issue. My analysis, then, centers on the following question: How, in the face of tremendous intramovement differences, are transnational women's movements using collective action frames as discursive tools in their efforts to manage contestation and build consensus? My endeavor is to highlight the role of frames in constructing relations of solidarity that begin with the threatened identity of "woman," but that simultaneously take into account the multiplicities inherent in that identity.3 I argue here that contemporary women's movement actors continue to make concerted efforts to work with one another despite their differences, and that they utilize particular kinds of frames as tools in this process. This paper first documents the types of frames commonly deployed to transcend the differences that sometimes threaten transnational collaboration among feminist and women's organizations, and then identifies shared characteristics of those frames. To develop my arguments, I draw on evidence gathered through participantobservation during three major transnational conferences: the 2004 World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India, the 2007 Feminist Dialogues (FD) meetings in Nairobi, Kenya, and the 2007 World Social Forum, also in Nairobi. For several reasons, these transnational spaces of activists provide especially appropriate empirical material through which to examine the topic at hand. First, an analysis based on participant-observation of face-to-face political activism makes visible important patterns, ideas, and dynamics that cannot be captured through less engaged methods of investigation. Second, there is a tremendous amount of diversity and difference present in such venues; movement actors and organizations converge from many parts of the world and have a variety of strategies, identities, priorities, and goals. Finally, in part because of this diversity, movement organizations use these spaces to build connections with other organizations focused on global justice issues; they seek to identify and emphasize 3 Frame analysis is not the only viable approach to understanding relations of solidarity among activists. Some aspects of consensus-building are difficult to capture through the lens of frame theory, but I strive to honor the complexities of activist claims as much as possible through a feminist participatory methodology and maintain that the concept of framing is very useful for understanding how ideas are discursively packaged. I view this effort as one important, yet situated, contribution to the larger intellectual and political project of feminism. Interface: a journal for and about social movements Article Volume 3 (2): 65 99 (November 2011) Hewitt, Framing across differences 68 commonalities among groups and, in so doing, rely on discourses that promote such commonality. As Desai (2007) has pointed out, educated, privileged feminist activists are overrepresented in these transnational spaces; however, we must also recognize the ways that such spaces provide a venue for actors to make their voices heard when they have been marginalized within national-level activism.4 Some of the participants who come to WSF and FD are well-networked women who frequently participate in transnational conferences, while other participants come from local, grassroots organizations that have managed to find funding in spite of having been marginalized by or shut out of their national-level movements. This work will illustrate both the obstacles confronting movement actors as they attempt to build alliances, and also the discursive strategies they have developed and used to deal with such challenges. I begin with a brief discussion of the kinds of issues that threaten


The seventh chapter melds findings from throughout the study with over-arching auto-ethnographic insights. It dissects and contextualizes in terms of the issues and theoretical framework of the study collected genealogical information and mementos such as family photographs. The author attempts to envision and narrate a cultural moment in her grandmother's immigrant family and the lives and identity-intersected experiences of her four Italian great-grandmothers according to general and, to the extent possible, particular knowledge, pivoting between details known and unknown. The chapter presents its resolutions concerning digital/social/convergent media and suggests amendments to existing theory. It examines the volume's relatively unexplored issues such as LGBT identities and intersections, adoption and other forms of family building that might be racially transgressive, and wrong turns and unexpected or sensitive revelations. It also contemplates and recommends study of genealogy media and culture in international contexts.


Purpose: To evaluate the ability of commercially available devices to perform IMRT QA measurements for plans involving small volume targets as in the case of single spine vertebra radiotherapy Methods: Seven (n=7) patient with metastatic spine lesions were treated using RapidArc plans. The plans were optimized so that a single arc was to deliver the dose of 4.0Gy per fraction for 5 fractions to the vertebral body while limiting the dose to the spinal cord. For each approved plan four (n=4) verification plans were developed corresponding to four different IMRT QA detectors (EBT2 film, IBA MatrixX, PTW Seven29, and Scandidos Delta4) employed for the evaluation of the patient IMRT QA. Each QA was evaluated for its agreement against the verification plan using the gamma index, profiles and planar isodose distribution agreement. Results: The Scandidos Delta4 device had the best agreement. The PTW Seven29 detector array had similar response to film measurements. The response of the PTW Seven29 array improved when the multiple, off centered measurements were averaged. The IBA MatriXX device had inferior response compared to the other detector arrays and had the lowest gamma passing ratesConclusion: The choice of the IMRT QA device has an important role in the results of the patient specific quality assurance of the delivered dose to the patient in the case of small targets as in the treatment of spinal targets.


After the opening of a ports in Korea, commodity circulation had been making rapid progress. Busan port was one of the place where imports and exports were received and distributed, and also merchant settlers who had business relations with these commodities were moving to several parts of Korea. These merchant settlers, spreader of capitalistic economy, are emblematic of open ports space. When port Incheon had been opened, Busan merchants moved to Incheon and then when port Gunsan had been opened, merchants from Busan and Incheon moved to Gunsan as well. At first, Merchant settlers in open ports tried to apply established commercial rules. However they had to be establishing new commercial orders gradually over the years. In open ports as spreading centers of imperialism powers, it is a first step for a formation of locality in the open ports city to gather and make network for merchant settlers and to work as a subject of open port space Also intermediaries such as Gaek-ju(客主) and Kogan(居間) needed to learn about foreign languages and cultures because of trade with foreign nations. Therefore they could not help taking up a positive attitude to receive. Finally, some of them devoted or adapted themselves to foreign enlightenments or phenomena. This forced openness behind the positive reception was the other part of the original form of locality in open ports cities.


Background and Objective Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) represents a significant achievement in the translation of scientific research to clinical application, but it is currently the only neuroprotective treatment for HIE. This review aims to revisit the use of TH for HIE and its longitudinal impact on patient outcomes to readers new to the field of HIE. We discuss how emerging therapies address the broader pathophysiology of injury progression in the neonatal brain days to years after HIE. Methods We included full articles and book chapters published in English on PubMed with references to "hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy", "birth asphyxia", "therapeutic hypothermia", or "neonatal encephalopathy". We limited our review to outcomes on term infants and to new therapeutics that are in the second phase of clinical trials. Key Content and Findings Despite the use of TH for HIE, mortality remains high. Analysis of longitudinal studies reveals a high incidence of ongoing disability even with the implementation of TH. New therapeutics addressing the secondary phase and the less understood tertiary phase of brain injury are in clinical trials as adjunctive treatments to TH to support additional neurological repair and regeneration. Conclusions TH successfully improves outcomes after HIE, and it continues to be optimized. Larger studies are needed to understand its use in mild cases of HIE and if certain factors, such as sex, affect long term outcomes. TH primarily acts in the initial phases of injury, while new pharmaceutical therapies target additional injury pathways into the tertiary phases of injury. This may allow for more effective approaches to treatment and improvement of long-term functional outcomes after HIE.


This study carries out a parametrical analysis of the seismic response to asynchronous earthquake ground motion of a long multispan rc bridge, the Fener bridge, located on a high seismicity area in the north-east of Italy. A parametrical analysis has been performed investigating the influence of the seismic input correlation level on the structural response: a series of nonlinear time history analyses have been executed, in which the variation of the frequency content in the accelerograms at the pier bases has been described by considering the power spectral density function (PSD) and the coherency function (CF). In order to include the effects due to the main nonlinear behaviours of the bridge components, a 3D finite element model has been developed, in which the pounding of decks at cap-beams, the friction of beams at bearings, and the hysteretic behaviour of piers have been accounted for. The sensitivity analysis has shown that the asynchronism of ground motion greatly influences pounding forces and deck-pier differential displacements, and these effects have to be accurately taken into account for the design and the vulnerability assessment of long multispan simply supported bridges.


The 4D real-time control systems architecture (4D/RCS) defines a hierarchical decomposition for intelligent systems, with corresponding command and control pathways. In order to design the vehicle's behavior generation functions, we developed a set of task commands, goals, and actions that are organized hierarchically to form the basic vocabulary for planning and control of the vehicle. This paper documents the basic tasks and vocabulary for a scout platoon implemented according to 4D/RCS.


Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) is overexpressed in a variety of solid epithelial cancers, where it has been shown to promote migration, invasion, proliferation, survival and angiogenesis. On the contrary, in the majority of thyroid tumors, it is downregulated, yet its role in the development of thyroid cancer remains unknown. Here we show that TFF3 exhibits strong cytoplasmic staining of normal thyroid follicular cells and colloid and the staining is increased in hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules, while it is decreased in all thyroid cancers of follicular cell origin. By meta-analysis of gene expression datasets, we found that in the thyroid cancer, conversely to the breast cancer, the expression of TFF3 mRNA was downregulated by estrogen signaling and confirmed this by treating thyroid cancer cells with estradiol. Forced expression of TFF3 in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells resulted in decreased cell proliferation, clonal spheroid formation and entry into the S phase. Furthermore, it induced acquisition of epithelial-like cell morphology and expression of the differentiation markers of thyroid follicular cells and transcription factors implicated in the thyroid morphogenesis and function. Taken together, this study provides the first evidence that TFF3 may act as a tumor suppressor or an oncogene depending on the cellular context.


Under the rules for the naming of fungi with pleomorphic life-cycles adopted in July 2011, the nomenclaturally correct name for the fungus causing the current ash dieback in Europe is determined to be Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, with the basionym Chalara fraxinea, and Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus as a taxonomic synonym of H. fraxineus.


Background. The aim of the research was to disclose the process of moral reasoning in bodybuilding: to reveal the features of bodybuilding sport (athletes' goals, benefits of the sport and its costs), to find out the circumstances which can affect athletes' moral decisions, to evaluate bodybuilding athletes' moral reasoning strategies, and to reveal athletes' most important moral decisions.Methods. The study employed qualitative research which involved eight bodybuilding athletes. The respondents were selected using the theoretical purposeful convenience sampling strategy. A semi-structured interview method was used to collect information.Results. Athletes' goals in bodybuilding can be sports related (getting to know the sport, athletic achievements) or personal (moral and psychological toughness, personal improvement, self-realization, material benefits).  Bodybuilders benefit from the sport in physical (health and appearance improvement) and social (gained experience, self-realization) ways. The price of this sport is athletes' hard work, large amounts of money, sacrificed personal life and deterioration of psychological and physical health. Moral reasoning can be influenced by positive circumstances (bodybuilding philosophy, internal beliefs, fighting against cheating, team spirit) and negative (ingrained misdemeanours in sport, corruption, flawed rating system, possibility to avoid responsibility, big price of winning, psychological pressure, inadequate goals). Athletes most often use rational moral reasoning strategies (regarding their beliefs, solution seeking, situational decisions, self-mobilization, setting options, relying on experience). Athletes more often make positive moral decisions (changing the trainer, following the rules, resisting pressure, moral behaviour) than negative (adapting to the situation, acting like the others, winning at any cost).Conclusions. Bodybuilders most often aim for personal goals. Bodybuilding provides its athletes with physical and social benefits. The price of this sport is bodybuilders' hard work, large sums of money, sacrifice of personal life and health. Certain circumstances might influence athletes to make positive moral decisions while others might influence negative decisions. Bodybuilding athletes use two different moral reasoning strategies: rational or irrational. Bodybuilders' more often make positive moral decisions, but negative decisions occur as well. Keywords: morality, moral reasoning, bodybuilding.


This article focuses on transmasculine mixed-race Asian American filmmaker Christopher Lee's documentaries and pornography of the 1990s. At a moment before today's reduction of transgender experiences to spectacles of transitional assimilation, bio-social disorder, and death by dominant—or even authoritarian—white cis-heteropatriarchal culture, Lee's films gave expression to the gender subversions of trans people of colour and their co-conspirators. In solidarity with Lee's work, I produce critical creative language about racial transgender social identities. At a current moment offering more abundant critical resources and intersectional transgender movement-building, I also seek to re-harness Lee's transmasculine imagery towards the trans of colour feminist work of transforming the white Western cis-binary gender/sex system and its perceptual structures. I view the communities represented in Lee's filmmaking as confronting the contradictions of a post-Civil Rights neoliberal multiculturalism that promises minimal access while institutionalizing white cis-binary formations of gender/sex fundamental to the US nation-state.


Direct-acting antiviral agents for hepatitis C treatment are not expected to have the neuropsychiatric adverse effects as sociated with interferon-based therapies. We present the first case of visual hallucinations during chronic hepatitis C treatment with sofosbuvir and simeprevir. Hallucinations ceased upon starting antipsychotic medication, and continuation of treatment was safe.


Lanthanide-doped Ba2LaF7 nanocrystals were successfully synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method. The phase, size and shape of the lanthanide-doped Ba2LaF7 nanocrystals were systematically investigated by controlling the fluorine source, additive, lanthanide doping, synthesis method and temperature. Regular hexagonal Ba2LaF7 nanocrystals with a side length of 60 nm were obtained by using NaBF4 as the fluorine source. A variety of lanthanide ions (Ho3+, Er3+, Tm3+, Dy3+, Eu3+, Tb3+, Ce3+, and Sm3+) was successfully doped into the Ba2LaF7 host, which showed abundant luminescent colors due to the intrinsic emission of the lanthanide ions. Because of the emission spectrum of Tb3+ (5D4 → 7Fj) having obvious overlap with the Eu3+ excitation spectrum (7F0,1 → 5D0,1,2), the excited state energy of Tb3+ can be transferred to Eu3+. Under ultraviolet excitation, the energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ in the Ba2LaF7 matrix occurs mainly via the dipole–quadrupole mechanism. The regulation of luminescent color was achieved from green to warm yellow to yellow orange and finally to red by changing the doping concentration of Eu3+ ions from 0.1% to 7%, respectively. The obtained Ba2LaF7:Ln3+ nanocrystals have potential application in multicolor lighting and displays.


We present a new GPU pipeline for rendering per-pixel exact shadows that are cast by point lights and parallel lights. Our approach is hybrid in that it uses kD-tree accelerated ray-tracing to determine shadow-ray intersections, and rasterization to effectively reduce both the number of shadow rays to be traversed and the number of sub-spaces to be considered along each of these rays. To achieve this we introduce conservative shadow maps, which store a conservative estimate of the first intersection with the scene for each possible shadow ray. A novel approach to build such a map is presented, which uses rasterization to compute for every shadow-map pixel the triangles intersecting this pixel. By exploiting the rasterization capacities of recent GPUs in combination with accurate ray-triangle intersection tests, we are able to efficiently compute alias-free shadows in high-resolution and spatially extended scenes where classical shadow mapping techniques have severe difficulties.


Abstract: This qualitative study aims at conceptualizing research impact generally by studying the specific case of research impact in the field of education. An analysis process akin to grounded theory was applied to the analysis of sections of reports provided by educational researchers. Literature on the subject of research impact was used to substantiate and complete the portrait of educational research impact that emerged from the data. The resulting conceptual framework proposes five interdependent stages, each one characteristic of certain categories of research impact that are typically interrelated in time and in terms of researcher control. It is hoped that this conceptual framework will help program evaluators and researchers tackle the larger task of uncovering and arguing the meaningfulness of alternative ways of measuring the impacts of research in the social sciences and humanities.


System engineering advocates a thorough under-standing of the engineering domain or certification standards (aeronautics, railway, medical, etc.) associated to the system under design. In this context, engineering domain knowledge plays a predominant role in system design and/or certification. Furthermore, it is a prerequisite to achieve the effectiveness and performance of the designed system. This article proposes a formal method for describing and setting up domain-specific behavioural analyses. It defines a formal verification technique for dynamic properties entailed by engineering domain knowledge where Event-B formal models are annotated and analysed in a non-intrusive way, i.e. without destructive alteration. This method is based on the formalisation of behavioural properties analyses relying on domain knowledge as an ontology on the one hand and a meta-theory for Event-B on the other hand. The proposed method is illustrated using a critical interactive system.


In this study we evaluated mitochondrial function after liver cold storage and normothermic reperfusion. The preservation solutions were: modified University of Wisconsin (mod UW) and sucrose-based solution (SBS). After cold preservation liver was re-perfused for 1 hour in vitro with Krebs-Ringer buffer at 37 degree C. Samples of tissue were taken for ATP determination. Mitochondrial respiratory parameters, succinate oxidase complex activity, mitochondrial H+- ATPase and intramitochondrial potassium concentration were assayed. It was shown, that brief (1 hour) cold storage and subsequent normothermic reperfusion revealed no difference in liver ATP content between mod UW and SBS groups but resulted in a gradual decrease of 50 percent after 24-hour storage and reperfusion. Mitochondrial potassium ion concentration increased by 40 percent after 1-hour cold storage in the mod UW as compared to control (P value less than 0.05) and SBS. After brief cold storage ADP and uncoupler-stimulated respiration increased by 120 percent in SBS group, unlike mod UW, when succinate was used as substrate, and was more pronounced after 24 hour. Succinate oxidase complex activity did not change over either cold storage or warm reperfusion. Mitochondrial H+-ATPase activities in SBS and mod UW did not differ and both were inhibited after 24-hour cold storage. Our data demonstrate that low ionic strength preservation solution can substantially modulate mitochondrial energy turnover due to substrate oxidation increase. Many of the changes in mitochondrial function follow brief exposure to low temperatures.


Rhizobia have two major life styles, one as free-living bacteria in the soil, and the other as bacteroids within the root/stem nodules of host legumes where they convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. In the soil, rhizobia have to cope with changing and sometimes stressful environmental conditions, such as nitrogen limitation. In the beta-rhizobial strain Paraburkholderia phymatum STM815, the alternative sigma factor σ54 (or RpoN) has recently been shown to control nitrogenase activity during symbiosis with Phaseolus vulgaris. In this study, we determined P. phymatum's σ54 regulon under nitrogen-limited free-living conditions. Among the genes significantly downregulated in the absence of σ54, we found a C4-dicarboxylate carrier protein (Bphy_0225), a flagellar biosynthesis cluster (Bphy_2926-64), and one of the two type VI secretion systems (T6SS-b) present in the P. phymatum STM815 genome (Bphy_5978-97). A defined σ54 mutant was unable to grow on C4 dicarboxylates as sole carbon source and was less motile compared to the wild-type strain. Both defects could be complemented by introducing rpoNin trans. Using promoter reporter gene fusions, we also confirmed that the expression of the T6SS-b cluster is regulated by σ54. Accordingly, we show that σ54 affects in vitro competitiveness of P. phymatum STM815 against Paraburkholderia diazotrophica.


Synopsis For an ordinary differential operation Lλ of order 2N which depends differentiably on a parameter λ, we study the differentiability with respect to λ of all solutions to Lλf = 0 which are in L2[a,∞). Applications to spectral theory are given, including a formula for the rate of change with respect to the end-point a of the spectrum of the weighted eigenvalue problem Lf = λwf, f∈L2[a,∞), f[i](a) = 0 for i ≦N − 1. The weight w may be a function or an operator. The formula seems new even when w = 1.


Although several objective scoring systems have been developed for use with the abbreviated form of the Bender-Gestalt test of visuomotor development (Figures A, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8), each has been criticized as being inadequate in some way or other. This paper reviews the inadequacies of these systems as described in the literature and presents the results of a small study designed to investigate the psychometric properties of a new objective scoring system, recently proposed by Sugar, which incorporates both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The new system is shown to be psychometrically sound in validity and reliability. Additional advantages are described. The new system is recommended as a good, if not better, alternative to other, existing methods for scoring the Bender-Gestalt test.


In the 1950s, the English occultist Gerald Gardner (1884–1964) began propagating a magico-religious tradition now known as Gardnerian Witchcraft whose adherents today number in the hundreds of thousands. A common element of Wiccan belief is an ethical commandment known as the "Wiccan Rede," usually articulated in the form "an' it harm none, do what ye will." This article traces the history of the Rede, beginning with an examination of Gardner's own early ethical statements. It traces Gardner's relationship with Doreen Valiente, his collaborator who came to proclaim the Rede at a prominent Pagan gathering in October 1964, noting the influence of Crowley's law of thelema, before moving on to discuss the wider reception of the Rede within the Wiccan movement and why practitioners of many rival traditions chose to reject it.


Atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides unprecedented insight into surface topography research with ultrahigh spatial resolution at the subnanometer level. However, a slow scanning rate has to be employed to ensure the image quality, which will largely increase the accumulated sample drift, thereby, resulting in the low fidelity of the AFM image. In this paper, we propose a fast imaging method which performs a complete fast Raster scanning and a slow μ-path subsampling together with a deep learning algorithm to rapidly produce an AFM image with high quality and small drift. A supervised convolutional neural network (CNN) model is trained with the slow μ-path subsampled data and its counterpart acquired with fast Raster scan. The fast speed acquired AFM image is then inputted to the well-trained CNN model to output the high quality one. We validate the reliability of this method using a silicon grids sample and further apply it to the fast imaging of a vanadium dioxide thin film. The results demonstrate that this method can largely improve the imaging speed up to 10.3 times with state-of-the-art imaging quality, and reduce the sample drift by 8.9 times in the multiframe AFM imaging of the same area. Furthermore, we prove that this method is also applicable to other scanning imaging techniques such as scanning electrochemical microscopy.


The normal levels of thyroid hormones (THs; thyroxine, T4 & 3,5,3′-triiodo-Lthyronine, T3) are necessary for the normal development [1-48], particularly the fetal and neonatal cardiac growth and development [49]. The actions of THs are facilitated genomically by thyroid receptors (TRs, α and β) and non-genomically at the plasma membrane, in the cytoplasm and in cellular organelles [4,49-55], by stimulation of Na+, K+, Ca2+ and glucose transport, activation of protein kinase C (PKC), protein kinase A (PKA) and mitogen activated and protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) [4]. In addition, the transport of T4 and T3 in and out of cells is controlled by several classes of transmembrane TH-transporters (THTs) [56], including members of the organic anion transporter family (OATP), L-type amino acid transporters (LATs), Na+/Taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), and monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) [4,49,57,58]. Adding additional complexity, the metabolism of T4 and T3 is regulated by 3 selenoenzyme iodothyronine deiodinases (Ds: D1, D2 and D3) [59-61]. On the other hand, the congenital hypothyroidism can cause the following [49,62-64], (1) congenital heart diseases; (2) diastolic hypertension; (3) reduced cardiac output, stroke volume and a narrow pulse pressure; (4) dilatation and overt heart failure; (5) elevation in the systemic vascular resistance [65-68]. Similarly, the chronic hyperthyroidism can cause the following [49,64]: (1) cardiac hypertrophy; (2) increase in the cardiomyocyte (CM) length rather than width; (3) noticeable diminution in systemic vascular resistance; (4) elevation in the cardiac contractility; (5) systolic hypertension; (6) increase in the cardiac output, venous volume return, blood volume and pulse pressure; and (7) reduction in the systemic vascular resistance [49,69]. T3-therapy can induce DNA synthesis and cardiomyocyte proliferation, and improve the cardiac contractility; though, this action is as still unidenti ied [49,70-74].


We present an interference alignment (IA) technique that allows multiple opportunistic transmitters (secondary users) to use the same frequency band of a pre-existing primary link without generating any interference. The primary and secondary transmit-receive pairs are equipped with multiple antennas. We exploit the fact that under power constraints on the primary transmitter, the rate of the primary user is maximized by water-filling on the singular values of its channel matrix leaving some eigen modes unused. The secondary users can align their transmitted signals to produce a number of interference-free dimensions at each secondary receiver without causing any interference to the primary user. We characterize the number of achievable degrees of freedom (DoF) for the secondary users. We also present an iterative algorithm that utilizes channel reciprocity to achieve the proposed cognitive IA scheme. For a cognitive system with 3 secondary users, we derive a closed form solution for the precoding matrices of the secondary users.


PURPOSE
The primary aim of this study was to compare the relative efficacy of oral uracil and tegafur (UFT) plus leucovorin (LV) with the efficacy of weekly intravenous fluorouracil (FU) plus LV in prolonging disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) after primary surgery for colon carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between February 1997 and March 1999, 1,608 patients with stage II and III carcinoma of the colon were randomly assigned to receive either oral UFT+LV or intravenous FU+LV.

RESULTS
Of the total patients, 47% had stage II colon cancer, and 53% had stage III colon cancer. Median follow-up time was 62.3 months. The estimated hazard ratio (HR) for OS of patients who received UFT+LV versus that of patients who received FU+LV was 1.014 (95% CI, 0.825 to 1.246). The estimated HR for DFS was 1.004 (95% CI, 0.847 to 1.190). Cox proportional hazards model analyses with regard to age (< 60 v > or = 60 years), stage, or number of involved nodes (none v one to three v > or = four nodes) revealed no interaction with OS or DFS. Toxicity was similar in the two groups. In the UFT+LV arm, 38.2% of patients experienced any grade 3 or 4 toxic event compared with 37.8% of patients in the FU+LV arm. Primary quality-of-life end points did not differ between the two regimens, although convenience of care analysis favored UFT+LV.

CONCLUSION
UFT+LV achieved similar DFS and OS when compared with an intravenous, weekly, bolus FU+LV regimen. The two regimens were equitoxic and generally well tolerated.


We consider the problem of designing logical optical network topology for a given physical topology (or fiber layout) and a given traffic demand matrix between the end-users. Traffic between the end-users is carried in a packet-switched form and the objective of our logical topology design is to minimize the maximum congestion on the logical links in the logical topology. The logical links are realized by wavelength continuous paths or lightpaths between end-users and they are routed via wavelength-selective routers. Note that a topology with lower maximum link congestion will allow its traffic demand matrix to be scaled up by a larger factor. In the logical topology each node is equipped with a limited number of optical transceivers, hence logical connections cannot be set-up between every pair of nodes. We present an improved bound for maximum congestion on any link in logical topology and present an algorithm for constructing a logical topology that reduces the maximum congestion on any logical link.


Fuel cells in aircraft applications are gaining more and more interest because of higher possible efficiency and increasing air pollution standards. A necessary supplement is an efficient, lightweight and reliable DC/DC-converter to adjust the weak fuel cell characteristic to the voltage level of buffer batteries and drive inverters. Cosmic radiation, condensation, strict EMIlimits and significantly increased creepage distances impair a light and efficient converter. This paper explains approaches to solve those technical difficulties, especially a way to fulfill EMI standards without a large and heavy EMI-filter and introduces the first converter's application, a fuel cell powered UAV. The converter is developed with a strictly scalable design. Therefore an up-rating to multi megawatt applications for larger aircraft is discussed and possible occurring challenges are evaluated.


The aim of this article is to present a discussion about the presence of antifeminism among women of different social segments. In the text, there is the search for an explanation to the attitude above, turning to the concept of symbolic violence, which supposes the support of the dominated to the base categories of their domination, a fact that do not exclude the presence of compensations, which justify the support of several to those speeches and habits. Through a research carried out with intellectualized women, there is a disagreement concerning an investigation which restricts antifeminism to women from popular segments, because feminism would be something exclusive to those middle-class women, more precisely, to those intellectualized women that share modern individual principles.


QUANTIFICATION OF LIGHT ELEMENTS BY THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY'S ALPHA PARTICLE X-RAY SPECTROMETER USING ABSOLUTE RAYLEIGH SCATTER PEAK ANALYSIS Jordan Hanania Advisor: University of Guelph, 2019 Professor Ralf Gellert The Mars Science Laboratory's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) performs bulk-chemistry analyses on the surface of Mars. It is capable of quantifying elements Z>10 through its primary mechanisms of X-Ray Fluorescence and Particle Induced X-ray Emission. The APXS is indirectly able to quantify "invisible" light elements with atomic number Z<11, such as water or carbonates which cannot be detected. Traditional means for quantifying invisible elements make use of APXS scatter peaks by analyzing relative intensities of measured Compton and Rayleigh X-ray peaks. The work presented in this thesis approaches the quantification of invisibles by making analytical predictions of scatter peaks on an absolute scale, rather than relative. This allows one to use Rayleigh absolute scatter peaks as a measure of distance, while simultaneously determining invisibles. The method has also extended previous work by incorporating invisibles into the compositional matrix to iteratively determine concentrations in the presence of invisibles.


Wireless sensor network applications have a predominant traffic pattern: convergecast, in which sensor nodes send reports to the base station. Convergecast causes energy hole problem, i.e., nodes closer to the base station incur heavier workload and deplete their energy more quickly, which impairs network lifetime. Existing approaches that address energy hole problem do not consider the tradeoff with network performance degradation and ignore nodes' energy consumption due to idle listening. We provide a differential duty cycle approach that is designed based on energy consumed by both traffic and idle listening. It assigns different duty cycles for nodes at different distances from the base station to address the energy hole problem, improve network lifetime, and also maintain network performance. Through ns-2 simulation, we show that our differential approach, compared to the approach assigning uniform duty cycles to all nodes, can improve network lifetime without sacrificing end-to-end delay and throughput.


The effect of intraoperative autotransfusion during coronary artery bypass grafting was studied in a randomized double-blind trial involving 38 patients. Nineteen patients had the collected RBCs washed and autotransfused (autotransfusion group), while the remaining patients had their washed cells discarded (control group). Postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit values were similar. Exposure to banked blood was markedly decreased in the autotransfusion group compared with the control group. In addition, the mean volume of banked packed RBCs transfused per patient was significantly less in the autotransfusion group compared with the control group. Platelet utilization also was markedly decreased in the autotransfusion group. Cryoprecipitate and fresh frozen plasma utilization also was less in the autotransfusion group than in the control group, but this did not reach statistical significance. We conclude that the intraoperative use of autotransfusion decreases the volume of homologous blood products transfused, which results in reduced exposure of the patients to banked blood products.


Nephrotic Syndrome is a collection of symptoms due to glomerular damage, characterized by proteinuria ≥3.5g/day or a protein-creatinine ratio ≥2. From an etiological point of view, there are three forms of nephrotic syndrome, including congenital, primary, and secondary. The first sign of the disease is periorbital edema, especially in the morning. Diagnostic confirmation is done through evaluation of urine protein, serum electrolytes, BUN, Cr, Albumin, and cholesterol. The main treatment goals of nephrotic syndrome are decreasing proteinuria, preventing complications, and protecting the renal function via appropriate drugs and diet. The main objective of this study was to review diets required in nephrotic syndrome in children: Protein at a diose of 0.8 mg/kg/day is the most effective diet in nephrotic patients. Low-fat diets (calorie intake <30% and cholesterol ≤200mg/day) can improve hyperlipidemia. Salt and water intake should be restricted in the range of less than 2 gr/day and 1-1.5 liters/day, respectively. Nephrotic syndrome patients have iron, copper, zinc, and calcium deficiency due to increased urine protein excretion or concomitant metabolic disorders. Keywords: Nephrotic syndrome; Diet; Pediatrics; Nutrition.


Aim To measure a calibre of radial and ulnar septocutaneous perforators at the anterior forearm, and to count its number in proximal, middle and distal thirds. Methods The study was conducted on 50 fresh amputated forearms (trauma, tumours) in the period between January 2012 and December 2021. Forearms were collected from several hospitals in Belgrade, and analysed at the Institute of Anatomy, Medical School, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Injection of ink-gelatin and fine dissection of autopsy material was performed on 30 forearms, and corrosion method with injecting methyl methacrylate for 3D analysis on the other 20 forearms. Results A mean calibre of septocutaneous perforators on the radial artery was 0.53±0.46 mm (0.2-0.85). Averagely, there were 8.1 radial artery septocutaneous perforators - two perforators on the proximal third, 3.7 on the middle third, and 2.7 on the distal third. The mean calibre of ulnar artery perforators was 0.65±0.35 mm (0.18-1.8). The average number of septocutaneous perforators of the ulnar artery was 5.6; 1.2 on the proximal third, two on the middle third, and 2.2 on distal third. Conclusion Determination of the origin, calibre and spreading directions of the arterial septocutaneous perforators on the anterior forearm provide quantification of data about arborisation of radial and ulnar septocutaneous perforators at the anterior forearm. Clinical relevance of those anatomical data is in defining of safe locations and dimensions of forearm fasciocutaneous flaps in plastic surgery.


OBJECTIVE
To apply Phoenix roebelenii pollen vaccine to murine models of allergic rhinitis and observe the pathological changes of allergic rhinitis in mice, and to study the efficacy and mechanism of the vaccine for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

METHODS
BALB/c mice models of allergic rhinitis were established by intraperitoneal injection, and then treated with immunotherapy of allergen vaccine by subcutaneous injection. The mice were examined for the levels of airway hyperresponsiveness by a noninvasive lung function detector, for the specific antibodies IgE and IgG2a in serum and cytokines by indirect ELISA, and for the pathological changes of ultrastructure of nasal mucosa of the mice by transmission electron microscopy before and after the treatment.

RESULTS
After the immunotherapy, nasal symptoms and airway hyperresponsiveness of the mice were relieved. The level of specificity antibody IgG2a in serum was elevated, and IgE dropped significantly. In the culture supernatant of spleen cells, INF-γ and IL-10 levels increased and the production of IL-4 decreased.

CONCLUSION
The recombinant profilin of the Phoenix roebelenii pollen as vaccine has a certain therapeutic effect for the pollen allergic rhinitis, and it works maybe through promoting the transition of Th2 to Th1 and regulating the balance of helper T cells.


Summary The Scaling-up Health-Arts Programme: Implementation and Effectiveness Research (SHAPER) project is the world's largest hybrid study on the impact of the arts on mental health embedded into a national healthcare system. This programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust, aims to study the impact and the scalability of the arts as an intervention for mental health. The programme will be delivered by a team of clinicians, research scientists, charities, artists, patients and healthcare professionals in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and the community, spanning academia, the NHS and the charity sector. SHAPER consists of three studies – Melodies for Mums, Dance for Parkinson's, and Stroke Odysseys – which will recruit over 800 participants, deliver the interventions and draw conclusions on their clinical impact, implementation effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. We hope that this work will inspire organisations and commissioners in the NHS and around the world to expand the remit of social prescribing to include evidence-based arts interventions.


Despite evidence supporting the use of assistive technology (AT) to improve early literacy outcomes, only a small percentage of preschool age children with disabilities utilize such devices and services. The goal of the Step Up AT to Promote Early Literacy Project is to develop an evidence-based training program to increase teacher and parent knowledge, confidence, and use of AT practices to promote inclusion and improve early literacy skills for this population. During years 1 and 2, a 6-month in-person and online training program was developed and implemented across 3 childcare centers serving children 3 to 5 years of age (n = 56), their primary caregivers (n = 56), and teachers and teacher aides (n = 36). This paper discusses how the program evolved over a period of two years to: a) better address the needs of children from Spanish-speaking and low-income families, b) incorporate a range of "low-tech" to "hightech" AT options to serve a diverse population with various abilities, and c) enhance the utility of the toolkit for parents and teachers.


This chapter discusses the changes seen in the Arctic and the impact that these changes are having on maritime boundary issues. It looks at how the forces that are driving the changes we are seeing in the Arctic are also having a global impact on maritime boundary issues, raising in particular, issues related to the continental shelf. Global sea level rise has an immediate impact on maritime boundaries through the definition of the baselines from which the maritime zones are measured. Given the potential for a significant rise in sea level and with that, the potential for migrating and potentially disappearing baselines, the chapter discusses the ramification when the continental shelf outer limit is "fixed and binding" and "permanent. The chapter discusses a simple hypothetical case of the small Japanese island, Minamitorishima, in the northwest Pacific located approximately 1150 miles southeast of Tokyo. Keywords:continental shelf; maritime boundaries; Minamitorishima; sea level


Background Patients on hemodialysis often experience muscle cramps that result in discomfort, shortened treatment times, and inadequate dialysis dose. Cramps have been associated with adversely affecting sleep and health-related quality of life, depression and anxiety. There is limited evidence available about massage in dialysis; however, massage in cancer patients has demonstrated decreases in pain, inflammation, and feelings of anxiety. These correlations indicate massage may be an effective treatment modality for hemodialysis-related lower extremity cramping. Purpose To determine the effectiveness of intradialytic massage on the frequency of cramping among hemodialysis patients prone to lower extremity cramping. Participants 26 maintenance hemodialysis patients with frequent lower extremity cramps. Setting three outpatient hemodialysis centers in Northeast Ohio. Research Design randomized controlled trial. Intervention The intervention group received a 20-minute massage of the lower extremities during each treatment (three times per week) for two weeks. The control group received usual care by dialysis center staff. Main Outcome Measure change in frequency of lower leg cramping. Results Patient reported cramping at home decreased by 1.3 episodes per week in the intervention group compared to 0.2 episodes per week in the control group (p=.005). Patient reported cramping during dialysis decreased by 0.8 episodes in the intervention group compared to 0.4 episodes in the control group (p=0.44). Conclusion Intradialytic massage appears to be an effective way to address muscle cramping. Larger studies with longer duration should be conducted to further examine this approach.


We study the time dependence of the ionization of Stark Rydberg states of hydrogen subject to half-cycle electromagnetic pulses. We find that the quantum ionization probability for the most 'blue-shifted' Stark state exhibits a purely classical oscillating pattern as a function of time whose frequency is associated with the perturbed orbital frequency of the electron. We show that these oscillations could be observed experimentally when a scaled-time analysis of ionization data for hydrogen is employed. Our calculations are compared with experimental data for sodium.


Abstract:Sociologist Beverley Skeggs argues that the shift from redistributive politics to the politics of recognition has placed considerable emphasis on the "individual morally authorizing themselves through their own experience." Indeed, Skeggs claims that "the wounded attachment is premised on the belief that the experience of pain, hurt and oppression provides greater epistemological authority to speak." If wounding and pain become the measure of injustice, those hurt by structural violence and inequality are usually ill-positioned to be seen or heard. With this in mind, this article shifts our attention to the violence regularly inflicted on industrial workers in a capitalist economy, taking Sherry Lee Linkon's notion of the half-life of deindustrialization and applying it to the long-term emotional fallout of job loss revealed in oral history interviews conducted with industrial workers in Detroit, Michigan. These interviews reveal a kaleidoscope of emotions, ranging from fear and anxiety to pride, irony, absurdity, loss, confusion, defiance, hope, shame, and, most of all, betrayal. Oral history interviews make clear that class values and working-class identity in Detroit were inculcated in childhood within blue-collar families. Men and women grew up in an industrial culture where trade unionism was a badge of honor. The actions of employers are therefore read through a moral lens; you can hear the hurt in people's voices. In some cases, their sense of themselves as displaced workers was reforged in the fires of deindustrialization into a new class identity.


The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 18 antibiotics including 16 beta-lactam antibiotics were determined by agar dilution on 70 strains of pneumococci (25 penicillin sensitive, 18 intermediate resistant and 27 resistant). The antimicrobials tested were penicillin G, ampicillin, carbenicillin, ticarcillin, piperacillin, mezlocillin, cephalothin, cefoxitin, cefamandole, latamoxef (moxalactam), cefotaxime, cefoperazone, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, N-formimidoyl thienamycin, SCH 29482, chloramphenicol and vancomycin. Of these agents, only cefotaxime demonstrated greater activity than penicillin against intermediate penicillin-resistant strains while cefoperazone, ceftriaxone, N-formimidoyl thienamycin and vancomycin as well as cefotaxime demonstrated activity superior to penicillin against penicillin-resistant strains. Comparison of the MIC90s of these agents with the achievable cerebrospinal fluid levels suggests that meningitis caused by penicillin-resistant pneumococci should respond to treatment with cefotaxime, cefoperazone, ceftriaxone and vancomycin.


Organisms throughout their lives constantly modify their surrounding environment; such activities are often termed niche construction. An important property of niche construction is that its consequences can persist for a long period of time and several subsequent generations can be affected. This phenomenon is described as a time lag in niche construction, or ecological inheritance. Studies have suggested that time lag in niche construction can help avoiding the tragedy of the commons. In other words, it can lead to evolution of contribution to a common good, which is associated with positive niche construction, or to the limitation of a common bad, which is associated with negative niche construction. In this article, we will study the evolutionary consequences of incorporating time lags in a negative niche construction process: waste production. We consider a population that extrudes waste into its environment as it consumes resources to grow and reproduce. Higher consumption rates can lead to higher waste production. Individuals that adopt this selfish strategy are expected to be selected as toxic effects are equally shared among all individuals. We show that indeed this tragedy of the commons persists in many cases and selfish strategies evolve in general. When evolution is rapid and intragenerational time lag is incorporated, however, selfish strategies are no longer favoured and strategies resulting in less waste production can be selected. Importantly, heavy pollution results in smaller population sizes, so that drift becomes more important than natural selection and limits the evolution of higher waste production.


Presents a new approach to perform distributed event driven simulation that we have named the 'deblocking event algorithm'. This algorithm adopts the conservative paradigm, but takes into account the structural properties of the simulation network to reduce the overhead that any distributed simulation scheme inherently has. At the same time, the algorithm keeps a high degree of activity in the network of processes that performs the simulation, which means that the scheme obtains almost all the parallelism inherent in the problem. First, the distributed parallel simulation problems and the classical approaches proposed to solve them are reviewed in this paper. Then, the properties of a simulation network are mathematically characterized. Finally, the deblocking event algorithm and some results concerning overhead reduction and the degree of activity in the network of processes are presented.


Primary health care is an important part of any health care system. In highly developed countries it secures the population's most elementary health needs, with particular emphasis on preventive care and early intervention. Polish PHC model is currently undergoing a thorough transformation, associated with the need to adapt to standards designated based on the WHO's criteria, and with reference to the experience of other European countries. The paper describes the process of changes being carried out, in the context of previous experiences of reform relating to the sphere of organization, processes and efficiency. A review and systematization has been made, with regard to the undertaken activities in the field of deregulation and change of legal provisions, which are aimed at achieving the improvement of the efficiency of treatment and resource allocation. A set of recommendations based on expert's discourse have also been provided, with respect to future directions of Polish PHC transformation.


Brucella abortus strain RB51 was recently approved as an official brucellosis calfhood vaccine for cattle by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Currently available serologic surveillance tests for B. abortus do not detect seroconversion following SRB51 vaccination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a dot-blot assay using γ-irradiated strain RB51 bacteria for its specificity and sensitivity to detect antibody responses of cattle vaccinated with strain RB51. Dot-blot titers of sera at a recommended dosage (1010 colony-forming units) were similar to those of sera from cattle vaccinated with similar numbers of B. abortus strain 19 and greater (P < 0.05) than titers of nonvaccinated cattle. In the first 12 weeks after vaccination with 1010 colony-forming units of strain RB51, the RB51 dot-blot assay had 100% specificity for titers of 80 or less and a 53% sensitivity for titers of 160 or greater. Sensitivity of the RB51 dot-blot assay peaked at 4 weeks after vaccination with 1010 colony-forming units of strain RB51. Dot-blot responses of sera from cattle vaccinated with a reduced dosage of strain RB51 (109 colony-forming units) did not differ (P > 0.05) from titers of sera from nonvaccinated cattle. Following intraconjunctival challenge with B. abortus strain 2308, titers on the RB51 dot-blot assay did not differ (P > 0.05) between nonvaccinated cattle and cattle vaccinated at calfhood with strain 19 or strain RB51.


Background and Objective: Wounds are a major source of morbidity, lead to considerable disability, and are associated with increased mortality; therefore, they have a significant impact on public health and the expenditure of healthcare resources. Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) uses negative pressure to assist wound healing. Negative pressure drains fluid from the wound, thus removing the substrate for growth of microorganisms. Negative pressure may also accelerate granulation tissue formation and promote angiogenesis. The mechanical stimulation of cells by tensile forces may also play a role by increasing cellular proliferation and protein synthesis. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) involves the use of a negative pressure therapy or suction device to aspirate and remove fluids, debris, and infectious materials from the wound bed to promote the formation of granulation tissue. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 post-operative infected wound cases presented in between December 2016 to August 2018 were taken for study. Each case was examined clinically in systematic manner as per the proforma drafted. VAC dressing was done and all cases were followed up to discharge and subsequently for a follow up on 10 th day. Results: In our clinical study of 30 cases managed by VAC dressing, 30% of the cases were of post-operative infected wounds of radius & ulna, 13.3% humerus, 23.3% femur, 23.3% tibia, 3.3% spine, 3.3% calcaneum, 3.3% metatarsals. By the completion of VAC therapy none of the cases required a revision surgery or implant removal. There is a progression of healthy healing in all the cases (100%). Commonest organisms isolated were Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas and Proteus. Interpretation and Conclusion: In our study VAC therapy enhanced granulation tissue formation leading to better wound healing, and faster recovery. VAC is thus a promising new technology in the field of wound healing with multiple applications in a variety of wounds and can be used in both acute and chronic wounds, salvage procedures or as an adjuvant therapy to improve the results of various surgical procedures.


With the growing demand for wireless communication systems, wireless concepts for the data exchange in time variant ad-hoc networks become more and more interesting. In order to describe and thus assess the mobile radio channels in such networks, simulations are required. The main aspect is the time-variance of the channel impulse response and the modeling of large scenarios. This paper discusses the demands for a model to describe the radio channel in time variant environments and presents an appropriate ray tracing approach. A new concept is introduced to substitute complex polygonal objects by several radar cross sections. The performance of the Ray Tracing algorithm is demonstrated by a comparison from predictions to measured channel characteristics.