The total photoionization cross section for the 3dx ground state Fe ions, Fe III through Fe VIII, is calculated from the ionization threshold to the K edge including resonance features. The R-matrix method is used, the work being undertaken as part of the international RmaX (`R-matrix for x-ray processes') network. The dynamics of the photoionization process is illustrated by examining isonuclear trends and by quantifying some of the main resonance features due to inner-shell processes, particularly the large resonances arising from photoexcitation of the core (np53dx + 1), and the K edge. We also show that to calculate the cross section correctly through a deep inner-shell edge, requires the inclusion of states with inner-shell vacancies in all the preceding subshells.


A sunspot is distinguished from a pore by having a filamentary penumbra, corresponding to convective motions that carry energy into the spot from the surrounding field-free plasma. A simplified model of energy transport in sunspots is developed in order to model the transition from pores to spots as the magnetic flux is varied. The observed overlap between the radii of large pores and small spots implies that the filamentary convective mode sets in suddenly and rapidly, as in the idealized case where pore solutions lose stability at a bifurcation.


Tourism is a major global industry and continues to expand at a rapid rate. This two volume collection of key published articles provides a comprehensive and much needed overview of the economics of tourism. Many of these articles are not readily available as they have been published in a range of non-economics journals. This reflects partly the presence of specialized journals devoted to tourism and partly the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. The editor has prepared an authoritative introduction, which not only presents an overview of the contents of each volume, introducing the subject to a wider non-specialist audience, but also provides insights and critical comments. The first volume concentrates on the basic economics of tourism. It covers the nature and role of tourism economics, determinants of tourism demand and the forecasting of such demand, supply-side aspects of tourism including industrial organization and issues in managerial economics, and public finance and public economics in relation to tourism. The second volume examines wider matters such as impact analyses of tourism, international tourism, tourism in developing countries and its role in economic development, and sustainability and environmental aspects of tourism. This book is a valuable reference for researchers, students and policymakers interested in tourism economics and tourism management, as well as non-specialists seeking an introduction to the subject.


Stomatal limitations to mass and energy exchange over boreal black spruce forests may be caused by low needle N concentrations that limit CO2 fixation rates. These low concentrations may be caused by low N uptake rates from cold boreal soils with high soil C:N ratios and by low N deposition rates from boreal atmospheres. A mathematical model of terrestrial ecosystems ecosys was used to examine the likelihood that slow N cycling could account for the low rates of mass and energy exchange measured over a 115‐year old boreal spruce/moss forest as part of the Boreal Ecosystem‐Atmosphere Study (BOREAS). In the model, net N mineralization was slowed by the high C:N ratios measured in the forest floor and by high lignin contents in spruce litterfall. Slow mineralization caused low N uptake rates and hence high C:N ratios in spruce and moss leaves that reduced specific activities and areal densities of rubisco and chlorophyll. Consequent low CO2 fixation rates caused low stomatal conductances and transpiration rates which in turn caused high soil water contents. Wet soils, in conjunction with large accumulations of surface detritus generated by slow litter mineralization, caused low soil temperatures that further slowed mineralization rates. Model outputs for ecosystem N status were corroborated by low needle N concentrations (< 10 mg g−1), stomatal conductances (< 0.05 mol m−2 s−1) and CO2 fixation rates (< 6 μmol m−2 s−1), and by high canopy Bowen ratios (1.5–2.0) and low canopy net CO2 exchange rates (< 10 μmol m−2 s−1) measured over the black spruce/moss forest at the BOREAS site. Modeled C accumulation rates of 60 (wood) + 10 (soil) = 70 g C m−2 yr−1 were consistent with estimates from aggregated CO2 fluxes measured over the spruce canopy and from allometric equations developed for black spruce in Canadian boreal forests. Model projections under IS92a climate change indicate that rates of wood C accumulation would rise and those of soil C accumulation would decline from those under current climate. Because these rates are N‐limited, they would be raised by increases in atmospheric N deposition.


Treatment of advanced Hodgkin's disease by associating vincristine, adriblastine, prednisone and procarbazine is compared with other widely employed protocols. Most subjects in the series had already received one or more drugs and had relapsed. In spite of this, 60% were still in complete remission one year after the administration of 6 courses of the new association. An account is given of maintenance therapy in Hodgkin's disease once remission is obtained, and the problems thus raised are illustrated.


Objectives: The primary analysis from the HER2CLIMB study will describe the efficacy and safety of tucatinib, trastuzumab, and capecitabine, a treatment regimen under investigation for patients (pts) with advanced HER2+ metastatic breast cancer (BC) refractory to standard-of-care regimens. Rationale: Fifteen to 20% of pts diagnosed with BC annually have overexpression or amplification of the HER2 receptor. While significant advances have been made in the treatment of pts with HER2+ BC, treatment of metastatic disease remains a clinical challenge for which no curative options are available. The management of HER2+ CNS metastases (which occur at any time during the disease course in 30-50% of those with HER2+ metastatic BC) remains an area of unmet clinical need. Tucatinib is an investigational, oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is highly specific to HER2 with minimal inhibition of the EGFR receptor. In a Phase 1b study, tucatinib plus capecitabine and trastuzumab showed an acceptable toxicity profile and encouraging anti-tumour activity, including in pts with active brain metastases. Methodology: In this double-blind, international, multicenter study (NCT02614794), 612 pts with locally advanced or metastatic HER2+ BC previously treated with trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and T-DM1 were randomized 2:1 to receive tucatinib (300 mg BID) or placebo, in combination with capecitabine (1000 mg/m2 BID, Days 1–14 of each 21-day cycle) and trastuzumab (6 mg/kg once every 21 days). Pts with newly diagnosed, progressing, or stable brain metastases not requiring immediate local therapy were included. The primary endpoint is PFS per RECIST 1.1 by blinded independent central review for the first 480 pts enrolled. Secondary endpoints, including PFS in pts with brain metastases and OS, will be evaluated in all 612 pts. The primary and key secondary endpoints will be compared between treatment arms using a stratified log rank test; the hazard ratio from Cox regression model will also be reported. Anticipated Results: Baseline demographics and disease characteristics will be presented by treatment arms. PFS, response rates, and duration of response for pts receiving tucatinib vs placebo will be reported for the first 480 pts. Common AEs and SAEs will be reported for both treatment arms in all treated pts. Secondary objectives, including PFS in pts with brain metastases and OS, may be presented if the data are sufficiently mature. Citation Format: Rashmi Murthy, Sherene Loi, Alicia Okines, Elisavet Paplomata, Erika Hamilton, Sara Hurvitz, Nancy Lin, Virginia Borges, Vandana Gupta Abramson, Carey Anders, Philippe L Bedard, Mafalda Oliveira, Erik Jakobsen, Thomas Bachelot, Shlomit S Shachar, Volkmar Mueller, Sofia Braga, Francois P Duhoux, Richard Greil, David Cameron, Lisa Carey, Giuseppe Curigliano, Karen Gelmon, Gabriel Hortobagyi, Ian Krop, Sibylle Loibl, Mark Pegram, Dennis Slamon, Maria Corinna Palanca-Wessels, Luke Walker, Wentao Feng, Eric Winer. Tucatinib vs placebo, both combined with capecitabine and trastuzumab, for patients with pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with and without brain metastases (HER2CLIMB) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr GS1-01.


Digoxin immune Fab (ovine) (Digibind) is a preparation of Fab fragments of antidigoxin antibodies that is used as an antidote for severe digitalis toxicity. To assess the effects of its presence on digoxin immunoassays, specimens were prepared that simulated typical samples from treated patients and were distributed to a number of laboratories for analysis as unknowns. The antidote interfered to a varying extent with all assays reported. The results suggest that most competitive immunoassays will yield results that bear little relation to concentrations of total digoxin or free digoxin (i.e., digoxin not bound to the antidote). The aca, Dimension, and CEDIA sequential immunoassays moderately overestimated the free digoxin concentration. Free digoxin levels appeared to be only slightly overestimated by the Aria, Stratus, and Syva assays. The TDx Digoxin II assay yielded slight to moderate underestimates of the total digoxin concentration.


Background: Passive anterior tibial subluxation (PATS) is often observed in patients with anterior cruciate ligament tears. Postoperative outcomes of double-bundle (DB) and single-bundle (SB) anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) with significant PATS (>6 mm) are unclear. Hypothesis: DB-ACLR could achieve better stability and clinical outcomes than SB-ACLR in patients with PATS >6 mm. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Retrospective analysis was peformed on 626 consecutive patients who underwent primary anatomic ACLR between October 2016 and November 2017. Anterior subluxation of the lateral and medial compartments in extension relative to the femoral condyles was measured on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans. Among patients who demonstrated significant PATS (>6 mm) in the lateral compartment, 54 who underwent DB-ACLR (study group) were matched to 54 who underwent SB-ACLR (control group). PATS, stability (pivot-shift test and KT-2000 arthrometer), the Lysholm score, and the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) grade were investigated preoperatively and at 3- to 4-year follow-up. Results: The preoperative mean PATS values in the lateral and medial compartments were not significantly different between groups (control vs study: lateral compartment, 8.1 ± 1.8 vs 8.5 ± 2.1 mm; medial compartment, 5.2 ± 1.9 vs 5.4 ± 1.9 mm; P > .05). Postoperatively, mean PATS values in the lateral and medial compartments of the study group were significantly improved as compared with the control group (control vs study: lateral compartment, 5.9 ± 2.8 vs 3.2 ± 4.1 mm; medial compartment, 3.7 ± 2.9 vs 1.4 ± 2.3 mm; P < .05). Significantly superior results were found for knee stability in the study group regarding the Lachman test (grade 0/1/2/3, study vs control: 29/22/3/0 vs 16/28/10/0; P = .031), pivot-shift test (grade 0/1/2/3, study vs control: 44/9/1/0 vs 30/19/5/0; P = .023), and KT-2000 arthrometer (study vs control: 2.5 ± 1.5 vs 3.9 ± 1.4 mm; P < .001). Clinical scores showed significantly better results in the study group in terms of IKDC score (study vs control: 87.9 ± 8.7 vs 81.2 ± 15.0; P = .01), Tegner activity score (study vs control: 6.0 ± 1.4 vs 4.9 ± 1.5; P < .001), and Lysholm score (study vs control: 91.7 ± 7.0 vs 86.3 ± 11.4; P = .004). Conclusion: DB-ACLR achieved better knee stability and clinical outcomes when compared with SB-ACLR in patients with PATS >6 mm at 3- to 4-year follow-up.


An integrated shallow trench isolation process utilizing HDP (high density plasma) oxide and a highly manufacturable corner oxidation is described. The choice of trench corner oxidation temperature is shown to be critical in reducing silicon stress, and hence junction leakage, to the levels required by multi-million gate designs. This STI process is shown to be extremely robust and manufacturable. Optimal design of the trench depth and well profiles is shown to provide well-edge isolation adequate for sub-0.18 /spl mu/m technologies.


Indonesia which is located in southeastern asia has a lot of natural resources. This situation has made indonesia was one of the purpose of foreign capital investment especially the mining sector, besides the forestry sector, and water resources management. It was because the lack of our country in managing the source of natural resources, good of the aspect of capital, aspects human resources, and facets technology. As a result of natural resources that we have not can be used to welfare of the people maximally.Ironically, our country having of natural resources, but contributed the most to state budget (APBN) not from the results of the management of natural resources, but of tax sector. Hence in managing natural resources in indonesia need to consider article 33 constitution 1945 containing the political legal in the management of natural resources, so the purpose of natural resources to public welfare can be achieved maximally.


Students will write essays about various topics including: careers, technology in the workplace, Plato and film, literature, the disciplines, education, and Pausch.


Objectives To analyse the epidemiological, clinical and immunological characteristics of an international cohort of patients diagnosed with primary Sjögren syndrome (SS) according to the 2002 AE criteria. Methods The Big Data Sjögren Project is an international, multicentre registry formed in 2014 to take a "high-definition" picture of the main features of primary SS at diagnosis by merging international SS databases. By January 2015, 5027 consecutive patients fulfilling the 2002 classification criteria for primary SS were included from 9 European and 4 American countries. Results The cohort included 4714 (94%) women (female:male ratio, 15:1), with a mean age at diagnosis of primary SS of 54 years (range, 10-97), of which 94% were Caucasian and 88% lived in European countries. The frequency of fulfilment of the 2002 criteria was: 94.4% for dry eye, 92.9% for dry mouth, 88.5% for positive salivary gland biopsy, 85.9% for positive ocular tests, 74.8% for positive oral tests and 70.9% for positive Ro/La autoantibodies. As a minimum of 4 of the 6 criteria are required for fulfilment, the percentage of diagnostic tests performed varied: Ro/La autoantibodies were tested in 99.5% of patients, ocular diagnostic tests (Schirmer's test and/or corneal stainings) were made in 90.2%, oral tests in 76.7% and salivary gland biopsy in 72% of patients. Systemic involvement at diagnosis was retrospectively measured using ESSDAI definitions in 3314 patients and included articular involvement (35.2%), glandular involvement (19.3%), lymphadenopathy (10.7%), cutaneous involvement (9%), constitutional involvement (8.4%), respiratory involvement (7.3%), peripheral nervous system involvement (5.2%), renal involvement (2.2%), central nervous system involvement (1.7%) and muscular involvement (1.2%). With respect to laboratory abnormalities, 43.3% of patients showed biological abnormalities and 24.7% haematological abnormalities according to ESSDAI definitions. Conclusions In this international cohort of 5027 patients with primary SS, most non-sicca clinical features and laboratory abnormalities present at diagnosis are not included in the current criteria; their inclusion in future proposed classification criteria should be evaluated. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Few studies have assessed the association of early-life environmental and genetic factors with the risk of childhood adiposity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the interaction between maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) and children's genetic susceptibility on childhood adiposity. The present study included 1038 mother-child pairs. Body mass index (BMI) for age Z-score (BMI-Z) and childhood overweight were evaluated according to the World Health Organization (WHO) growth reference. Genetic risk score (GRS) was established by aggregating alleles of 10 BMI susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified from a recent study. Children born to mothers with excessive GWG had higher BMI-Z (P<0.001), percentage of body fat (P<0.001), and prevalence of overweight (28.4% vs 15.9%, P<0.001) than those born to mothers with adequate GWG. Children's BMI GRS was significantly and positively associated with BMI-Z, percentage of body fat and overweight risk (all P<0.05). Stratified analyses showed the positive association of children's BMI GRS with adiposity risk was especially concentrated among mothers with pre-pregnancy normal weight but excessive GWG. The present study identified an interactive effect between maternal GWG and children's genetic susceptibility on childhood adiposity risk. The findings provided new insight into the etiology of childhood obesity and highlighted the importance of GWG management.

 H.Liu: None. W.Li: None. L.Wang: None. S.Zhang: None. W.Li: None. X.Yang: None. J.Leng: None. G.Hu: None. S.Wang: None.

 European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes/Chinese Diabetes Society/Lilly Programme for Collaborative Research between China and Europe; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK100790, R01DK132011); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104940)


The recent arise of Motion Capture (MoCap) technologies provides new possibilities, but also new challenges in human motion analysis. Indeed, the analysis of a motion database is a complex task, due to the high dimensionality of motion data, and the number of independent factors that can affect movements. We addressed the first issue in some of our earlier work by developing MotionMachine, a framework helping to overcome the problem of motion data interpretation through feature extraction and interactive visualization [20]. In this paper, we address the question of the relations between movements and some of the various factors (social, psychological, physiological, etc.) that can influence them. To that end, we propose a tool for rapid factor analysis of a MoCap database. This tool allows statistical exploration of the effect of any factor of the database on motion features. As a use case of this work, we present the analysis of a database of improvised contemporary dance, showing the capabilities and interest of our tool.


In recent X-ray work on the structure of a metal after cold-working (Wood 1935), and similarly after fatigue stressing (Gough and Wood 1936), it was shown that when a metal consisting of annealed perfect grains received any permanent deformation, then the grains were dispersed into crystallites with orientations departing widely from the crystallographic orientations of the parent grains. It is possible to set an upper limit to the size of the crystallites in the following manner. With the back-reflexion technique as used in the work, the X-ray photograph of a stationary annealed specimen shows isolated clear-cut reflexion spots which lie on the diffraction rings corresponding to the Bragg reflexion angles. Deformation of the metal causes the spots to extend into continuous arcs owing to the increase in number of independently reflecting units produced with various orientations in the reflecting volume. It can be shown, by calibrating for known grain sizes, that the formation of a continuous line by multiplication and coalescence of the reflexion spots in this way requires an increase in number which can only be brought about by a decrease in size of the units to about 10-4 cm. The continuity of the diffraction arc indicates therefore that the crystallites must be less than about 10-4 cm. It is then possible to set a lower limit to the crystallite size from consideration of the Scherrer effect by which the radial breadth of the continuous diffraction arc depends on the particle size according to a formula of the type δB = 0.9 λ/t cos θ , where δB is the increase in breadth due to the fine-grain effect, t the linear particle size, and θ the reflexion angle. The effect becomes appreciable only when the particle size is less than 10-4 cm.; thus in the present experiments a barely noticeable increase in width of 0.1 mm. on the photographic plate would occur in the (420) ring of aluminium, using cobalt K -radiation, if the crystallite size decreased to 0.8 x 10-4 cm.; but the breadth would increase by about 1 mm. at 10-5 cm. and by 1 cm. at 10-6 crystallite size, thus constituting a sensitive indication of any reduction in size below the value of 10-4 cm. fixed as upper limit. It is found, however, that the broadening of the diffraction line produced by the breakdown of the grains under progressive deformation of a metal never exceeds a definite maximum. On these grounds, the author has pointed out that the limited broadening, whether due to the fine-grain effect or the alternative possibility of lattice distortion or any other cause, automatically sets a lower limit to the size of the crystallites formed on deformation; also, that the striking contrast on the one hand between the ease with which the grains are dispersed into crystallites immediately after deformation and, on the other, the subsequent impossibility, even after the most severe deformation, of breaking them down below about 10-5 cm., the value corresponding to the order of maximum line-broadening observed, indicates that the crystallite must be regarded as a fundamental unit of the metallic grain.


A simple model for the description of the ablative implosion of a thin spherical shell filled with fuel gas is presented. The model gives the fuel conditions before the beginning of the stagnation phase. Therefore, it can be applied to recent experiments producing a high neutron yield in which that phase was affected by instabilities. The model is compared with experiments, and scaling laws are found in agreement with the simulation and experimental results.


Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are in a transition from research to real world applications. Robust and efficient hardware platforms are needed. These have to offer sufficient processing power and memory while retaining energy efficiency. In this technical report we present the newest ScatterWeb hardware platform that fits the needs of research and prototyping applications of the near future. Index Terms — wireless sensor networks (WSN), embedded systems, ScatterWeb platform


This paper will examine a spatial construct that emerged simultaneously in architecture and cinema in the early 1920s in Germany, but earlier in Japan. Visible in the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu, spatial strategies, typical of Japanese traditionalism, will be compared to spatial developments that occurred in Mies van der Rohe's work in Germany around the same time. It is the juxtaposition of two spatial conditions that I would like to explore in this paper: between the perception of architectonic space in cinema (caught through the moving image), and the experience of space in architecture in early Modernism.-----

The first part of the paper will explore two architectonic constructs of space from German Expressionist cinema during the early 1920s. Various influences from German Aesthetic theory (1890s) will be used to frame these constructs. The second part of the paper will examine another spatial construct that emerged in Japanese cinema through Yasujiro Ozu. Although considered the most Japanese of all film directors for his portrayal of traditional Japanese themes, his cinema is regarded by contemporary theory as Modernist. The contrast between these two, similar but different, ideas are curiously visible in the architectonic spaces of Mies van der Rohe's early German period. The third part of the paper uses the Barcelona Pavilion (1928-29) to draw out some of these parallels.


Trends in loads and concentrations of suspended sediment and suspended sand generally were downward for stations within the Mississippi River Basin during the 60-, 34-, and 12-year periods analyzed. Sediment transport in the lower Mississippi River has historically been, and continues to be, most closely correlative to sediment contributions from the Missouri River, which generally carried the largest annual suspended-sediment load of the major Mississippi River subbasins. The closure of Fort Randall Dam in the upper Missouri River in 1952 was the single largest event in the recorded historical decline of suspended-sediment loads in the Mississippi River Basin. Impoundments on tributaries and sediment reductions as a result of implementation of agricultural conservation practices throughout the basin likely account for much of the remaining Mississippi River sediment transport decline. Scour of the main-stem channel downstream from the upper Missouri River impoundments is likely the largest source of suspended sand in the lower Missouri River. The Ohio River was second to the Missouri River in terms of sediment contributions, followed by the upper Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. Declines in sediment loads and concentrations continued through the most recent analysis period (1998–2009) at available Mississippi River Basin stations. Analyses of flowadjusted concentrations of suspended sediment indicate the recent downward temporal changes generally can be explained by corresponding decreases in streamflows.


Abstract : A review of the spate of literature on the operational level of war published within the past two or three years suggests that the Army (at least those officers writing on the subject) is finally agreeing on how the term should be defined. Working definitions of the concept generally argue that the operational level of war encompasses the movement, support, and sequential employment of large military forces in the conduct of military campaigns to accomplish goals directed by theater strategy. Just as the Army has been able to perceive more clearly what warfare at the operational level entails, so also has it observed that the requirements of leadership at that level differ in some important respects from leadership at the tactical level. Indeed, the term operational art implies that the commander at this echelon requires special talents. To identify these special requirements should be a matter of high concern not only to those who aspire to command at the operational level, but also to all field-grade officers who might be staff officers at operational-level headquarters. If it is advisable, then, to learn about the unique demands of leadership at the operational level, where does one look for instruction? The ideal circumstance is to serve with a latter-day Clausewitzian genius personally and directly. Commanders with transcendent intellectual and creative powers are rare, however, so to have a chance to observe a genius personally is nearly impossible. A second way, open to all, is through study of the sequence and tendencies of past events and the key personalities who drove them. The present essay rests mainly on this method. As a matter of plain fact, though, most US Army officers do not read military history with a critical eye. The majority of officers look for a third way. The Army has tried to provide just such a third way.


It is shown that strong coupling of Bose—Einstein condensates to an optical cavity can be realized experimentally. With an additional driven microwave field, we show that a highly nonlinear coupling among atoms in a Bose—Einstein condensate can be induced with the assistance of the cavity mode. With such interaction, we can investigate the generation of many body entangled states. In particularly, we show that multipartite entangled GHZ states can be obtained in such architecture with current available techniques.


A retrospective study was undertaken of the radiographic and clinical results and complications of 52 cementless (AML) total hip arthroplasties in 52 patients with a mean age of 48.3 years. The follow-up ranged from 9 to 12 years with a mean of 10.5 years. Of the patients, 88% had good or excellent results. Forty-two patients (81%) complained of anterior thigh pain at 3 months after surgery when weight bearing was allowed. The pain continued for a mean period of 4.3 months. In 4 patients (8%), this pain persisted after the first postoperative year. Calcar resorption was seen in 21 patients (40%), and 16 patients (31%) showed clinically insignificant heterotopic ossification. Four patients required revisions: 1 for acetabular loosening, 1 for persistent thigh pain, and 2 for massive osteolysis of the proximal femur. There were no dislocations, infections, thromboembolic events, or neurologic injuries.


The possible protective effects of the most potent fraction of Solanum erianthum ethanol leaf extract on lead-induced toxicity in adult wistar rats were investigated. Phytochemical constituents, antioxidant and membrane stabilizing activities of the ethanol extract and its fractions were determined using standard procedures. Acute and sub-chronic oral toxicity studies were carried out. The blood samples, liver, and kidney were collected for the estimation of biochemical and organ parameters, and histomorphological studies. The ethyl acetate fraction had the highest antioxidant activities and high membrane stabilizing potentials when compared to the crude extract and other fractions. Significant elevations were observed in plasma albumin, creatinine and urea levels in group treated with lead only. The activities of plasma ALT and AST were significantly increased in group treated with lead alone. Treatment with ethyl acetate fraction significantly decreased (< 0.05) the elevated ALT, AST, urea and creatinine levels. The histology evidence showed progressive degeneration of the liver and kidney tissues in lead treated groups while the administration of S. erianthum showed appreciable degrees of protection to both the liver and kidney. The study concluded that ethyl acetate fraction of S. erianthum has protective effects against lead-induced toxicity in adult Wistar rats.


The influence of hepatectomy on cerebral energy metabolism was studied in rats in which an end-to-side portacaval anastomosis had been performed one week earlier. The hepatectomy gave rise to an exaggeration of the increase in tissue ammonia content resulting from the shunt. Three hours after the hepatectomy there was a fall in tissue glutamate content but no change in alpha-ketoglutarate. The energy state of the tissue, as evaluated from the concentrations of ATP, ADP, and AMP, was unchanged. There was a significant increase in cerebrospinal fluid pH but no change in intracellular pH.


Fouling–resistant cellulose acetate (CA) membranes were prepared by the phase inversion technique using hydrophilic aminated polyethersulfone (APES) as the modification agent. In the presence of polyethylene glycol 600 as a pore forming agent, were blended in 100/0,90/10,80/20,70/30% compositions using N,N"- dimethylformamide as solvent. The cellulose acetate/aminated polyethersulfone membranes were applied for proteins separations. The performance of the blend membranes of various blend polymer compositions were compared with that of membranes prepared from pure cellulose acetate and blends of cellulose acetate and aminated polyethersulfone. The hydrophilic blend ultrafiltration membranes showed better performance compared to pure cellulose acetate


The international workshop organized by Daniel Hedinger and Reto Hofmann and financed by the Center for Advanced Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Mu-nich brought scholars working on Axis countries together in order to explore viable approaches for a global history of fascist imperialism. The major questions addressed the colony–metropole relationship and its role in the radicalization process as well as the ways in which fascist empires learned from the imperial strategies used both by their allies and by their liberal-empire counterparts. In two days, the participants discussed how, when, and where these empires intersected, thereby investigating ideology, culture, empire-building processes and (self) perception.


Chorioamnionitis (CA) is asymptomatic in a large fraction of the cases. Here, we report a case of a 39 weeks' gestation infant, with persistent fetal heart rate hypovariability as the only prenatal clinical sign in histologic CA.


Murine norovirus (MNV) is a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus of the Caliciviridae family. MNV has been reported to infect laboratory mice with the ability to cause lethal infections in strains lacking components of the innate immune response. Currently, MNV is considered the most prevalent infectious agent detected in laboratory mouse facilities. In this study, mice in 22 laboratory animal facilities within Brazil were analyzed for MNV infection. Using primers targeting a conserved region of the viral capsid, MNV was detected by RT-PCR in 137 of 359 mice from all 22 facilities. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the capsid region from the viral genome showed identity ranging from 87% to 99% when compared to reported MNV sequences. In addition, RAW264.7 cells inoculated with a mouse fecal suspension displayed cytopathic effect after the fifth passage. This study represents the first report of MNV in mouse colonies in Brazilian laboratory animal facilities, emphasizing the relevance of a health surveillance program in such environments.


This study is about preparation of two different organoclays with cationic surfactants and their poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites with increased thermal and mechanical behavior. Organoclays were prepared modifying clay mineral with solution intercalation method using aqueous solutions of cationic surfactants dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTABr) and cetylpyridinium bromide (CPBr). Obtained organoclays (D-MMT and C-MMT for DTABr/MMT and CPBr/MMT, respectively) were characterized using different methods including zeta potential and XRD. Results indicated an absolute decrease in zeta potential about 20 mV for C-MMT, and 14 mV for D-MMT indicating flocculation and coating of the surface. Moreover measurements indicated that interlayer distance increased based on basal spacing peak shift whose value was 1.27 nm for NaMMT, whereas 1.40 nm for D-MMT, and 1.75 nm for C-MMT. The organoclays were used in preparation of PVA/clay nanocomposites; thermal stability of the nanocomposites were determined using TGA, while mechanical strength measurements were done using DMA. Maximum thermal decomposition temperature of the pristine PVA and nanocomposites were compared and an average increase of 4°C were observed. Also activation energy of the decomposition was observed ca. 40 kj mol -1  higher than pristine PVA.


Naked pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is planted as a medicinal plant in Iran. This herb is effective against prostate cancer and its seeds are a rich source of zinc. It has been demonstrated anti- parasitic and anti-fungal effects. Zinc is one of the micronutrients essential for plant growth and development. In addition, zinc is a heavy metal and too much zinc can cause toxicity in most plants. Currently, environmental pollution, especially pollution from heavy metals due to industrial activities and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers cause irreparable damage to the plants. In this study examined the effect of different concentrations of Zn 2+ (control (zero), 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 mM) on chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, starch, soluble sugars and proline in naked pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). Plants were treated for 14 days and after this time will be tested. Experimental design was a completely randomized design with four repetitions. Data were analyzed using software MSTAT-C, SPSS and Excel and mean comparisons were performed using the least significant difference test (LSD). The results showed that that high zinc concentrations decrease of photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. However, soluble sugars and proline increased. These compounds are used in various stress for osmotic adjustment, preserve the enzymes and membranes in plant cells. Reduced starch is related to degrade it to soluble sugars. Correlations between traits showed a positive correlation exists between photosynthetic pigments and starch and their correlation with soluble sugar and proline is negative.


Novel drug delivery system assists to achieve better patient compliance. Fast dissolving tablets are one of them. FDT have benefits such as accurate dosing, easy portability and manufacturing, good physical and chemical stability and an ideal alternative for pediatric and geriatric patients. FDDT formulation combines the advantage of both liquid and conventional tablet formulation while also offering advantage over both traditional dosage forms. This review gives a view of advantages, limitations, need for formulating FDTS, Formulation factors, excipients used, and methodology and evaluation parameters.


Malnutrition among preschool children is an indicator of underdevelopment and is high in many developing communities. Malnutrition affects performance of children in the later adulthood life. Though determinants of malnutrition vary from region to region, the underlying cause for malnutrition is poverty. A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify prevalence and determinants of nutrition status of preschool children in the Rift Valley in Kenya. Mothers of these children were respondents who provided information on selected variables. Nutrition status was measured by weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. General prevalence of malnutrition was still high in this population, with more males than females having poor nutrition status as measured by weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height. Risk factors for malnutrition in this population were age, sex, education level of the head of household, time taken by women on other household chores (especially collecting fuel wood), number of pregnancies a mother has had, income of the head of household and income from cash crop farming. Education level of household heads could improve nutrition through appreciating the role of good nutrition for child development and availing resources at the household level for adequate nutrition and health. The major determinants of malnutrition included time spent on household chores (30%), income (12%) and gender (10%).


Background Autoantibodies to Ro/SSA antigens have been demonstrated in 15-38% of patients with Systemic sclerosis (SSc) but their association with clinical manifestation and other serological patterns is not clear (1,2,3). Objectives The aim of our study was to verify the prevalence of anti-SSA pattern in our cohort of patients with SSc. We also analyzed the clinical features of these patients, particularly the organ involvement. Methods The retrospective review involved patients with SSc admitted to the Rheumatology Unit (University of Padova) from 1983 to 2013. By our data-base we obtained the demographic characteristics of patients, the antinuclear antibodies (ANA) specificity and the prevalence of the main visceral involvement. ANA were assayed by counter-immunoelectrophoresis (CIE). Lung involvement (ILD) was diagnosed if DLCO was <70% of predicted and forced vital capacity was <75% of predicted, or interstitial disease was note on chest radiogram or on HRTC. Heart involvment was defined in the presence of conduction defects or arhytmias on ECG and/or left ventricular diastolic dysfunction on echocardiogram. Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was estimated by Doppler echocardiogram (>45 mm Hg). Scleroderma renal crisis was defined by rapidly progressive renal failure and malignant arterial hypertension. Results Our cohort consisted of 552 SSc patients, 71 males (13%) and 481 (87%) females, with mean age at diagnosis of 46.9±14.1 yrs; 155 patients (28%) were affected by diffuse and 397 (72%) by limited cutaneous form of SSc. ANA were positive in all patients. Anti-SSA pattern was found in 23 cases (4.2%); it was associated to anti-topoisomerase I in 15 (65.2%) and to anti-centromere in 8 (34.8%). Patients with anti-SSA pattern were 19 women and 4 men, with mean age at diagnosis of 49.6±12.9 yrs; 14 had the diffuse (60.9%) and 9 the limited cutaneous form (39.1%) of SSc. ILD was diagnosed in 14 cases (60.9%), cardiomyopathy in 4 (17.4%), PAH in 2 (8.7%). No patient developed scleroderma renal crisis. The frequency of organ involvement was similar to that of the entire cohort of SSc patients, except for scleroderma renal crisis. Conclusions The prevalence of anti-SSA pattern in our cohort of SSc patients was lower than that reported by other Authors, probably because the assay method (CIE) was more specific but less sensitive than others. Anti-SSA autoantibody does not seem to affect the clinical features, in particular the visceral involvement. This conclusion is in agreement with Parker et al. (1) and Fujimoto et al. (2), while Hudson et al. report a higher frequency of ILD in patients with anti-SSA pattern (3). References Parker JC, Burlingame RW, Bunn CC. J Autoimmune Dis. 2009; 6;6:2. Fujimoto M, Shimozuma M, Yazawa N et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 1997; 56:667-70. Hudson M, Pope J, Mahler M et al. Arthritis Res Ther. 2012, 14:R50. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5134


The aim of the study was to find out impact of in- service teacher training at elementary level in Hyderabad Division. The study was descriptive type survey in nature to know strengths and weaknesses of in-service training provided to the teachers. A questionnaire comprised on basic concepts of in- service teacher training like value and importance, methods, training criteria, problems and suggestions to improve professional competency of teachers were developed and administered for getting required information from respective respondents. A sample of 462 respondents was randomly selected from 40 government schools (boys/girls), both from urban and rural areas including Govt. Elementary Colleges of Education (Male/ Female) of Hyderabad district. It included 2 (1+1) principals (Male/Female), 20 (10+10) master trainers (Male/Female) of Govt. Elementary Colleges of Education), 40 (20+20) school head teachers (Male/Female) and 400 (200+200) in-service master trained teachers (Male/Female) of the above schools. An interview schedule was also developed and administered to know the opinion of Director, Bureau of Curriculum & Extension Wing, Sindh. Data were collected from personally from the respective respondents and analyzed on frequency percentage and means score method. The major findings of the study drawn from the analysis of data were that in-service training has positive impact on professional development of the teachers. It helped to improve various pedagogical skills of teachers. It was also found that short duration, non-availability of standardized textbooks, lack of coordination among training institutions, lack of transport, security and residential, shortage of physical and instructional facilities, no institutionalized arrangement for providing regular training to teachers were the major problems to be solved on priority basis for improving professional development of teachers.


The cis-acting regulatory sequence of transcription from long terminal repeats (LTRs) of human T-cell leukemia virus type I and type II (HTLV-I and HTLV-II), which is essential for action of the virally encoded trans-acting transcriptional factor(s) designated pX(s), in HTLV-I and -II was identified. Deletion of most of the U3 region of the HTLV-I LTR resulted in loss of trans-acting transcriptional activation. However, when a tandem repeat of a 21-nucleotide sequence (GAAGGCTCTGACGTCTCCCCC) that is present in the U3 region of HTLV-I and -II LTRs was inserted into the deleted U3 region of the HTLV-I LTRs, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity was restored. The extent of restoration of activity was proportional to the number of copies of the sequence inserted. To test the possibility that the 21-nucleotide sequence alone is necessary for trans-activation, a sequence (AGGAACTGAAA) homologous to a type-specific viral enhancer sequence and present in the U3 region of HTLV-II LTR, but not in the same region of the HTLV-I LTR, was inserted together with the 21-nucleotide sequence into the deleted U3 region of the HTLV-I LTR. However, no significant differences of the levels of activities of those LTRs compared to the LTRs with only the 21-nucleotide sequence repeats were observed.


French Guyana is a part of the Amazonia rainforest identified as a biodiversity hotspot for both animal and plant species threatened with extinction [1]. With the generalized awareness of this endangered richness a number of conservation and promotion actions have been undertaken over the last years. In collaboration with the Guyaromes society, the potential valorization of essential oils from local plants on the international market is assessed. Lippia micromera Schauer (Verbenaceae family) is a strong aromatic shrub with many branched and white tiny flowers with yellow throat. Its origin is not well established but it is assumed that the plant is from northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela and Guiana), the Caribbean and Nicaragua. [2] It is one of the selected plants for such a valorization action. The species is well known for culinary seasoning, anti-inflamatory, anti-microbial and antioxidant activities [3]. The present poster reports for the first time the analysis of the chemical composition by GC-FID and GC-MS of the essential oil of L. micromera organically cultivated in French Guiana. A total of thirty-one components accounting for 97% of the total GC-FID chromatogram were identified. The evaluation of its antimicrobial and antiparasitic activities against strains of several Candida spp. (MIC) and Leishmania guyanensis (IC50) respectively shows a strong antimicrobial activity ranging from 125 µg/ml to 500 µg/ml according to the Candida species tested, while the anti-leishmania activity seems negligible. Thus the EO was assessed for its anti-ageing and antioxidant properties (in vitro tests in 96-wells plates) and revealed also a strong percentage of inhibition (more than 60%) for elastase and lipoxygenase assays.


Background: There are over 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today. Women treated for breast cancer face an increased lifetime risk of developing lymphedema. Past research confirms that women are not always fully informed about their individual risk of developing lymphedema. Some health care providers argue that detailed information about lymphedema may lead to increased stress and anxiety; however, many individuals want information to make fully informed decisions about treatment and feel empowered over the disease process. Objectives: To investigate the informational needs of breast cancer survivors related to lymphedema and determine the preferred timing and delivery of information. Methods: A cross‐sectional, descriptive study design was used to answer the research questions. Between January and March 2013, 35 breast cancer patients at a cancer treatment center in Goodyear, Arizona voluntarily completed a self‐administered, paper and pencil survey. Results: The majority of the women were Caucasian, married, and over age 40. Nearly all (n = 34) had computer and internet access. An overwhelming majority of the respondents classified the importance of having lymphedema information as very high. The preferred information delivery method was 1:1 private sessions. Website and on‐line tools were the least popular choices. Limitations: Small sample size and limited ability to generalize results. Conclusions: Female breast cancer patients have high needs for detailed information related to lymphedema. Private sessions are the preferred delivery method, but the preferred time to receive information is variable.


Stimson, et al. (2009) developed one of the most relevant and well known model for Regional Economic Development. This model covers the most important factors related to economic development question. However, this model excludes the social components of development. Local community should be included in terms of the development of a region. This paper introduced to the Stimson model "Skills" and "Knowledge" at the individual level for local actors indicating the capabilities at the individual level and introduced "Human Coordination" for the capabilities at the collective level. In our empirical research we looked at the Indonesian seaweed market with a specific focus on the region of Baubau. This region was chosen because there are hardly any economic developments. Furthermore this study focuses on the poorer community who are trying to improve their situation by the cultivation of Seaweed. Eighteen local informants was interviewed besides additional interviews of informants from educational and governmental institutions in the cities of Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. The informants selected had a direct or indirect relationship with the region of Baubau. With the support of the empirical data from this region we can confirm that it is worthwhile to include the local community in the model for regional economic development. The newly added variables: at the individual level; Skills and Knowledge and at the level of the collective: Human Coordination was supported by the empirical material. It is an indication that including the new variables can give regional economic an extra dimension. In this way we think that it becomes more explicit that "endogenous" means that the people, or variables closely related to them, should be more explicitly included in models trying to capture Regional Economic Development or rephrased as Local Economic Development


The concept of mathematical modeling is widespread across almost all of the fields of contemporary science and engineering. Because of the existing necessity of predictions the behavior of natural phenomena, the researchers develop more and more complex models. However, despite their ability to better forecasting, the problem of an appropriate fitting ground truth data to those, high-dimensional and nonlinear models seems to be inevitable. In order to deal with this demanding problem the entire discipline of data assimilation has been developed. Basing on the Human and Nature Dynamics (HANDY) model, we have presented a detailed and comprehensive comparison of Approximate Bayesian Computation (classic data assimilation method) and a novelty approach of Supermodeling. Furthermore, with the usage of Sensitivity Analysis, we have proposed the methodology to reduce the number of coupling coefficients between submodels and as a consequence to increase the speed of the Supermodel converging. In addition, we have demonstrated that usage of Approximate Bayesian Computation method with the knowledge about parameters' sensitivities could result with satisfactory estimation of the initial parameters. However, we have also presented the mentioned methodology as unable to achieve similar predictions to Approximate Bayesian Computation. Finally, we have proved that Supermodeling with synchronization via the most sensitive variable could effect with the better forecasting for chaotic as well as more stable systems than the Approximate Bayesian Computation. What is more, we have proposed the adequate methodologies.


ABSTRACT  One common trend in French-as-a-second-language texts is to expose students to the many facets of France. The texts therefore ignore to a large extent the cultural and sociolinguistic contributions of the 42 countries that boast French as a primary, secondary, or tertiary language. The position of this essay is that linguistic and cultural aspects of additional francophone countries are necessary for a well-rounded perspective of French as a language spoken over a large geographic area and by a diverse population. This study looks at 12 textbooks and additional language learning materials, chosen to represent various authors, publishers, and philosophies. A brief analysis was made of the presentation of material concerning the country or area represented. Information about countries other than France averaged about 5.13 percent of the texts surveyed. In addition, little dialectological information was provided about France itself. The lack of a multicultural and multidialectal approach may foster some undue prejudice toward certain language varieties and may impede communication by inadequately preparing our students for real-world language use. Some 21 suggestions are offered for a more balanced approach to the French language and francophone cultures for both instructors and learners.


The Weipa region has a rich and diverse herpetofauna of which many species are shared both with New Guinea and other regions of northern Australia. Twenty native species of frogs and 76 species of reptiles have been recorded in the Weipa region and iqdividual species accounts, photos and identification keys are provided. The herpetofauna may include as many as four undescribed species but it lacks the high level of endemicity characteristic of the herpetofauna on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula. The arrival and establishment of the introduced Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) in the Weipa region is documented. One crocodile and four marine turtles in the region are listed by the IUCN as vulnerable or endangered; a small burrowing snake has been proposed for the Squarnata section of the IUCN Red Data Book. The region experiences a very-dG winter (average monthly rainfall from June to September less than 4 mm) but contains significant dry season refugia for a number of frog species hitherto recorded only from more mesic habitats. Seven of these refuge sites are recommended for habitat conservation. Many of the regeneration sites provide suitable habitat for the frogs and reptiles characteristic of the pre-mined open forest but-some species are apparently excluded because large, hollow- bearing trees andlor suitable ground cover are lacking. CAMERON. E.E. & H.G. COGGER, 1992. The herpetofauna of the Weipa region, Cape York Peninsula. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum No. 7: 1-200.


Anomaly detection on timeseries data has been an important research field for a long time. While the original anomaly detection methods have been based on statistical approaches, in recent years more and more machine learning algorithms have been developed to detect anomalies on time series. Furthermore, many researchers tried to improve these techniques using neural networks. In the light of the continuously increasing number of anomaly detection methods of these three classes, the research community suffers from the lack of a broad comparative evaluation of statistical, machine learning and deep learning methods. This thesis tries to overcome this shortcoming by studying 20 univariate and 24 multivariate anomaly detection methods from the mentioned categories. Additionally, the evaluation will be done on publicly available datasets, which serve as benchmarks for time series anomaly detection. To provide a reliable comparison, in addition to the accuracy of each method, the computation time of the algorithms is measured. By analysing univariate as well as multivariate timeseries, we hope to provide a thorough insight about the performance of these three classes of anomaly detection approaches.


1. Measurements of intitial chemical changes and recovery oxygen consumption (deltaO2) were made in unpoisoned aerobic frog sartorius muscles at 0 degrees C to provide independent measures of the chemical energy used for isometric tetani of various durations. 2. DeltaO2 was measured polarographically and increased in a curvilinear fashion with stimulus duration. For stimulations longer than 4 sec deltaO2 was a linear function of the tension‐time integral. 3. Measurements of the changes in the content of phosphorylcreatine, 'free' creatine and inorganic phosphate were made in muscles rapidly frozen during a tetanus. The average of these quantities, delta approximately P, was used to measure the initial 'high energy' phosphate utilization. No break‐down of 'high‐energy' phosphate compounds was detected up to 200 sec after relaxation of tension. Changes in the content of ATP were not observed except for a small decrease (‐0‐25+/‐0‐1 mumole/g) in muscles tetanized for 1 sec. 4. Delta approximately P also increase curvilinearly with tetanus duration and, for tetanic durations greater than 4 sec, was a linear function of the tension‐time integral. 5. Both deltaO2 and delta approximately P were quantitatively related by a constant scaling factor of about 4‐3 (delta approximately P/deltaO2) throughout the range of tetanic durations studied. The constancy of this ratio.provides evidence against the hypothesis that a significant 'missing reaction' provides energy during any one portion of the tetanus. Several hypothesis may account for the numerical value of the ration delta approximately P/deltaO2.


Finite size high performance magnetic field gradient coils have always been desirable for today's ever demanding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications, We present a Lagrange multiplier technique for designing a minimum inductance gradient coil under a finite size planar geometry constraint. Based on this minimization approach, we construct a functional F in terms of the stored magnetic energy and a set of field constraint points which are chosen over the desired imaging volume. Minimizing F, we obtain the continuous current density distribution for the finite size planar gradient coil. Applying the stream function technique to the resulting continuous current distribution, the discrete current pattern can be generated, Employing the Biot-Savart law for the discrete current loops, the gradient magnetic field has been re-evaluated In order to validate the theory, Using this approach, we have been able to design a finite size (1.0 m/spl times/1.0 m) bi-planar y-gradient coil which is capable of generating a gradient field of 40 mT/m with an inductance of 71 /spl mu/H over a 30 cm diameter spherical volume @ 334 A.


This manuscript is devoted to the description of a new population of interstitial cells – telocytes discovered by L.M. Popescu and M.S. Faussone-Pellegrini. Later telocytes were found in the dermis, where they perform an important metabolic function and maintain homeostasis. Telocytes are small cells with a large elongated nucleus and a small amount of cytoplasm, which contains long cellular prolongations made of thin (podomeres, 40–100 nm) and thick (pods, 200–500 nm) segments – telopodes. Based on the results of morphological studies, it was possible to reliably differentiate telocytes from fibroblasts. During immunostaining they express CD34 and PDGFRα. Nevertheless, despite the numerous studies carried out regarding the role of telocytes, their function in the skin remains unclear and requires further investigations.


There is a trend towards the use of double-bundle techniques for the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. This has not been substantiated scientifically. The functional outcome of these techniques is equivalent to that of single-bundle methods. The main advantage of a double-bundle rather than a single-bundle reconstruction should be a better rotational stability, but the validity and accuracy of systems for the measurement of rotational stability have not been confirmed. Despite the enthusiasm of surgeons for the double-bundle technique, reconstruction with a single-bundle should remain the standard method for managing deficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament until strong evidence in favour of the use of the double-bundle method is available.


Today's network operators strive to create self-healing cellular networks that have a fully automated troubleshooting management process. To this end, the network monitoring system should be capable of detecting issues, diagnosing them, and triggering the adequate recovery action. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised solution to diagnose the root causes of network issues. As monitoring systems collect a large number of logs from the different devices in their networks, it is possible to determine which connections resulted in a poor user experience and apply a failed/successful label. Our solution, Automatic Root Cause Diagnosis (ARCD), analyzes labeled connection logs to identify the major contributors to the network inefficiency (e.g., a faulty core device) as well as the incompatibilities between different elements (e.g., make and model of a phone not being able to access a service). We evaluate the effectiveness of our solution by using logs from three different real cellular networks. In each case, ARCD was able to identify the major contributors and the most widespread incompatibilities. In the three cases, the precision (detection accuracy) and the recall (detection rate) are higher than 90%.


Recently, it has been shown that the information flow and causality between two time series can be inferred in a rigorous and quantitative sense, and, besides, the resulting causality can be normalized. A corollary that follows is, in the linear limit, causation implies correlation, while correlation does not imply causation. Now suppose there is an event A taking a harmonic form (sine/cosine), and it generates through some process another event B so that B always lags A by a phase of π/2. Here the causality is obviously seen, while by computation the correlation is, however, zero. This apparent contradiction is rooted in the fact that a harmonic system always leaves a single point on the Poincaré section; it does not add information. That is to say, though the absolute information flow from A to B is zero, i.e., TA→B=0, the total information increase of B is also zero, so the normalized TA→B, denoted as τA→B, takes the form of 00. By slightly perturbing the system with some noise, solving a stochastic differential equation, and letting the perturbation go to zero, it can be shown that τA→B approaches 100%, just as one would have expected.


Euler's rotation theorem and tensor rotation technique are applied to develop a generalized mathematical model for determining photoelastic constants in arbitrary orientation of cubic crystal system. Two times rotations are utilized in the model relating to crystallographic coordinates with Cartesian coordinates. The symmetry of photoelastic constants is found to have strong dependence with rotation angle. Using the model, one can determine photoelastic constants in any orientation by selecting appropriate rotation angle. The outcome of this study helps to characterize spatial variation of residual strain in crystalline as well as polycrystalline materials having cubic structure using the experimental technique known as scanning infrared polariscope.


The problems of improving the quality of technological processes in domestic enterprises due to their high relevance are reflected in numerous publications of both theoretical and practical nature. However, the performance assessment procedures in the standards are schematically not properly spelled out. This makes it difficult in practice to choose evaluation mechanisms and methods. The priority mechanism of improvement of the enterprise's activity in the field of quality is measurement of efficiency and efficiency of the current quality management system. In our opinion, any activity aimed at improving quality should be economically justified at the stage of its planning. The article proposes a mechanism for assessing the cost-effectiveness of using one of the tools of quality management – analysis of the types, consequences and causes of potential consequences of the industrial production process. The purpose of this analysis is to ensure that all process quality requirements with increased risk are met by developing corrective measures to eliminate the occurrence of probable failures. The article provides an example of such a process-specific analysis. The presented mechanism for assessing the economic efficiency of QMS is based on the real financial performance of the enterprise and can be used at domestic industrial enterprises to measure the costs and results of investments in product (work, services) quality management.


Abstract Powder-snow avalanches are natural hazards which affect the way populations live in mountainous areas. Field measurements from avalanches remain one of the most significant and useful sources of information about their dynamics and behaviour. In this paper, we consider all the video data from the Swiss Vallée de la Sionne test site from the years 2003–05. General scaling laws are sought for the avalanche front velocity based on plume theories. Avalanche Froude numbers are found, comparing three different length scales: the cube root of the fracture volume; the avalanche height; and the depth of entrained snow cover. We discuss the difficulties in defining the volume of a powder-snow avalanche: should we include just the head or also the turbulent wake that extends back to the starting zone? This relates to whether we use a compact model for the avalanche, such as the KSB model (Ancey, 2006; Turnbull and others, 2006) or a plume model (Turner, 1973). Observations are made regarding the lateral spreading behaviour of the avalanches. We show that the slow lateral spreading can be explained by large internal velocities and anisotropic turbulence generated by the large-scale motion in the avalanche head.


The radiation resistance of an oscillating electric dipole immersed in a moving medium is calculated by Brillouin's "EMF method." Two cases are studied in detail: in case 1) the moving medium is simple, and in case 2) the moving medium is an ionized gas (plasma). It is found that in case 1), the motion of the medium tends to increase the radiation resistance, whereas in case 2), the motion of the medium tends to decrease the radiation resistance. A comparison is made between Frank's well-known theory of the radiation from an oscillating dipole moving through a material medium and the results obtained in this paper.


A case of osteochondritis dissecans (OD) of the acetabulum in a 14-year-old girl is presented. The initial clinical manifestation was hip pain and restricted movements of the joint. Magnetic Resonance Imaging confirmed the diagnosis. The patient was treated conservatively, using crutches. One year after the first examination, no clinical improvements were found. X-rays of the hip showed increased sclerosis around the osteochondritis-segment, indicating incipient healing. The patient is still conservatively treated, with regular clinical examinations. The diagnosis should be remembered in the case of patients with unexplained hip-pain, and may require magnetic resonance imaging for confirmation.


Many of the effects of estrogens on the uterus are mediated by ERalpha, the predominant ER in the mature organ. Because of the poor reproductive capacity of ERbeta knockout (BERKO) female mice (small litter size, multiple-resorbed fetuses), the role of uterine ERbeta was explored. In the immature uterus, ERalpha and ERbeta are expressed at comparable levels in the epithelium and stroma, and 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) treatment decreases ERbeta in the stroma. The immature uterus of untreated BERKO mice exhibits elevated levels of progesterone receptor (PR) and the proliferation-associated protein, Ki-67. It also exhibits exaggerated responsiveness to E(2), as indicated by enlargement of the lumen, increase in volume and protein content of uterine secretion, induction of the luminal epithelial secretory protein, complement C3, and its regulatory cytokine IL-1beta, and induction of vascular endothelial growth factor and insulin-like growth factor 1 but not its receptor. As expected, E(2) increased PR in the stroma and decreased it in the luminal epithelium of wild-type mice. In the BERKO uterus, E(2) induced PR in the stroma but did not down-regulate it in the epithelium. Increased cell proliferation and exaggerated response to E(2) in BERKO suggest that ERbeta plays a role in modulation of the effects of ERalpha and in addition (or as a consequence of this) has an antiproliferative function in the immature uterus.


Nervous system development depends on axonal growth cone recognition of extracellular guidance clues and transduction of this information into directed growth. Major advances have been made in characterizing the extracellular molecules that serve as signals for growing axons, in correlating fluctuations of Ca,++ with motility, and in demonstrating the actin-dependent basis of growth cone motility. The intracellular events that immediately follow ligand-receptor interaction at the growth cone are largely undetermined. Molecules of the integrin family, the cadherin family, and the cell adhesion molecule family organize cytoskeletal changes directly but also may initiate signaling cascades involving diffusible messengers. Heterotrimeric G proteins are highly concentrated in the growth cone membrane and can account for the initial steps in signal transduction for several neurotransmitters that regulate axonal growth. GAP-43 enhances the sensitivity of G protein-mediated transduction. Molecules inhibitory for neuronal growth, such as collapsin, initiate a signal transduction cascade likely to involve G proteins and an intracellular protein, CRMP-62. Further analysis of growth cone signal transduction will provide a molecular understanding of the development of synaptic connectivity during brain development. The Neuroscientist 2:83-86, 1996


BACKGROUND
In 2011, Medicare implemented a prospective payment system (PPS) covering an expanded bundle of services that excluded blood transfusions. This led to concern about inappropriate substitution of transfusions for other anemia management methods.

STUDY DESIGN
Medicare claims were used to calculate transfusion rates among dialysis patients pre- and post-PPS. Linear probability regressions adjusted transfusion trends for patient characteristics.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
Dialysis patients for whom Medicare was the primary payer between 2008 and 2012.

PREDICTOR
Pre-PPS (2008-2010) versus post-PPS (2011-2012).

OUTCOMES & MEASUREMENTS
Monthly and annual probability of receiving one or more blood transfusions.

RESULTS
Monthly rates of one or more transfusions varied from 3.8%-4.8% and tended to be lowest in 2010. Annual rates of transfusion events per patient were -10% higher in relative terms post-PPS, but the absolute magnitude of the increase was modest (-0.05 events/patient). A larger proportion received 4 or more transfusions (3.3% in 2011 and 2012 vs 2.7%-2.8% in prior years). Controlling for patient characteristics, the monthly probability of receiving a transfusion was significantly higher post-PPS (β = 0.0034; P < 0.001), representing an -7% relative increase. Transfusions were more likely for females and patients with more comorbid conditions and less likely for blacks both pre- and post-PPS.

LIMITATIONS
Possible underidentification of transfusions in the Medicare claims, particularly in the inpatient setting. Also, we do not observe which patients might be appropriate candidates for kidney transplantation.

CONCLUSIONS
Transfusion rates increased post-PPS, but these increases were modest in both absolute and relative terms. The largest increase occurred for patients already receiving several transfusions. Although these findings may reduce concerns regarding the impact of Medicare's PPS on inappropriate transfusions that impair access to kidney transplantation or stress blood bank resources, transfusions should continue to be monitored.


A fundamental issue in NMR spectroscopy is the estimation of parameters such as the Larmor frequencies of nuclei, J coupling constants, and relaxation rates. The Cramer-Rao lower bound provides a method to assess the best achievable accuracy of parameter estimates resulting from an unbiased estimation procedure. We show how the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be calculated for data obtained from multidimensional NMR experiments. The Cramer-Rao lower bound is compared to the variance of parameter estimates for simulated data using a least-squares estimation procedure. It is also shown how our results on the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be used to analyze whether an experimental design can be improved to provide experimental data which can result in parameter estimates with higher accuracy. The concept of nonuniform averaging in the indirect dimension is introduced and studied in connection with nonuniform sampling of the data.


In 135 children (aged 3 months to 15 years) with structural defects of the central nervous system found on magnetic resonance imaging, agenesis of the corpus callosum was evident in 7. The etiology of agenesis of the corpus callosum has been established in four children: partial trisomy of chromosome 13, partial duplication of the long arm of chromosome 10, Aicardi's syndrome, and intracranial bleeding during the fetal period as a result of injury. Agenesis of the corpus callosum coexisted with a Dandy-Walker malformation in one other patient, which suggests a genetic etiology. In spite of these variable etiologies, dysmorphic features were identified in all seven patients, as was psychomotor retardation. Epileptic seizures had occurred in six patients, and all manifested abnormalities on neurologic examination. (J Child Neurol 2000;15:401-405).


This paper presents a compiler methodology for memory-aware mapping on 2-Dimensional coarse-grained reconfigurable architectures that aims in improving the mapped applications' performance. By exploiting data reuse opportunities, the methodology tries to overcome the data memory bandwidth bottleneck, which negatively influences the applications' performance. This is achieved by using foreground memory in the architecture and by properly placing operations in the processing elements. The methodology considers a realistic 2-Dimensional coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture template, which can model the majority of the existing coarse-grained architectures. The experimental results show that the execution time and memory accesses are reduced.


half of the seventeenth century speakers of oriental languages were employed incidentally as interpreters. They generally had other occupations in the Church or at the universities. In Habsburg Austria the situation was different. On the western borders of the Ottoman Empire, in a more or less permanent state of war with its Turkish neighbour, Austria offered abundant opportunities for interpreters, just as it did for soldiers of fortune. The post of imperial interpreter in Vienna was both influential and demanding. It was attended by political and administrative responsibilities which left no time for an academic or ecclesiastical career. Although the Austrians set up an interpreters' school, the Orientalische Akademie, only in 1754, long after the Venetians and the French had done so,1 linguists from all over Europe had found employment by the Hofkriegsrat or war council in Vienna, the body of officials and generals responsible for Habsburg military dispositions and above all for the administration of areas bordering on Ottoman territory and the settlement of frontier disputes.2 Like the later products of the Orientalische Akademie, the interpreters included highly educated men with refined scholarly tastes.3 One was Michel d'Asquier, a book collector, an antiquarian, and a citizen of the Republic of Letters, who has hardly received the attention he deserves. Michel Asquier was born in Marseilles in about i598.4The family, of Piedmontese origin, seems to have had two branches, one which produced jurists and the other which produced merchants.5 It is tempting to assume that Michel came from the


Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization significantly affect alfalfa production and chemical composition; however, the effect of combined N and P application on protein fractions and the nonstructural carbohydrate content of alfalfa is not fully understood. This two-year study investigated the effects of N and P fertilization on the protein fractions, nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC), and alfalfa hay yield. Field experiments were carried out using two nitrogen application rates (N60, 60 and N120, 120 kg N ha − 1) and four phosphorus application rates (P0, 0; P50, 50; P100, 100; and P150, 150 kg P ha − 1), total 8 treatment (N60P0, N60P50, N60P100, N60P150, N120P0, N120P50, N120P100 and N120P150). Alfalfa seeds were sown in the spring of 2019, uniformly managed for alfalfa establishment, and tested in the spring of 2021–2022. Results indicated that P fertilization significantly increased the hay yield (3.07–13.43% ranges), crude protein (6.79–9.54%), non-protein nitrogen of crude protein (fraction A) (4.09–6.40%), and NSC content (11.00–19.40%) of alfalfa under the same treatment of N application (p < 0.05), whereas non-degradable protein (fraction C) decreased significantly (6.85–13.30%, p < 0.05). Moreover, increasing N application resulted in a linear increase the content of non-protein N (NPN) (4.56–14.09%), soluble protein (SOLP) (3.48–9.70%), and neutral detergent-insoluble protein (NDIP) (2.75–5.89%) (p < 0.05), whereas acid detergent-insoluble protein (ADIP) content was significantly decreased (0.56–5.06%, p < 0.05). The regression equations for nitrogen and phosphorus application indicated a quadratic relationship between yield and forage nutritive values. Meanwhile, the comprehensive evaluation scores of NSC, nitrogen distribution, protein fractions, and hay yield by principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the N120P100 treatment had the highest score. Overall, 120 kg N ha − 1 coupled with 100 kg P ha − 1 (N120P100) promoted the growth and development of perennial alfalfa, increased soluble nitrogen compounds and total carbohydrate content, and reduced protein degradation, thus improving the alfalfa hay yield and nutritional quality.


Patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBM) still have a very poor prognosis. Several treatment modalities have been investigated in an attempt to improve the management of MBM. This review aimed to evaluate the impact of current treatments for MBM on patient‐ and tumor‐related outcomes, and to provide treatment recommendations for this patient population. A literature search in the databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane was conducted up to January 8, 2019. Original articles published since 2010 describing patient‐ and tumor‐related outcomes of adult MBM patients treated with clearly defined systemic therapy were included. Information on basic trial demographics, treatment under investigation and outcomes (overall and progression‐free survival, local and distant control and toxicity) were extracted. We identified 96 eligible articles, comprising 95 studies. A large variety of treatment options for MBM were investigated, either used alone or as combined modality therapy. Combined modality therapy was investigated in 71% of the studies and resulted in increased survival and better distant/local control than monotherapy, especially with targeted therapy or immunotherapy. However, neurotoxic side‐effects also occurred more frequently. Timing appeared to be an important determinant, with the best results when radiotherapy was given before or during systemic therapy. Improved tumor control and prolonged survival can be achieved by combining radiotherapy with immunotherapy or targeted therapy. However, more randomized controlled trials or prospective studies are warranted to generate proper evidence that can be used to change the standard of care for patients with MBM.


Recent discoveries of circumbinary planets in Kepler data show that there is a viable channel of planet formation around binary main-sequence stars. Motivated by these discoveries, we have investigated the caustic structures and detectability of circumbinary planets in microlensing events. We have produced a suite of animations of caustics as a function of the projected separation and angle of the binary host to efficiently explore caustic structures over the entire circumbinary parameter space. Aided by these animations, we have derived a semi-empirical analytic expression for the location of planetary caustics, which are displaced in circumbinary lenses relative to those of planets with a single host. We have used this expression to show that the dominant source of caustic motion will be due to the planet's orbital motion and not that of the binary star. Finally, we estimate the fraction of circumbinary microlensing events that are recognizable as such to be significant (5%–50%) for binary projected separations in the range 0.1–0.5 in units of Einstein radii.


The biology of wound healing is not only important to scientists, but also to those involved clinically in caring for wounds. Knowledge gained about wound healing from the laboratory influences not only how certain wounds are created and treated, but also influences development of new products and methods designed to facilitate wound healing.


Mobile Ad hoc network (MANET) is a collection of mobile nodes that form a temporary dynamic network without any fixed infrastructure and centralized administration. In this type of network it is difficult to have the reliable & secure communication in MANET. In this paper we proposed a scheme against wormhole attack in MANET. In this research we proposed Wormhole attack Intrusion Detection as well as prevention Security Scheme (WIDPS) against wormhole attack using the IDP nodes. Using the proposed algorithm for detecting the wormhole node, IDP node will analyze the behavior each nodes based on packets send by the nodes, will detect the node with abnormal behavior. After that we prevent wormhole attack using broadcasting the particular identification (ID) of attacker so that no node in network replies to that request and secure the mobile ad-hoc network communication. Through our proposed work we provide reliable as well as secure communication in network from wormhole attack and measure the network performance on the basis of network parameter like routing load, throughput and packet delivery ratio.


Simulating plastic deformation of a material with a strength gradient from surface to center is not a standard industry practice. Although separate engineering groups have capabilities to perform thermal-structural or operational load analysis, neither have combined nor is focused on integrating effects from heat treatment and straightening operations. The objective of this research is to develop a simulation model to predict axial residual stress at radial holes in a carburized hollow transmission shaft. Abaqus CAE coupled with DANTE Heat Treatment kinetics software will be utilized to simulate the evolution of thermal and mechanical properties of different carburized shaft designs to determine the resulting residual stress at key features. Simulation data shows that the case and core layers react differently to features when a shaft has a bending or straightening load applied. Generally, shafts with smaller radial holes and a farther loading source exhibited compressive axial residual stresses at the case layer with lower average core tensile residual stresses while the shafts with larger radial hole diameters began with tensile stresses at the case following thru higher average core tensile stresses. The radial hole diameter and location only affected the case layer while all three studied features; hole diameter, location, and chamfer size, had significance on the core residual stress. This goes to show that the case and core layers are more complicated than previously thought. Future work should investigate further into how the core residual stresses play a role in fatigue failures.


Modern digital secondary system (DSS) technology uses digital communications among relays and remote digital sensors over high-speed fiber connections to perform fault detection and trip circuit control. A cyber vulnerability assessment of each proposed communications design is essential to evaluate the energy control system's reliability. Many cybersecurity technologies from numerous industries are promoted for use in DSS communications with unknown impacts. This paper introduces appropriate metrics and a cyber vulnerability assessment framework, using the attack tree method, to compare the cyber risk of available technologies to determine the dependability and security of digital control and protective trip circuits.


'Ignorance is expensive'. The statement also applies to ignorance of research inefficiencies that can generate huge waste: 85% of health research, amounting to $170 billion annually, is avoidably wasted. This alarming finding elicited a number of responses that have since reduced the waste in health research. Commonality of research and dissemination practices implies that other scientific fields could also benefit from identifying and quantifying waste and acting to reduce it. Yet, no estimate of research waste is available for other fields. Given that ecological issues interweave most of the UN sustainable development goals, we argue tackling research waste in ecology should be prioritized.Our study leads the way. We estimate components of waste in ecological research, based on a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Shockingly, our results suggest only 11%-18% of conducted ecological research reaches its full informative value. Our duty towards science, environment, organisms we study, and the public dictates that we should urgently act and reduce this considerable yet preventable loss, and harness the full potential of ecological research. We propose to achieve this through actions from researchers, funders, journals, and academic institutions. Finally, we call for other research fields to adopt our framework and derive comparable estimates across scientific disciplines.


The borylation of alkanes and arenes has become some of the most practical C-H bond functionalization chemistry. Most striking is the high regioselectivity of these reactions. Rhodium and ruthenium complexes catalyze with exquisite selectivity the borylation of methyl C-H bonds over methylene or methine C-H bonds. Iridium complexes catalyze, with high steric control, the borylation of one aromatic C-H bond over another. In contrast, iridium-catalyzed borylation of heteroaromatic C-H bonds is more controlled by electronic effects. Detailed information on these selectivities and mechanistic information on the origins of this regioselectivity will be described in this critical review (95 references).


Recently the question of eco-labelling has become increasingly important, especially when used as a green marketing tool. Surprisingly, the marketing placebo effect of eco-labelling and the influence it has on the performance of a product has received little attention.The purpose of this study is to explain the placebo effect of eco-labelling on consumer attitudes. Fishbein's model of attitudes is implemented whereby a focus group is used as a basis to create a questionnaire and a tasting experiment.The findings of the study provide an explanation and evidence of the placebo effect of eco-labelling. The product with an environmental label is perceived as tastier, healthier and of higher quality than the same product without ecological label.


Impact hammer and non-contact speaker excitation were applied to an asphalt concrete, a PVC-U and a concrete specimen to measure the fundamental longitudinal resonance frequency at different strain levels. The impact and the noncontact excitation methods resulted in similar resonance frequencies for the undamaged asphalt concrete and for the PVC-U specimen. However, the two excitation approaches gave different results for the concrete specimen, which was shown to have a nonlinear response to increasing strain levels. A reduction and a following recovery of the resonance frequency of the asphalt concrete were shown after the specimen was exposed to a small amount of damage. However, no fast nonlinear dynamics were observed for the asphalt concrete through the speaker measurements.


The Angiomatoid Fibrous Histiocytoma is a rare tumor of soft tissues, which occurs mainly in children and young adults, with low malignancy grade. It has the capacity of local recurrence, but rarely metastizes. It is frequently difficult to differentiate this from vascular tumors, namely hemangioendotheliomas and angiosarcomas, or simply organized hematomas. The authors present a case of a patient with an angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma of the arm, treated with radiotherapy after three postsurgical recurrences.


Despite numerous studies on the neurobiology of depression, the etiological and pathophysiological mechanisms of this disorder remain poorly understood. A large number of animal models and tests to evaluate depressive-like behavior have been developed. Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) is the most common and frequently used model of depression, and the sucrose preference test (SPT) is one of the most common tests for assessing anhedonia. However, not all laboratories can reproduce the main effects of CUMS, especially when this refers to a decrease in sucrose preference. It is also unknown how the state of anhedonia, assessed by the SPT, relates to the state of anhedonia in patients with depression. We analyzed the literature available in the PubMed database using keywords relevant to the topic of this narrative review. We hypothesize that the poor reproducibility of the CUMS model may be due to differences in sucrose consumption, which may be influenced by such factors as differences in sucrose preference concentration threshold, water and food deprivation, and differences in animals' susceptibility to stress. We also believe that comparisons between animal and human states of anhedonia should be made with caution because there are many inconsistencies between the two, including in assessment methods. We also tried to offer some recommendations that should improve the reproducibility of the CUMS model and provide a framework for future research.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of auricular acupressure on sleep in older adults with sleep disorders. Methods: This was a randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Fitbit Charge HRTM helped assess subjective sleep quality and objective sleep quantity, respectively. In addition, melatonin levels were measured. The participants aged over 65 years were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=26) and sham control group (n=25). PSQI, sleep quantity, and melatonin were measured before and 6 weeks after the experiment. In the experimental group, 4 (shenmen, heart, anterior lobe, occiput) and 4 (helix 1,2,3,4) areas were pressed 4 times a day for 6 weeks. Results: The difference of PSQI scores (t=-1.19, p=.239) and melatonin levels (Z=0.53, p=.598) between the experimental and sham control groups were not statistically significant. Light sleep time (F=4.71, p=.017), deep sleep time (F=15.11, p<.001), and rapid eye movement time (F=12.07, p<.001) of the experimental group showed a significant decline over time compared with the sham control group. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that auricular therapy is an effective intervention to improve the quantity of sleep in older adults with sleep disorders. Therefore, it is important to develop strategies to encourage pressure therapy to improve older adults' quality and quantity of sleep.


This paper proposes an optical networking paradigm suitable for future Internet services enabled by OpenFlow. The OpenFlow technology supports the programmability of network functions and protocols by separating the data plane and the control plane, which are currently vertically integrated in routers and switches. OpenFlow facilitates fundamental changes in the behaviour of networks and their associated protocols. This paper introduces an OpenFlow optical network architecture enabled by optical flow, optical flow switching elements and programmable OpenFlow controllers. The proposed solution allows intelligent, user controlled and programmable optical network service provisioning with the capability to operate any user defined network protocol and scenario.


Introduction: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a life-threatening neurological condition. There is limited evidence for the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) for long-term anticoagulation in this patient population. We report a case series of patients treated with apixaban and their clinical course. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Patients diagnosed with CVT in a defined time period at our institution were screened for long-term anticoagulation and patients who were treated with apixaban were included in this study. Results: A total of nine patients were included in this study. The mean age was 36 years and 56% of the patients included were women. All received initial anticoagulation with unfractionated heparin (UFH) infusion for at least twenty-four hours, except for one patient who had anti-thrombin III deficiency and was treated with argatroban infusion. For long-term anticoagulation, 56% of patients received apixaban 10 mg twice daily for the first five to seven days followed by 5 mg twice daily, while the remaining 44% were transitioned from IV anticoagulation to apixaban 5 mg twice daily. There were no adverse events reported, except for one patient who developed anemia after 7 months of treatment and required a blood transfusion. Complete recanalization was achieved in 78% while 22% had partial recanalization. Follow-up time ranged from six to twenty-three months. Conclusion: The use of apixaban for long-term anticoagulation in CVT resulted in recanalization in all of the patients in this case series without any major side effects. This case series adds to the emerging studies demonstrating the utility of apixaban for CVT.


This paper presents some dominant wave transmission characteristics of multimode round waveguide lines in the 4-kmc range of frequencies. The use of such waveguide lines offers the advantages of lower transmission losses than obtainable with single-mode rectangular waveguide, and relative ease of making good joints. Possible mode conversion effects, including dominant mode elliptical polarization, have been examined and found to be innocuous. As a result, cross-polarized dominant waves can be used to provide two reasonably independent signalling channels at the same frequency in one pipe. The experimental results obtained with a straight line 2.812-inch inside diameter and length of 150 feet are given.


We study source coding in the presence of side information, when the system can take actions that affect the availability, quality, or nature of the side information. We begin by extending the Wyner-Ziv problem of source coding with decoder side information to the case where the decoder is allowed to choose actions affecting the side information. We then consider the setting where actions are taken by the encoder, based on its observation of the source. Actions may have costs that are commensurate with the quality of the side information they yield, and an overall per-symbol cost constraint may be imposed. We characterize the achievable tradeoffs between rate, distortion, and cost in some of these problem settings. Among our findings is the fact that even in the absence of a cost constraint, greedily choosing the action associated with the "best" side information is, in general, suboptimal. A few examples are worked out.