Introduction: This study assessed the primary healthcare physicians' knowledge and practices toward the red flags of low back pain (LBP) and factors associated with awareness.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2020 and June 2021 in primary healthcare (PHC) settings in Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Questionnaires were electronically distributed among 261 primary physicians with a 96.1% response rate.
Result: Of the 261 physicians included, 56% were male, 49.4% were aged between 35 and 44 years, and 76.9% were non-Saudi. Moreover, 49% of the physicians had one to nine years of experience and 33.1% indicated that they deal with >30 patients with back pain per month. Furthermore, it was found that 86.9% of the participants were aware of the overall red flags of LBP. Job category and the number of cases were significant factors of perceived awareness. The highest level of self-reported awareness was among consultants. The rate of referral patients with nonspecific back pain was highest among general practitioners. More than 95% of the participants would refer patients to hospital if they noticed the presence of red flags for LBP.
Conclusion: Awareness of physicians practicing in PHCs through the red flags of LBP in Jazan is good, and recognition of the need for the referral of a patient with suspected critical illness is good as well.


PurposeThe paper aims to examine the influence of closed and open innovation practices on economic performance. This papert also examines the mediating roles of innovation performance and firm performance. The study uses innovation theory based on knowledge management for theoretical support.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology involves two steps. First, all the variables relevant to the adoption of innovative approaches and performance parameters are identified. Subsequently, primary data are gathered from decision-makers of 200 biotechnological firms and a structural equation modeling analysis is performed.FindingsThe study's results showed that the open innovation practice, such as interaction with large research and development (R&D) firms and customers, influences the performance parameters. The findings indicate that closed and open innovation practices positively impact performance measures like innovation, firm and economic performance. The results also indicate the mediating role of firm performance. However, the innovation performance was not found to mediate the relationship.Originality/valueThis examination gives experimental bits of knowledge from any confining influence innovation approaches in India. Analysts and specialists of firms can use the results of the current study to comprehend the effect of various innovation practices on different performance measures.


The European Union has decided to decrease the energy use for heating of buildings with 50% in 2050. To reach the target the amount of insulation in the building envelope has to increase. With conventional insulation materials, such as mineral wool and expanded polystyrene (EPS), the required additional thickness of the building envelope leads to a larger share of the building area dedicated for structural elements. A number of high performance thermal insulation materials and components have been introduced to the building market during the last decades which can give the same thermal resistance using a thinner construction. This report presents how insulation materials work. The properties of aerogels and vacuum insulation panels (VIP) are described more in detail. Heat transfer in thermal insulation materials is generally divided in heat conduction through the solid material, conduction through the gas molecules and radiation through the pores. Gas convection in the material can be important on a larger material scale and in porous materials, such as mineral wool. Aerogel for building applications has a thermal conductivity of around 14-16 mW/(m·K) while VIP can reach down to 4 mW/(m·K). This can be compared to EPS and stagnant air with a thermal conductivity of 36 and 25 mW/(m·K) respectively. Aerogel and VIP have small pores in the range of 10-100 nm which means the gas conductivity is reduced at atmospheric pressure. Up till now aerogel has been used in space industry, chemical industry and in sport equipment but not that much in buildings. A limiting factor is the high cost of the aerogel. Since the end of the 1990s VIP has been used in buildings but originally they were developed for refrigerators and cold shipping boxes. To use VIP in buildings, the architects and engineers have to pay special attention to attachment details since the VIP cannot be adapted on the construction site. Nevertheless, novel high performance thermal insulation materials could be an important and feasible solution to decrease the thickness of the building envelope while maintaining the thermal resistance. These materials create new opportunities for architects and engineers to design energy efficient buildings.


Poaching for the pet bird trade is one of the main threats to wild parrots. Parrots in urban areas might be exempt from poaching because nests are likely inaccessible in the urban mosaic of public and private lands where the public and authorities keep more effective vigilance than in natural habitats. We report on the demographics and fate of a small population of exotic Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao L.) introduced into the urban area of Haarlem in The Netherlands in the 1970's, which has a temperate, maritime climate, quite unlike the natural breeding area of the species. One breeding pair was reported, with successful breeding attempts in at least eight years between 1980 and 2009. A series of poaching events between 2005 and 2009 likely lead to the demise of the local nesting population of Scarlet Macaws.


Evolution of economic freedom in the countries of South America and the European Union during the years 1996–2022. The objective of the article is to describe and evaluate the evolution of economic freedom in the countries of South America and the European Union in the years 1996–2022. The basis of inference are the coefficients of economic freedom published since 1995 by The Heritage Foundation in Washington and Wall Street Journal for 184 countries around the world. The comparative analysis is carried out by country and in three sub-groups, which are : the countries of South America, the European countries which joined the European Union before 2003 (EU1) and after 2003 (EU2). In the empirical research, correlation, σ-convergence, σ-divergence and multivariate comparative analysis methods are used. The R program and the dtw and dtwclust packages are also applied. Accordingly, an in-depth assessment of the evolution of economic freedom was carried out in the 41 countries assessed, as well as separately in the three groups of countries analysed. It has been shown that in terms of economic freedom, EU1 countries outperform EU2 and South American countries. In conclusion, general remarks are presented on the relationship between the stages of changes in economic freedom and the institutional reforms aimed at a more complete democratization of countries and the development of a modern market economy.


Kurlychek and his colleagues have produced pioneering work to determine whether individuals whose last criminal conviction occurred many years ago exhibit a higher risk of acquiring a further conviction than do individuals with no record at all. This important work needs replication in another time and context. It also needs to be challenged on theoretical, methodological and empirical grounds. Our present study uses criminal conviction records from a one in 13 sample of offenders in England and Wales born in 1953 and 1958. Our findings broadly support the Kurlychek et al work but the approach needs modification. We consider the practical implications of our findings.


My research focuses on the first generation of only-children and their parents, to see how the only-children's marriage affects the relationships with their parents thus contributing to debates around intimacy and individualisation processes in China. Since the implementation of the one-child birth control policy in the late 1970s, the one-child family has become a common family type in urban China. With the shrinking of family size caused by reduction in the number of births, my research explores how this change, together with socioeconomic change, affects the intergenerational relationships in Chinese families. The Chinese family has traditionally involved a long-term contract between parents and children, in which parents raise children with the assumption that children would reciprocate by taking care of them in their old age. Scholars have asserted that under the influence of marketisation and consumerism, individualisation is rising which leads to the decline of moral behaviour and disintegration of family bonds, as well as obligations to elderly parents. Most existing research on intergenerational relationships in only-child families has adopted quantitative methods and often focuses on elderly care problems, overlooking the complexity of only-children's meaningmaking process in relation to their parents and the family. My research uses qualitative methods and involved interviews with 120 people from 30 only-child families, members of the couple and one of their respective parents. In the Chinese context, individualisation has had an impact on intergenerational relations in only-child families and existing theories generally see individualisation in terms of the selfishness of younger generations, with little exploration of the impact of individualisation from the point of view of older generations. My study fills this gap and the data reveals that both the only-child generation and the parent generation show a trend of individualisation, varying according to social background. However, relations between generations continue to be based on interdependence, and the importance of intergenerational interdependence is not confined to China. Although debates about individualisation in China situate it within the specific context, my work points out the need not to assume that it means people are actually more self-reliant. My work shows how the privatisation of support for families affects the relationships between older parents and their adult children.


In the present invention, in order to enable accurate detection of the position of a lens holder in an optical axis (O) direction, without exerting a negative impact on a position detection unit, a lens holder drive device (10) comprises a lens holder (14); a fixing part that includes a base member (12) which is disposed below the lens holder; a drive mechanism; an upper-side plate spring (22); a lower-side plate spring (24); and a position detection unit (34) that detects the position of the lens holder in the optical axis direction. The drive mechanism comprises a drive coil (16) that is fixed to the perimeter of the lens holder; a yoke (20) that has a substantially square columnar shape; and a drive magnet (18) that is disposed so as to face the drive coil in a first direction (Y) which is orthogonal to the optical axis direction. The position detection unit (34) includes: one sensor magnet (342a), of a pair, that is attached to a corresponding outer circumferential surface of the lens holder in a second direction (X) which is orthogonal to the optical axis direction and the first direction; and a magnetic sensing element (344) that faces the one sensor magnet and is provided to the base member (12).


Corona characteristics of lightning rods exposed to ambient fields due to cloud charges prior to negative leader descent are analyzed, taking into account rod slenderness and relative air density. A new formula is introduced to account for the effect such corona on upward connecting leader initiation. This quantifies the tendency of a sharp lightning rod towards self-shielding, which can be detrimental to the protection of a nearby object, particularly if this object is less susceptible to corona formation. The effect of corona due to cloud charge fields on the attractive radius of a solitary rod is also investigated. Based on discharge physics, the characteristics of a non-self shielding air terminal are then defined. Since large electrodes are susceptible to deteriorating corona performance due to protrusions and water drops, preference is given to a corona-free rod with the smallest diameter, under cloud charge fields. For tall rods or rods exposed to high ambient fields, however, the required diameter of a hemispherically capped rod may be impractical. The physical approach described in this paper satisfactorily accounts for the lightning performance of competing sharp and blunt rods in a previous field investigation.


Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential for neurocognitive function. This study aims at establishing a plausible link between level of serum BDNF, functional capacity (FC), and vascular function in 181 young (age 25.5±9.1 years old), apparently healthy adults. Fasting blood samples were drawn from participants' antecubital veins into plain glass tubes while they were in a sitting position to evaluate serum BDNF using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Mercury-in-silastic strain-gauge plethysmography was used to determine arterial function indices, blood flow and vascular resistance at rest and following 5 minutes of arterial ischemia. The 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) test was used to determine FC, according to the American Thoracic Society Committee on Proficiency Standards for Clinical Pulmonary Function Laboratories guidelines. It was conducted in an enclosed corridor on a flat surface with a circular track 33 meters long. The walking course was demarcated with bright colored cones. The 6MWD correlated with BDNF (r=0.3, p=0.000), as well as with forearm blood inflow (r=0.5, p=0.000) and vascular resistance (r = −0.4, p=0.000). Subsequent comparison showed that BDNF and blood inflow were greater (p<0.05) while vascular resistance was less (p<0.05) in participants who achieved a longer 6MWD. Similarly, BDNF correlated with forearm blood inflow (r=0.4, p=0.000) and vascular resistance (r = −0.4, p=0.000). Subsequent comparison showed improved vascular function (p<0.05) in the participants with greater BDNF. In conclusion, these findings might suggest that improved vascular function in individuals with greater FC is mediated, at least partially, by an enhanced serum BDNF level.


Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the composition of dental waste coming from six dental health services in Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: From 45 public dental clinics in Isfahan, six public dental health services were selected (three dental clinics and three dental centers). Waste collection took place from October to December 2011. During this period, three samples were collected from each dental clinic and were divided to pre-determined groups manually. Results: In dental centers, the amount of infectious, non-infectious and domestic-type waste accounting for 45.07%, 12.15% and 42.78%, respectively. Whereas in dental clinics the production rates of infectious, non-infectious and domestic-type waste accounting for 52.2%, 8.58% and 39.22%, respectively. Conclusion: Overall, according to the results it can be said that integration of infectious and hazardous waste with general waste leads to the amount of infectious waste appears much greater than it actually is. The collection and disposal of amalgam and other hazardous dental solid waste should be regulated as soon as possible and to decrease the costs of dental waste management the uncontaminated recyclable items, which contained approximately 33% of total dental waste should be recycled or reused if possible.


Sixty, finishing broilers aged 35 days were used to determine the Apparent, Nitrogen corrected and True metabolisable energy value of thevetia oil. The oil was subjected to heat treatment of 110°C for 25 minutes. Four experimental diets consisting of a basal diet and three other diets in which thevetia oil was substituted for 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0% of the basal diet. The experiment lasted for 10 days, made up of a 7-day adjustment period and a 3-day total collection period. Protein and fibre retention were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by dietary thevetia oil level Three regression equations were derived for estimating the metabolisable energy value of thevetia oil viz: y = 2990 + 61.9x (AME), y = 3076 + 59.8x (TME) and y = 2848 + 57.2x (AME n ). The Apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of thevetia oil was determined to be 9180kcal/kg and 9056kcal/kg respectively. Keywords: Thevetia oil, metabolisable energy, broiler finisher.


Two factors that their influence on the demand has been investigated in many papers are (i) the shelf space allocated to a product and to its complement or supplement products and (ii) the instantaneous inventory level seen by customers. Here we analyze the joint shelf space allocation and inventory decisions for multiple items with demand that depends on both factors. The traditional approach to solve inventory models with a state-dependent demand rate uses a time domain approach. However, this approach often does not lead to closed-form expressions for the profit rate with both dependencies. We analyze the problem in the inventory domain via level crossing theory. This approach leads to closed-form expressions for a large set of demand rate functions exhibiting both dependencies. These closed-form expressions substantially simplify the search for optimal solutions; thus we use them to solve the joint inventory control and shelf space allocation problem. We consider examples with two products to investigate the significance of capturing both demand dependencies. We show that in some settings it is important to capture both dependencies. We consider two heuristics, each one of them ignores one of the two dependencies. Using these heuristics it seems that ignoring the dependency on the shelf space might be less harmful than ignoring the dependency on the inventory level, which, based on computational results, can lead to profit losses of more than 6%. We demonstrate that retailers should use their operational control, e.g., reorder point, to promote higher demand products.


The application of dendrimeric constructs in medical diagnostics and therapeutics is increasing. Dendrimers have attracted attention due to their compact, spherical three-dimensional structures with surfaces that can be modified by the attachment of various drugs, hydrophilic or hydrophobic groups, or reporter molecules. In the literature, many modified dendrimer systems with various applications have been reported, including drug and gene delivery systems, biosensors, bioimaging contrast agents, tissue engineering, and therapeutic agents. Dendrimers are used for the delivery of macromolecules, miRNAs, siRNAs, and many other various biomedical applications, and they are ideal carriers for bioactive molecules. In addition, the conjugation of dendrimers with antibodies, proteins, and peptides allows for the design of vaccines with highly specific and predictable properties, and the role of dendrimers as carrier systems for vaccine antigens is increasing. In this work, we will focus on a review of the use of dendrimers in cancer diagnostics and therapy. Dendrimer-based nanosystems for drug delivery are commonly based on polyamidoamine dendrimers (PAMAM) that can be modified with drugs and contrast agents. Moreover, dendrimers can be successfully used as conjugates that deliver several substances simultaneously. The potential to develop dendrimers with multifunctional abilities has served as an impetus for the design of new molecular platforms for medical diagnostics and therapeutics.


Research on sports fans has demonstrated a positive relationship between fan identification and self-esteem. The current investigation extended previous research by testing media use as a moderator. The author hypothesized that media use would be positively associated with measures of fan identification and collective self-esteem and also moderate the relationship between these 2 variables. This is because media use enhances positive distinctiveness for fans of sports teams, leading to higher collective self-esteem levels because of the ability to get up-to-date information about the team or player they support. Data gathered from student fans (N = 203) of a major U.S. west coast university football team confirmed the author's expectations that sports fans' use of 4 types of media—print, broadcast, online, and mobile phones—moderated the relationship between fan identification and collective self-esteem, with online media having the greatest impact on this relationship.


Abstract This article develops a probabilistic approach for assessing transport network vulnerability. A novel performance measure is proposed to evaluate the expected impact when multiple transport network components fail simultaneously at various degrees. The proposed measure captures both the likelihood and consequence of a combination of transport network component failures. The most critical combination of transport network component failures is obtained by solving a bi-level optimization problem. The upper-level problem is to solve for the combination of transport network components together with their corresponding disruption levels, which induces the maximum reduction in the performance measure. The lower-level problem is to capture the response of travelers to network changes due to network component failures and is formulated as a traffic assignment problem. The clonal selection algorithm (CSA), a biologically inspired approach, is adopted to tackle the proposed bi-level optimization problem. Numerical results indicate that neglecting partial capacity degradation and its probability of occurrence could misestimate the worst scenario, and different vulnerability assessment approaches could identify similar critical components but our approach can discover some components that are not found by other existing approaches. Moreover, it is shown that the CSA outperforms the well-known genetic algorithm in terms of solution quality in a large network.


National dance is an important symbol of national spiritual culture, as it embodies each nation's unique history, living habits, ideology, and culture. Many Chinese ethnic groups have developed their own dance forms and styles, each with their own set of charms. Strengthening our understanding of its style and characteristics is critical to our understanding of the national dance. To begin with, this paper proposes a patch-based multiview stereo reconstruction scheme that can accurately reconstruct 3D character models. The movement capture system then collects national dance movement data and uses them to drive a three-dimensional character model that generates dance visual animation. In the human skeleton model, a spatial-temporal HMM (hidden Markov model) is proposed that not only studies the temporal information of human movements but also the spatial information of adjacent connection points. The recognition rate of this algorithm increases to 95.68 percent when the number of setting points is increased to ten and to 98.28 percent when the number of setting points is increased to twenty, according to the research. The experimental results show that the 3D reconstruction model of ethnic dance developed in this paper is capable of meeting the goal of ethnic dance digitalization while being simple to use, being low in cost, and with a good display effect.


The authors analyse the multiplexing of a small number of independent and homogenous ON-OFF traffic sources into a single packet switched buffer: a possible model of VoIP in a local internet. This work complements a previous paper in which a large number of sources was considered. It is shown how a previously developed formula for queues can be applied to this system, allowing accurate calculation of the buffer overflow probability.


The challenges faced by software vendor in competing for tenders in todays are massive and are desperately in need of intervention by the kind people of the research community. With very small resources available at their disposal, it is a daunting task them in the pursue to gain new software development projects each time new tenders are coming out. The objective of this publication is to propose an initial model that utilizes meta-requirement as a medium to validate the User Requirement Specification document that is included in the RFT. Looking forward, an algorithm will be developed for realizing the associations that was define in the propose model.


Background: The heart consumes more energy per gram than any other organ, and myo- cardial metabolic demands are further increased in the failing heart. As heart failure (HF) progresses, the myocardium develops defects in substrate utilization including reduced fatty acid utilization and insulin resistance that impair glucose uptake. Synthetic GLP-1 agonists improve insulin sensitivity and represent promising metabolic modulators for patients with HF. Methods: The Functional Impact of GLP-1 for Heart Failure Treatment (FIGHT) study is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial in high-risk HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (LVEF ≤ Background: Exercise intolerance is a cardinal feature of heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection (HFpEF) perpetuates sedentary behavior, deconditioning and frailty. While nitrates are commonly prescribed for symptom relief in HFpEF, no study has tested their effect in HFpEF. Hypothesis: Isosorbide mononitrate (ISMN) will enhance activity tolerance in HFpEF and thus, daily activity as assessed by patient worn accelerometry devices (AXM). Methods: NEAT-HFpEF was a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, 12 wk crossover study of ambulatory HFpEF patients (n=110). Entry criteria included HF symptoms, EF ≥ 50% and objective clinical (HF hospitalization), biomarker (NT-proBNP) or echocardiographic evidence of HF. During each 6 wk phase of the crossover study, patients took no study drug for 2 weeks (Baseline/Washout), then 30 mg for one wk, 60 mg for one wk and 120 mg for two wks. The primary endpoint was average daily accelerometry units (ADAU) during 2 wks of 120 mg/day of ISMN versus placebo as assessed by hip worn, tri-axial AXM worn throughout the study. Secondary endpoints included alternate activity indices (hours active/day at 120 mg dose and ADAU during all doses (30-120 mg)), six minute walk distance (6MWD), quality of life (QOL) scores, NT-proBNP and dose response. Treatment effect (TE) analysis adjusted for phase, sequence, baseline values and random effect of each patient. Results: Baseline characteristics (median or %): Age (69 yrs), Female (57%), BMI (34.7 kg/m 2 ), NYHA II (53%) or III (45%) symptoms, KCCQ QOL score (54), 6MWD (312 m).ISMN tended to decrease ADAU at the 120 mg dose (TE -381, p=0.06) and sig- nificantly decreased hours active/day during 120 mg (TE -0.3 hours, p=0.02) and ADAU during all doses, (TE -439, p=0.02). ADAU decreased progressively and significantly as the ISMN (but not placebo) dose increased. ISMN had no effect on 6MWD, QOL scores or NT-proBNP. Numerically more patients had side effects during ISMN. Conclusions: These findings do not support use of ISMN in HFpEF. Reduced activity during ISMN is of concern as decreased activity promotes frailty. Data on activity from patient worn devices provides unique, patient-centric information about the impact of HF therapies on patient's lives. Introduction: Worsening chronic heart failure (WCHF) is a major public health problem. The objective of this study was to determine the safety, efficacy, and optimal dose of vericiguat, a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator, in patients with WCHF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Methods: The SOCRATES-REDUCED trial was a phase II, dose-finding study of stable patients with LVEF<45% within 4 weeks of a WCHF event. Patients were randomized to placebo or 1 of 4 target doses of vericiguat (1.25 mg, 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg) for 12 weeks. The primary end point was the change from baseline to week 12 , in log-transformed NT-proBNP level. Primary analysis specified pooled comparison of the 3 highest dose vericiguat arms with placebo. Pre-specified secondary analyses included effects of individual vericiguat dose arms and testing for a vericiguat dose-response rela- tionship. Results: Overall, 456 patients were randomized and 351 patients were eligible for primary end point analysis. In primary analysis, change in log-transformed NT-proBNP from baseline to week 12 was not significantly different between the pooled vericiguat group and placebo (ratio of geometric means 0.885, p=0.151). In secondary analysis, there was a dose-response relationship (p=0.017) and the 10 mg vericiguat arm showed greater reductions in log-transformed NT-proBNP than placebo at 12 weeks (ratio of geometric means 0.779, p=0.048). In the 10 mg vericiguat arm, LVEF increased at 12 weeks compared to placebo (+3.7% vs +1.5%, p=0.021). There were no significant differences in blood pressure and heart rate at 12 weeks between 10 mg vericiguat and placebo arms and adverse events were not increased. At 12 weeks, numerically fewer patients in the 5 mg (11 patients) and 10 mg vericiguat groups (10 patients) experienced cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization compared to placebo (18 patients). Conclusions: Although the primary analysis of the primary end point was not achieved, compared to placebo, patients receiving vericiguat 10mg daily experienced a greater reduction in NT-proBNP, greater improvement in LVEF, and fewer clinical events. As titrated in this study, vericiguat doses up to 10 mg daily were safe and did not meaningfully influence blood pressure and heart rate at 12 weeks. Introduction: Heart failure is a prevalent health problem associated with costly hospital read- missions. Transitional care programs have been shown to reduce readmissions but are costly to implement. Evidence regarding the effectiveness of telemonitoring in managing the care of this chronic condition is mixed. The Better Effectiveness After Transition - Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) study is a comparative effectiveness study designed to evaluate an interven- tion that combines a telephonic adaptation of care transition programs with telemonitoring. Hypothesis: a care transition intervention that includes pre-discharge education about heart failure and post-discharge telephone nurse coaching combined with home telemonitoring of weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and symptoms will reduce all-cause 180-day hospi- tal readmissions for older adults hospitalized with heart failure. Methods: 1437 individuals admitted between October 2011 and September 2013 were enrolled in a multi-center, ran- domized controlled trial conducted at six academic health systems in California. Patients in the intervention group received intensive patient education using the 'teach-back' method and received instruction in using telemonitoring equipment. Following hospital discharge, they received up to nine scheduled health coaching telephone calls over 6 months from nurses located in a centralized call center. The nurses also called patients and patients' physicians in response to alerts generated by the telemonitoring system, based on predetermined parame- ters. Results: This presentation will report on the study primary outcome, readmission for any cause within 180 days, and on secondary outcomes including 30-day readmission, 30-day mortality, and 180-day mortality. Conclusions: BEAT-HF is one of the largest randomized controlled trials of telemonitoring in patients with heart failure, and the first explicitly to adapt the care transition approach and combine it with remote telemonitoring. The study population also includes patients with a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Background: Improving myocardial contractile function remains an attractive therapeutic target in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Omecamtiv mecar-bil (OM) is a novel selective cardiac myosin activator which when administered intravenously increases stroke volume by prolonging LV systolic ejection time (SET) without increasing heart rate or decreasing blood pressure. COSMIC-HF (NCT 01786512) was a Phase 2 study designed to select an oral modified-release formulation and dose of OM in patients with chronic HFrEF, and to characterize its pharmacokinetics (PK) and effects on cardiac function, as well as its safety and tolerability during 20 weeks of treatment. Methods: COSMIC-HF was a two-phase, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in outpa- tients with a history of optimally-treated chronic HF, LVEF ≤40%, and NT-proBNP ≥200 pg/mL (≥1200 pg/mL in patients with atrial fibrillation). Two cohorts were studied during the initial dose escalation phase; Cohort 1 was randomized 1:1:1:1 to 25 mg BID of one of three OM oral formulations or placebo for 7 days. Cohort 2 was randomized in the same manner to 50 mg BID. Based on PK, safety and tolerability, one formulation was advanced into the expansion phase, where patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive the selected OM formulation in one of two treatment groups (25 mg BID or PK-based dose escalation to 50 mg BID) or placebo for 20 weeks. PK, echocardiographic 1 the The will be presented. Conclusion: In addition to providing information on the of the formulation, COSMIC-HF will furnish some data addressing the hypothesis that oral administration of OM can increase SET and provide a sustained effect on cardiac performance in patients with chronic HFrEF. Honarpour: Employment; Significant; employee and stockholder of Amgen. Background: Less than a third of smokers hospitalized with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remain abstinent following discharge. We assessed whether varenicline, begun in-hospital, is efficacious for smoking cessation following ACS. Methods: We conducted a multi-center, dou- ble-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which smokers hospitalized with an ACS were randomized to varenicline (1.0 mg twice daily) or matched placebo for 12 weeks. All patients received low-intensity counseling. The primary endpoint was point prevalence smoking abstinence assessed at 24 weeks by 7-day recall and biochemical validation using expired carbon monoxide. Results: A total of 302 patients were randomized in the US and Canada. Demographic, smoking, and clinical characteristics were well balanced between th


ObjectiveWe aim to examine changes in usage of nonbiologic, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and evaluate their continuation rates in Japan.MethodsWe analyzed DMARD treatment data for 3,734 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from 1998 to 2009 at Juntendo Hospital in Tokyo, Japan. The DMARD usage rate per month was determined to evaluate RA treatment history in the last decade. We also evaluated continuation rates of nonbiologic DMARDs in single and combination therapies and number of nonbiologic DMARD combination therapies used in each patient.ResultsWe found that nonbiologic DMARD usage has dramatically changed in the last decade, with the most commonly used DMARD shifting from bucillamine to methotrexate (MTX). MTX showed the highest continuation rate; however, much lower continuation rate was observed when used alone rather than in combination treatments. Further, MTX was also used in the highest number of different combination therapies for a particular patient.ConclusionsThese findings indicate that single MTX treatment may be unable to keep patients in clinical remission or lower disease activity compared with several combination therapies. Recent change in permitted maximum dosage of MTX from 8 to 16 mg/week may improve its efficacy and continuation rate in treating Japanese RA patients.


An optical interconnect transceiver incorporates a 4-tap FIR TX to reduce VCSEL average current and an integrating/double-sampling RX to eliminate the need for a bit-rate TIA. A dual-loop CDR with baud-rate phase detection further reduces power and area. Fabricated in a 1V 90nm CMOS process, the transceiver achieves 16Gb/s operation while consuming 129mW and occupying 0.105mm2


Using Swedish data, we investigate how audit quality and audit pricing vary with audit firm and office size. In contrast to prior studies, we use disciplinary sanctions issued against auditors not meeting the quality requirement as the measure of audit quality. We find no significant differences in the likelihood of sanctions between Big 4 audit firms and the fifth and sixth largest audit firms in Sweden (Grant Thornton and BDO). We refer to these collectively as 'Top 6'. However, we find that the probabilities of warnings or exclusions from the profession are much higher for non-Top 6 auditors in Sweden than for Top 6 auditors. Furthermore, we find a strong negative association between the likelihood of sanctions and audit office size for non-Top 6 auditors. This association is insignificant for Top 6 audit firms. Audit fees follow a similar pattern and indicate that larger audit firms and offices put in more effort or have greater expertise. These results suggest that audit quality is differentiated in the private segment market. However, contrary to prior studies, our results suggest that the important dimensions are Top 6 versus non-Top 6 and the office size of non-Top 6 audit firms.


To the Editor .—Because of the variety of therapies employed in Reye syndrome, Dr. Peter Huttenlocher of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn, and I have drawn up a protocol designed to evaluate the effectiveness of frequently used regimens. The study has been devised on a multihospital basis with the following hospitals already participating: Harbor General Hospital, Torrance, Calif. (Dr. Marvin Weil); Children's Hospital of Buffalo (Dr. M. Cohen); Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta (Dr. J. Schwartz); Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit (Dr. J. Finnegan); and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec (Dr. B. Lemieux). We would be pleased to have other hospitals join us in this endeavor. In acting as coordinator for the study, I will provide a copy of the protocol and other information on this study to other interested physicians.


This thesis shows that citizens whose policy concerns are higher on political elites' agendas are more likely to be satisfied with democracy and to vote in elections. It develops a theoretical framework to explain the influence of the previously neglected variable priority congruence on democratic satisfaction and turnout and provides empirical evidence for it. The thesis thereby makes significant contributions to our knowledge about the ingredients of democratic legitimacy. Previous research shows that political representation, as measured by proximity between citizens' and elites' policy positions, is linked to democratic satisfaction. In this thesis, it is argued that congruence in priorities has a similar effect because citizens are likely to perceive elites who emphasise their concerns as responsive to societal needs and public opinion. The empirical analyses suggest that democratic satisfaction is indeed influenced by priority congruence, yet less so amongst more politically sophisticated individuals as well as in younger democracies and countries with lower levels of democracy and governance. These differences are probably due to variation in citizens' expectations towards elite behaviour and the democratic system. Elite attention to citizens' concerns moreover influences their decision to turn out in elections. If voters' issue priorities are salient in the campaign, they are likely to perceive the election to be more important. Moreover, they will find it easier to evaluate parties and make their vote choice. These mechanisms are shown to be less relevant amongst partisans, since party attachment mobilises voters and facilitates their vote choice. Again, previous policy-based explanations of turnout focus on positions, largely ignoring priorities. The hypotheses are tested through statistical analysis of data from voter and candidate surveys as well as media content analyses. The data come from all 27 European Union countries in 2009, whereby several hypotheses are only tested in Germany due to data availability.


This study aims to show an ability of Ontology, which is a formal explicit description of concepts in a domain of interest, in an activity-based microsimulation. Thus, an agent-based carpooling application using ontology techniques is presented as a case study with a focus on three functions of the Ontology. First, Ontology facilitates integrating between heterogeneous databases by defining the relationship between their concepts. Second, Ontology verifies the compatibility and consistency between the different angles to combine varied models in a common structure by providing shared knowledge between different domains modelling with the definition of objects and concepts. Lastly, Ontology is useful for modelling agent communication by means of making explicit the parsed message between agents with the shared knowledge. This paper introduces related studies and basic knowledge about using methodologies, and supports an example of using Ontology in an agent-based carpooling simulation. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of [name organizer]


BACKGROUND
Transferrin is a useful index of visceral protein, but it is unknown whether changes in the level of transferrin can be used as a prognostic marker for patients receiving nutrition support.

METHODS
Consecutive in one-year period, we recorded the data of 325 patients who with unusable gastrointestinal tract received total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for more than 2 weeks. The data included the levels of serum transferrin, albumin, total bilirubin, hemoglobin and white blood cell before and after 2-week nutrition support. Age, sex, body weight, diagnosis, and hospital outcome were also recorded. A total of 305 patients with complete initial data and 221 patients with data on TPN-induced level change were enrolled and evaluated statistically.

RESULTS
The mortality rate was 47.6% in the group of patients who showed no increase of serum transferrin after 2 weeks of TPN. Univariate analysis revealed that the initial level and TPN-induced changes of serum transferrin, albumin and total bilirubin were significantly correlated with patient survival. However, multivariate analysis showed that the initial level of transferrin, albumin, total bilirubin and the TPN-induced level changes in transferrin were independent factors significantly correlated with patient survival. Two of the most the significant factors among them were initial level of transferrin (p < 0.0001, odds ratio = 2.4838) and change in serum transferrin level after 2 weeks of TPN (p < 0.0001, odds ratio = 2.664).

CONCLUSIONS
Changes in serum transferrin level in patients with intestinal failure who received TPN for 2 weeks appear to be a good indicator of patient outcome.


IoT application domains, device diversity and connectivity are rapidly growing. IoT devices control various functions in smart homes and buildings, smart cities, and smart factories, making these devices an attractive target for attackers. On the other hand, the large variability of different application scenarios and inherent heterogeneity of devices make it very challenging to reliably detect abnormal IoT device behaviors and distinguish these from benign behaviors. Existing approaches for detecting attacks are mostly limited to attacks directly compromising individual IoT devices, or, require predefined detection policies. They cannot detect attacks that utilize the control plane of the IoT system to trigger actions in an unintended/malicious context, e.g., opening a smart lock while the smart home residents are absent. In this paper, we tackle this problem and propose ARGUS, the first self-learning intrusion detection system for detecting contextual attacks on IoT environments, in which the attacker maliciously invokes IoT device actions to reach its goals. ARGUS monitors the contextual setting based on the state and actions of IoT devices in the environment. An unsupervised Deep Neural Network (DNN) is used for modeling the typical contextual device behavior and detecting actions taking place in abnormal contextual settings. This unsupervised approach ensures that ARGUS is not restricted to detecting previously known attacks but is also able to detect new attacks. We evaluated ARGUS on heterogeneous real-world smart-home settings and achieve at least an F1-Score of 99.64% for each setup, with a false positive rate (FPR) of at most 0.03%.


We discuss designs of type-2 fuzzy logic systems (FLSs), where the FLSs are based on rules collected from surveys of multiple experts. Two kinds of uncertainties occur in this problem: 1) the uncertainty due to different experts giving different answers to the same question; and 2) the linguistic uncertainty associated with the labels of the fuzzy sets. The latter causes different experts to assign different values to membership function parameters. We show how both kinds of uncertainties can be approached within the framework of type-2 FLSs. Uncertainty about answers to questions is treated using two different approaches: averaging the responses, or preserving all the responses. The former is computationally more efficient; however, the latter provides more information and can be used when such information is deemed useful. Uncertainty about labels of fuzzy sets is handled directly by using type-2 fuzzy sets. We demonstrate that both kinds of uncertainties can affect the crisp output of a type-2 FLS.


One of the main issues for companies and organisations is choosing the most appropriate supplier regarding social issues. Besides traditional criteria, companies started to focus on social issues in supplier selection. The methods of group decision making are well established approaches to tackle this issue which could allow decision makers to determine socially selected suppliers' problems. Many existing researches, nonetheless, encompasses scant review of ambiguity which is involved in the process of selecting suppliers. Hence, this study aims to propose a method combines the strength of the Fuzzy sets to deal with an uncertainty or vagueness with AHP-TOPSIS approach to select suppliers by concerning social aspects. AHP method used to identify criteria weights and TOPSIS approach is utilized to sort and select the best appropriate supplier. According to the literature review and company requirements, the criteria in social perspectives was developed to eight criteria. This study uses the questionnaire to gather data from top five manager's judgements who had been chosen based on purpose and self-selection sampling in each department. A case study was carried out in Thailand in the Tyre rubber sector to validate result. The findings demonstrate that Job security (34%) is the most important criteria, following by Employees' health and safety (16%) and Training programs (12%) respectively. The study also presents that "Supplier D" is the most suitable supplier above other suppliers.


Following from recent developments in Hubalek and Kyprianou [28], the objective of this paper is to provide further methods for constructing new families of scale functions for spectrally negative Levy processes which are completely explicit. This is the result of an observation in the aforementioned paper which permits feeding the theory of Bernstein functions directly into the Wiener-Hopf factorization for spectrally negative Levy processes. Many new, concrete examples of scale functions are offered although the methodology in principle delivers still more explicit examples than those listed.


Introduction: Patients who are suffering from breast cancer have numerous problems. Watson's Theory of Human Caring seems to be proper in caring for these patients. This theory stresses the humanistic aspects of nursing as they interfere with scientific knowledge and nursing practice. This study implemented Watson's theory in preparing a Persian woman with breast cancer to accept the treatment process. Methods: In this case study, the patient was selected from the patients referring to a hospital in a city in Iran. Open-ended interview and observation were used to collect the required data. The process of the study was done in five stages. Results: After implementation of Watson's theory in a five-step interview, the patient's disappointment and despair were reduced and the patient agreed to continue the treatment process. Conclusions: Watson's theory of caring is likely to bring love and hope back to patients with breast cancer in bad physical and mental conditions. By applying 10 caring factors of this theory, a humanitarian relationship is established with the patient; this relationship is based upon love and hope. The patient is able to express her feelings and continue the treatment process by trusting God, applying her spirituality, and gaining supports from family and friends.


Statement of Problem: Plaque control and its instruction is an important part of dental treatments which guarantees the long term success of the periodontal and dental care. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of the oral hygiene instruction given to the patients on the amount of awareness and improving their attitude and practice. Method and Material: For this purpose, a number of 100 patients were selected randomly and instructed oral hygiene methods. The patients filled out a questionnaire including 14 questions derived from OHI-S questionnaire of WHO at the beginning of the study and at the intervals of one and two weeks and 1-month. The plaque index of all the patients was measured by an examiner on the base of O'Leary plaque index. After comparing the  pre and post oral health questionnaires, changes in the rate of attitude, awareness and practice of patients were analyzed with paired t-test. Results: One month after oral hygiene instruction, the patients' awareness and attitude increased by 46% ( p = 0.021) and  123% ( p = 0.018) respectively. The plaque index decreased by 43.27% ( p = 0.018). All of the parameters showed a significant difference from baseline ( p <0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that repeated oral hygiene instruction makes a significant improvement on the amount of awareness, attitude and practice of patients in relation to plaque control. Key words: Oral hygiene instruction, Plaque index, Awareness, Attitude, Practice


Twenty one subjects with sistemic arterial hypertension and arteriographic signs of obstructive lesion of the renal artery were studied and classified in 3 groups: group A, 13 cases with bilateral renovascular lesions; group B, 4 patients with unilateral renovascular stenosis and group C, formed by 4 subjects with a segmental branch stenosis of a renal artery. In all cases an special protocol was followed to measure plasma renin activity (PRA) in blood taken from a peripheral vein, inferior vena cava and both renal veins and also to determine 24 hrs. urinary excretion of aldosterone (UEA). PRA and UEA were clasified as high, normal and low by comparing the results with those of normal subjects in a nomogram estimated in the same laboratory in which PRA and UEA values were correlated with 24 hrs. urinari sodium excretion. Besides, R greater than /R less than index (highest PRA of renal vein blood/PRA of contralateral renal vein) and V-A A index (V = PRA of renal vein blood; A = PRA of inferior vena cava) were calculated. Forty eight and thirty eight percentage of the cases had either high renin in peripheral venous blood or high UEA. Similar data in patients with essential hypertension previously studied in the same laboratory were 12 and 10% respectively. V-A A index was incongruent with the arteriographic image in 3 cases of group B; 4 cases of group A and 2 of group B had a pattern of bilateral stenosis, and one case in each group A and C had a unilateral stenosis pattern. In the other patients the samples were "non representative" due to a high level of PRA in the inferior vena cava blood comparable to PRA of the renal veins. Six cases of group A had a R greater than /R less than index superior to 1.5, which suggested a predominant vascular lesion in one side not always congruent with the arteriographic findings. In 3 cases of group B this index was higher than 1.5 in favor of the ipsilateral lesion. Three cases of group C had a normal R greater than /R less than index and one with a total oclussion of a segmental artery presented an index superior to 1.5, ipsilateral to the lesion. The latter index was of value in the diagnosis of renovascular arterial hypertension.


To assess the effect of a glucose infusion on brain extracellular fluid (ECF) during systemic hypoxia, changes in glucose and lactate concentrations in cerebral ECF during and after moderate hypoxic hypoxia were measured in adult, conscious, unrestrained rats, with a microdialysis probe in the posterior hippocampus. The rats were given either saline (n = 6) or 50% glucose solution (n = 6) for 3 h, starting 60 min before the onset of hypoxia. Hypoxia was produced by circulating 7% O2 gas in a plastic chamber for 90 min. In saline-infused animals, brain ECF glucose concentrations decreased slightly during hypoxia, although blood glucose concentrations did not change. Blood lactate concentrations increased to 6.28 +/- 0.91 mM, at 60 min after the onset of hypoxia (P less than 0.05). Brain ECF lactate concentrations increased to 3.53 +/- 0.20 mM and remained constant during 60 min of steady-state hypoxia (P less than 0.05) and decreased to the basal level within 60 min after the end of hypoxia. When sodium lactate solution was infused intravenously for 90 min (n = 4), blood lactate concentrations increased to a level as high as those found during hypoxia. However, the brain ECF lactate concentration increased only to 1.86 +/- 0.09 mM. In glucose-infused animals, the blood glucose concentration reached 339.1 +/- 32.3 mg/dl at the end of the glucose infusion, and the brain ECF glucose concentration increased to 54.7 +/- 7.3 mg/dl.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The problem of aiming control is formulated as the problem of residence time controllability in dynamical systems with stochastic perturbations. The solution is given for linear systems with small, additive, white noise perturbation. It is shown that the existence of the desired aiming controller depends on the relationship between the column spaces of the control and noise matrices. If the former includes the latter, any precision of aiming is possible. If this inclusion does not occur, the precision is bounded, and we give lower and upper estimates of this bound. For each of these cases, aiming controller design techniques are suggested and illustrative examples are considered. The development is based on an asymptotic version of the large deviations theory. I i lba work ha been sowored by the Air Force Office of Sciendfic Researda under Co at F496206-C-0079. The United Stans Govmmunem is aluboid to teproduce ad diuibum reprus for Voevanemal puposes nowi d any copyriO noWos beIeon. i


International law evolved to end and prevent armed conflict as much as for any other reason. Yet, the law against war appears weaker today than ever in its long history, evidenced by raging armed conflicts in which people are killed, injured, and forcibly displaced. The environment is devastated, and the planet impoverished. These consequences can be traced to the dominant ideology of realism. In 1946, Hersch Lauterpacht challenged that ideology by contrasting it with the idea of international law, composed of natural law, positive law, and process theory. The Art of Law in the International Community revives his vision, rebuilding the understanding of why international law binds, what its norms require, and how courts are the ideal substitutes for war. The secret to the renewal of international law lies in revitalizing the moral foundation of natural law through drawing on aesthetic philosophy and the arts.


Liver transplantation for metastases of neuroendocrine tumors is still a subject of controversial discussion. Over the years, more and more data have been collected to demonstrate that transplantation is feasible and contributes to long-term overall survival. Most data are of retrospective nature and, thus, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions. Over the years, indications, surgical technique and perioperative care have improved. The most recent data have been collected prospectively and show a very favorable outcome in selected patients. Liver transplantation should be considered in patients with neuroendocrine liver metastases, but the decision needs to be made on an individual basis with particular emphasis on the tumor biology. In the future, we may need to work more with living organ donation and perhaps, especially in Europe, think about challenging the scoring system model of end-stage liver disease for this indication.


This paper analyses the Granger-causality relationship between the growth of the real GDP per capita and the public debt, here represented by the ratio of the current primary surplus/GDP and the ratio of the gross Government debt/GDP. Using OECD annual data for 20 countries between 1988 and 2001, we adapt the methodology recently applied by Erdil and Yetkiner (2008) and we conclude that there is clear Granger causality and that it is always bi-directional. In addition, our findings point to a heterogeneous behaviour across the different countries. These results have important policy implications since not only does public debt restrain economic growth, but also real GDP per capita growth influences the evolution of public debt. JEL classification: C23; C12; H6


The objective of the study was to compare standard manual X-ray measurements of vertebral deformities and values obtained from the Ortelius 800. 52 Patients (41 females and 11 males: mean age 20.35 years) with adolescent vertebral deformities, was studied. The patients were evaluated with standard radiographic views and the Ortelius 800. The parameters considered for the comparison were the angles of scoliosis and kyphosis and the values of global axial deformity, shoulder asymmetry and pelvic tilt. We also evaluated the modification of pelvic/shoulder angle after surgery (this parameter allows to evaluate vertebral rotation and can be derived only from the Ortelius 800). This study allowed us to conclude that there is a perfect agreement between measurements with the Ortelius 800 and those resulting from standard x-rays. The system has also proved to have the capability of quantifying changes in vertebral rotation.


A 13‐year‐old patient was admitted to our hospital with severe respiratory distress, fever, and signs of meningeal infection. A positive result of swine flu was obtained by RT‐PCR. All bacterial cultures were negative. Due to a worsening progression, the patient required mechanical ventilation. Leucocytosis with neutrophilia was observed with an absence of immature granulocytes and thrombocytopenia. A blood film was therefore examined, observing 85% of botryoid neutrophils, hypersegmented, and radially distributed nuclear lobs, and a large number of apoptotic cells. There was an elevated nucleus‐cytoplasm ratio and neutrophils presented as slightly degranulated. The detection of botryoid nuclei in the neutrophils is a very infrequent finding and are usually found in cases of severe burns, hyperthermia, abuse of cocaine and methamphetamine, and encephalitis. Current studies also suggest that some morphometric measurements (cell population data [CPD]) can be altered in the case of sepsis and serious infection. In this particular case, [NE‐SSC] = 159.9, [NE‐FSC] = 94.6, and [NE‐SFL] = 65.5, which correspond to measures of cellular complexity, size, and fluorescence and were above normal threshold values (performed by Sysmex XN20). Current studies directly relate the increase of NE‐SSC > 149 in patients presenting with sepsis. The CPD and abnormal neutrophil morphology improved as the patient recovered. Results normalized by day 30 postdischarge.


In philosophy, Ontology is the basic description of things in the world. In information science, an ontology refers to an engineering artifact, constituted by a specific vocabulary used to describe a certain reality. Ontologies have been proposed for validating both conceptual models and conceptual schemas; however, these roles are quite dissimilar. In this article, we show that ontologies can be better understood if we classify the different uses of the term as it appears in the literature. First, we explain Ontology (upper case O) as used in Philosophy. Then, we propose a differentiation between ontologies of information systems and ontologies for information systems. All three concepts have an important role in information science. We clarify the different meanings and uses of Ontology and ontologies through a comparison of research by Wand and Weber and by Guarino in ontology-driven information systems. The contributions of this article are twofold: (a) It provides a better understanding of what ontologies are, and (b) it explains the double role of ontologies in information science research.


Immunohistochemistry using a broad panel of markers is an invaluable tool for diagnosing sarcomatoid mesothelioma. Membranous podoplanin staining has been proposed as a specific and sensitive marker to distinguish epithelioid mesothelioma from adenocarcinoma. We found that cytoplasmic podoplanin staining was present in sarcomatoid mesotheliomas, and wanted to explore the reproducibility and specificity of this staining pattern. Immunohistochemistry for podoplanin, using 2 podoplanin antibodies (antipodoplanin and D2-40), was performed in 55 mesotheliomas (24 epithelioid, 18 sarcomatoid, and 13 biphasic), 80 pulmonary adenocarcinomas, 8 synovial sarcomas, and 16 sarcomatoid carcinomas. Expression of calretinin, vimentin, MOC31, and TTF-1 was also examined in all adenocarcinomas, sarcomatoid carcinomas, 7 synovial sarcomas, and 21 of the mesotheliomas. Calretinin staining performed previously on an additional 31 mesotheliomas was reviewed. Using membranous or cytoplasmic staining as indicative of positivity, we found that antipodoplanin and D2-40 each stained 84% of mesotheliomas (antipodoplanin: 46/55; D2-40: 38/44), including 72% of sarcomatoid mesotheliomas (antipodoplanin: 13/18; D2-40: 11/14). With antipodoplanin antibody, no staining was seen in the pulmonary adenocarcinomas (0/80, 0%) or the synovial sarcomas (0/8, 0%), and weak cytoplasmic staining was seen in only 1 sarcomatoid carcinoma (1/15, 7%). D2-40 showed similar results, staining 3% (2/80) of pulmonary adenocarcinomas, 13% (1/8) of synovial sarcomas, and 8% (1/13) of sarcomatoid carcinomas. Overall sensitivities and specificities were 84% and 99% for antipodoplanin, and 86% and 96% for D2-40. These findings suggest that cytoplasmic podoplanin expression may be useful in the diagnosis of sarcomatoid mesothelioma, although it should be used with caution on biopsy material.


This research combines the efficiency of the artificial neural network and wavelet transform in modelling rainfall.  The data used were decomposed into continuous wavelet signals on a scale of 48. Each of the decomposed series was subjected to correlation test with the original data.  Instead of using all the series, ten series were selected on the basis of high correlation with the original data. These series included CWT 1, CWT 2, CWT 4, CWT 3, CWT 6, CWT 8, CWT 5, CWT 10, CWT 12, and CWT 7 (according to rank). The analysis showed that except in extremely rare cases, all the series performed optimally compared to the original data.  The result of the study has been able to show that using the continuous wavelet transform in the ANN technique, a better performance of the network is observed.


Abstract The efficacy of antibiotic resistance (barrier) precautions for control of aminoglycoside resistance was evaluated from 1978 to 1981. Despite increasing aminoglycoside use and a 13-fold increase in aminoglycoside-resistant isolates on a newly opened oncology unit, the hospital-wide frequency of aminoglycoside resistant Enterobacteriaceae remained low, supporting the continued value of barrier precautions which were initiated in our hospital in 1974. This control enabled us to focus on exceptions to the effectiveness of barrier precautions. These were traced to environmental reservoirs, very chronic and heavily infected patients, asymptomatic carriers of Serratia, and oncology patients receiving oral non-absorbable aminoglycosides. In addition, resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa paralleled aminoglycoside use and, as in our prior experience, continued to rise. With increasing adoption of barrier precautions by others such exceptions should be anticipated.


Visually rich documents (VRDs) are ubiquitous in daily business and life. Examples are purchase receipts, insurance policy documents, custom declaration forms and so on. In VRDs, visual and layout information is critical for document understanding, and texts in such documents cannot be serialized into the one-dimensional sequence without losing information. Classic information extraction models such as BiLSTM-CRF typically operate on text sequences and do not incorporate visual features. In this paper, we introduce a graph convolution based model to combine textual and visual information presented in VRDs. Graph embeddings are trained to summarize the context of a text segment in the document, and further combined with text embeddings for entity extraction. Extensive experiments have been conducted to show that our method outperforms BiLSTM-CRF baselines by significant margins, on two real-world datasets. Additionally, ablation studies are also performed to evaluate the effectiveness of each component of our model.


Introduction: G-quadruplexes (G4s) are targets of great interest because of their roles in crucial biological processes, such as aging and cancer. G4s are based on the formation of G-quartets, stabilised by Hoogsteen-type hydrogen bonds and by interaction with cations between the tetrads. These biologically relevant conformations were first discovered in eukaryotic chromosomal telomeric DNA, but have also been found in the proximal location of promoters in a number of human genes. Therefore, the extensive analysis of an intriguing target could move towards the rational drug design of new selective anticancer agents. Areas covered: The authors review G4 structural characterisation, with detailed insight related to the polymorphism issue. The authors describe the topologically distinct G4 structural forms and the factors involved in their interconversion mechanisms, such as the sequence of the oligonucleotides, the strand stoichiometry and orientation, the syn–anti conformation of the guanine glycosidic bonds and the G4 loop types and the environmental factors. Furthermore, the authors report several studies related to folding and unfolding kinetic profiles in order to understand the conformational view of monomolecular G4 formations. Expert opinion: G4 unimolecular nucleic acids can be considered as valid targets for the rational drug development of novel anticancer agents. Structural biology represents an essential link between the biology and medicinal chemistry knowledge in this field. In silico methods have already been demonstrated to be useful, especially if well integrated with biophysical tests. If this proves successful, the G4-targeting paradigm could also be extended to drug discovery beyond neoplastic pathologies.


Gaseous fuels have always been established as an assuring way to lessen emissions in Spark Ignition engines. In particular, LPG resolved to be an affirmative fuel for SI engines because of their efficient combustion properties, lower emissions and higher knock resistance. This paper investigates performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a microcontroller based electronic LPG gaseous phase port injection system. Experiments were carried out in a single cylinder diesel engine altered to behave as SI engine with LPG as fuel at a compression ratio of 10.5:1. The engine was regulated at 1500 rpm at a throttle position of 20% at diverse equivalence ratios. The test results were compared with that of the carburetion system. The results showed that there was an increase in brake power output and brake thermal efficiency with LPG gas phase injection. There was an appreciable extension in the lean limit of operation and maximum brake power output under lean conditions. LPG injection technique significantly reduces hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Also, it extremely enhances the rate of combustion and helps in extending the lean limit of LPG. There was a minimal increase of NOx emissions over the lean operating range due to higher temperature. On the whole it is concluded that port injection of LPG is best suitable in terms of performance and emission for LPG fuelled lean burn SI engine.


Twitter stream has become a large source of information for many people, but the magnitude of tweets and the noisy nature of its content have made harvesting the knowledge from Twitter a challenging task for researchers for a long time. Aiming at overcoming some of the main challenges of extracting the hidden information from tweet streams, this work proposes a new approach for real-time detection of news events from the Twitter stream. We divide our approach into three steps. The first step is to use a neural network or deep learning to detect news-relevant tweets from the stream. The second step is to apply a novel streaming data clustering algorithm to the detected news tweets to form news events. The third and final step is to rank the detected events based on the size of the event clusters and growth speed of the tweet frequencies. We evaluate the proposed system on a large, publicly available corpus of annotated news events from Twitter. As part of the evaluation, we compare our approach with a related state-of-the-art solution. Overall, our experiments and user-based evaluation show that our approach on detecting current (real) news events delivers a state-of-the-art performance.


In the paper a Geographlcal Information System (GIS) which may assist Sustainable Development (SD) planning for a local area is developed. This GISSD systesn is linked to a Decision Support System (DSS) for a oompound evaluation of spatio-temporal development patterns in the context of selected SD criteria. The whole system is then applied at the test area of the Greek Sparades Islands in the Aegean Sea, for which also the relevant data are selected and collected. Preliminary results show that GIS may be successfully employed to assist, monitor and control ecologically sustainable economie development for a region. Ihis can be achieved by applying various strategie policies based on optimum from the sustainability point of view development scenarios generated by our system.


Contrary to what is often assumed, norm-internalisation does not always lead to compliance. Normative judgements may be simultaneously internalised and outwardly rejected. Non-compliance is at times a result of hyper-awareness of the particular origin of norms, rather than an unwillingness of the would-be-recipients to do 'good' deeds, or their inability to understand what is 'good'. Such is often the case for non-Western states, as I demonstrate in this article by utilising the sociological concepts of stigma and stigmatisation. In its inability to acknowledge this dynamic, which has its roots in the colonial past of the international order, the constructivist model of norm-diffusion commits two errors. On the one hand, it falls short as a causal explanation, conflating internalisation with socialisation, and socialisation with compliance. On the other hand, it reproduces existing hierarchies in the international system, treating only non-compliance as endogenously driven, but compliance as a result of external stimuli. As there is a great deal of correlation between non-compliance and political geography, such a depiction, coupled with the fact that most norms under scrutiny are 'good' norms, once again casts non-Western states as having agency only when they commit 'bad' deeds.


The contributions of rice in alleviating hunger and poverty among rural households in Kenya has led to the belief that better rice technologies can contribute in enhancing the role of rice in poverty reduction. It is for this reason that this study attempts to analyse the economic performance of rice technologies and their effects to rural households in West Kano Irrigation Scheme (WKIS) of Western Kenya. The study involved a survey of 123 households on their rice farming activities and field experimental trials on Conventional paddy and Systems of Rice Intensification (SRI) technologies. Conventional paddy system is a method of rice production where about 21 days or older seedlings are transplanted. Random planting and smaller spacing, usually 20cm by 15cm spacing or less is maintained, with 2 to 3 seedlings per hill, while on the other hand, SRI is rice production technology which involves transplanting 8-12 days old seedlings to the main field in order to maximize the tillering potential with single seedling per hill, with a wider spacing. Results of the study indicated that 89% of the households produced rice for both consumption and commercial purposes. Findings also indicated that the SRI system saved about 64% of water compared to the conventional paddy system. Experimental results showed that the yield difference between Conventional paddy method and SRI when 12 days old transplanted seedlings for SRI were compared with 21 days old seedlings for Conventional paddy system, the yields for IR2793 rice variety when SRI was used increased by up to 33.4 % compared to Conventional paddy method. In the case of basmati 370 rice variety, SRI increased grain yield of up to 53.3 % compared to Conventional paddy method. The study reveals that SRI method of rice production saves about 64% of water compared to the Conventional method. Furthermore, net revenue margins for SRI was higher by KSh. 58,275 (US 583) per acre of land. In conclusion, therefore, there is need to adopt the SRI method of spacing 25cm by 25 cm, since water is a very scarce commodity in the study area. Hence, adoption of this SRI method of rice production would be an important instrument for poverty reduction among the rural households of West Kano irrigation scheme and Kenya at large.


Background:Many antiretroviral drugs used in HIV care involve complex drug metabolism by CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 enzymes, and drug interactions are problematic clinically. AMD070, a novel entry inhibitor, is an inhibitor of X4-tropic HIV virus. In vitro data suggested that it is a CYP3A4 substrate and may inhibit CYP2D6 and CYP3A4. Methods:Twelve healthy subjects were given a single oral dose of 5 mg of midazolam and 30 mg of dextromethorphan on day 1 and 9, and 200 mg of AMD070 twice daily on days 2 through 9 (inclusive). Pharmacokinetic parameters of midazolam and dextromethorphan were assessed alone and in the presence of AMD070. Results:The mean AUC0-24 and Cmax of dextromethorphan increased 2.86-fold (2.20 to 5.10, 90% confidence interval [CI]) and 2.52-fold (1.99 to 4.24, 90% CI), respectively, in the presence of AMD070. Plasma AUC0-12 of midazolam increased 1.33-fold (1.15 to 1.61, 90% CI) without change in Cmax. The half-life did not change for both drugs, but significant, parallel decrease in apparent oral clearance and volume of distribution was observed. Conclusions:The data support an alteration in bioavailability due to an AMD070-mediated inhibition of presystemic metabolism, though an intestinal P-glycoprotein effect could also be contributing. Interactions between AMD070 with CYP3A4 and, especially, 2D6 substrates of clinical importance in HIV care should be further explored.


A refined approach for the implementation of preview control in discrete time based on methods from earlier work is given. This allows the use of multiple preview inputs and reduces the system order of a discrete-time preview system significantly with respect to former methods, while describing the dynamic system in an exact form and yielding an equivalent control law. This method is applied to a limited-bandwidth quarter-car system, which incorporates an actuator in series with a passive spring, the combination being in parallel with a passive damper. Control design is carried out using discrete-time linear quadratic regulator (LQR) theory with tyre deflection, suspension working space, vertical body acceleration and control demand. How the optimal preview control law works in a physical sense is worked out regarding the feedforward gain matrix. It is shown that, as a part of the optimal control strategy, the preview controller "concentrates" in some sense on what it can do best for any amount of preview time. The conclusions from that are backed up considering performance indices and their components for variation of preview time, actuator bandwidth and the constraints in the cost function. Emphasis is put on the investigation of how the actuator bandwidth influences the performance capabilities of the system. General relationships between cast reduction, cost-component reduction, preview time and system bandwidth are exposed. By increasing preview time, the cost function can be reduced until it reaches a saturation value, which depends on the actuator bandwidth chosen. Increasing the actuator bandwidth beyond a certain value has only a small influence on the preview time needed for the diminishing returns to set in. Improving the road holding requires fast actuators, but comparatively short preview distances. Ride comfort can be influenced by a rather slow controller, but requires a long preview time.


Rh(III)-catalyzed direct vinylic C-H cyanation reaction has been developed as a practical method for the synthesis of alkenyl nitriles. N-Cyano-N-phenyl-p-methylbenzenesulfonamide (NCTS), a user-friendly cyanation reagent, was used in the transformation. Both acrylamides and ketoximes can be employed in the new C-H cyanation process.


The Interior Northwest Landscape Analysis System is a partnership among researchers and natural resource managers from both the public and private sectors. The project is an effort to increase our understanding of the role of vegetative succession, natural disturbance, and management actions at the watershed scale. The effort will advance the development and application of integrated landscape-level planning tools (models, methods, and information) that use consistent assumptions and common data. Focusing on the subbasin (landscape units of about 202 300 ha) and smaller scales, we will demonstrate the use of existing and new landscape simulation tools to project future succession, disturbance, and management under various policy scenarios. These scenarios will compare different approaches to achieving short- and long-term ecosystem goals and the effects of regulatory constraints, ownership patterns, and limited budgets. Of specific interest is the measurement of the long-term cumulative effects of fuels management and other treatments on key resources. The project is using a 178 000 ha watershed in northeast Oregon to prototype modeling tools and methods. The results of landscape simulations will help to inform the debate over sustainability of forest, range, and aquatic ecosystems in the intermountain West.


Orf is a zoonotic skin disease which is commonly self-diagnosed by those who tend sheep and goats. This paper reports the prevalence, incidence and risk factors associated with the infection in a cohort of farmworkers from three areas of England, derived from the results of self-reporting and serology. Twentythree per cent of those employed or living on a sheep farm reported ever having had orf, and the antibody serological profiles indicated a prevalence of 4 per cent and an annual incidence of 2-8 per cent. The main risk factors associated with the infection were contact with sheep, the size of the sheep flock, and contact with dogs.


Weight–length relationships of some of the most abundant bivalve species from the Algarve coast (southern Portugal) captured during several exploratory fishing surveys carried out during 2000 on a soft bottom in the subtidal zone down to 25 m depth are reported. For this study a total of 7429 individuals were sampled, belonging to 25 bivalve species in nine families. The most represented families were Mactridae and Veneridae with six species, immediately followed by the families Cardiidae (five species) and Donacidae (three species). The results revealed that most species presented isometric (11 species) or positive allometric relationships (11 species), while only a small minority of species displayed negative growth (three species).


This article examines the influence of gender and type of school on leadership behavior among school teachers. The first aim of this study was to examine the differences between men and women teachers with respect to their perceived leadership behavior, and the second aim was to examine the differences between private and government school teachers with respect to their perceived leadership behavior. For the study 434 primary school teachers were selected from primary schools in Mysore city, India. The instrument used to measure the leadership behavior was Ideal Leader Behavior – Form XII by Stogdill (1963). Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, and two way ANOVA. The results revealed Male and female teachers scored equally on leadership behaviour. Further, school type had significant influence over leadership behaviour, where teachers working private schools had higher leadership behaviour scores compared to teachers working in governmentt schools.


Pericarditis is the commonest form of pericardial disease. Unfortunately, despite optimal treatment, approximately 15–30% of patients with acute pericarditis have recurrence. Many of these patients are refractory to colchicine, and become corticosteroid-dependent. Recurrent pericarditis severely impairs quality of life, and is associated with significant morbidity. Inflammasome formation and overproduction of interleukin (IL)-1 have been found to drive the systemic inflammatory response in recurrent autoinflammatory pericarditis. Several IL-1 inhibitors have been evaluated for their usefulness as therapeutic options. Rilonacept is a dimeric fusion protein that functions as a soluble decoy receptor that binds to both IL-1α and IL-1β, thereby inhibiting the IL-1 pathway. It is safe and efficacious in the treatment of recurrent pericarditis in the RHAPSODY II and III trials. Anakinra is a recombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist that blocks the action of circulating IL-1α and IL-1β. It has also been shown to be safe and efficacious in the AIRTRIP and IRAP studies. Canakinumab is a selective human monoclonal antibody against IL-1β, and data on its use in recurrent pericarditis is scarce. Several questions regarding IL-1 inhibitor therapy, such as the duration of treatment and the recommended tapering protocols, as well as their use in special populations like pregnant or lactating women, remain unanswered and need to be addressed in future studies.


This paper proposes a rule for optimizing a predictive discriminant function (PDF) in discriminant analysis (DA). In this study, we carried out a  sequential-stepwise analysis on the predictor variables and a percentage-N-fold cross-validation on the data set obtained from students' academic records in a university system. The hit rates, P(a) result obtained for the optimized PDF, Z(OPT) calibrated on training and validation sets, when compared with that of PDF, Z obtained using the conventional rule, showed a significant improvement in terms of how well each PDF classifies cases into values of the categorical dependent. It was also discovered that the optimized PDF, Z(OPT) produces consistent high hit rates with little variability, thereby reducing the problem of overfitting. Keywords : Optimal Predictive function, Overfitting, sequential-stepwise analysis, percentage-N-fold cross-validation


Appl Cognit Psychol. 2018;32:823–829. Abstract Recent research has linked mindfulness to adults' false memory formation. This study investigated the effects of mindfulness on adolescents' event memory and suggestibility by using an "extensive" 8‐week mindfulness program, an active control group, and a participatory to‐be‐remembered event. Students aged 13 to 14 were randomly assigned to a mindfulness or active control condition (socioemotional learning). After the seventh week, students participated in a target event and were immediately interviewed during which misleading information was presented. A week later, those in the mindfulness condition incorrectly reported more false information compared with those in the control group. Mindful practice did not affect memory encoding but had a negative effect during retention and retrieval. These findings suggest that adolescents who are exposed to mindfulness exercises may be susceptible to memory intrusions. Professionals should therefore be especially careful to avoid using suggestive and leading questions during investigative interviews with mindful adolescents.


Ab s t r Ac t Aim and objective: In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the alexithymia and dental fear levels and to reveal the relationship between alexithymia and dental fear of healthy individuals undergoing tooth extraction for orthodontic reasons. Materials and methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted between June 2019 and December 2019 in orthodontic patients who had their teeth extracted in Van Yuzuncu Yil University, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral, Maxillofacial Surgery and Orthodontics Department and a private dental clinic in Van province. Questionnaires consisted of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, which determines the level of alexithymia and the Dental Fear Scale, which measures dental fear levels were performed 1 week after the tooth extractions. Results: Of the 260 individuals included in the study, 180 were female and 80 were male. The age of individuals ranged from 11 to 41, and the mean age was 19.97 ± 5.82. There was no statistically significant difference between the rates of alexithymia in individuals by age and gender (p value > 0.05). The levels of dental fear and alexithymia of individuals do not differ statistically according to the place of treatment (p value > 0.05). The positive relationship between individuals' dental fear and alexithymia levels was found to be statistically significant (r = 0.239, p value < 0.01). Conclusion: In this study, it was revealed that when individuals' level of dental fear increased, the level of alexithymia increased. Clinical significance: The presence of alexithymia should be investigated in individuals who are considered to have difficulty in cooperating because of dental fear in the clinic. Both dental fears and alexithymies of individuals should be handled separately before dental treatment.


Video denoising based on temporal or spatiotemporal filtering is highly effective but computationally expensive due to the requirement of motion estimation. Encoder-integrated denoising is an efficient framework that embeds the filtering process into the encoding pipeline so that motion estimation for denoising can be avoided. State-of-the-arts encoder-integrated methods use Least Minimum Mean Square Error (LMMSE) optimal filters to reduce noise based on additive noise models. However, in practice, the LMMSE filters could result in blurred edges and visual artifacts due to inaccurate image signal estimation caused by outlier input samples and non-adaptivity within macroblocks. This paper presents new recursive bilateral filters that can be easily integrated into video encoders to tackle the limitations of the LMMSE filters. The robustness of the bilateral filters results in substantially better objective and subjective quality with marginal computation cost increase.


In 2016, a "Work bonus'' should replace the French earned income tax credit (PPE) and the in-work benefit (RSA activite). For this occasion, I take stock of what we know about low-income policies in France and what we can expect from the reform. Will the "Work Bonus" be an efficient scheme to maintain work incentives and reduce poverty among fragile populations (single parents, young workers)? Will it reach a more reasonable take-up rate than the "RSA activite" (only 32%)? Could it be combined with a modulation of the minimum wage with age in order to reduce unemployment among young workers? I will attempt to shed light on these crucial questions.


In the 90s, Galileo Avionica (GA Radar Systems Business Unit) has developed the GRIFO Radar, a multimode-multirole pulse Doppler radar, devoted to occupy an important role in the family of the radar for weapon release. In the last 15 years more than 400 units have been sold to five Air Forces, for more than 100,000 hours of operative flights. The need for the implementation of high-resolution modes, with seaborne targets identification for the Italian Navy, pushed to the extension of the Grifo Radar to high-resolution applications. This paper describes the results obtained with a modified version of this device, indicated as Experimental HR-Grifo, with high-resolution capabilities. Based on the low-resolution modes of the Grifo, this radar allowed to search and track the targets, and to acquire the pertinent high-resolution signals, making use of the Deramp On Receive technique. In the experimental version the signals were recorded and processed offline during the flight and in the lab, to tune the algorithms and to experience the problems related to the sub-metric resolutions. A number of flights, onboard the GA Aircraft, and ground sessions have been performed with air, ground and sea cooperative military moving targets. The experience in the hardware design and the amount of high-resolution data recorded has allowed the finalization of high-resolution modes (SAR and ISAR) in the last versions of the Grifo Radar which is going to flight test these applications in real time on November 2007.


Summary Haemangiopericytomas of central nervous system (CNS) were first defined as a separate entity in 1942. Previously they were either considered to be a histological variant of an angioblastic meningioma or a distinctive mesenchymal neoplasm. Most commonly they are located in parasagittal and falcine region. Tumours in the sellar=parasellar location are very rare and commonly escape diagnosis before operation. They are characterised by high vascularity, a high rate of local recurrence and extraneuronal metastasis. We report a 35-year-old man with a suprasellar hemangiopericytoma who presented with bilateral diminution of vision in both eyes and frontal headache. Six months after the first operation, he developed a large local recurrence. He again underwent tumour decompression followed by postoperative conformal radiotherapy and is currently asymptomatic and stable clinically and radiologically. The various differential diagnoses, the importance of a preoperative suspicion of this diagnosis and management are issues discussed in this illustrated review.


Quadruple fluidized bed gasifier (QFBG) is a new kind of clean power-generation system, which consists of a dual fluidized bed (DFB) gasifier and a dual fluidized bed of chemical looping. With high gasification efficiency and low carbon emissions, QFBG has attracted extensive attention. Hydrodynamic characteristics of the quadruple fluidized bed (QFB) system are the base of modeling and designing of a hot reactor. To fully understand the hydrodynamic characteristics, a cold flow model of the QFB system on a laboratory scale was designed and set up. In the cold model, operation parameters such as bubble fluidized bed velocity, riser velocity, and total solid inventory (TSI) were investigated. Meanwhile, an exclusive pressure balance equation of QFB is proposed. The QFB was also compared with DFB. The results from the experiment show that the QFB system has a positive response to the operation parameters and better solid transport capacity than the typical DFB system.


In the aftermath of George Floyd's death at the hands of the police, protests against racism and police brutality ignited in the United States and across the world. Nevertheless, the deadly violence against Black, Indigenous, and Other People of Color (BIPOC) has continued. To date, little action has been taken to prevent these and similar acts of cruelty, which also stand as testament to the longstanding history of systemic racism in the United States. These events have forced institutions of higher education to reckon with the realities of racial inequality. This has been the case in Library and Information Science (LIS), which has struggled to adequately address issues of race and racial inequity since the founding of the profession. This special issue of Education for Information addresses this gap with an impressive array of pieces, covering a wide range of topics, from a diverse group of scholars. Renate Chancellor, Shari Lee, Anthony Dunbar, Rajesh Singh and Paige Deloach introduce the topic on race relations in LIS by contributing a thought piece following the Floyd killing and protests. Amber Matthews uses Critical Race Theory to counter contemporary revisionist perspectives in public libraries to illustrate how they further perpetuate monocultural normativity and structural racism. Ana Ndumu and Shaundra Walker introduce an HBCU-inspired framework to counter racist educational practices. Rajesh Singh and Kevin Rioux propose an Advanced Certificate in Social Justice for Information Professionals that offers both current LIS practitioners and LIS students a curriculum grounded in principles of social justice. Phillippe Mongeon, Alison Brown, Ratna Dhaliwal, Jessalyn Hill and Amber Matthews emphasize the lack of research on race by providing a bibliometric analysis of LIS scholarship. Collectively, these papers contribute new knowledge and offer actionable measures that can help move the discipline towards taking a proactive stance on racism and racial equity in LIS.


To clarify the rationale for using rTMS of dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) to treat dystonia, we examined how the motor system reacts to an inhibitory form of rTMS applied to the PMd in healthy subjects and in a group of patients with focal hand dystonia and DYT1 gene carriers. Continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (cTBS) with 300 and 600 pulses (cTBS300 and cTBS600) was applied to PMd, and its after‐effects were quantified by measuring the amplitude of MEPs evoked by single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the primary motor cortex (M1), short interval intracortical inhibition/facilitation (SICI/ICF) within M1, the third phase of spinal reciprocal inhibition (RI), and writing tests. In addition, in DYT1 gene carriers, the effects of cTBS300 over M1 and PMd on MEPs were studied in separate experiments. In healthy subjects, cTBS300 and cTBS600 over PMd suppressed MEPs for 30 min or more and cTBS600 decreased SICI and RI. In contrast, neither form of cTBS over PMd had any significant effect on MEPs, while cTBS600 increased effectiveness of SICI and RI and improved writing in patients with writer's cramp. NMDYT1 had a normal response to cTBS300 over left PMd. We suggest that the reduced PMd to M1 interaction in dystonic patients is likely to be due to reduced excitability of PMd‐M1 connections. The possible therapeutic effects of premotor rTMS may therefore involve indirect effects of PMd on SICI and RI, which this study has shown can be normalised by cTBS. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society


This paper presents a new system level simulator that has been developed to evaluate E-UMTS (Enhanced Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems) 3G Networks. The article describes how the simulator supports different mobility, propagation, and traffic generation models and how this simulation framework can be used to evaluate new protocols, algorithms, or resource management mechanisms. Specific models and performance details for a sample scenario of a business city center are also provided.


The enzymatic levels of peroxidases were found to increase in chile pepper fruit during ripening. Previous work indicated that peroxidases were associated with the cuticle of the fruit where the enzymatic levels correlated with cuticle thickening and disease resistance. Fruit harvested at intervals throughout the growing season showed incremental increases in total peroxidase enzyme levels and increased intensity in the activity of an acidic isozyme form of pl = 4.0 in polyacrylamide gels. Fast protein liquid chromatography on an anion-exchange column yielded an acidic peroxidase enzyme activity in both green and red chile fruits. This peroxidase was purified 75-fold. The fraction of peroxidase activity in a 28.3 kDa form increased from immature green to fully ripened red fruits, and it dominated in fully ripened red chile fruits. This activity was markedly stable in in vitro incubations up to 60 C for 15 min. Similar incubations above 70°C decreased peroxidase activity. The optimal pH for fruit peroxidase enzymatic activity was 6 with nearly equivalent stability over the range for 6-8. These results indicate that alternate forms of chile fruit peroxidases vary during fruit ripening, are stable at elevated temperatures, and demonstrate broad pH optima during the ripening stages.