During the late Cold War, the United States and Western European countries offshored migration control to less powerful nations by converting them into buffer zones. Buffer zones had long been used to provide nations with military protection; now they were imagined as protecting nations from migrants by obstructing their movement. This practice had human rights implications. Beginning in the 1970s, the idea flourished that the defense of individual human rights was a transnational mandate that extended beyond the protections granted by particular nation-states. Ironically, the transnational practice of extending migration controls beyond individual nation-states that developed in the 1980s opened the door to increased human rights violations. This essay explores these dynamics by focusing on how, during the 1980s, U.S. officials pressured Mexican authorities to enter into a Faustian bargain that limited Mexico's sovereign right to determine its immigration practices. U.S. policymakers insisted that they would turn a blind eye to Mexican migration if Mexican officials suppressed Central American migration into and through Mexico. In turn, Mexico's leaders instituted measures to stop Central Americans from reaching the United States. These measures did not curtail transmigration, but they did lead to widespread violence and human rights abuses.


ABSTRACT Most research on mathematical play and learning is focused on early childhood. This study examines how mathematical play and learning manifest in older children in a mathematical videogame designed by the first author, Rolly's Adventure. We examined how players experienced mathematical play as they played Rolly's Adventure, with a particular focus on failure paired with feedback. We used video and audio recordings of the players and their bodies, and screen capture of their gameplay. Spoken language, physical gestures, and digital actions were our primary sources of identifying, understanding, and triangulating mathematical play. We found that players pass through five zones of mathematical play that build upon each other and closely interrelate, and that these zones each involve different types of failure, feedback, and learning experiences. This paper provides a productive definition of mathematical play, introduces a framework that describes players' mathematical play experiences, and presents five design principles that can be leveraged to support mathematical play.


This thesis examines how adults with learning difficulties experience self-advocacy in their families. I take a qualitative approach, using in-depth interviewing. My work explores participatory research with people with learning difficulties, involving a small group of people with learning difficulties as co-researchers. I use a dialectical materialist understanding of disability, based on the social model. The thesis adds to the recent theorising of learning difficulty. People with learning difficulties are discussed as an oppressed group. The social identity of adults with learning difficulties is that they need care and control, and are like children. Self-advocacy is shown to claim autonomy and adulthood. This thesis argues that self-advocacy challenges the social identity of learning difficulty, but that the oppression of people with learning difficulties is such that their attempts to self-organise are limited.

The thesis examines the challenge to family roles implicit in this. While the principles of self-advocacy apply to home life, in my research practice did not consciously transfer self-advocacy to home. Service influence and the role of advisers were significant. Nevertheless, for my respondents, self-advocacy did impact at home. Day-to-day control at home seemed to be allowed, with real control still resting with parents. The thesis uses models from family literature to illuminate control and autonomy at home. The traditional concept of the 'handicapped family is undermined by my research. Stereotypes of controlling parents holding back their adult children were not found, but the values of independence and separateness are not desirable to all families or adults with learning difficulties. My work links adult status to the identity of learning difficulty itself, exploring how people define themselves.


Our knowledge of the freshwater cyclopid copepods of the Visayas Islands remains poor as compared to other terrestrial and aquatic fauna. This study focuses on two genera, Mesocyclops and Thermocyclops , which are common components of lake plankton communities. This study included specimens collected from 59 sampling sites found in major islands (Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar) and a small island (Pacijan) in the Visayas region. Four species of Mesocyclops and three species of Thermocyclops were identified. This includes the first record of Mesocyclops woutersi in the Philippines, which was so far unknown from insular SE Asia. The endemic Mesocyclops microlasius , previously reported from Luzon Island, was also found in Lake Danao (Pacijan Island). An identification key to Philippine species of Mesocyclops and Thermocyclops is herein provided. Geographic distribution and possible causes of the low number of species observed and their implications for further faunal studies are also discussed.


In this study, tadpole-like single chain polymer nanoparticles (TSCPNs) were efficiently synthesized by intramolecularly cross-linking P4VP block of commercial block polymer of PMMA2250-b-P4VP286 in N,N-dimethylformamide using propargyl bromide as cross-linking agent. The intramolecular cross-linking reaction led to the production of TSCPNs with a linear tail and a cross-linked head. The as-prepared TSCPNs were then applied as emulsifier to stabilize water in chlorobenzene emulsion, and an extremely stabilized water in oil (W/O) emulsion was generated at a low TSCPNs concentration. The TSCPNs concentration was as low as 0.0075 wt % versus total weight of water and chlorobenzene for emulsion formation. The emulsifying performance of TSCPNs was better than that of low molecular surfactant, such as Span-80. The generated W/O emulsion provided an ideal medium for the reduction of oil-soluble p-nitroanisole by water-soluble sulfide to p-anisidine, an effective contact problem between the two reactants with different solubility was well solved through interfacial reaction.


Multi-armed bandits are extensively used to model sequential decision-making, making them ubiquitous in many real-life applications such as online recommender systems and wireless networking. We consider a multi-agent setting where each agent solves their own bandit instance endowed with a different set of arms. Their goal is to minimize their group regret while collaborating via some communication protocol over a given network. Previous literature on this problem only considered arm heterogeneity and networked agents separately. In this work, we introduce a setting that encompasses both features. For this novel setting, we first provide a rigorous regret analysis for a standard flooding protocol combined with the classic UCB policy. Then, to mitigate the issue of high communication costs incurred by flooding in complex networks, we propose a new protocol called Flooding with Absorption (FwA). We provide a theoretical analysis of the resulting regret bound and discuss the advantages of using FwA over flooding. Lastly, we experimentally verify on various scenarios, including dynamic networks, that FwA leads to significantly lower communication costs despite minimal regret performance loss compared to other network protocols.


The November 2006 death of Alexander Litvinenko through the ingestion of Po (polonium-210) has reignited the debate concerning the possibility of future malicious use of radioactive materials. However, before making any assumptions about the impact of this incident, based upon the media frenzy surrounding the case, it would be prudent to look at past incidents in order to put it in perspective. This paper uses several moderately restricted and open-source databases, and open-source case research to determine the effectiveness of the research community's ability to trace and trend past radiological diversion from regulatory control.


The nuclear competition school, an emerging theoretical perspective on the political effect of nuclear weapons, argues that a favorable nuclear balance can significantly reduce one's expected costs of nuclear war and therefore affect the interaction between nuclear-armed states, such as deterrence and crisis outcomes. This new perspective also presents a wide array of empirical evidence demonstrating the significant effect of the nuclear balance of power on political outcomes, thereby challenging the theory of the nuclear revolution, which argues that the nuclear balance of power produces no meaningful effects on political outcomes because no state can escape costly nuclear destruction. Little attention, however, has been paid to systematically exploring the effect of the nuclear balance on the initiation of nuclear crises. This is surprising, given that observable factors, such as the nuclear balance, should have a powerful effect at the crisis initiation stage because countries can observe military balance and assess the costs and benefits of entering a crisis. This article tests a core argument of the nuclear competition school regarding the effect of the nuclear balance on the initiation of nuclear crises. With original data on strategic nuclear balance, my statistical analysis shows that having a superior nuclear arsenal than another nuclear-armed opponent does not lead to a reduced likelihood of nuclear crisis initiated by the opponent. These core findings hold after conducting a series of robustness tests with various measures of the balance of nuclear forces. They encourage us to reconsider the persuasiveness of the nuclear competition school and offer implications for US nuclear policy and force size.


Background: Lip prints are creases on the vermilion border of the lips, formed due to the elevations and depressions on them. Lip print patterns are considered to be valuable biometric technique in forensic investigation. Globally, a number of studies have reported that establish lip-prints to be unique to an individual and can be a valuable source of DNA that can help in personal identification. Despite the usefulness and its assistance in solving the crime scene, lip print studies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are very few. Therefore, we undertook this study to add more to the scanty existing information.
Aim:  1) To investigate the potential role of lip-prints in human identification. 2) To verify the potential for sex determination from lip print in Saudi Arabian individuals visiting the outpatient department of a private dental school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A total of 485 subjects were recruited from the screening clinic of a dental school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The lip prints of eligible and consenting study subjects was recorded using red/brown lipstick on the white paper that was scanned and converted to digital image. The scanned images were viewed using Photoshop image editing software that inverted images to grayscale. The lip prints in the six study areas of the upper and lips were categorized according to Renaud's classification. The frequency of each type of lip print was calculated as a percentage. Chi (χ²) test was used to establish the association between the print type and the gender of participant with the confidence level fixed at 95% and a P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The most predominant type of lip print in the study population was type J (upper lip=42.0% and lower lip= 26.31%) and no two individuals among the study subjects showed similarity in the six lip print areas examined. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between the gender and the lip print type.
Conclusion: Based on our results we conclude that: 1. The lip prints of Saudi Arabian subjects are unique to every individual 2. No statistically significant difference was established between the gender and the type of lip prints of the study subjects.


Take a bubble bath, go for a long walk, have a meal with lots of friends: in the context of veterinary practice, and in a continuing pandemic, these common self-care tips can feel very difficult to follow. For Steve Noonan, the key thing is instead to start with the basics. Claire Read reports.


We manufactured poly (L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) scaffolds impregnated demineralized bone particle (DBP) and hyaluronic acid (HA) by ice-particle leaching method and tested their ability of sustained release of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF (50 and 200 ng) mixed with PLGA, DBP/PLGA, HA/PLGA and DBP/HA/PLGA scaffold. The release profiles of BDNF from BDNF loaded scaffolds were assayed using ELISA. Morphological changes of scaffolds by BDNF release were also observed by SEM. BDNF stably and sustainedly released from DBP/HNPLGA than from PLGA and DBP/PLGA scaffolds. DBP/HA/PLGA scaffolds showed the great structural changes, which demonstrated BDNF release amount from DBP/HA/PLGA scaffolds were highest in all groups. We suggest that BDNF loaded DBP/HNPLGA scaffold would be very useful for nerve regeneration.


The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (1CRISAT) genebank in India holds the world's largest collection of 21,594 pearl millet germplasm accessions from 50 countries including 6529 landraces from ten Asian countries. Gap analysis using passport and characterization data and geographical information system tools revealed 134 distinct districts of 14 provinces in India and 12 districts of Punjab province in Pakistan as the major geographical gaps. Different methods of identifying geographical gaps used in the study indicated Chittoor, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Prakasam and Warangal in Andhra Pradesh; Raigarh in Chattisgarh; Dewas and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh; Buldana and Hingoli in Maharashtra; Malkangiri, Nabarangapur, Naupada and Sundergarh in Orissa; Bhilwara, Chittaurgarh and Kota in Rajasthan; Thiruvallur and Vellore in Tamil Nadu; and Auraiya, Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Hamirpur, Kushinagar, Mau, Shrawasti and Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh as common geographical gaps in India. A total of 208 distinct districts in 12 provinces were identified as gaps in diversity for one or more traits. Among all districts, Beed, Latur and Osmanabad in Maharashtra, India, for all traits; Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Multan and Lodhran for panicle length and Chakwal and Sargodha for panicle width in Pakistan; and southern parts of North Yemen and Lahiz provinces in Yemen were identified as gaps in the diversity. In India, Warangal in Andhra Pradesh; Rewa in Madhya Pradesh; Hingoli in Maharashtra; Vellore in Tamil Nadu; and Auraiya, Chandauli, Chitrakut, Gorakhpur and Mau in Uttar Pradesh were identified as gaps in diversity for one or more traits and found common to geographical gaps identified. In Pakistan, Lodhran, Multan and Muzaffargarh were identified as gaps common to probability and diversity methods. Area for exploration should be decided prior to launch of the collection mission in consultation with local government officials and extension officers, who are known to have knowledge in pearl millet cultivation in the identified districts. It is suggested to collect the complete passport data including georeference information while collecting the germplasm.


Abstract. Hendrayanti D, Rusmana I, Santosa DA, Hamim. 2019. Dynamic population of N2-fixing Cyanobacteria in an organic rice field. Biodiversitas 20: 2883-2890. The existence of free living N2-fixing cyanobacteria in rice fields has been acknowledged as an advantage for rice crops. At present, implementation of organic rice-systems has been increasing as an alternative way for keeping rice fields healthy. Therefore, investigation of N2-fixing cyanobacteria as a part of the soil components is important. Dynamic populations of the filamentous N2-fixing cyanobacteria assemblage in organic rice field at Ciparay, South Bandung, was investigated during the crop's growth cycle (January-March 2018). Soil samples were collected from four plots of 20 ha rice fields. At each plot, soil from three random stations with three replications was taken using a 3-cm-diameter plastic cylinder. Composite samples from each station were analyzed for colony enumeration (TPC method), relative abundance and frequency, and species identification. The results show that population reached peak on the 80 days after planting (194 x 106 cfu/g soil). Species number decreased following increased density of the rice canopy. Among the 23 morphospecies found along the rice growth, four species were always found during all stages of growth: Halotia wernerae CSO2, Roholtiella mojavensis CSO6, Hapalosiphon welwitschii CSO7, and Desmonostoc danxiaense CSO3. The community of N2-fixing cyanobacteria found in the organic rice field was different to those reported from non-organic rice field.


The majority of refugees come from destabilized states and conflict zones where threats and fear are endemic, and immediate escape is not always possible. These environments may necessitate that a person commit crimes to prevent harm to themselves or third parties before they cross borders and seek international protection. Under Canada's current refugee regime, such persons may be prevented from accessing refugee protection and status on the basis of criminality. Doctrinal complexities concerning available defences and procedural incoherencies complicate Canada's refugee decision making and have the potential to perpetuate grave injustices against refugee claimants. The author argues that defences should be available in any refugee case where status is denied on the basis of criminality, and emphasizes the unique and enhanced role that defences should play in this context. Further, that current confusion about when and how defences ought to be applied by decision makers in Canada's refugee system must be resolved such that all exculpatory factors are fully and properly considered where criminality is alleged. Uncertainty over relevant sources of law underpins significant inconsistency in decision making and is problematic given important substantive differences between domestic and international criminal law. The article discusses the implications for the defence of duress in particular, given its relevance to many refugee claimants. The author identifies sources of law that must be considered by decision makers in refugee inadmissibility and exclusion cases, and specifies three aspects of the defence of duress that are critical in this context: temporal connection, implied threats and the modified objective standard.


The mechanism by which the antigen-specific immune system distinguishes between foreign antigens (toward which it mounts an immune response) and self-antigens (of which it is tolerant) is not completely understood. Studies using "superantigens" and transgenic mice have allowed investigations into some of the mechanisms of clonal deletion, anergy, and peripheral tolerance. In the present report, we have attempted to develop a new model system to investigate the possible mechanism(s) of peripheral tolerance to allografts. In this system, skin grafts from C57BL/6J (B6; H-2b mice are grafted onto T- and B-lymphocyte-deficient C.B-17-scid/scid (H-2d; hereafter referred to as scid) mice. Because of their lack of functional lymphocytes, the scid mice readily accept the allogeneic skin grafts. After the allografts healed, the scid mice were reconstituted with T-cell-deficient fetal liver from coisogeneic C.B-17-∤/∤ mice or bone marrow from weanling congenitally athymic BALB/c-nu/nu (H-2d; hereafter referred to as nude) mice. Upon immunological reconstitution, the scid mice reiected the established B6 skin allografts, suggesting that an immune system developing in the presence of an intact peripheral skin allograft fails to develop tolerance to the peripheral allograft. This model system may be useful for the study of the mechanisms required for the induction of peripheral tolerance.


ABSTRACT Whereas instruments like the US Census classify Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans as white, racial formation-informed research has established that this population holds an ambiguous relationship with whiteness. I draw on theories of the self and cognition to introduce reflected race as an underexplored dimension of MENA racialization. Interviews with 84 Iranian Americans demonstrate how group members perceive they are appraised as distinct from and, in some ways, subordinate to a hegemonic US white norm. Following initial illegibility ("what?") in racial appraisal, respondents perceive a classificatory splitting from whiteness and/or lumping with similarly racialized others. In other words, they micro-interactionally move from "white" to "what?" and ultimately, to an uncertain but deeply felt sense non-white reflected race. By turning attention to social-psychological-informed phenomenon like reflected race, researchers can make more full use of racialization and racial formation as the dynamic, multi-level concepts they were originally theorized to be.


Although major progress has been achieved, particularly in the field of patient selection and postoperative intensive care, morbidity and mortality rates after major liver surgery are still significant. In fact, the mortality rate in major series reaches 30% of patients undergoing complex liver procedures, mostly related to postoperative septic events. Among these, although extra-abdominal infectious localizations are also frequently reported, intra-abdominal sepsis and abscess formation are probably the most frequent infective clinical presentations. The literature reports that the magnitude of the resection and duration of surgery are associated with a significantly higher postoperative morbidity and mortality rate. Severe postoperative infectious events cause a high proportion of this morbidity and in the presence of a septic evolution of the clinical picture the mortality rises dramatically. Such a tight association between severe infections and mortality after major hepatic surgery gives account to the fundamental role played by the liver in the metabolic homeostasis of the patient and also to the central hepatic function in the immune response to microorganisms of gastroenteric origin. After major liver surgery these central hepatic functions may by significantly impaired, thus leading to higher susceptibility to infections, in particular in the elderly. On these bases the improvement in prophylaxis protocols, in the early diagnosis and in the treatment of these postoperative infectious events can help optimize clinical results after major hepatic surgery.


In the laboratory frame, the helical path followed by an ion contained in a rotating toroidal plasma is determined to leading order by three factors: its velocity nu /sub /// parallel to the magnetic field, the q-factor of the flux surface on which the ion travels, and the velocity of bulk toroidal rotation VR(q) of the flux surface itself. A parameter q*(q, VR(q), nu /sub ///) is calculated, which determines whether the helical path in the laboratory frame is closed (rational-q*) or open (irrational-q*). In general the spatially localised region where ion heating, or the creation of energetic ions following neutral injection, takes place is fixed in the laboratory frame. Those ions which have rational-q* paths that pass through this region return to it with a greatly enhanced repetition rate. This gives rise to fine structure in the deposition of energy among the ions.


Protein interaction is an important mechanism for cellular functionality. Predicting protein interactions is available in many cases as computational methods in publicly available resources (for example Scansite). These predictions can be further combined with other information sources to generate hypothetical pathways. However, when using computational methods for building pathways, the process may become time consuming, as it requires multiple iterations and consolidating data from different sources. We have tested whether it is possible to generate graphs of protein-protein interaction by using only domain-motif interaction data and the degree to which it is possible to automate this process by developing a program that is able to aggregate, under user guidance, query results from different information sources. The data sources used are Scansite and SwissProt. Visualisation of the graphs is done with an external program freely available for academic purposes, Osprey. The graphs obtained by running the software show that although it is possible to combine publicly available data and theoretical protein-protein interaction predictions from Scansite, further efforts are needed to increase the biological plausibility of these collections of data. It is possible, however, to reduce the dimensionality of the obtained graphs by focusing the searches on a certain tissue of interest.


This study recognizes and addresses a deficit in research on student support tool of peer mentoring. The purpose of this paper is to examine and better understand the relationship between peer mentoring and student academic success. Based on secondary reviews and a South Pacific university context, a conceptual model is drawn and a research methodology is proposed. This paper argues that a number of factors affect the effectiveness of peer mentoring which in turn affects student academic performance. This study is useful in setting the premise for future large scale empirical research. Tertiary institutions, student support learning centres, scholars and educators will benefit from the suggested model.


ian (IQR [range]) uppermost level normally assessed as T8 (T7-T10 [T6-T12]). The test was considered useful by 10/17 (65%) obstetricians. Conversely, only 2/10 (20%) anaesthetic consultants and 3/10 (30%) trainees requested a forceps skin pinch before incision. Worryingly, 7/17 (41%) obstetricians and 4/20 (20%) anaesthetists reported having witnessed a women experience pain on forceps skin pinch after spinal anaesthesia. Although this was a small survey, we believe it is of interest because it includes obstetricians' assessment of block adequacy. Although both the median upper dermatome level and the modality assessed by obstetricians would not guarantee pain-free caesarean section, the forceps skin pinch may have some utility in identifying patients at risk of operative pain despite 'adequate' block assessment by anaesthetists. As such, this might reveal inadequate assessment by the latter, supporting Hoyle and Yentis' conclusions that further standardisation of block assessment may be necessary.


Purpose of review A majority of medical decisions relating to the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of prostate cancer are based on low levels of evidence. This article reviews the recommendations of currently available evidence-based practice guidelines that relate to the management of patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. The article further introduces a selection of recent studies that are relevant to the evidence-based patient care. Recent findings Updated clinical practice guidelines on the management of prostate-cancer patients provide an evidence-based summary of the literature and have recently been made available through the National Cancer Center Network and the European Urological Association. In addition, several recent high-quality studies have made major contributions to our knowledge of the natural history and therapy of prostate cancer. Summary The efforts of professional associations to generate evidence-based guidelines are reflective of an increased awareness that the care of prostate cancer should – to the greatest possible extent – be evidence-based. Practicing urologists should seek to become involved in the evidence-based medicine process by supporting the accrual to high-quality clinical trials, demanding the highest standards to the timely and unbiased dissemination of research findings and ultimately, strive to apply the best available evidence to the care of individual patients.


CONTEXT
Individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) have deficits in neuromuscular control and altered movement patterns. Ankle-destabilization devices have been shown to increase lower extremity muscle activity during functional tasks and may be useful tools for improving common deficits and self-reported function.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a 4-week rehabilitation program that includes destabilization devices has greater effects on self-reported function, range of motion (ROM), strength, and balance than rehabilitation without devices in patients with CAI.

DESIGN
Randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING
Laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS
A total of 26 patients with CAI (7 men, 19 women; age = 21.34 ± 3.06 years, height = 168.96 ± 8.77 cm, mass = 70.73 ± 13.86 kg).

INTERVENTION(S)
Patients completed baseline measures and were randomized into no-device and device groups. Both groups completed 4 weeks of supervised, impairment-based progressive rehabilitation with or without devices and then repeated baseline measures.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
We assessed self-reported function using the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure. Ankle ROM was measured with an inclinometer. Ankle strength was assessed using a handheld dynamometer during maximal voluntary isometric contractions. Balance was measured using a composite score of 3 reach directions from the Star Excursion Balance Test and a force plate to calculate center of pressure during eyes-open and eyes-closed single-limb balance. We compared each dependent variable using a 2 × 2 (group × time) analysis of variance and post hoc tests as appropriate and set an a priori α level at .05. The Hedges g effect sizes and associated 95% confidence intervals were calculated.

RESULTS
We observed no differences between the no-device and device groups for any measure. However, both groups had large improvements in self-reported function and ankle strength.

CONCLUSIONS
Incorporating destabilization devices into rehabilitation did not improve ankle function more effectively than traditional rehabilitation tools because both interventions resulted in similar improvements. Impairment-based progressive rehabilitation improved clinical outcomes associated with CAI.


At the American Neurotologic Society meeting in Denver, Mitchell Schwaber, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn, reported persistence of norepinephrine secretion from a glomus jugulare tumor following radiotherapeutic management. A 58-year-old woman with hypertension and tremulousness had undergone multiple prior subtotal glomus jugulare surgical procedures. With a long history of hypertension, she had suffered two cerebrovascular accidents and was not considered to be a good surgical candidate. Prior to radiotherapy, peripheral blood and internal jugular vein norepinephrine levels were measured. Following radiotherapy, the norepinephrine levels remained elevated, and her hypertension still needed to be controlled with phenoxybenzamine. At 20 months following radiotherapy, the tumor size had not changed as noted by computed cranial tomography, but hypertension persisted. Dr Schwaber concluded that radiotherapy did not substantially affect the chief cells that made up the endocrine-active portion of the tumor, but that it probably included


Public sector reforms tend to focus on restructuring public institutions and addressing dysfunctional operational systems without dealing with inefficiencies in records management. Such focus partly addresses the heart of the service delivery challenge in the public sector. Sometimes, the biggest challenge for people seeking particular services in public institutions is not necessarily impediments caused by dysfunctional structures, but lack of records to support citizens' claims or inability by public officers to timeously track files and provide relevant information to clients on time. This qualitative study examines the public sector reforms in Malawi and advocates for the inclusion of records management into such reforms. The study is based on analysis of government reform reports, policy briefs, circulars, scholarly texts and media reports. While a wide variety of institutional reforms within the public sector are essential, it is important to recognise that without well-functioning records management systems, efficient delivery of public services will remain a challenge. The study established that public sector reforms that focus purely on restructuring public institutions and addressing dysfunctional operational systems without dealing with inefficient records management systems adversely compromise service delivery of the reformed institutions. The study further expounds that despite numerous attempts to reform the public sector in the country, records management remains a challenge evidenced by numerous malpractices. It is concluded that consistent with the objective of reforming public institutions, it is imperative when implementing institutional reforms in the public sector that they are integrated with reforms in records management systems.


Introduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an effective intervention for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is recommended by clinical guidelines.Timing of referral for rehabilitation,immediately after exacerbation to later on while the patient is in a stable state, however, is open to debate.

Objectives:To evaluate the effects of a two-month, home-based PR program on dyspnea, exercise capacity, muscle strength and activities of daily living in COPD after a severe exacerbation.

Methods: COPD patients who had just undergone inhospital treatment for a severe exacerbation were enrolled on to a multidisciplinary home PR within 48-72 hours of discharge.The program consisted of twice-weekly sessions for a period of 8 weeks.Lung function,oxygen saturation,exercise capacity (six-minute walk distance test),quadriceps strength,Bode index and London Scale Scoring were recorded at hospital discharge and after 2 months.Follow-up and baseline measurements were compared to determine the change in the measured variables after the program (paired t test).

Results: 10 patients underwent the program (mean [SD] age 71.90 [7.1]years, baseline FEV1 after bronchodilator 42.7[11] % predicted).Significant improvements were attained after the program in exercise capacity (pre 280m and postprogram 354m p<0.05),oxygen saturation (pre 91.4 %, and postprogram 94.4% p<0.001) and London Scale Scoring (pre 22.1 and postprogram 14.9 p<0.001).No statistically significant improvements in lung function,BODE index and quadriceps strength were observed.

Conclusions: post-exacerbation PR improve exercise capacity tolerance in COPD patients with a significant impact on activities of daily living.


This paper investigates the feasibility of application of unified power flow controller to damp out interarea oscillations of a large interconnected power system. An eigen analysis approach is used to design the UPFC controllers for damping interarea oscillations. To validate the accuracy of the eigen analysis results, digital time domain simulation studies are carried out.


This paper summarizes the results of a research effort conducted by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to determine the effect of altitude on corona phenomena from high voltage transmission lines. A computer-controlled, reliable, unattended test station was installed at an altitude of 1935 m on a double-circuit 500-kV line near Basin, Montana, to continuously monitor audible noise (AN), radio noise (RI), and television interference (TVI). To obtain comparative data at a lower elevation, another test station was installed on a 500-kV line of similar design near Stayton, Oregon, at an altitude of 277 m. Comparison of the high altitude data with the lower elevation data and with predictions demonstrated that the correction factor of 1 dB/300 m developed in the 1950's and 1960's for radio noise is still valid and is also applicable for AN, TVI and, possibly, corona losses.


With high theoretical capacity, good ionic conductivity, and suitable working plateaus, Li3VO4 has emerged as an eye-catching intercalation anode material for lithium storage. However, Li3VO4 suffers from poor electrical conductivity and 20% volume variation under deep discharging/charging conditions. Herein, we present a "double-carbon decoration" strategy to tackle both issues. Deflated balloon-like Li3VO4/C/reduced graphene oxide (LVO/C/rGO) microspheres with continuous electron transport pathways and sufficient free space for volume change accommodation are fabricated through a facile spray-drying method. Under deep discharging/charging conditions (0.02-3.0 V), LVO/C/rGO achieves a high intercalation capacity of 591 mA h g-1. With high capacity and outstanding stability, LVO/C/rGO outperforms other intercalation anode materials (such as graphite, Li4Ti5O12, and TiO2). In situ X-ray diffraction measurement reveals that the lithium storage is realized through both solid-solution reaction and two-phase reaction mechanisms. A LVO/C/rGO//LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 lithium-ion full cell is also assembled. In such full cell, LVO/C/rGO also demonstrates high specific capacity and excellent cycling stability. The above results manifest that the LVO/C/rGO anode has the potential to be applied in the next-generation high-performance lithium-ion batteries.


High blood pressure (BP) plays an important role in the pathogenesis and development of cardiovascular diseases and multi-organ damages. Music has been well known to elicit emotional changes, such as anxiolytic effects. However, whether music therapy lowers BP in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and the potential mechanism remains unknown. SHRs were, respectively exposed to white noise (WN), Western classical music (WM), Chinese classical music (CCM), rock music (RM), and bisoprolol treatment. WN and WM did not lower systemic BP, but CCM and RM significantly lowered BPs in SHRs. The effects of CCM therapy on lowering systemic BPs is comparable to that of bisoprolol at the dose of low to medium. Combination of CCM treatment with bisoprolol further improved systemic BPs and myocardial hypertrophy in SHRs, compared to CCM treatment or bisoprolol alone. Furthermore, IHC and WB analysis indicated that CCM therapy inhibited the β1/cAMP/PKA and α1/PLC/PKC signalings, but didn't alter the β2/PI3K/Akt signaling. Above all, CCM therapy lowers systemic BPs and alleviates myocardial hypertrophy in hypertensive rats, which may be caused by the inhibitions of β1/cAMP/PKA and α1/PLC/PKC signalings.


In theory it should be possible to characterise a vibration source's active and
passive properties in an independent way which allows for structure borne sound
to be predicted for a source in different installations. When put into practice
however, the independent source characterisation approach often results in sur-
prisingly poor predictions of source behaviour for the installed condition. The
exact cause of the error is currently unknown but is often attributed to the practi-
cal difficulties encountered when measuring source properties and hence numerical
instabilities resulting from poor quality or unrepresentative data. Here we ad-
dress the problem of obtaining independent descriptions of a source's active and
passive properties using in-situ measurement approaches. In-situ measurements
may be advantageous because the hypothetical quantities required for indepen-
dent source characterisation are on the whole unmeasurable and hence elaborate
measurements are often required to obtain an approximate source description.
It will be shown that the independent blocked force, describing the activity of a
vibration source under a blocked condition, can be measured in-situ and that the
in-situ blocked force can be used to predict source behaviour in different environ-
ments including a free condition. It will also be shown that the in-situ blocked
force approach may allow for a transfer path analysis to be performed without
dismantling the source-receiver assembly and thus allowing for a significant time
saving. To address the characterisation of passive source properties two methods
for the in-situ measurement of mobilities are described and investigated. Overall
it is shown that active, and possibly passive, properties of vibration sources can
be independently characterised whilst a source is installed and that there may
be significant benefits in doing so. For example measurements may be faster or
easier and the data obtained may be more representative.


Abstract Recently, scholars of the lawmaking process have urged their colleagues to devote more attention to the potential impact of bill content on legislative outcomes. Heeding their call, this paper builds an original dataset of over 5,000 pieces of state-level legislation addressing issues that span the ideological spectrum. It compares proposals that challenge the authority of the national government in a specific domain to proposals that lack federalism-related implications and finds that the former, all else being equal, make less legislative progress toward enactment. In addition, it categorizes the measures that resist national laws based on the specific nature of the challenge they pose. Its analysis finds that measures that are inconsistent with existing national law but work within the law's legal framework make more legislative progress than measures that seek to nullify the national law or that vow not to cooperate with it. It also confirms that sponsor characteristics such as majority status, the number of cosponsors, institutional rules such as hearing requirements, and state-level factors like party control of the state legislature affect how much progress proposals make toward enactment. Thus, the paper demonstrates the importance of legislative content as an explanatory factor and sheds light on the nature of intergovernmental relations in the contemporary United States.


Sparse representation has been successfully applied to visual tracking to find the target with the minimum reconstruction error from the target templates subspace. Traditional sparsity-based trackers handle corruptions and occlusions of the observation by introducing a set of trivial templates. However, the performance is not so satisfactory in practice. It is because the trivial templates unable to model heavy occlusions effectively, and the likelihood computation and the template update processes do not take full advantage of the occlusion information. In this paper, we propose a novel tracking method taking advantage of local sparse representation to detect occlusions during the tracking sequence. In our method, the target is divided into local patches. We analyze the spatial distribution of the samples employed by the local sparse representation, and determine the occlusion state for each patch respectively. The occluded patches are disregard, only the unoccluded ones are considered for reconstruction and likelihood computation. In addition, a dynamic template update strategy with occlusion handling is introduced to alleviate the drift problem. Experiments on challenging video sequences demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm performs favorably against several state-of-the-art methods.


Background: Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have a negative effect on health. People are generally considered obese when their body mass index (BMI), a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight by the square of the person's height, is over 30 kg/m2, with the range 25–30 kg/m2 defined as overweight. Some East Asian countries use lower values. Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis and depression. Little is known about the psychosocial impact of obesity or overweight in adolescents in Indonesia. This study aimed to determine the psychosocial impact of obesity or overweight in adolescents using path analysis.

Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at 6 junior high schools in Banjarsari and Jebres, Surakarta, Central Java, from October to November, 2017. A total sample of 160 junior high school students was selected for this study by purposive sampling. The dependent variables were depression, self-assessment, body image, eating disorder, and quality of life. The independent variables were obesity or overweight. Body mass index (BMI) was measured by body weight scale and microtoise. Data of other study variables were collected by questionnaire. The data were analyzed by path analysis.

Results: Obesity or overweight was associated with an increased risk of depression (b= 1.04; 95% CI=0.32 to 1.77; p= 0.005) and bad body image (b= -2.35; 95% CI= -3.20 to 1.49; p<0.001). Depression was associated with an increased risk of eating disorder (b= 0.55; CI 95%= -0.87 to 1.18; p=0.091) and poor quality of life (b= -0.64; 95% CI= -1.34 to 0.69; p= 0.077). Good body image was asssociated with positive self-assessment (b= 2.71; 95% CI= 1.89 to 3.52; p<0.001).

Conclusion: Obesity or overweight in adolescents is directly associated with depression and bad body image. Obesity or overweight is indirectly associated with negative self-assessment, eating disorder, and poorer quality of life.

Keywords: overweight, obesity, psychosocial, path analysis


The Lake Biwa sedimentary records (200-m core and 1400-m core) cover the last 4 Myr, but detailed information is limited in the upper part of the sediment (250 m; ca. 450 ka). The information of the Lake Baikal sedimentary records used here for comparison is limited during the past 780 kyr although the records obtained until now cover the last 10 Myr. It is already reported that long and short Milankovitch cycles are printed in the lacustrine records of the two lake-catchment systems. Lacustrine information should be interpreted through geo-environmental settings. In this presentation Lake Baikal and Lake Biwa sedimentary information will be discussed in the viewpoint of long-term hydro-geomorphological fluctuation with geo-environmental settings. The sedimentary items used for discussion are grain size (sediment and mineral), organic content, bi-SiO2 content, HCl-soluble content, and mineral content of both lacustrine sediments for the past 450 kyr and 780 kyr, respectively. Common and different trends for the both systems will be discussed.


Introduction: Menstruation, a normal physiological process in reproductive life of female still has many misconceptions. Knowledge of menstrual hygiene and menstrual sanitation practices affects the health of female. Lack of awareness on menstrual care practice is a challenge for community health. Objective: The objective of this study was to find knowledge and practice on menstrual hygiene; and perspective of Chaupadi (menstrual shed) among the reproductive age group female. Methodology: A community based mixed method study having cross sectional study as quantitative domain and phenomenological study as qualitative domain was conducted in Maranthana community of Pyuthan district of mid-western Nepal from April 2016-September 2016. Using convenient sampling techniques, 109 participants were included for cross sectional study and five of them who experienced Chaupadi were enrolled for phenomenological study. One eligible participant form each household was taken after getting informed voluntary consent. Collected data was entered in Microsoft excel and analysed by SPSS and NVivo software. Results: Regarding knowledge, 73.7% were aware on the right age of menarche. Almost 93% were aware on possible pregnancy after initiation of menstruation. Many of them (34.9%) were informed on menstruation by friends. Almost half (45.9%) had negative belief of use of old clean cloth during menstrual flow. Regarding practice, only 40.4% used sanitary pad during their menstrual flow. Most (65.1%) of them did not dispose,16.5% bury in nearby ground and 18.4% burn. More than half (60.6%) used soap-water to clean genitalia. Remedial measures adopted during menstruation were taking adequate rest (44%), seeking medical advice (22.9%) and drinking plenty of fluid (13.8%). Different traditional practice followed were use of separate utensils (64.2%), not allowed to see sun (75.8%), restriction to- go outside (71.6%), cook food (56%), usual food intake (56.9%), worship (74.3%), eat with others (27.5%), sleep in usual bedroom (27.5%) and  touch male members (28.4%). Most (94.5%) of them experienced Chaupadi (Menstrual Shed) during their menarche. The phenomenological approach found that Chaupadi was common. They had various infections and ill health. Mother groups were advocating to eliminate Chaupadi in their locality. Conclusion: The know-do gap on menstruation was evident. Despite increasing awareness, people were still following traditional cultural practices.
BIBECHANA 16 (2019) 228-235


In the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, Germany was often called "the sick man of Europe." Indeed, Germany's economic growth averaged only about 1.2 percent per year from 1998 to 2005, including a recession in 2003, and unemployment rates rose from 9.2 percent in 1998 to 11.1 percent in 2005. Today, after the Great Recession, Germany is described as an "economic superstar." In contrast to most of its European neighbors and the United States, Germany experienced almost no increase in unemployment during the Great Recession, despite a sharp decline in GDP in 2008 and 2009. Germany's exports reached an all-time record of $1.738 trillion in 2011, which is roughly equal to half of Germany's GDP, or 7.7 percent of world exports. Even the euro crisis seems not to have been able to stop Germany's strengthening economy and employment. How did Germany, with the fourth-largest GDP in the world transform itself from "the sick man of Europe" to an "economic superstar" in less than a decade? We present evidence that the specific governance structure of the German labor market institutions allowed them to react flexibly in a time of extraordinary economic circumstances, and that this distinctive characteristic of its labor market institutions has been the main reason for Germany's economic success over the last decade.


Tolerance of nine rice varieties to clomazone at 1.12 kg ai/ha was evaluated from 2000 to 2002. Rice injury was 27 to 51% at 14 d after treatment (DAT) and reduced to 5 to 30% at 42 DAT with long-grain 'Drew' having less injury compared with all medium-grain varieties. Medium- grain 'Earl' and 'LL-401' were injured most compared with all other varieties at 42 DAT. Plant height was reduced by clomazone with all varieties except Drew at 34 DAT. Clomazone also reduced plant population of Earl, LL-401, and 'Wells', but other varieties were not affected at 34 DAT. However, rice grain yield reduction was only observed with LL-401. These results indicate that differential tolerance to clomazone exists among rice varieties. Nomenclature: Clomazone; rice, Oryza sativa L. 'Bengal', 'Cocodrie', 'Cypress', 'Drew', 'Earl', 'CL-141', 'LL-401', 'LL-601', 'Wells'. Additional index words: Herbicide tolerance. Abbreviations: DAT, days after treatment; DPRE, delayed preemergence; PPI, preplant incorporated; PRE, preemergence.


This paper presents the solution to the following optimization problem: What is the shape of the two-dimensional region that minimizes the average Lp distance between all pairs of points if the area of this region is held fixed? Variational techniques are used to show that the boundary curve of the optimal region satisfies a nonlinear integral equation. The special case p=2 is elementary and for this case the integral equation reduces to a differential equation whose solution is a circle. Two nontrivial special cases, p=1 and p=∞, have already been examined in the literature. For these two cases the integral equation reduces to nonlinear second-order differential equations, one of which contains a quadratic nonlinearity and the other a cubic nonlinearity.


A methodology is described to determine vertical hydrocarbon density variations in recent oil discoveries in Northern Monagas state, using well logs. Similarities and differences are established for models obtained in El Carito and El Tejero fault block-s. These models were confirmed using independent information, such as PVT analysis, RFT pressures, oil gravity and GOR's from initial production tests. To explain differences between the models, an hypothesis is proposed for the migration/segregation/deformation sequence in these two blocks, which accounts for the presence of lighter hydrocarbons in El Tejero block, even though it is 1700 ft structurally lower than El Carito. Based on this hypothesis, westward projection of the models predicts lighter hydrocarbons and similar porosities for Casupal-Mata Granda and Tonoro blocks, at depths considerably greater than in El Tejero block.


Neural Networks, an emerging technique in artipcial intelligence (AI), has a strong appeal for a wide range of applications. Seldom has the concept been related directly to supply chain management, it has however been applied in a number of areas which constitute the core elements of supply chains. This paper gives a general introduction to neural networks and explains the ways in which it can contribute to supply chain management.


The effects of dietary taurine levels and lipid contents on the conjugated bile acid composition and growth performance of juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus were investigated. Six types of diet (three different levels of taurine at two different levels of lipid) were fed to juveniles (average body weight, 0.04g). Fishmeal that was washed with 70% ethanol to remove taurine was used as the sole protein source. Feeding experiments were carried out at 20°C for 6 weeks. At the end of the experiments, fish were weighed and analyzed for free amino acids in the body and the composition of the conjugated bile acids. The body weight and percent weight gain of the juveniles were improved by the dietary taurine supplementation. The taurine contents of the whole body and tissues increased with the increase of the dietary taurine contents. The conjugated bile acids in the gall bladder consisted of taurocholic acid and taurochenodeoxycholic acid, which increased with the increase of the dietary taurine level. Taurocholic acid accounted for more than 95% of the total conjugated bile acids. This indicates that taurine is the sole amino acid to conjugate bile acid in Japanese flounder.


OBJECTIVE
To identify psychosocial challenges facing pregnant women with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) using retrospective, routinely collected electronic medical record data.

DESIGN
A retrospective qualitative study using narratives and supporting documents found in the electronic medical record of an academic family health team (FHT).

SETTING
Academic FHT in southeastern Ontario.

PARTICIPANTS
A sample of 10 women with a diagnosis of IDD, rostered to physicians at the academic FHT, who delivered a child between January 2010 and June 2015 (14 pregnancies). Exclusion criteria included women who received prenatal care from a midwife and women for whom no delivery or antenatal records were available.

METHODS
Thematic analysis of data collected from a retrospective chart review.

MAIN FINDINGS
Many women with IDD had yes marked on their antenatal records for poor social supports, family violence, and parenting concerns. Women with IDD had pregnancies that were characterized by complex social environments, financial instability, discord between their perceptions and their physicians' perceptions, and stressful encounters with Child and Family Services.

CONCLUSION
Findings in this study support previous research that pregnant women with IDD are a vulnerable population, at higher risk of adverse health outcomes. There is a need for specific care guidelines for health care providers, as well as additional resources and social supports.


This letter introduces a fast algorithm for floodplain delineation. The underlying assumption of the proposed procedure is that the inundation depth used to define the lateral extent of the "geomorphologic floodplain" is proportional to the depth of the channel at bankfull flow, a relationship that emerged from a detailed and objective regional analysis. The bankfull and floodplain geometries extracted with the proposed algorithm over a wide range of scales revealed important connections between fluvial and hydrologic processes and showed that the nature of these connections is scale dependent


Background: The elaboration of clinical practice guides has each day a greater significance in the medical attention, but we should not forget its efficacy assessment once they have been established. Objectives: To evaluate the application and impact of the clinical practice guides in the final result of the acute myocardial infarction inn-patients, comparing two different periods of its application (1997 and 2001). Methods: A prospective study of a series of cases in its respective years was done. A total of 315 patients were involved, 154 in 1997; and 161 in 2001. The following variables were analyzed: risk factors, symptoms, complementary tests result, medical attention related aspects, as well as the patient evaluation until dismissal. Results: When comparatively analyzed the two series, a significant mortality reduction in the year 2001 was observed: it lowered from 35, 0 % in 1997 to 17, 4 % in the second patients group. In 2001 the risk of dying from an infarction was two times less than in 1997 (relative risk: 2, 02 (1, 35 – 3, 01). Conclusions: Mortality reduction for myocardial infarction in this hospital could be related, in a high percentage, with the adequate use of the clinical practice guides, used nowadays in the management of such affection.


The environmental conditions are important factors, because they affect both the efficiency of a photovoltaic module and the energy load. This research was carried out experimentally and modeling was done in MATLAB –Simulink by monitoring the variation in power output of the system with environmental conditions such as solar radiation, ambient temperature, wind speed, and humidity of Baghdad city. From the results, the ambient temperatures are inversely proportional to humidity and the output power performance of the system, while the wind speed is directly proportional with the output power performance of the system.


Farming was such a good idea when it was invented 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent that it was quickly adopted by several different groups of people. According to three teams who used new techniques to gain glimpses of the nuclear DNA of the world's very first farmers, farming was adopted by at least three genetically distinct groups scattered across the Middle East and Anatolia. The research found that early farmers of Israel and Jordan were genetically distinct from those in the Zagros Mountains, and that both populations were distinct from the western Anatolians. This shows that farming wasn't spread initially by just one group of people, but that it was invented more than once—or was an idea that spread rapidly between groups.


This article deals with the ways in which the semantic subject is expressed in Russian sentences such as "Ему хочется спать" and in their Polish equivalents. The dative case is the only explicit way to indicate the semantic subject. This kind of subject can also be ascertained from the context or remain undetermined if information about its referent is missing.


Thalassemia is a group of hereditary hemolytic anemias, caused by a quantitative violation of the globin chains synthesis. In adults, the main hemoglobin (HbA) consists of two a- and two b-chains. Normally, regulatory mechanisms maintain a balance between a- and non-a-globin chains in a 1:1 ratio. Mutations in the b-globin gene, leading to a quantitative disruption of the synthesis of b-globin chains, lead to the development of b-thalassemia. In such patients, the presence of concomitant breakdowns of a-globin genes can determine the variability of the clinical symptoms, both mitigating or increasing the severity of the manifestations of beta-thalassemia. The article describes two clinical cases of transfusion-dependent thalassemia with a rare genotype: aaaanti-3.7/aa and b-thalassemia. Parents gave their consent to use information about the child, including fotos, in the article.


We propose and analyze a structure-preserving parametric finite element method (SP-PFEM) to simulate the motion of closed curves governed by area-conserved generalized mean curvature flow in two dimensions (2D). We first present a variational formulation and rigorously prove that it preserves two fundamental geometric structures of the flows, i.e., (a) the conservation of the area enclosed by the closed curve; (b) the decrease of the perimeter of the curve. Then the variational formulation is approximated by using piecewise linear parametric finite elements in space to develop the semi-discrete scheme. With the help of the discrete Cauchy's inequality and discrete power mean inequality, the area conservation and perimeter decrease properties of the semi-discrete scheme are shown. On this basis, by combining the backward Euler method in time and a proper approximation of the unit normal vector, a structure-preserving fully discrete scheme is constructed successfully, which can preserve the two essential geometric structures simultaneously at the discrete level. Finally, numerical experiments test the convergence rate, area conservation, perimeter decrease and mesh quality, and depict the evolution of curves. Numerical results indicate that the proposed SP-PFEM provides a reliable and powerful tool for the simulation of area-conserved generalized mean curvature flow in 2D.


A computerised information retrieval system of broiler production data has been used to study the epidemiology of contact dermatitis. The results of the analyses of broiler production data for the period 1984/85 were compared and contrasted with those for the period 1986/1987. The prevalence of breast lesions recorded in the latter period was 33% less than in the former. The prevalence of hock lesions was similar in both periods, but the degree of variation in the prevalence of lesions recorded by individual flocks was substantially reduced in 1986/87. Stocking density, average age of removal and the sex of birds all had an effect on the prevalence of the condition in broiler flocks in both time periods. The condition was more frequently recorded in flocks during the winter and a strong correlation with ambient relative humidity, obtained.


Thermal-electrical-fluid coupled finite element analyses are performed in the model of the growth cell in a high- pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) cubic apparatus in which the large diamond crystal can be grown by using Ni-based solvent with temperature gradient method (TGM). The convection in the Ni-based solvent with different thicknesses at 1700–1800K is simulated by finite element method (FEM). The experiments of diamond crystal growth are also carried out by using Ni-based solvent at 5.7GPa and 1700–1800K in a China-type cubic high pressure apparatus (CHPA). The simulation results show that the Rayleigh number in the solvent is enhanced obviously with the increasing solvent thickness. Good quality diamond single crystal cannot be grown if the Rayleigh number in the solvent is too high.


B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a diagnostic and prognostic marker in heart failure (CHF) patients. Aim. To assess the relation between BNP, diastolic function and exercise capacity in CHF patients. Methods. Fifty CHF patients underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing. BNP levels were determined at baseline and at peak exercise. Patients were divided in two groups: with lower (<14 ml/kg/min) or higher (≥14 ml/kg/min) peak oxygen consumption (VO2). Results. Seventeen patients with lower peak VO2 showed larger incidence of restrictive pattern of the transmitral flow (7/17 vs 4/33, p =0.036). E/Ea ratio was inversely related with peak VO2 (r =−0.419, p =0.004) and directly related with BNP levels at baseline (r =0.449, p =0.001) and at peak exercise (r =0.475, p =0.001). LV ejection fraction was similar in the two groups. Independent predictors of exercise tolerance were E/Ea ratio (p =0.003), lg BNP at baseline (p =0.034) and increase in lg BNP during exercise (p =0.038). Conclusions. In CHF patients, E/Ea ratio is a predictor of exercise tolerance and is related with BNP level at rest and at peak exercise.


Abstract During the past ten years, the performance of polymeric field-effect transistors has been largely improved, not only in mobility but also in durability. Among the factors contributed to such improvements, side-chain engineering plays an important role. Various techniques, such as branch point adjustment, hydrogen-bonding introduction and the incorporation of other functional groups in the side-chain were developed, which greatly altered the crystallinity, alignment and morphology of the conjugated polymers hence their charge transport behavior. In this review, the side-chain engineering strategies that have been employed in polymeric field-effect transistors are summarized and discussed in detail, which we hope could provide an insight into further development in this area.


We assessed priorities and preferences regarding athletic goals and approval of processes for achieving those goals in South Korean collegiate athletics students. Using a convenience sampling method, we collected data from 730 college students (580 general students and 150 student-athletes) at 4 South Korean universities. We found significant differences between subgroups divided by gender and student status (general students and student-athletes). Female students were more concerned than male students were with the process of creating gender equality and the goal of a diverse organizational culture. Student-athletes were more likely than general students were to consider that athletic departments should focus more on performance goals (e.g., winning) and processes (e.g., attracting athletes) than on athlete well-being. Our findings provide useful information for South Korean athletic administrators to help develop goals and processes that meet the priorities of the key stakeholder group of students.


Polyfluoroaromatic compounds are now widely recognized as the important intermediates of bioactive materials and information recording media, because some of their fluorine atoms can be easily substituted to another functional groups by nucleophilic substitution reaction. However, as the effective fluorination method was not found, polyfluoroaromatic compounds were not yet produced in commercial scale. Among polyfluoroaromatic compounds, pentafluorobenzoic acid (PFBA) is an important raw material for photosensitive agents and bactericidal agents related to quinolone carboxylic acids.In 1984, we established the full commercial scale technology to produce PFBA started from benzonitrile by 1) vapour phase chlorination to pentachlorobenzonitrile (PCBN), 2) halogen exchange reaction of PCBN to pentafluorobenzonitrile (PFBN), 3) hydrolysis of PFBN to PFBA.This technology can be widely applied to production of tetrafluorophthalic acids, polyfluoropyridines and other polyfluoroaromatic compounds.As many patents and technical papers related to application of polyfluoroaromatic compounds are published lately, our technology will be expected to extend to vaious fields in the near future.


Drosophila models of neurological disease contribute tremendously to research progress due to the high conservation of human disease genes, the powerful and sophisticated genetic toolkit, and the rapid generation time. Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most prevalent heritable cause of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders, and the Drosophila FXS disease model has been critical for the genetic screening discovery of new intercellular secretion mechanisms. Here, we focus on the roles of three major signaling pathways: BMP, Wnt, and insulin-like peptides. We present Drosophila FXS model defects compared to mouse models in stem cells/embryos, the glutamatergic neuromuscular junction (NMJ) synapse model, and the developing adult brain. All three of these secreted signaling pathways are strikingly altered in FXS disease models, giving new mechanistic insights into impaired cellular outcomes and neurological phenotypes. Drosophila provides a powerful genetic screening platform to expand understanding of these secretory mechanisms and to test cellular roles in both peripheral and central nervous systems. The studies demonstrate the importance of exploring broad genetic interactions and unexpected regulatory mechanisms. We discuss a number of research avenues to pursue BMP, Wnt, and insulin signaling in future FXS investigations and the development of potential therapeutics.


Soil macrofauna were sorted by hand.The responses of soil macrofaunal community to water-soil erosion controlling methods(i.e.Pinus tabulaeformis woodland,Populus simonii woodland,Caragana intermedia shrub,Astragalus adsurgens meadow,abandoned and cropland) were investigated with emphasis on their composition,biodiversity and seasonal dynamic in Huangfuchuan Watershed,Inner Mongolia,from May to September,2008.A total of 1 653 soil macrofauna belonging to 1 phyla,3 classes,8 orders and 34 families were collected.The dominant groups were Melolothidae larvae and Formicoidae imago.Compared to farmland,the individual number,group number,and biomass of soil macrofaunal communities in other land use plots increased significantly,and it is most remarkably in Populus simonii woodland.In different land use plots,the status of animal group collocating which reflected by Shannon-Wiener index(H′) and Pielou index(J) were not as good as that of in farmland,but the complexity index(Cj) of soil macrofaunal community was higher than that of in farmland.Different soil macrofauna had different response to water-soil erosion controlling methods.Because the individual number of some main groups significantly increased,the construction of soil macrofaunal communities in different land use plots had the trend of simplification.The results suggested that all water-soil erosion controlling methods are benefit to the recovery and conservation of soil macrofaunal community.But it is necessary to predict pest's dynamics in management practices,and enhance the plantation biodiversity in working-out the means of water-soil erosion controlling.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
There has been concern over rising use of prescription opioids in young and middle-aged adults. Much less is known about opioid prescribing in older adults, for whom clinical recommendations and the balance of risks and benefits differ from younger adults. We evaluated changes in use of opioids and other analgesics in a national sample of clinic visits made by older adults between 1999 and 2010.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS
Observational study of adults aged 65 and older from the 1999-2010 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, serial cross-sectional surveys of outpatient visits in the United States.

METHODS
Medication use was assessed at each study visit and included medications in use prior to the visit and medications newly prescribed at the visit. Results were adjusted for survey weights and design factors to provide nationally representative estimates.

RESULTS
Mean age was 75 ± 7 years, and 45% of visits occurred in primary care settings. Between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, the percent of clinic visits at which an opioid was used rose from 4.1% to 9.0% (P < 0.001). Although use of all major opioid classes increased, the largest contributor to increased use was hydrocodone-containing combination opioids, which rose from 1.1% to 3.5% of visits over the study period (P < 0.001). Growth in opioid use was observed across a wide range of patient and clinic characteristics, including in visits for musculoskeletal problems (10.7% of visits in 1999-2000 to 17.0% in 2009-2010, P < 0.001) and in visits for other reasons (2.8% to 7.3%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Opioid use by older adults visiting clinics more than doubled between 1999 and 2010, and occurred across a wide range of patient characteristics and clinic settings.


In this paper, pre-IPO value estimations by the lead underwriting investment bank of Belgian IPO stocks are compared to the offer price and the stock price in the first month of listing. The valuation methods used by the lead underwriter and the estimated values are often discussed in Belgian IPO-prospectuses. For 33 IPOs in the 1993-2000 period, we find that in all cases the lead underwriter uses several methods to estimate stock value. Discounted free cash flow, which is used to price all IPOs in the sample, is the most popular valuation method. The IPO offer price is mainly driven by the dividend discount model if applied. However, we find that the dividend discount model is not better in predicting the stock price than other valuation models. Moreover, our results suggest that the dividend discount model tends to underestimate value, while discounted free cash flow produces unbiased results. This indicates that underwriters consciously underprice the IPO by relying on a valuation method that tends to underestimate value. We also find that price/earnings and price/cash flow multiples using forecasted earnings and cash flows for the year after the IPO lead to more accurate valuations than multiples using forecasted earnings and cash flows for the IPO-year. Finally, our results indicate that the offer price is closer to the stock price after listing than individual valuation estimates, although the differences are not statistically significant.


Objective Analyze the expression level of TTYH3 gene in liver cancer, promoter methylation, gene mutation, co-expression, Immune infiltration, protein interaction and overall survival by database mining. Methods We utilized the UALCAN, GEPIA, cBioPortal, Metascape, STRING, TIMER, TISIDB, and MEXPRESS databases to investigate the transcription level, genetic alteration, methylation, and biological function of TTYH3 in HCC patients, and its association with the occurrence, progress, prognosis, and immune cell infiltration in patients with HCC. Results Multiple databases have confirmed that the mRNA level of TTYH3 in liver cancer tissues is significantly higher than that in normal tissues. UALCAN and GEPIA confirmed that the overexpression of TTYH3 mRNA was associated with clinical stage, and the expression of TTYH3 mRNA increased with the increase of stage (P<0.05). Multiple databases confirmed that the overexpression of TTYH3 gene was associated with low survival rate (P<0.05). cBioPortal database analysis showed that TTYH3 gene mutation was associated with low survival rate and poor prognosis (P<0.05). GEPIA search for genes co-expressed with TTYH3. Timer database showed that TTYH3 was involved in inflammatory response and immune cell infiltration. Methylation data from MEXPRESS indicate significant probe level variation of CpG island methylation status of the gene TTYH3, which was associated with low survival rate (P<0.05), Moreover, we also found that the expression of TTYH3 was significantly correlated with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and immunomodulators, The STRING protein analysis network showed that TTYH3 may interact with BEST1, BEST2, BEST3, BEST4, ZnF467, CLCC1, GLRB, ANO1, IQCE, ANO2 and other proteins. Conclusion Through a variety of databases, it was found that TTYH3 was highly expressed in liver cancer, and the expression level was related to the survival and prognosis of liver cancer patients. Found TTYH3 involved in inflammation and immune cell infiltration and influence the outcomes in patients with liver cancer clinical, TTYH3 promoter methylation of meaningful expression differences in liver cancer, the co-expressed genes, proteins interaction can be in-depth study, as well as TTYH3 gene and the relationship between the liver cancer, for the prognosis of liver cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets.


Abstract The world has been going through many technological transformations, which affect not only the productive systems, but also the prevailing social and institutional spheres, creating a fragmented and hard to understand scenario. Different theories aim at evaluating some specific dimensions of the complex process in course at the micro- meso- and macrolevels; however, none seems to encompass the multiple dimensions of the phenomenon concomitantly. To address such research gap, we resort to adaptive theory, which, on the one hand, turns to theoretical constructs on disruptive innovation, creative destruction and economic cycles; on the other, resorts to data and information on the emergence and proliferation of platforms for collaborative consumption. Our paper brings a unified theoretical conception, allowing a more comprehensive and integrated analysis of more than one dimension of the transformation process currently in course.


Cavitation is one of the most difficult physical phenomena to understand and predict. Many experimental and computational studies have been conducted for better understanding of the phenomenon. Recently, with the rapid development of computing hardware capacity and numerical methods, considerable advancement is observed in prediction of cavitation using computational fluid dynamics. To that end, many cavitation models have been developed and reported. In the present paper, some of the distinguished cavitation models are categorized and reviewed in terms of the computational frame work and formulation of transport equations. Then those characteristics are compared with each other.


Production control systems must have accurate models for the prediction of tundish temperature to meet increasing demands on control and production rate in continuous casting. The models have to be simple. They must also include the effect of variations in steel flow and mixing, including shortcut flows from the inlet stream towards the outlet end. To meet this demand, a tank in series model was designed, which also included the effect of dynamic shortcut flows. The model has been verified by data from experiments with chemical tracers in a 14 tonne straight tundish. The tracers have been added both in the ladle and close to the inlet end in the tundish and the response in the steel entering the mould has been studied. The data seem to confirm that there is a different distribution of the steel flow in the period shortly after the ladle change. The difference could be explained either as shortcut flows caused by buoyancy or by increased stirring. It is possible to choose a configuration of tanks that allows simulation of both the transient behaviour at ladle change and the steady state conditions during the main part of the casting by changing the adjustable parameters for the shortcut flow without changing the configuration of tanks.


Three data communication methods can be provided in a MANET: data broadcast, data query, and peer-to-peer messaging. The formation of heterogeneous distributed mobile databases within a MANET that allows people to submit queries is becoming a reality. The goal of this paper is to integrate distributed mobile databases in MANETs and proposes a new data communication protocol that supports all three modes of data communication in the network region and allows mobile applications to view these separate non identical databases as one integrated database. This protocol adjusts node disconnection and reconnection through periodic synchronization. In this distributed database framework mobile servers comprise Data Directories (DDs) that gather and store the schemas of mobile databases running on detected mobile devices in the service cycle. DDs inform the requesting node whether a submitted query is answerable from participating mobile database nodes or not. Also this protocol allows mobile nodes of the architecture to exchange messages for the purpose of executing the submitted query against the distributed mobile database and then returning the results.


I start from the famous scheme of historical development of our civilization by American sociologist Daniel Bell. He identified 3 main stages of such development: 1)agrarian society; 2)industrial society; 3)post-industrial society. What is the nature of knowledge at each of these stages?
In agrarian society knowledge is a kind of sacred access to creation, "participation mystique" in creative activities of god or gods. If we would analyse human nature at this stage, it would be a kind of shift from "biological" to "social" nature. Or, with certain simplification, a "construction of social". In typical industrial society this shift is successfully completed. Knowledge here is an opportunity to
create and to expand a new world, which is relevant to social nature of human beings. In post-industrial society knowledge is a kind of access to "creation of creation"(or, if we use the popular term of Jean Baudrillard, creation of "simulacrums of simulation"). At this stage we have a kind
of shift from "social" to "virtual" nature of human beings. This shift is enforced by expanding of Internet and modern (or postmodern) information and communication technologies. We could also call this knowledge "incomplete knowledge", because in contemporary civilization future has a kind of
ontological priority over the past and, even, over the present. The numerous literature on innovations and their crucial role in contemporary world helps to support this argument. And here we come to the necessity of creation of new paradigm of education, which would reflect these changes of nature of knowledge and human nature together with the other important attributes of nowadays reality (for example, the phenomenon of "overcoming the national" and "origin of the global" is specially interesting for me). I want to identify the main features of this new paradigm of education in my presentation.


This paper is an account of the co-construction of categorical identity and personal identity among human beings. As people recognize themselves within a socially sanctioned categorical scheme, they reproduce that scheme, and hence institutional and personal reflexivity occur as a joint movement that, at the same time, can be seen as an exercise in social control. The inspirations for this account are lan Hacking's view about the distinctiveness of social kinds from natural kinds, and Dan Sperber's idea about cultural communication as a form of social epidemiology.


S-1 (also known as TS-1; Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.; Tokyo, Japan) is a new oral fluoropyrimidine formulation that combines tegafur, 5-chloro-2,4-dihydroxypyridine (CDHP), and potassium oxonate in a molar ratio of 1:0.4:1. Single-agent S-1 has demonstrated marked activity against non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as well as a broad array of other solid tumors, including gastric, colorectal, breast, cervical, and pancreatic cancers. This comprehensive review summarizes the results of previous clinical studies and describes ongoing clinical trials of S-1 in advanced NSCLC. S-1 combined with platinum compounds, irinotecan, and gemcitabine has produced promising results in terms of feasibility, safety, and effectiveness. Available data have stimulated further research, including phase III trials for the first-line treatment of advanced NSCLC.


Due to their physical proximity, the healthy pancreas and the gut microbiome are known to interact in a variety of ways. The gut microbiota has been recognized as a potential factor in the development and progression of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency through several mechanisms. Pancreatic diseases like chronic and acute pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer are frequently accompanied by pancreatic exocrine insufficiency which affects the gut microbiota. Firstly, the gut microbes are controlled by antimicrobial pancreatic secretions, while themselves induce the secretion of substances by the pancreas through metabolite production, such as short chain fatty acids. Secondly, dysbiosis, the alteration in the abundance and diversity of different species, has been observed in patients with pancreatic diseases. Dysbiosis influences carcinogenesis in pancreatic cancer in ways that are either procarcinogenic or anticarcinogenic and finding these connections will have clinical implications. Identifying microbial biomarkers allow for an earlier diagnosis, improved therapy and prognosis in pancreatic cancer. The gut microbiome has a role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis by either a bacterial translocation or a host immune response mechanism. The disruption of the normal gut barrier is believed to be the primary source of bacteria in acute pancreatitis which leads to infected pancreatic necrosis.
In this paper, we review the current data about the association between pancreatic diseases linked to exocrine insufficiency and gut microbiota.


Introduction Compared to western populations, diabetes mellitus is prevalent in China despite a relatively non-obese population. Exposures beyond lifestyle and genetics may be relevant. We hypothesised that liver infections, common in China, increase vulnerability to diabetes, via the physiological consequences of poor liver function. Methods We used multivariable regression to examine the adjusted associations of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) with diabetes in the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study phase 1 (2003–2004) for 10 121 older (≥50 years) Chinese and in NHANES III for 16 854 people. We similarly examined the associations of liver function related viruses (number of hepatitis A, B, C and E antibodies or of hepatitis A, hepatitis C and herpes simplex virus 1) with ALT, AST, diabetes and death from diabetes in NHANES III. As a control, we examined associations for viruses unrelated to liver function (cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus 2 and human herpes virus 8). Results ALT was positively associated with diabetes in both settings, adjusted for age, sex, socio-economic position, smoking, alcohol and adiposity. Similarly adjusted, liver function related virus antibodies were associated with ALT (0.18 SDs, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.26 for 2+ compared with none) and diabetes (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.02), but viruses unrelated to liver function were not. Conclusion Prior exposure to endemic viruses damaging liver function could be an additional factor contributing to diabetes in China, which public health efforts infection control efforts may already be addressing. Prevention strategies may need to be contextually specific.


This paper focuses on the development of a low-cost system, based on Arduino, for the active shielding of magnetic fields generated by power systems at industrial frequency. The modeling of the source, the design and the optimization of the shielding loop, and, finally, the hardware (microcontroller, sensors, driven voltage source, etc.) and the control algorithm of a prototype system are described. A number of tests, developed through an experimental setup, are performed to validate the prototype. The main results are also discussed highlighting the capabilities of the proposed active shielding.


Background: In 2005, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) approved the reimbursement for carotid artery stenting for high-risk carotid stenosis; leaving carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to be performed primarily for a low-risk population. In this study, we assess trends of outcomes associated with CEA over the period of CMS regulation. Methods: A cohort of patients with CEA was identified from the National Inpatient Sample database using the procedure codes (38.12) for the years 2001 through 2009. Patients under age 18, missing information on the death status, transfer between hospitals, and urgent or emergent admissions were eliminated. Trend analysis for the following outcomes (post procedure stroke, myocardial infarction 'MI', and death) was performed over the year included in the study. Two periods encompass the implementation of the guideline (first period: 2001 through 2004 and second period: 2006 through 2009) were compared. Results: Over 9 years, 152 051 CEA procedures were performed; 63375 performed during the first period and 70886 in the second period. The mean age (71.02 ± 9.2) and male preponderance (57.4%) were similar in both treatment periods (P > 0.05). Ninety six percent of this population was asymptomatic by the time CEA was performed. Overall poor outcome risk of post-procedure stroke, MI and death was 1.97%; being lower in the second compared to the first period (2.05% versus 1.88%; P =0.02; unadjusted odds ratio "OR' 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84, 0.98; and adjusted OR 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82, 0.96). The risk of post-procedure stroke was similar in both periods (0.94% versus 0.97%; P = 0.56); however, the risks of MI (0.91% versus 0.76%; P = 0.002) and death (0.46% versus 0.33%; P Conclusion: Following the CMS reimbursement guideline, CEA is associated with lesser risks of poor outcomes (MI and death).


This paper considers the newly introduced fountain codes for fixed-rate error control coding, with emphasis on Raptor codes. The performance of Raptor codes of low-to-moderate rates with iterative decoding is evaluated over memoryless, as well as correlated, fading channels. A global decoding algorithm, incorporating feedback between the component codes of the Raptor code, is introduced. Results show that fixed-rate Raptor codes closely approach the capacity limits of memoryless channels. It is also shown that Raptor codes incur a performance degradation over slow-fading channels relative to memoryless fading. Comparison with other state-of-the-art codes reveals that fixed-rate Raptor codes deliver performance that is comparable with, or better than, several high-performance schemes over both memoryless and correlated fading channels.


EMPAGLIFLOZIN REDUCES CARDIOVASCULAR MORTALITY IN TYPE 2 DIABETICS The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly and represents a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Although glycemic control has been shown to reduce microvascular complications, the effect of glycemic control on macrovascular disease is more limited. Furthermore, some glucose lowering drugs have been associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes. Accordingly, ensuring the cardiovascular safety of new diabetic therapies is important. Empaglifozin is one of the first in a new class of drugs that lowers serum glucose levels by decreasing renal glucose reabsorption. In this study of 7020 patients at high risk of cardiovascular events, patients were randomized to one of two doses of empagliflozin (10 mg or 25 mg) or placebo, as well as standard guideline based diabetic therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events or cardiovascular death. Although powered as a non-inferiority study, empaglifozin demonstrated statistical superiority as add-on diabetic therapy, significantly reducing the incidence of the primary end-point (10.5% vs 12.1%, HR 0.86; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.99; P=0.04 for superiority), including a significant reduction in the risk of death (5.7% and 8.3%, respectively; 32% relative risk reduction). Use of empaglifozin increased the rates of genital infection (although UTI rates were similar), presumably secondary to the increased amount of glucose present in urine. No other adverse events were increased with use of empaglifozin.


In this paper we study the functioning of representative democracy when politicians are better informed than the electorate about conditions relevant for policy choice. We consider a model with two states of the world. The distribution of voters' preferred policies shifts with the state. The two candidates are both completely office-motivated but differ in state-dependent quality. Voters have some information about the state but candidates are better informed. If voters' information is unknown to the candidates when they take positions and sufficiently accurate then candidates will, in refined equilibrium, reveal their information by converging to the most likely median. If voters' information is not sufficiently accurate then there is polarization and the candidates'information is not revealed to the voters. We also show that if voters'information is known to the candidates then they will never reveal their information to the voters. The candidates will either pander by converging on the median that is most likely given only the voters'information or be polarized. With respect to welfare, if voters are well informed then they all prefer that their information is unknown to the candidates. However, if voters are not well informed then it is the other way around, all voters prefer that their information is known by the candidates.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess the characteristics of parafoveal microvascular abnormalities in Behcet's uveitis (BDU) using projection-resolved optical coherence tomographic angiography (PR-OCTA). Methods: A retrospective study of BDU patients who underwent PR-OCTA examination between April 1, 2017 and October 31, 2018. Results: Sixty consecutive BDU patients (102 eyes) were included. Sixty-two (124 eyes) healthy subjects served as normal controls (NCs). As compared with NCs, the vessel densities (VDs) of superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses were decreased, and the fovea avascular zone area, perimeter and acircularity index were increased in BDU eyes (all p < .001). Macular edema (p < .001) and long uveitis course (p = .033) were identified as risk factors for capillary disruptions. Consistent VD reductions were observed in the quiescent fellow eyes of BDU patients during unilateral uveitis relapse. Conclusions: BDU patients had significant OCTA changes. Macular circulatory disturbances may exist in the quiescent fellow eyes during unilateral BDU attack.


Across the world global business practice is developing at a frenetic pace. Transnational corporations functioning across multiple states face increasingly complex layers of law and regulation, including human rights. Businesses can no longer afford to ignore human rights and the recent UN 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' framework for Transnational Businesses has catapulted the corporate connection to human rights violations into the limelight. This article seeks to flesh out the connection between business and human rights. Specifically it will consider in what ways transnational corporations have been either complicit or complacent in human rights violations and what forward-thinking efforts can prevent future acts of the same.

While it is still uncommon for companies to find themselves direct defendants in human rights cases, an increasing number of cases have been filed in the US utilising the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). While ATS claims for human rights violations are still under scrutiny, early in 2012 the US Supreme Court heard Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum and in October will hear a second round of arguments on the issue of whether victims of human rights violations in any state may sue the alleged perpetrators in US federal court. The potential effects of this case on international business activity are far-reaching. In addition to examining businesses as direct defendants, this article will explore the backlash resulting from successful human rights violation claims against states based on industrial activity. The repercussions for ill-conceived business activities have included exclusion from states and loss of investor confidence but these may represent only the tip of the iceberg. Finally it will consider the 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework and the Guiding Principles that seek to embed the framework into global business practice, including the need for human rights due diligence.

Global business activity and practice is multi-faceted and far from homogenous. The one consideration that is common and can no longer be ignored is the responsibility of transnational corporations to respect human rights. While a challenge, there are simple business practices that can ensure companies stay on the right side of human rights.


Abstract A sample of 585 (317 males; 268 females) adolescents of Chinese ethnic origin from Hong Kong (mean age=16·1 years) participated in the present study. Data on concerns as well as demographics were collected. Using confirmatory factor analytical techniques, a four-factor model of adolescent concerns was fitted to the data. The factors are: (1) Health and Drugs; (2) Future and Career; (3) Personal Self; and (4) Social Self. The overall fir of the model to the data was quite good. The adolescents identified school grades, career plans and future schooling as primary concerns with concerns about sexuality, substance use and dating ranking last. Discrepancies in the fit of the model are explained within a cross-cultural context.


In the human brain, internal states are often correlated over time (due to local recurrence and other intrinsic circuit properties), punctuated by abrupt transitions. At first glance, temporal smoothness of internal states presents a problem for learning input-output mappings (e.g. category labels for images), because the internal representation of the input will contain a mixture of current input and prior inputs. However, when training with naturalistic data (e.g. movies) there is also temporal autocorrelation in the input. How does the temporal"smoothness"of internal states affect the efficiency of learning when the training data are also temporally smooth? How does it affect the kinds of representations that are learned? We found that, when trained with temporally smooth data,"slow"neural networks (equipped with linear recurrence and gating mechanisms) learned to categorize more efficiently than feedforward networks. Furthermore, networks with linear recurrence and multi-timescale gating could learn internal representations that"un-mixed"quickly-varying and slowly-varying data sources. Together, these findings demonstrate how a fundamental property of cortical dynamics (their temporal autocorrelation) can serve as an inductive bias, leading to more efficient category learning and to the representational separation of fast and slow sources in the environment.


LDPC codes can be constructed by tiling permutation matrices that belong to the square root of identity type and similar algebraic structures. We investigate into the properties of such codes. We also present code structures that are amenable for efficient encoding.