Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) have become an attractive way to produce green energy via their integration into buildings as photovoltaic windows. Recently, carbon quantum dots (C-QDs) have become the most studied luminescent material for the manufacture of luminescent solar concentrators due to their advantages, such as low toxicity, sustainability, and low cost. Despite the advantages of carbon quantum dots, they remain a low-efficiency material, and it is difficult to fabricate LSCs with a good performance. To address this problem, some of the research has used SiO2 nanoparticles (Nps) to produce a light-scattering effect that helps to improve the system performance. However, these studies are limited and have not been discussed in detail. In this regard, this research work was designed to evaluate the contribution of the scattering effect in different systems of carbon quantum dots used in a possible luminescent solar concentrator. To carry out this study, C-QDs and SiO2 Nps were synthesized by hydrothermal methods and the Stober method, respectively. We used different concentrations of both materials to fabricate film LSCs (10 × 10 cm2). The results show that the light scattered by the SiO2 Nps has a double contribution, in terms of light redirected towards the edges of the window and as a secondary source of excitation for the C-QDs; thus, an improvement in the performance of the LSC is achieved. The best improvement in photoluminescence is achieved when the films are composed of 20% wt carbon quantum dots and 10% wt SiO2 Nps, reaching a gain of 16% of the intensity of the light incident on the edges of the window with respect to the LSCs where only C-QDs were used.


We consider the problem of constructing honest confidence intervals (CIs) for a scalar parameter of interest, such as the regression discontinuity parameter, in nonparametric regression based on kernel or local polynomial estimators. To ensure that our CIs are honest, we use critical values that take into account the possible bias of the estimator upon which the CIs are based. We show that this approach leads to CIs that are more efficient than conventional CIs that achieve coverage by undersmoothing or subtracting an estimate of the bias. We give sharp efficiency bounds of using different kernels, and derive the optimal bandwidth for constructing honest CIs. We show that using the bandwidth that minimizes the maximum mean‐squared error results in CIs that are nearly efficient and that in this case, the critical value depends only on the rate of convergence. For the common case in which the rate of convergence is
 n
 −2/5, the appropriate critical value for 95% CIs is 2.18, rather than the usual 1.96 critical value. We illustrate our results in a Monte Carlo analysis and an empirical application.


Network pruning reduces the number of parameters and computational costs of convolutional neural networks while maintaining high performance. Although existing pruning methods have achieved excellent results, they do not consider reconstruction after pruning in order to apply the network to actual devices. This study proposes a reconstruction process for channel-based network pruning. For lossless reconstruction, we focus on three components of the network: the residual block, skip connection, and convolution layer. Union operation and index alignment are applied to the residual block and skip connection, respectively. Furthermore, we reconstruct a compressed convolution layer by considering batch normalization. We apply our method to existing channel-based pruning methods for downstream tasks such as image classification, object detection, and semantic segmentation. Experimental results show that compressing a large model has a 1.93% higher accuracy in image classification, 2.2 higher mean Intersection over Union (mIoU) in semantic segmentation, and 0.054 higher mean Average Precision (mAP) in object detection than well-designed small models. Moreover, we demonstrate that our method can reduce the actual latency by 8.15× and 5.29× on Raspberry Pi and Jetson Nano, respectively.


The pattern of the spread of small food industries in Palembang show has led to the establishment of concentration patterns or clusters. This is evident from the grouping type of food industries in certain regions of the city of Palembang. The pattern of industrial activity concentration is spatially often identified with the agglomeration. It is, therefore, necessary to study the level of concentration and agglomeration force for small food industries. The population in this study was small food industries scattered throughout the districts in the city of Palembang. The analytical tool used Herfindahl index, locational Gini index, and the Agglomeration Strength Index. The results showed industrial concentration is highest in the district food Ilir Timur II at 1.4177 with labor contribution of 4.75 percent. Rated power at small industrial agglomeration in Palembang foods obtained at 0.03042, with a specialization level of 0.03036. Overall there are 488 units of small food industry businesses in Palembang and 21.7 percent are in the district of East Ilir II predominantly small soft drink industry with a total production amounting to Rp. 11,779,574. This suggests that small soft drink industry potential for development because it has a fairly wide market prospect and raw materials are relatively easy to obtain, although the potential for agglomeration is still relatively weak. Therefore, developing soft drink industry needs to consider the use of a cluster-based industrial strategy which is based on industry specialization driven by the occurrence of agglomeration in an effort to develop a competitive advantage in the face of competition in the free market era.


BACKGROUND
Statin treatment exhibits a beneficial effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and on cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with NAFLD.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review is to summarize the role of proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type- 9(PCSK9) in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and discuss the effects of the new hypolipidaemic drugs PCSK9 inhibitors on NAFLD.

RESULTS
Data indicates that high intrahepatic or circulating PCSK9 levels increase muscle and liver lipid storage, adipose energy storage and hepatic fatty acids, as well as triglycerides storage and secretion, thus contributing to the pathogenesis of NAFLD. The findings of animal and human studies, aiming to reduce PCSK9 with inhibitors (human IGG antibodies, antisense particles against PCSK9 mRNA, and small anti PCSK9 antibodies) point towards liver protection from NAFLD through inhibition of PCSK9 expression in the induction of degradation of hepatic HNF1a protein, insulin resistance (IR), and other mechanisms.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of PCSK9 inhibitors ameliorates NAFLD, aside from beneficial effects on CVD and independently of low density lipoprotein cholesterol level reduction.


A promising direction in deep learning research is to learn representations and simultaneously discover cluster structure in unlabeled data by optimizing a discriminative loss function. Contrary to supervised deep learning, this line of research is in its infancy and the design and optimization of a suitable loss function with the aim of training deep neural networks for clustering is still an open challenge. In this paper, we propose to leverage the discriminative power of information theoretic divergence measures, which have experienced success in traditional clustering, to develop a new deep clustering network. Our proposed loss function incorporates explicitly the geometry of the output space, and facilitates fully unsupervised training end-to-end. Experiments on real datasets show that the proposed algorithm achieves competitive performance with respect to other state-of-the-art methods.


We have developed an in vitro assay system for the evaluation of the inhibitory effects of phenolic antioxidants on myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The formation of dityrosine from the MPO/H2O2/L-tyrosine system was used as an indicator of the MPO activity. Because the buffer system used does not include chloride ion, this assay has the advantage of exclusion of direct reaction between an antioxidant and HOCl. In this assay, ferulic acid, gallic acid, and quercetin strongly inhibited the dityrosine formation, and curcumin and caffeic acid were also effective.


Folklore and mythology are not to be interpreted as proper history or science fact. There may be scientific reasons why the narrative themes in Japanese folklore persist. Raijin is the god of thunder and lightning, and Fujin is a god of windstorms and tornadoes. Syncretic representation of these sky deities are ubiquitous in Japanese art and cultural landscapes. This presentation will attempt to explain the science link between Japan's weather and its folklore. Stories such as Raijin's penchant for eating the navels of children, or why Fujin's skin is green, have a plausible meteorological explanation. The purpose of this qualitative research is for teaching by stimulating interest and discussion. Learning outcomes including the reinforcement of basic weather science and an appreciation of Japan's unique culture.


We analyze the collective dynamics of self-propelling particles (spps) which move at small Reynolds numbers including the hydrodynamic coupling to the suspending solvent through numerical simulations. The velocity distribution functions show marked deviations from Gaussian behavior at short times, and the mean-square displacement at long times shows a transition from diffusive to ballistic motion for appropriate driving mechanism at low concentrations. We discuss the structures the spps form at long times and how they correlate to their dynamic behavior.


The rise in chronic diseases and the aging of the population led to an increase in the demand for remote healthcare systems that employ biosensors to monitor people's health status. The increasing need for these automated systems has led to the emergence of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) networks. In the IoMT networks, the biosensor devices collect vital signs and transmit them to the gateway for further analysis and fusion. In light of the limited biosensor device resources (power, storage, and computation) and the periodical transmission of a large amount of data, it is necessary to optimize the transmission of data in order to conserve power while maintaining data quality at the gateway. Also, it became important to have a decision-making-based machine learning model at the gateway to evaluate a patient's health and make a quick, accurate decision in case of an emergency. This article proposes multibiosensor data sampling and transmission reduction with decision-making (MuDaSaTReD) for remote patient monitoring in the IoMT networks. The MuDaSaTReD achieves this goal on two levels: biosensors and a fog gateway. It uses an energy-saving lightweight data transmission (ELiDaT) algorithm to get rid of the repeated data and then adapts the sampling rate of each biosensor using an adaptive data sampling (ADaS) algorithm. The Multibiosensor Data Sampling and Transmission Reduction with Decision-making (MuDaFuDeC) implements the machine learning model at the fog gateway to learn and decide the situation of the patient according to the received data from the biosensors. The performance evaluation shows that the MuDaFuDeC outperforms other approaches in terms of the data reduction percentage and energy consumption. It keeps a good representation of all the scores at the fog gateway and makes automated, fast, and accurate decisions based on the patient's condition.


Cutting fluids of various types are usually employed to control the heat generated in machining. The continued application of conventional petroleum based metal working fluids is being challenged by the need to reduce overall volume of fluids, minimize health risks and bio-contamination. Bio-oils assisted machining is an environmental bio-compatible technology for desirable control of temperature. This paper investigates the effect of some vegetable based oils on cutting force during cylindrical machining of mild steel, aluminium and copper. The results indicated that bio oils are suitable for metal working fluids but the effects of the bio-oils on cutting force are material dependent. Groundnut oil exhibited the highest reduction in cutting force when aluminium was being turned at a speed of 8.25m/min and feeds of 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20mm/rev, respectively. Palm kernel oil had the best result when copper was turned at feeds lower than 0.15 mm/rev. However, at higher feeds, groundnut oil had the best result for copper. Coconut oil recorded the highest cutting force in all the three materials machined followed by shear butter and as such are very mild in reducing cutting force during cylindrical machining. It is concluded that groundnut and palm kernel oils are effective in reducing cutting force during cylindrical turning. Though, the lubricating and cooling action is material dependent, groundnut oil is the best among the four bio-oils investigated.


Abstract Background For persons with osteoarthritis (OA), nutrition education may facilitate weight and OA symptom management. Objectives The primary aim of this study was to determine preferred OA-related nutritional and weight management topics and their preferred delivery modality. The secondary aim was to determine whether there is a disconnect between what patients want to know about nutrition and OA management and what information health-care professionals (HCPs) are providing to patients. Methods The Osteoarthritis Action Alliance surveyed individuals with OA to identify their preferences, categorized in 4 domains: 1) strategies for weight management and a healthy lifestyle; 2) vitamins, minerals, and other supplements; 3) foods or nutrients that may reduce inflammation; and 4) diets for weight loss. HCPs were provided these domains and asked which topics they discussed with patients with OA. Both groups were asked to select currently utilized or preferred formats of nutritional resources. Results Survey responses from 338 individuals with OA and 104 HCPs were included. The highest preference rankings in each domain were: 1) foods that make OA symptoms worse (65%), foods and nutrients to reduce inflammation (57%), and healthy weight loss (42%); 2) glucosamine (53%), vitamin D (49%), and omega-3 fatty acids (45%); 3) spices and herbs (65%), fruits and vegetables (58%), and nuts (40%); and 4) Mediterranean diet (21%), low-carbohydrate diet (18%), and fasting or intermittent fasting (15%). There was greater than 20% discrepancy between interests reported by individuals with OA and discussions reported by HCPs on: weight loss strategies, general information on vitamins and minerals, special dietary considerations for other conditions, mindful eating, controlling caloric intake or portion sizes, and what foods worsen OA symptoms. Most respondents preferred to receive nutrition information in a passive format and did not want information from social media messaging. Conclusions There is disparity between the nutrition education content preferred by individuals with OA (which often lacks empirical support) and evidence-based topics being discussed by HCPs. HCPs must communicate evidence-based management of joint health and OA symptoms in patient-preferred formats. This study explored the information gap between what individuals with OA want to know and what HCPs believe they need to know.


Solutions of differential equations describing soil water behavior frequently require a mathematical function for the soil water characteristics. Although spline interpolation provides a method to connect the data points, in many cases its use yields poor results. The mathematical representation of the soil water characteristic may also be shaped according to the imagination and judgment of the investigator. In such cases, some additional virtual data points are chosen through which the spline function passes exactly to yield a mathematical description of the entire curve consistent with the initially measured points. A computer program SWC-SPLINE written in Delphi 2 allows the investigator to easily mark and change the position of the assumed virtual data points interactively according to visual inspection.


This article presents a study of the degree to which national institutional settings impact on the application of management practices in foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies. Applying the national business systems approach our study centres on the use of calculative human resource management (HRM) practices by subsidiaries of US multinational companies in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark/Norway and Australia, respectively, in comparison with these countries' indigenous firms.The analysis indicates that while US subsidiaries adapt to the local setting in terms of applying calculative HRM practices, they also diverge from indigenous firm practices.


Abstract The crystal structure of barstowite (3PbCl2·PbCO3·H2O, P21/m, a = 4.2023(5), b= 9.2020(7), c = 16.6608(6) (Å ), β = 91.829(9)°) from Bounds Cliff, St Endellion, Cornwall, has been determined to an R = 0.036. The structure can be described in terms of three layers stacked along [001] in the sequence ...CACBCACBC... to give a 16.7 Å repeat. Layer A consists of face-sharing PbCl8 distorted square antiprisms. Layer B is composed of Pb coordinated to 5 Cl and 2 O each with two H to form H2O groups. Layer C is formed by Pb coordinated to 5 Cl and 3 O which are from CO3 groups. The H positions are deduced and are H-bonded to O from carbonates. The structural details were in agreement with previous deductions based on infrared spectra.


Abstract This study aims to explore the database of the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) produced by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in order to investigate how couples from a dual-career perspective approach the demands of home and work. The study uses a quantitative-descriptive analysis of secondary data to update the model proposed by Berlato (2015), in which typologies were delineated from a sample of dual-career couples who were former students of a state university in São Paulo. From a sample of 890 individuals derived from the PNAD, it was possible to observe the predominance of traditional characteristics among Brazilian couples. Despite the suggestion of social change that comes with the dual-career phenomenon, there are still some features that accentuate gender disparities in the country.


The temperature increases in a human head due to electromagnetic (EM) wave exposure from a dipole antenna are investigated in the frequency range of 900 MHz to 2.45 GHz. The maximum temperature increases in the head and brain are compared with the values of 10/spl deg/C and 3.5/spl deg/C (found in literature pertaining to microwave-induced physiological damage). In particular, the estimation scheme for maximum temperature increases of the head and brain tissues is discussed in terms of a peak average specific absorption rate (SAR) as prescribed in safety standards. The rationale for this attempt is that maximum temperature increases and peak average SARs have not been well correlated yet. For this purpose, the SAR in the head model is initially calculated by the finite-difference time-domain method. The temperature increase in the model is then calculated by substituting the SAR into the bioheat equation. Numerical results demonstrate that the temperature increase distribution in the head is largely dependent on the frequency of EM waves. This is mainly because of the frequency dependency of the SAR distribution. Similarly, maximum temperature increases in the head and brain are significantly affected by the frequency and polarization of the EM wave. The maximum temperature increases in the head (excluding auricles) and brain are determined through linear extrapolation of the peak average SAR in these regions. According to this scheme, it is found that the peak SAR averaged over 1 g of tissue in the head should be approximately 65 W/kg to achieve the maximum temperature increase of 10/spl deg/C induced in the head excluding auricles. This corresponds to a factor of about 40 compared to the FCC standard. On the other hand, the peak SAR for 10 g of tissue should be around 40 W/kg, which implies a factor of about 20 compared to the ICNIRP standard.


Abstract Despite a turbulent global economy and expectations that declining exports would cause an economic slowdown, the Indonesian economy grew at 6.5% in 2011. The growth rate was supported by high consumer confidence – the result of lower inflation of just 3.8% in 2011. Nevertheless, there were indications that the global financial crisis had had an impact on Indonesia in the last quarter of 2011, notably on the growth of exports and imports. In October 2011, President Yudhoyono reshuffled his cabinet, citing a need to improve its performance in the administration's remaining three years. The reshuffle showed that the president is still subject to political party pressures. Moreover, the governing coalition of parties remains weak. Agreements made within coalition meetings are often broken in the parliament, and coalition parties are frequently distracted by media polemics. The case of former Democrat Party treasurer Nazaruddin, arrested in Colombia following a two-month manhunt, has revealed the magnitude of the money politics surrounding the Democrat Party, whose ratings are declining rapidly. Indonesia enters 2012 bolstered by the restoration of its investment-grade credit rating. This will expose Indonesia to increased capital flows, since many funds are permitted to invest only in investment-grade countries. The effects on foreign direct investment (FDI) are not automatic, however. These investors evaluate the wider business climate and economic governance in making their investment decisions. The fuel subsidy remains a challenge for Indonesia in 2011/12. Parliament rejected a proposal to limit fuel consumption from April 2012 over doubts about the government's readiness to handle the policy's technical complexity. Now the government is again considering a fuel price increase, and will have to seek parliamentary approval soon. Indonesia faces a long-term problem of regional inequality. After four decades of economic development there is little variation in the shares of GDP across regions, but GDP per capita in some regions is slipping behind that of Java. Regional development policy needs to generate more economic activities in the outer islands, and to learn from the mistakes of past initiatives to promote economic development and growth centres in the regions. It is important to align policies with the current decentralisation arrangements. The government is revising Law 33/2004 on Intergovernmental Finance with the aim of improving some dimensions of decentralisation in Indonesia. Revenue certainty is to be enhanced in part through changes to the general allocation grant (DAU) formula and the disbursement mechanism for intergovernmental transfers. The planned revision has not, however, addressed sufficiently the problem of inefficiency in regional spending. In fact, some of the proposed solutions may well create further spending inefficiency. The main barrier to increased FDI is infrastructure development, whose progress has been slowed by land procurement problems. Unfortunately, Law 2/2012 on Land Procurement for Public Purposes seems unlikely to deliver a clear solution to the key problem of determining fair prices for land compensation. What is needed is the creation of more independent price-setting committees, with sufficient capacity to disentangle the problems of land acquisition.


Insect herbivory can have important consequences for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Despite a growing recognition of the role of herbivores in above‐ground–below‐ground interactions, our current understanding is mainly restricted to studies of vertebrates in grassland and tundra ecosystems, while ecosystems with tree‐like canopies (termed forests below) and invertebrates remain understudied. Here, we assess the current state of knowledge of one key aspect of plant–herbivore interactions by conducting a meta‐analysis of the peer‐reviewed literature on the below‐ground consequences of above‐ground insect herbivory in forest ecosystems. Main results are reported as aggregated relative effect sizes (Cohen's d). We find that above‐ground insect herbivory reduced below‐ground carbon (C) allocation by plants to roots (−0.56) and root exudation (−0.85), causing shifts in root–symbiont communities, for example, a decrease (−0.67) in the abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Microbial decomposer abundances showed no significant responses, while soil faunal abundances increased (0.50). C and nitrogen (N) mineralization rates (C: 0.48, N: 0.48) along with nutrient leaching (C: 0.30, N: 0.77) increased, with a stronger response to outbreak relative to background insect densities. The negative responses increased in strength in colder and dryer biomes while positive responses were reinforced in warmer and wetter biomes, thus extending previously shown effects for vertebrate herbivores to also include insect herbivory. The positive response by soil fauna to insect herbivory was the notable exception. This may be associated with the limited physical soil disturbance caused by insects compared to ungulates. Furthermore, we identified an under‐representation in the literature of large areas of boreal and tropical biomes calling for research priorities to fill these knowledge gaps. We present three recommendations for future research: addressing (a) biological drivers of biogeochemistry and response pathways, (b) knowledge gap from boreal and tropical forests, and (c) heterogeneity of herbivore disturbances. Synthesis. Insect herbivores significantly accelerate soil C and N cycling during outbreaks in forest ecosystems, but we lack knowledge on the underlying biological drivers. Overall, below‐ground responses to insect herbivory are similar to vertebrate herbivory responses, which may simplify implementing herbivory effects into ecosystem models. Nonetheless, we identify a few important differences and general knowledge gaps on which we base recommendations for future research.


Summary
The acid-insoluble radioactivity associated with the cells following incubation of the cells with [3H]-labelled poly(I).poly(C) [poly(I).poly(C)
*
for 1 h has been analysed by sucrose gradient velocity ultracentrifuging. Intact (poly(I).poly(C)
*
was recovered from primary rabbit kidney (PRK) cells, partially degraded poly(I). poly(C)
*
was recovered from mouse L 929 cells and completely degraded material was recovered from HeLa and VERO cells. Priming of the cells with homologous interferon did not alter the sedimentation profile of cell-associated poly(I).poly(C)
*
in PRK, L 929 or HeLa cells.


A survey of senior mental health managers in London found that less than half thought they would stay in their job more than a year. The resulting turnover could create significant instability. Respondents considered the development of community mental health teams as the top priority for implementation. Financial restrictions were seen as the major obstacle to service development. Most respondents welcomed the national service framework for mental health.


Designing and innovating organic structure-directing agents is the key to synthesizing novel molecular sieve structures. Herein, we design a novel carbazolyl-modified template and further synthesize a two-dimensional layered aluminophosphate with [C17H21N2]3[Al3(PO4)4]·5H2O (denoted as ZHKU-2). ZHKU-2 is composed of AA-stacked [Al3P4O16]3- layers constructed from alternating AlO4 and PO3(=O) tetrahedrons to form a 4.6.8 network featured by capped six-ring secondary building units. Carbazolyl-templated ZHKU-2 exhibits strong purple fluorescence with a high quantum yield of 25.98%. This work expands aluminophosphate materials of the [Al3P4O16]3- family and provides a view for synthesizing new molecular sieves by exploring the organic luminescence structure-directing agents.


Objectives To determine whether Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is an effective steroid sparing agent in a single centre cohort of severe asthma patients. Background MMF is a powerful inhibitor of purine and pyrimidine synthesis via the de novo pathway, upon which lymphocyte production is dependent. It is currently licensed for use in transplant rejection prophylaxis. Other immunosuppressant therapies have been used off licence in difficult-to-treat asthma patients under specialist supervision in an effort to reduce corticosteroid use. MMF is currently a third line immunosuppressant after methotrexate and azathioprine at the North West Lung Centre. Methods A retrospective data analysis was performed including all patients under specialist asthma care at UHSM that were previously or currently treated with MMF. Annualised average daily steroid dose was calculated from the available data in patient case notes. This was calculated for 12 months prior to commencing any immunosuppressant therapy and during MMF treatment. Exacerbation and hospital admission rates were also recorded. Results A total of 34 patients were identified as being on MMF for severe asthma for at least 8 weeks. 11 did not tolerate MMF or had no response and subsequently stopped. The primary analysis was carried out on 23 patients and a secondary post hoc analysis was performed on all patients who had been on treatment for a minimumof 6 months at the time of the study (N=12). The average yearly steroid sparing impact of MMF was 5.9 mg per day, (p < 0.005). 74% had an overall reduction and 35% achieved a reduction of 10 mg or more. This value was lower in those who had been on treatment for >6 months (Δ 3.9 p = 0.20). There was no statistically significant reduction in admission or exacerbation rates. Conclusion MMF has shown a small steroid sparing effect in this retrospective analysis, although the effect appeared less positive in the sub-group of those analysed after being on treatment for at least 6 months further analysis of the potential benefits of MMF in this patient population is required. Abstract P237 Figure 1


Age-related adiposity has been linked to chronic inflammatory diseases in late life. To date, the studies on adipose tissue leukocytes and aging have not taken into account the heterogeneity of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs), nor have they examined how age impacts other leukocytes such as T cells in fat. Therefore, we have performed a detailed examination of ATM subtypes in young and old mice using state of the art techniques. Our results demonstrate qualitative changes in ATMs with aging that generate a decrease in resident type 2 (M2) ATMs. The profile of ATMs in old fat shifts toward a proinflammatory environment with increased numbers of CD206−CD11c− (double-negative) ATMs. The mechanism of this aging-induced shift in the phenotypic profile of ATMs was found to be related to a decrease in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ expression in ATMs and alterations in chemokine/chemokine receptor expression profiles. Furthermore, we have revealed a profound and unexpected expansion of adipose tissue T cells in visceral fat with aging that includes a significant induction of regulatory T cells in fat. Our findings demonstrate a unique inflammatory cell signature in the physiologic context of aging adipose tissue that differs from those induced in setting of diet-induced obesity.


The electrical properties of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) after implantation with silicon ions accelerated to an energy of 50 keV are studied under DC electric bias field. The electrical response of the formed material is examined as a function of Si+ fluence in the range 1014 − 1017 cm−2. The carbonaceous subsurface region of the Si+-implanted PMMA displays a significant DC conductivity and a sizable field effect that can be used for electronic applications.


High-resolution Fourier transform infrared spectra of the 15NO3 ν3+ν4 and ν3+ν4-ν4 bands were observed in the 1472 and 1112 cm(-1) regions. Compared with the case of 14N species, large effects of perturbations were recognized in many rotational levels of the 15NO3 ν3+ν4 state, and it was found that the ν2+2ν4 state is responsible for the perturbation. Although a direct Coriolis interaction (Δν2 = 1, Δν3(or Δν4)=1) is not present between these two vibrational levels, anharmonic terms including Φ344 and Φ444 mix ν3+ν4 and 3ν4, ν2+2ν4, and ν2+2ν4 mixes with ν2+ν4 to produce Coriolis interaction between ν3+ν4 and ν2+2ν4. An analysis gave the energy difference of 7.274 cm(-1) between two levels, and interaction parameters were determined. Similar perturbation analysis was applied for the 14N species, and the previous (p)P(N,K) assignment of the ν3+ν4 A'-ν4 E' band was changed for giving one A2' state. Spectral lines to another A1' state were not assigned because of weak intensity, which is explained by intensity anomaly through vibronic interaction, reflecting the transition moment of the B2E'-X2A2' electronic band.


On the surgery for malignant gliomas, most cases are beyond the stage for desirable removal of tumors, because of the risk of damage to the normal function of surrounding brain tissue. The restriction of the surgical treatment has inevitably required postoperative radiation therapy. With a protocol aiming at removing tumors extensively and delivering high dose radiation to the tumor area, we treated 107 patients with cerebral glioblastoma. Wide removal of the tumor combined with intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) was applied to expected resectable cases at the first surgery or at the second salvage surgery after conventional external radiation therapy. Thirty patients underwent extensive removal with IORT and demonstrated a 2-year survival rate of 60%. Fifty six patients were treated only by postoperative radiation therapy and a two-year survival rate was only 6.8%. The results apparently indicate that areas adjacent to the margin of almost complete removal should be irradiated with a sufficient dose to sterilize the remaining malignant remnants. As metastatic brain tumors without systemic metastasis seldom develop to multiple lesions, surgical removal followed by local radiation therapy would be ideal in order to prevent brain atrophy and dementia induced by whole brain irradiation. IORT would be also useful for its strong local effect to tumors and for shortening the hospital stay of patients.


The objective of this research was to assess the problems that professionals perceive in the community mental health care for patients with severe borderline personality disorder that do not fit into specialized therapy. A group of national experts (n = 8) participated in a fourphase Delphi-procedure to identify and prioritize the problems. A total of 36 problems reflecting five categories was found: patient-related, professional-related, interaction-related, social system-related, and mental health carerelated. Problems with attachment and dependency and social issues were important patient problems while a lack of skills was an important professional problem. Support from the patient's social system and the mental health system were identified as limited, which resulted in both the patient and the professional feeling isolated. Patient, professional, and organisational characteristics of community care differ substantially from those of specialized care. The field is thus in need of a more tailored approach that takes these differences into account.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to investigate how patients' self‐rated health status (SRHS) is associated with their attribute reaction integration process and, in turn, their overall ratings of hospitals. We collected patient satisfaction data from 70 hospitals by means of a patient satisfaction questionnaire. The sample included patients who were 18 years or older and discharged from the hospital from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012. Data for 36,528 patients were available for analysis. We conducted multiple linear regression analysis with patients' SRHS and interaction effects with nursing care, physician care, staff care, and room, while controlling for age, gender, race, and education. Study findings showed an association between SRHS levels and the patient's overall rating of the hospital; they also revealed interaction effects with nursing care, physician care, and staff care variables in the model. The statistically significant interaction effects indicate that for patients whose SRHS was less than excellent, physician care became more important and nursing care and staff care became less important compared with patients whose SRHS was excellent. When we consider the nature of medical care, this transition seems reasonable. We also found that it is reasonable to categorize patients into two groups: those whose SRHS is excellent and those whose SRHS is less than excellent (i.e., very good, good, fair, or poor). As the study findings show, these two groups of patients combined their attribute reactions differently.


The paper aims to evaluate the quality of fisheries census statistic and to provide some desirable directions and improvements for the future fisheries census, conducted by the Government. For the quality diagnosis of fisheries census statistic, specific processes of fisheries census and statistical qualities of each dimension are surveyed and evaluated by a Government's practician, two external examiners and a research group. Results show that census design, data analysis and quality control are evaluated relatively low in specific processes, and accessibility and comparability are evaluated relatively lower than relevance, accuracy, timeliness and consistency in statistical qualities. For minimizing the sampling errors, the probability proportion method should be employed in sampling methods from currently simple sampling method. In addition, fisheries census statistic is desirable to include and compare with those of different countries for consumer oriented data system.


Anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) immunization can be elicited by vaccination with DNA encoding the extra- or intra-cellular domain (ECD or ICD) of HER2, naked or encap-sulated in viral vectors. HER2-peptides derived from ECD or ICD of HER2, and HER2-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) or engineered DCs expressing HER2, respectively. We performed a computer- based literature search which includes but is not limited to the following keywords: breast cancer, immunotherapy, HER2-peptide vaccine, HER2-DNA vaccine, HER-DC vaccine, HER2 vaccine, and HER2/neu, in PubMed, Medline, EMBO and Google Scholar; data from recently reported clinical trials were also included. Drawing upon this synthesis of literature, this work summarizes the de-velopment and current trend in experimental and clinical investigations in HER2-positive breast cancer using HER2-specific vaccine and immunotherapy, focusing especially on: (i) DNA-; (ii) peptide-; and (iii) DC-based vaccines. It addresses interventions that have been applied to overcome immunotolerance thereby to improve treatment outcomes. These include blocking the inhibitory cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4), which is expressed at high levels by regulatory T (Treg) cells, or complete Treg depletion to improve T-cell activation. Moreover, modulatory interventions can provide further improvement in the efficacy of HER2-specific vaccine. The interventions include the use of immunogenic adjuvants such as cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), the use of Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands and tetanus toxin's universal epitopes such as the CD4+ help T (Th)-epitope P30, and the use of either chimeric or heterogenous xenogeneic HER2. Combining active HER2-vaccination with adoptive trastuzumab antibody immunotherapy is likely to increase the effectiveness of each approach alone. The development of effective HER2-vaccines for breast cancer remains a critical challenge. Though these novel interventions seem promising, further investigation is still needed since the results are preliminary. Furthermore, the review discusses the challenges and future perspectives in HER2-vaccine research and development.


As car seat is the closest part between driver and rider, the interest of the security and comfort of the seat is increasing. This research discovered the best condition for dyeing and finishing to produce a fabric for car seat and also developed the design of fabrication to give the feeling from such a finishing. The best condition of coating finishing solution is aqueous PU 65%, dye resist reagent 20%, water 12%, thicker 3%, and knife thickness 2mm, tenter temperature 170℃, tenter speed 35yard/min, viscosity 12,000cps and stirring time 100kg * 30min. According to the processing time of knife coating upon stirring the change of resin and the uneven of coating quantity was shown. This problems will be solved by means of automatic temperature control apparatus for resin and sealing device through a coming research.


In a Fisher market game, a market equilibrium is computed in terms of the utility functions and money endowments that agents reported. As a consequence, an individual buyer may misreport his private information to obtain a utility gain. We investigate the extent to which an agent's utility can be increased by unilateral strategic plays and prove that the percentage of this improvement is at most 2 for markets with weak gross substitute utilities. Equivalently, we show that truthfully reporting is a 0.5-approximate Nash equilibrium in this game. To identify sufficient conditions for truthfully reporting being close to Nash equilibrium, we conduct a parameterized study on strategic behaviors and further show that the ratio of utility gain decreases linearly as buyer's initial endowment increases or his maximum share of an item decreases. Finally, we consider collusive behavior of a coalition and prove that the utility gain is bounded by 1/(1 - maximum share of the collusion). Our findings justify the truthful reporting assumption in Fisher markets by a quantitative study on participants incentive, and imply that under large market assumption, the utility gain of a buyer from manipulations diminishes to 0.


For patients with COPD, FEV1 has been shown to be the single most important factor to influence survival. Patients with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (alpha 1ATD) develop emphysema at a young age, especially if they smoke, and the purpose of this study was to calculate survival with respect to the initial FEV1 and smoking history. For this study, patients with Pi-type ZZ were analyzed. FEV1 was divided in four groups: below 25%, 25 to 49%, 50 to 74%, and more than 75% of predicted. A total of 347 patients with 107 deaths were available for analysis. Three patients were lost to follow-up, and 17 had received a lung transplant. There was no significant difference in survival between males and females. The median survival time for patients with an initial FEV1 below 25% was 6.3 yr (95% CI 5.2-8.0). For the FEV1 groups 25 to 49% and 50 to 74%, median survival times were: 10.5 (9.2-11.9) and 14.2 (12.4-infinity) yr, respectively. The median survival for the above 75% group was not calculable. For patients with an initial FEV1 less than 50%, smokers had a poorer survival rate than patients who quit smoking during the study period (p < 0.01). We conclude that for patients with severe alpha 1ATD, FEV1 is a very strong predictor of survival regardless of sex. Patients who quit smoking had a better survival rate than patients who continued to smoke.


This document describes tools for valuating in monetary terms the co-benefits associated with climate change mitigation actions. The term co-benefits refers to outcomes of those actions other than their primary outcome (reducing greenhouse-gas emissions). Such non-primary outcomes can fall under a broad range of economic or, more likely, environmental and social issues. Examples of positive environmental impacts that may not be the primary outcome of a climate change mitigation policy include reduced local air pollution or restored ecosystem health. Examples of positive social impacts include improved human health or increased access to clean energy.


This article explains that the role of post-conflict political volunteers in 2004, who began with the presidential activity mapping and projection of the volunteers. It was to find out the tactical steps taken by the political volunteers, especially in issues of politics and government. This study revealed that volunteers more engaged in social media, then divides typology into a community volunteer and non-volunteer community. Form the two typology of volunteers turned out more volunters who choose passivity rather than active. Passive attituded intended to be a controller of goverment, while the more active attituded as the guardian of power. This article argues that the role of volunteers in post-conflict digital style presidential politics in 2014 more strengthen the institutionalization of digital activism for political aducation of the public.


The incessant evolution of organic and hybrid solar cells has demonstrated that a multilayer architecture is required for an optimum device functioning. Although more attention has been traditionally focused on the active layer materials, it is the interfacial materials, placed between the electrodes and the active region, which might play some of the most critical roles in the solar cell. In this regard, interfacial layers can modulate the compatibility between the electrodes and the active layers in terms of morphology, surface energy or energy level alignment. Furthermore, interfacial layers modulate the light absorption working as optical spacers, assist in the exciton confinement and preserve the active layer from damage or degrada tion. However, the most important role of interfacial layers concerns the charge transport, defining an energy gradient for the selective migration of free charge carriers from the active layer to the electrodes. This chapter offers a comprehensive description of those materials specifically working as hole transporting layers in organic, dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells. Conjugated polymers, small molecules, metals, metal oxides, self-assembled monolayers, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials will be discussed along with their influence on different aspects aimed at the optimization of the solar cell performance.


Idioms present numerous obstacles to linguistic theory and natural language processing. This paper highlights key issues surrounding the notion of idioms and its definitions, placing them within the context of the broader category of formulaic sequences. The treatment of idioms in traditional and non-traditional approaches is essentially different. Mainstream linguistic theories tend to consider idioms as peripheral language chunks whose meaning cannot be analysed or decomposed. A major criticism of this approach is that it ignores language use and human experience which form the building blocks of the assumptions held in non-traditional approaches, particularly in cognitive approaches. This paper acknowledges and engages with the difficulties surrounding the work on idioms, comparing how they are treated in traditional vs. non-traditional approaches. This paper also goes some way towards arguing for placing them within a specific – yet plausible – coherent cognitive-inspired


Because limited studies examined effects of transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 on growth of human acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) cells, we used factor-dependent and primary AML cells to assess TGF-β1 effects on human AML cell growth. OCI-AML1 cells were growth inhibited by TGF-β1 regardless of which growth factor was used as a stimulus. In contrast, AML-193 cells were resistant to TGF-β1 when grown with or without growth factors. UCSD/AML1 cells were sensitive to TGF-β1 inhibition when grown with most cytokines but were relatively resistant to TGF-β1 in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). Although cells grown from 5 of 6 AML patients were inhibited by TGF-β1, cells from 1 AML patient were growth stimulated by TGF-β1 in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), M-CSF, or mast cell growth factor (kit ligand). Thus, 3 growth patterns with TGF-β1 were observed: ( a ) sensitivity to growth inhibition; ( b ) resistance; and ( c ) factor-dependent resistance. Further studies showed that AML-193 and UCSD/AML1 cells expressed type II TGF-β1 receptors and that ability of TGF-β1 to decrease GM-CSF receptors did not correlate with growth inhibition. AML-193 cells and UCSD/AML1 cells grown with M-CSF could be propagated in 1 ng/ml TGF-β1, but UCSD/AML1 cells grown with GM-CSF and TGF-β1 died. Morphology and agarose gel analysis of DNA showed UCSD/AML1 cells underwent apoptosis when grown with GM-CSF and TGF-β1 but not with M-CSF and TGF-β1. Similar studies of OCI-AML1 cells showed that TGF-β1 induced apoptosis of cells grown in 5637 bladder cell-conditioned medium or GM-CSF. These studies indicate that human AML cells exhibit heterogeneous growth responses to TGF-β1 and that some effects of TGF-β1 on myeloid cells occur through programmed cell death.


Homelessness, black neighbourhood development, problems of abortion and sex education - how does religion affect the politics of an American city confronting these and other concerns? And what differences have "church and state" issues made in these struggles? In answering such questions, "A Bridging of Faiths" conveys a feeling of the urgent social theatre of Springfield, Massachusetts, and provides both a contemporary and historical sense of how power shapes and is shaped by the civic culture. Recalling the immediacy and provocativeness of classic community studies like "Middletown" and "Yankee City", the work draws on the voices of Spring-fielders themselves, while it exposes tendencies that prevail through out contemporary America. This is a tale of two establishments: Protestant for three centuries, Springfield has been for the last fifty years a Catholic city. In looking at its emerging demographic, political, and economic patterns, the book shows how church and state interact at the local level, where lives are actually lived, as opposed to how the law and public opinion say they ought to interact at the more abstract federal level. While religion is more politically influential than some social scientists might have expected, it does not possess the kind of power feared by many constitutionalists. Politicians are seeking to redefine themselves in relation and in other ways, and religion as a whole faces subtle crises of mobility, authority, and secularization. From these complexities, new patterns of cultural and political authority have emerged in Springfield, similar to those now affecting other American communities and the nation.


Accurate modeling of personalized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) is difficult but critical for applications requiring spatial audio. However, this remains challenging as experimental measurements require specialized equipment, numerical simulations require accurate head geometries and robust solvers, and data-driven methods are hungry for data. In this paper, we propose a new deep learning method that combines measurements and numerical simulations to take the best of three worlds. By learning the residual difference and establishing a high quality spatial basis, our method achieves consistently 2 dB to 2.5 dB lower spectral distortion (SD) compared to the state-of-the-art methods.


Various real-world applications involve modeling complex systems with immense uncertainty and optimizing multiple objectives based on the uncertain model. Quantifying the impact of the model uncertainty on the given operational objectives is critical for designing optimal experiments that can most effectively reduce the uncertainty that affect the objectives pertinent to the application at hand. In this paper, we propose the concept of mean multi-objective cost of uncertainty (multi-objective MOCU) that can be used for objective-based quantification of uncertainty for complex uncertain systems considering multiple operational objectives. We provide several illustrative examples that demonstrate the concept and strengths of the proposed multi-objective MOCU. Furthermore, we present a real-world example based on the mammalian cell cycle network to demonstrate how the multi-objective MOCU can be used for quantifying the operational impact of model uncertainty when there are multiple, possibly competing, objectives.


Abstract Political judgments usually combine a normative principle or intuition with an appreciation of empirical facts regarding the achievability of different options and their potential consequences. The interesting question dividing partisans of political idealism and realism is whether these kinds of considerations should be integrated into the normative principles themselves or considered apart. At first sight, if a theorist is concerned with guiding political judgments, non-ideal or realist theorizing (directly integrating such considerations) can seem more attractive. In this article, however, I argue that ideal theorizing might be considered valuable even by theorists moved by a pragmatic concern (guiding political judgments) because it is less exposed to conservatism. I nonetheless contend that the aim to guide action in the world as it is should not be abandoned. Therefore, I outline a four-step method for proceeding from abstract moral principles to concrete political judgments and apply it to a test case.


Long-term success in beta-cell replacement remains limited by the toxic effects of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) on beta-cells and renal function. We report a multi-modal approach including islet and pancreas-after-islet (PAI) transplant utilizing calcineurin-sparing immunosuppression. Ten consecutive non-uremic patients with Type 1 diabetes underwent islet transplant with immunosuppression based on belatacept (BELA; n = 5) or efalizumab (EFA; n = 5). Following islet failure, patients were considered for repeat islet infusion and/or PAI transplant. 70% of patients (four EFA, three BELA) maintained insulin independence at 10 years post-islet transplant, including four patients receiving a single islet infusion and three patients undergoing PAI transplant. 60% remain insulin independent at mean follow-up of 13.3 ± 1.1 years, including one patient 9 years after discontinuing all immunosuppression for adverse events, suggesting operational tolerance. All patients who underwent repeat islet transplant experienced graft failure. Overall, patients demonstrated preserved renal function, with a mild decrease in GFR from 76.5 ± 23.1 mL/min to 50.2 ± 27.1 mL/min (p = 0.192). Patients undergoing PAI showed the greatest degree of renal impairment following initiation of CNI (56% ± 18.7% decrease in GFR). In our series, repeat islet transplant is ineffective at maintaining long-term insulin independence. PAI results in durable insulin independence but is associated with impaired renal function secondary to CNI dependence. Graphical Abstract


Wireless technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Global Position System (GPS) play important role as value added services in communication systems and mobile commerce these days. The aim of Supply Chain Management is to produce, distribute, logistics and deliver goods and equipment in right location, right time, right amount to satisfy costumers, with minimum time and cost waste. So implementing techniques of radio frequency identification (RFID) that reduce project time and cost, and improve productivity and performance is very important. The purpose of this study is to explore the benefits and liabilities of the use of this technology in supply chain operations and its benefits is centered on goals relative to the optimization of logistics activities; specifically related to inventory management, bullwhip effect and replenishment policies. Besides, some approaches to evaluate the benefits of RFID in supply chain along with a brief analysis of return-on-investment (ROI) to RFID implementation in supply chain operations are identified and discussed.


Ecology problems of transport appertain "first class" pollution in urban environment. The forecast about the reserves of crude petroleum have always imposed the need for intensified researches on substitution of conventional mineral fuels. The trend of research of renewable sources is more and more actual in the world. Environmental preservation and the reduction of energy consumption are the main directions for future engine and vehicle developments. From that aspect, emissions produced by certain fuels have been analyzed and compared with natural gas and biodiesel RME.


TWO ESSAYS ON ANTECEDENTS AND EFFECTS OF AWARD-WINNING CEOS Veronika Ciarleglio Old Dominion University, 2022 Director: Dr. Anil Nair A vibrant stream of research in strategic management examines CEO reputation, status, media coverage, and awards on firm outcomes. This dissertation examines antecedents that impact the likelihood of CEOs gaining higher visible status —such as winning awards — and the impact of such status on firm behavior. The dissertation addresses these issues in two essays. In the first essay, we use signaling theory to frame the impact of industry characteristics, firm level strategic initiatives, and demographic factors on the likelihood of CEOs winning awards. Specifically, in this essay we examine how industry structure, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, business strategies, and CEO gender impact the likelihood of CEOs winning awards. We tested our hypotheses using S&P 500 firms and found that firm CSR initiatives were positively associated with the likelihood of CEOs winning awards; but industry structure, firms' focus on advertising and R&D, and CEO gender had no impact. In the second essay, we use prospect theory (PT) and behavioral theory of the firm (BTOF) to examine whether CEOs who win awards engage in risk-taking behavior and are likely to initiate substantive strategic change, or such CEOs become complacent and committed to status-quo. We used S&P 500 data to test our hypotheses and found that award-winning CEOs were less likely to engage in strategic change; further, performance below or above firm aspirations had no impact on subsequent strategic behavior. Thus, the results help resolve the contradictory assertions in the CEO award literature. The theoretical contributions to the literatures on CEO awards, firm strategic change, and BTOF are discussed.


Abstract Martin-Lof′s partial type theory, i.e., type theory with a fixed point operator, is extended with universes and given a domain-theoretic interpretation using Scott′s information systems. The dependent types are interpreted as monotone families (parametrizations) of information systems and elements as relativized approximable mappings. Universes are interpreted as fixed points of the continuous operators (on the class of parametrizations) that are induced by the introduction rules for universes. Partial type theory has a rich type structure. In fact, as is shown elsewhere, Martin-Lof′s inconsistent type theory, Type : Type, is definable in it. However, in this paper we give a direct interpretation of (an extension of) Type : Type as an application of the domain-theoretic method of solving type universe equations introduced here.


A passivated dual dielectric gate system compatible with low temperature processing utilizes a dual dielectric system with a silicon dioxide dielectric film or layer at the monocrystalline substrate surface, or termination. The dual dielectric system includes a dielectric film at the substrate surface of thicknesses of from 200 to 1000 ANGSTROM (or greater ). Respective layers of undoped amorphous silicon and titanium nitride overlie the top of the silicon dioxide and an aluminum gate metal layer overlies the titanium nitride layer. The structure can be patterned by selectively patterning photoresist and a dry or dry/wet etch processses. The structure is patterned and etched as desired. The system has enhanced surface mobilities due to lower oxide fixed charge density and smoother, more abrupt dielectric/monocrystalline interface region, is applicable to wide variety of MOSFET applications, and is inherently less electrostatic discharge (ESD) sensitive than conventional gate structures due to the distributed electric field.


Single crystals of potassium lithium niobate (KLN) are known as useful materials for electrooptic applications. KLN single-crystal fibers were grown by the halogen-lamp-assisted laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) method and both feed and seed ceramic rods consisting of 0.3K2O-0.17Li2O–0.53Nb2O5 were used for the growth. The growth conditions were a growth rate of 11 mm/h, a laser power of 1.9 W, and a halogen lamp power of 350 W for improvement of the thermal conditions around the crystallization point. The fibers obtained were approximately 0.70 mm in diameter. A transmission X-ray Laue photograph taken along the fiber growth axis indicated that the fibers were single crystals and their c-axis corresponded to the growth axis. Temperature dependence of dielectric constant and tan δ of fibers was measured. Curie temperature T c of 420°C of fibers grown by the LHPG method corresponded to that of feed rods.


The Free Will Theodicy (FWT) attempts to defeat the Argument from Evil by claiming that the suffering of the innocent (SOI) is justified by the existence of free will (FW). I argue against the FWT by demonstrating that there are at least three logically possible worlds, one without FW and two with it, such that, if given a choice, all conscious beings would act rationally in choosing to live in any of those three worlds rather than in the current world. This choice outcome undermines the FWT's contention that FW adequately justifies the quantity and severity of the SOI in this world.


Background: The outcome of ongoing pregnancies after first trimester vaginal bleeding is of relevance to women and obstetricians for planning antenatal care and clinical interventions in pregnancy. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the risks associated with first trimester bleed which may facilitate decision making regarding mode, place and timing of delivery during management, which may improve maternal and neonatal outcome. Methods: Hospital based comparative prospective study conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SMS Medical College & associated Hospitals, Jaipur. Results: APH was found in 4 (8.00%) patients of case group and nil in control group. So, APH was found to be more in the case group than control group but was statistically not significant. Pre-eclampsia was found in 4 (8.00%) in case group and 3 (6.00%) in control group with statistically insignificant difference between the two groups. 26 (52.00%) delivered at the gestational age of ≤37 weeks, whereas only 8 (16%) of control group delivered at ≤37 weeks. So, the gestational age at delivery of control group subjects was found to be higher as compared to case group subjects and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: Threatened miscarriage in early pregnancy increases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome. In our study, these patients were found to be at an increased risk of preterm delivery, PPROM.


Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance (MR) is a promising technique for in vivo non-invasive assessment of metabolism in humans. Despite the considerable signal increase provided by hyperpolarization techniques, the low molar concentration of derivate 13C metabolites gives rise to technological limits in terms of data quality. The development of dedicated radio frequency coils, capable of providing a large field of view with high signal-to-noise ratio data, is thus a fundamental task. This work describes the design, simulation, and test of a surface and a volume coil, both designed to be integrated with a clinical scanner for hyperpolarized 13C studies in small animal models, with the purpose to provide a detailed characterization and comparison of their performance. In particular, coil inductance was evaluated with analytical calculation, while the magnetostatic theory was employed for coils magnetic field pattern estimation. Workbench tests permitted us to characterize coil performance in terms of quality factor and efficiency. Additionally, this Tutorial summarizes the acquisition experience for the reconstruction of 13C spectroscopic maps in phantom using the two designed coils and a 3 T MR clinical scanner. We believe that this Tutorial could be interesting for graduate students and researchers in the field of magnetic resonance coil design and development, especially for 13C studies.


In this article, we focus on the cognitive presence element of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. Cognitive presence consists of four categories: Triggering Event, Exploration, Integration, and Resolution. These categories have been described as phases following an idealized logical sequence, although the phases should not be seen as immutable. Few studies have empirically examined how the four categories develop over time during the inquiry process. This article uses learning analytics methods to study transitions between the categories in K-12 online mathematics tutoring. It was statistically most probable that the tutoring sessions started with Triggering Event (95%) and then transitioned to Exploration (51%). The transitions from Exploration to Integration (18%) and Integration to Resolution (21%) achieved statistical significance but were less likely. In fact, it was more likely that the tutoring sessions transitioned from Integration to Exploration (39%) and Resolution to Exploration (36%). In conclusion, the findings suggest that the idealized logical sequence is evident in the data but that other transitions occur as well; especially Exploration recurs throughout the sessions. It seems challenging for students to reach the Integration and Resolution categories. As the CoI framework is commonly adopted in practice, it is important that tutors and educators understand that the categories of cognitive presence will often not play out in idealized ways, underlining their role in supporting how the inquiry process unfolds. In order to gain an improved understanding of the inquiry process, future research is suggested to investigate how the presences and categories of the CoI framework develop over time in different educational settings.


The vibration unsteady condition of rolling mill caused by flexural vibration of strip has been investigated. The parametric flexural vibration equation of rolled strip has been established. The parametric flexural vibration stability of rolled strip has been studied and the regions of stability and unstability have been determined based on Floquet theory and perturbation method. The flexural-vibration of strip is unstable when the frequency of variable tension is two times as the natural frequency of flexural-vibration strip. The characteristic of current in a temp driving motor's main loop has been studied and tested, it has been proved that there are 6 harmonic component and 12 harmonic component in main loop of driving motor electricity. The vertical vibration of working roller has been tested, the test result approves that the running unsteady is caused by parametric vibration. It attaches importance to the parametric vibration of rolling mill.


The state diagram for operation of secondary clarifiers is used to design a control algorithm for the return sludge pumping and determination of the actual hydraulic capacity of the biological step of a wastewater treatment plant. On-line input for the control algorithm is derived from a sludge volume sensor and a suspended solids sensor in the form of software sensors giving values for the sludge settling characteristics - settling velocity, sludge volume index, initial settling velocity and the exponent in the Vesilind equation - allowing the control to accommodate the ever changing settling characteristics and thereby keep the suspended solids flux in the clarifiers in balance for both dry weather flows and during rain events. The control algorithm has been implemented, tested and set into normal operation on a full scale wastewater treatment plant.


Tetrahedrite, Cu12Sb4S13, is an abundant mineral with excellent thermoelectric properties owing to its low thermal conductivity. The electronic and structural origin of the intriguing physical properties of tetrahedrite, including its metal‐to‐semiconductor transition (MST), remains largely unknown. This work presents the first determination of the low‐temperature structure of tetrahedrite that accounts for its unique properties. Contrary to prior conjectures, the results show that the trigonal–planar copper cations remain in planar coordination below the MST. The atomic displacement parameters of the trigonal–planar copper cations, which have been linked to low thermal conductivity, increase by 200% above the MST. The phase transition is a consequence of the orbital degeneracy of the highest occupied 3d cluster orbitals of the copper clusters found in the cubic phase. This study reveals that a Jahn–Teller electronic instability leads to the formation of "molecular‐like" Cu57+ clusters and suppresses copper rattling vibrations due to the strengthening of direct copper–copper interactions. First principles calculations demonstrate that the structural phase transition opens a small band gap in the electronic density of states and eliminates the unstable phonon modes. These results provide insights on the interplay between phonon transport, electronic properties, and crystal structure in mixed‐valence compounds.


Giardia lamblia is a eukaryotic parasite of the upper small intestine of humans and animals. The infecting trophozoite cells do not invade the epithelium lining of the intestine, but attach to the brush border surface in the intestinal lumen. The giardiasis disease in humans is highly variable. Prior to this study, the molecular mechanisms involved in establishment of infection or cause of disease were largely uncharacterized. In this thesis, the molecular relationship between Giardia and the human host is described. The interaction of the parasite with human epithelial cells was investigated in vitro. Changes in the transcriptome and proteome of the parasite and the host cells, and changes in the micro-environment of the infection have been identified using microarray technology, and 1- and 2-Dimensional SDS-PAGE protein mapping together with mass spectrometry identification. The first large-scale description of cellular activities within host epithelial cells during Giardia infection is included in this thesis (Paper I). We identified a unique activation of the host immune response and induction of apoptosis upon infection by Giardia. Four important virulence factors of the parasite, directly linked to the success of Giardia infection, were characterized and are presented in Papers II and III. The parasite was shown to have immune-modulating capacities, and to release proteins during host-interaction that facilitate the establishment of infection. Additional putative virulence factors were found among Giardia genes transcriptionally up-regulated during early infection (Paper IV). In summary, this thesis provides important insights into the molecular mechanisms of the host-parasite interaction.


The next big challenge in STEM education is envisioned to come from curricular change. This paper aims to assess the best-practice model in student learning that was developed and demonstrated in Flight Dynamics and Control courses between 2011 and 2014 and 2017. The best-practice model was developed when a team research component was included into the undergraduate aerospace engineering courses of Flight Dynamics and Control I and II. By taking advantage of the unmanned aerial system fleet owned by the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kansas (KUAE), students were tasked with developing a physics-based model for one of eighteen different unmanned aircraft platforms, comparing the dynamic models to actual flight test data for the platform, and writing papers and presenting them to a panel of KUAE Faculty. As a result, forty-eight independent research projects were conceived, designed, built, and tested by teams of juniors in the aerospace engineering department. Since 2011, eight research projects were selected to be submitted to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conferences. Six papers were accepted for the Professional Sections and three more are currently under internal review for future submission. In addition to the publication records, student evaluations, KUAE Industrial Advisory Board exit poll reports, and post-graduation survey results consistently show the effectiveness of project oriented collaborative learning.


It is presumed that recent technological innovations, combined with three more established (educational) technologies, could cause a drastic change in university education, if adequate organizational conditions could be created. Such conditions are needed to structure, channel and manage an as yet undreamed of flow of information. Closely related to the metaphor of the 'Info Highway', an educational 'SuperInterface' is described. Based upon networked computer platforms, such a human-computerhuman interface is to support large scale telestudy (and teleworking). The SuperInterface is to be designed or is to evolve in such a way that reliable and valid organizational foundations for university education can be established. As the organizational foundation is so paramount, the authors would like to see serious research into the modelling of SuperInterface structures, resources, and dynamics. Indications of some such research issues are presented. Keywmds: Computer networks; CSCW; Electronic books; Electronic learning environments; Groupware; Info Highway.


OBJECTIVES
Adapting to stress over time is a process involving various cognitive and emotional assessments; it also depends on the objective situation related to working conditions, as well as on individual factors. The aim of this paper is to outline the dynamic nature of stress experienced by workers employed on oil rigs over a period of 20 years. The presented research is part of a larger project and concerns subjective stress.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Longitudinal studies included the analysis of data regarding the period of 1993-2014. They concerned 167 Polish oil rig workers, all men; the average age at the beginning of the study was 29 years. Each employee was surveyed at least 4 times over a period of 20 years at intervals of 4-6 years in the workplace. The subjective level of stress at work (based on the Subjective Job Evaluation Questionnaire) and the level of declared stress (based on the Stress Survey) were examined.

RESULTS
Oil rig workers show different adaptations to stress over a long term, depending on their subjective perception of stress. Baseline stress levels can vary from person to person over the years. The first group was characterized by high initial stress, but the stress decreased systematically over 20 years ("stress resisting"). Employees from the second group were characterized by low initial stress, but declared a systematic increase in stress in the same period ("stress sensitizing"). Finally, employees from the third group adapted to stress in a flexible way, with subjective stress being most strongly associated with objective stress ("flexible group").

CONCLUSIONS
The presented prospective study showed differences between the subjective levels of stress depending on the distinguished groups over 20 years, i.e., between-group and intra-group variability. The method of prospective research shows that the perception of stress at work is a dynamic process and it changes over time. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(4).

http://ijomeh.eu/pdf-168420-94419?filename=Stress at work on.pdf


For markets to work, buyers must know when products are of high quality. This paper provides a theoretical framework for studying the consequences of the certifier's identity, the characteristics of the best certifier, and the identity of the equilibrium certifier. A certifier that cares about quality and externalities (such as an NGO) motivates firms to invest in their capacities to provide quality; a certifier concerned with the firms' profits (such as an industry association) motivates more firms to enter the market in the first place. The relative importance of externalities, investments, and entry determines the socially optimal certification authority but also the type of certifier that is most likely to enter in equilibrium. The theory's predictions are empirically testable and shed light on the variety of certifiers across markets and over time.


BACKGROUND
Correct body weight is one of the factors that allows you to maintain a properly functioning body. Abnormal body weight can cause muscle tissue remodelling, affecting activity and muscle fatigue. Changes in the muscular system can cause occurrence of functional limitations.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of weight change on fatigue and activity of the muscular system during daily activities.

METHODS
The evaluation of musculoskeletal functioning was based on the results of computer simulations conducted in the AnyBody Modeling System. The following activities were analysed: standing, sitting down and getting up from a chair, holding and lifting an object, and walking. The simulations of the activities were carried out using averaged kinematic data, and by changing body mass in the range of 50 kg to 100 kg by increments of 2 kg, to map different nutritional status from excessive thinness to extreme obesity. Identification of loads in the musculoskeletal system was based on solving an inverse dynamics problem and then the estimation of muscle force values using static optimization. The simulations results allowed to determine the value of muscle fatigue and the level of muscle activity.

RESULTS
For activities (i.e., standing, walking, sitting down and getting up from a chair) it was observed that the value of muscle fatigue increases with increasing body mass. However, for activities that cause more load on the musculoskeletal system, i.e. lifting and holding an object, the highest value of muscle fatigue was observed in underweight individuals.

CONCLUSION
The change in body weight alters the functioning of the muscular system and thus the ability to perform activities. It was shown that in case of underweight, overweight or obese people, abnormal body weight can be the reason for occurrence of difficulties in performing the activities of lifting and holding a 20 kg object, as well as walking.


Context: Gastrointestinal polyps are common gastrointestinal diseases that involve localised hyperplastic masses derived from gastrointestinal mucosa. Aims: To investigate the risk factors of delayed post-polypectomy bleeding (DPPB) after the treatment of gastrointestinal polyps with snare-assisted endoscopic sub-mucosal dissection (ESD) and to construct a nomogram model to predict the risk of DPPB. Settings and Design: A total of 226 patients who underwent snare-assisted ESD for gastrointestinal polyps from May 2018 to November 2020 were divided into DPPB group (n = 10) and non-DPPB group (n = 216). Subjects and Methods: The correlations of clinical data and endoscopic data with DPPB were compared. Univariate analysis was performed to screen the influencing factors of DPPB. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors of DPPB, which was employed to construct a nomogram prediction model. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS 16.0 software was utilised for statistical analysis. Numerical data were expressed as percentage (n [%]), and Chi-square test was performed for univariate analysis. The significant factors (P < 0.05) in univariate analysis were included in multivariate logistic regression analysis, and the variables with statistical significance (P < 0.05) were considered as independent risk factors. The factors were used to construct a nomogram model for predicting the risk of DPPB. Bootstrap method was employed to perform repeated sampling 1000 times for internal verification. The consistency index (C-index) was used to evaluate the discrimination of the model, and C-index ≥0.70 represented a good discrimination. Two-tailed P < 0.05 indicated that a difference was statistically significant. Results: Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that hypertension, polyp location, polyp diameter, polyp morphology and intra-operative bleeding were the independent risk factors for DPPB (P < 0.05). The C-index of the nomogram model for predicting the risk of DPPB was 0.791, indicating a good discrimination. The calibration curve showed that the mean absolute error between predicted and actual DPPB occurrence risks was 0.014, indicating a high accuracy. Conclusions: Hypertension, polyp location, polyp diameter, polyp morphology and intra-operative bleeding are the independent risk factors for DPPB, and the nomogram model established based on these factors for prediction has good discrimination and accuracy. Therefore, it is recommended to perform targeted intervention for high-risk groups to reduce the incidence of DPPB.


The problems of reflection and refraction when a compressional wave in porous medium is obliquely incident upon an interface between the porous medium and fluid are discussed. Numerical calculations for the amplitude ratios of the reflected and refracted waves to the incident one in a water-saturated porous structure of sintered glass beads are given.


Urban development process can be considered as a system with its stakeholders falling under categories of Public, Private and People. This approach is called Public-Private-People Partnership (4P) and it has been successfully used in housing development. Between the stakeholders there are several kinds of relationships already recognised, but the field is by no means studied thoroughly. This paper discusses "customerships", that is, customer relations from customer's viewpoint, in the field of urban housing development. The issue is approached theoretically from systems theory and from the concept of customership in context of built environment. Moreover, a case study based on key stakeholder interviews of an urban housing redevelopment process aiming to low-energy retrofitting of a suburban housing area is presented. The paper does not delimit its view to the traditional end customer's (home buyer or owner of refurbished home) role only, but evaluates all the relationships as either existing or potential customer relationships. In the case several customerships and requirements to partnership were identified. It is concluded that customership can provide a relevant viewpoint in urban housing development and help to develop the process more viable.


Three-dimensional (3-D) seismic imaging was used to reveal >2.5-km-wide and >150-m-deep craters at the basal surface of 64 mud volcanoes out of a suite of 86, offshore Egypt. The craters were infilled soon after they formed by successive mud extrusions that combined to build mud volcanoes, as evidenced by onlap fill geometries of the earliest mud flows. We propose that the craters formed as the earliest manifestation of mud volcano formation. We infer that the energy required to excise in situ clays and sands buried and consolidated to depths over 150 m below the seafloor was provided by the highly vigorous venting of a dominantly gas and water mix during the initial eruption, in which gas column height was the critical factor. This primary phase of mud volcanism is rarely observed, and the findings presented here have significant implications for interpretations of the dynamism during this fundamental stage of mud volcano genesis.


This article traces the intersections between higher education, social mobility, and the reproduction of inequalities in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. It explores the social history, political economy, and culture of education in the region, and the formation of a dominant social imaginary that equates engineering degrees, IT jobs, and migration with social prestige and success. This aspirational culture has shaped mobility strategies across social classes, the educational regime, and government policies aimed at greater inclusion. But state interventions in engineering education have produced contradictory outcomes, creating paths of mobility for some social groups but new modes of marginalisation and immobility for others.


Joint destruction in arthritis is in part due to the induction of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression and their inhibitors, especially MMP-13 and -3, which directly degrade the cartilage matrix. Although IL-1β is considered as the main catabolic factor involved in MMP-13 and -3 expression, the role of PGE2 remains controversial. The goal of this study was to determine the role of PGE2 on MMP synthesis in articular chondrocytes using mice lacking microsomal PGE synthase-1 (mPGES-1), which catalyses the rate-limiting step of PGE2 synthesis. MMP-3 and MMP-13 mRNA and protein expressions were assessed by real-time RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and ELISA in primary cultures of articular chondrocytes from mice with genetic deletion of mPGES-1. IL-1β–induced PGE2 synthesis was dramatically reduced in mPGES-1−/− and mPGES-1+/− compared with mPGES-1+/+ chondrocytes. A total of 10 ng/ml IL-1β increased MMP-3 and MMP-13 mRNA, protein expression, and release in mPGES-1+/+ chondrocytes in a time-dependent manner. IL-1β–induced MMP-3 and MMP-13 mRNA expression, protein expression, and release decreased in mPGES-1−/− and mPGES-1+/− chondrocytes compared with mPGES-1+/+ chondrocytes from 8 up to 24 h. Otherwise, MMP inhibition was partially reversed by addition of 10 ng/ml PGE2 in mPGES-1−/− chondrocytes. Finally, in mPGES-1−/− chondrocytes treated by forskolin, MMP-3 protein expression was significantly decreased compared with wild-type, suggesting that PGE2 regulates MMP-3 expression via a signaling pathway dependent on cAMP. These results demonstrate that PGE2 plays a key role in the induction of MMP-3 and MMP-13 in an inflammatory context. Therefore, mPGES-1 could be considered as a critical target to counteract cartilage degradation in arthritis.


In this paper, I derive the asymmetries in morphosyntactic behaviors of synthetic and primary compounds through differences in terms of their formation. Following that, I examine how the resulting structures may regulate the interactions between the elements therein in terms of morphophonology and contextual allomorphy. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol24/iss1/11 Forming a Compound and Spelling it Out Gísli Rúnar Harðarson


This article examines some aspects of demographic aging, with reference to the situation in France. In particular, the author discusses implications of the fact that an increasing percentage of economic, social, financial, and political power is concentrated in the hands of the population over age 50. He suggests that this aspect of demographic aging is not given sufficient consideration in most studies on this topic.


This dissertation examines the incentives of executives to distort firm earnings and the resulting economic costs of earnings distortion. I first investigate the effect of improvements in the detection of earnings distortion on CEO incentives in the presence of career concerns and endogenous contracting. The theoretical model incorporates both the short-term and career concern incentives of executives to increase earnings. Then I allow the signal of earnings distortion to exogenously change. The model leads to prediction that early in the career, there is less of an incentive to increase earnings through earnings distortion. The model is evaluated empirically using firms' restatements of earnings. I consider how the change in the earnings distortion detection ratio due to the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) affects these short and long-term incentives to manipulate earnings. I unexpectedly find that both executives and boards of directors act as predicted if a restatement is a weaker signal of earnings distortion after SOX. The next chapter also considers the effect of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. I look at how the additional costs and benefits of being a public company after SOX affect the likelihood of a firm going public or private. I use the fact that firms which have publicly available debt at the start of the implementation of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 must comply with many aspects of the law. I take a difference in differences approach to see the effect of Sarbanes Oxley on the decision to list or delist from an exchange. I find that fewer firms listed after the implementation of the act. Therefore, the costs of SOX may be larger than the benefits for the marginal public firm. I also find that marginally fewer firms are choosing to delist after SOX. The costs of choosing to delist seem to be higher for the marginal public firm. The difference may be due to additional reputational costs for the firm choosing to delist to avoid complying with SOX. The final chapter examines if the market use signals from other firms in the same industry to evaluate the information risk of a given firm. In particular, if one firm in the industry has to restate their financial statements, does the information risk at other firms in the industry increase? I consider how the market responds to an earnings announcement for firms who have not had a restatement. Overall, I find that the market reacts less positively to positive earnings announcements if other firms in the industry have restated their accounting statements within the last year. In addition, I find that this change in the reaction is especially true for high growth industries.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the spectrum of clinical presentation, laboratory parameters and drug therapy in patients with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA).

STUDY DESIGN
Case series.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY
The Children's Hospital and The Institute of Child Health, Lahore, from October 2008 to October 2011.

METHODOLOGY
All patients who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology criteria for JRA were enrolled. Their clinical features, investigations done and treatment received for JRA were noted. Statistical analysis of data was done on SPSS version 16.0 for obtaining descriptive statistics.

RESULTS
Out of 185 patients, 50.3% (n = 93) were females; 54% (n = 100) were between 10 - 15 years of age. Polyarthritis was found in 71.9% (n = 133) followed by oligoarthritis (22.7%, n = 42) and systemic onset disease (5.4%, n = 10). Morning stiffness (78%) and fever (68%) were the most common clinical presentations. All patients with systemic onset disease had fever (n = 10) followed by skin rash, hepatosplenomegaly and lymphadenopathy. Uveitis was found in 2 patients, and both belonged to the oligoarticular group. Rheumatoid factor was found in 10.27% (n = 19) of all patients. All patients were given non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Disease modifying agents (methotrexate) were given to 43.8% (n = 81). Steroids were used in 61% (n = 113) of patients either with NSAIDs alone or NSAIDs plus methotrexate.

CONCLUSION
Disease profile of JRA at the study centre showed that polyarthritis is the commonest type. Recognition of subtypes will help in planning the management of these patients.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
The goal of surgical prophylaxis is to prevent wound infection and hence complication. Failure to maintain adequate serum and tissue levels throughout the surgical procedure increases the likelihood of the infection. Polk and Lopez-Mayor, have emphasized that wounds levels, not blood or serum levels, appear to determine the efficacy of agents for prophylaxis of operative wound infection. Intraincisional infiltration of the antibiotic of choice enables to maintain adequate minimum inhibitory concentration of the antibiotic at the wound site.
METHODOLOGY:
Patients undergoing laparotomy surgeries either in elective or emergency setting are being classified into two groups, one receiving preoperative intraincisional ceftriaxone infiltration along with intravenous ceftriaxone administration and the other receiving intravenous ceftriaxone alone as prophylaxis. The wound are classified into clean contaminated, contaminated and dirty and the outcome of both groups are analyzed in terms of superficial, deep and organ/space infection and complication. The drug concentration at wound site and serum are measured simultaneously and documented.
RESULTS:
Among the 100 patients, 35 of them were cases for whom infiltration was done and 65 of them were controls. Postoperative infection was present in 22% of cases (8 cases) and 49.23% of controls (32 patients). 12% of infection was seen in elective surgery and 87.5% of infection following emergency surgery. Organ space SSI contributes to 72.42 % of complication and deep SSI to 54.54% and superficial SSI 29.41% respectively. Presence of contaminants influenced the occurrence of infection and complication significantly. The most important contaminants are pus, fecal matter, gangrenous bowel and toxic fluid. Among the microorganisms that colonise the postoperative infection, staphylococcus accounts for the majority of cases (50%), followed by E.coli (31.57%), followed by Klebsiella (15.78%). The amount of drug present in incisional drain fluid at the end of 24 hours was observed to be well above the MIC of most of bacteria causing SSI in those received infiltration while in controls, no drug was present at the incisional site by the end of 24 hours.
CONCLUSION:
In our study there was significant reduction in incidence of SSI in the group, which received both Intra incisional and intravenous ceftriaxone preoperatively than the other group which received only intravenous ceftriaxone. Preoperative intra incisional antibiotics significantly reduces the rate of SSI because of the higher concentration achieved at the incision site.


International financial adjustment is the process whereby valuation shifts from asset price and currency changes result in relatively durable net wealth transfers across countries' international balance sheets. This paper applies a financial valuation approach to estimate the direction and the broad extent of recent international financial adjustments on China's international balance sheet. We estimate China's international balance sheet losses resulting from the valuation shifts over the period 2005–2010 and reveal that international currency shifts over the past decade have also generated a range of non-balance sheet financial and monetary adjustment pressures for China. This paper also evaluates how China's evolving international financial policy arrangements could better mitigate China's exposure to international financial adjustments. These arrangements include a more effective currency mechanism and the mechanisms to internationalize the RMB to buffer international financial valuation shocks.


Social networking has been growing rapidly in Vietnam. The sharing information is diverse and circulates in many forms. It requires user-friendly solutions such as topic sorting and perspectives analysis in analyzing community trends, advertisements or anticipating and monitoring the spread of bad news. Unfortunately, Vietnamese is highly different from other languages and little research has been conducted in the literature on messages classification. The implementation of machine learning models on Vietnamese has not been thoroughly investigated and these models' performance is unknown when applying in a different language. Vietnamese text is a serialization of syllables, hence, word boundary identification is not trivial. This research portrays our endeavor to construct an effective distributed framework for addressing the task of classification of short Vietnamese texts on social networks using the idea of probability categorization. The authors argue that addressing the task sharps the successful combination of machine learning, natural language processing, and ambient intelligence. The proposed framework is effective and enables fast calculation, suitable for implementation in Apache Spark, meeting the demand for dealing with large amounts of textual data on the current social networks. Our data has been collected from several online text sources of 12412 short messages classified into five different topics. The evaluation shows that our approach has achieved an average of 82.73% classification accuracy. Thoughtfully learning the literature, we could state that this is the first attempt to classify short Vietnamese messages under a distributed computation framework. Keywords—Short text classification; Naı̈ve Bayes; Apache Spark; Vietnamese; distributed computation


Do social ties help compensate for immigrants' labor market disadvantages? Using a pilot survey of Salvadorian and Filipino immigrants in Los Angeles, the authors investigate hypotheses about interrelations between social ties and wages. They examine social ties in families and households, as job contacts, and in workplaces.


Some scholars have tried to distinguish between historical fact and legend in the biographical information about al-Fārābī that can be gleaned from medieval Arabic sources; by reinterpreting accounts in the bio-bibliographical literature and by presenting new evidence from a contemporaneous medical source, this article argues that such a distinction is problematic. In the eyes of some of his contemporaries, al-Fārābī exemplified the character type of the melancholic thinker, who succumbs to the disease because of excessive study. Arguing that the poetry attributed to al-Fārābī fits well with the picture that the new medical source paints of him, the article also underscores that the topics of literature are the topics of life, and that it is therefore doubtful whether we will ever be able to disentangle myth from reality in the biographical information about al-Fārābī.