A conceptual model is developed for the processes of photon emission and absorption. While the emission of light is well known in terms of quantum changes in energy levels of an electron, the fundamental physical processes are incompletely understood. How exactly does the photon emerge from the electron? How is light absorbed by matter? These foundational conceptual questions are the focus of this paper. We show that it is possible to develop new insights into this problem, based on the cordus model, which is a non-local hidden-variable solution. We start by predicting the structures of the photon and electron, both the internal geometric substructures, and their discrete fields. The model predicts that there are different mechanisms for the fields of the photon and electron, and uses this to explain the characteristics of the evanescent and electric fields. We then show how the bonding constraints arise on the electron, and how these require the electron to emit its excess energy. The process whereby a photon is created and separated out of the electron is identified. Photon emission and absorption thus result from an interaction between the discrete field elements and the internal structures. Emission is thus an escapement mechanism whereby matter particules that are overprescribed in position can get rid of that energy.


Risk management program uses an investigation report as the primary tool for collecting data about an incident, analyzing that data, and translating the information into strategies for change.


Hybrid PID forms of SOFLC were investigated in computer simulation for controlling muscle relaxation in the operating theatre with a view to reducing computational requirements and comparing their control performance. A 5×5 fuzzy rule base was used and an efficient fuzzy inferencing procedure identified which uses singletons for input and output fuzzy sets. The performance of a self-organising fuzzy PD+I controller was compared with a self-organising PI+I controller in computer simulations with regard to noise tolerance and tracking ability with a fixed setpoint and changing process gain. Both self-organising fuzzy logic controllers have similar control performance under the simulated condition. The SOFPD+I controller output is considerably more variable than the SOFPI+I controller under high noise conditions but gives a faster response to genuine process changes under low noise conditions.


Background The first case of LGV in Barcelona was diagnosed in 2005 and since then around 200 cases have been notified up to 2012. All cases have been diagnosed among MSM, 80% of them coinfected with HIV and 97% of the cases had proctitis. Since 2008 some cases have appeared with extrarectal manifestations. Objective To compare the molecular epidemiology profiles of extrarectal LGV cases diagnosed in Barcelona with profiles reported in rectal cases. Methods A convenient 14 samples from 9 confirmed LGV cases in 2012 with extrarectal involvement were selected for LGV typing. DNA was extracted from samples using a semi automated system and kept al –80º C. The strains were further analysed by genotyping using a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) based on 5 highly variable gene regions, in addition the ompA gene was sequenced. Results DNA quality for MLST was suboptimal in some samples. The genotyping pattern showed one single MLST-5 profile (27, 13, 17, 13, 28) among all the samples. In ompA there were two variants (22 and 28), in the 2 cases with ompA variant 22 the samples were obtained from inguinal ganglia. Discussion The MLST-5 profile in LGV cases from Barcelona is the same as the predominating sequence type found in rectal cases. This is in line with the spread of a single clone, without specific tissue tropism. In ompA the 2 cases with variant 22 were identical to ompA in the reference strain L2/434/Bu, but differed from the currently predominating variant L2b among MSM. Considering the difference in ompA is minor it is more probable that L2b is a classical L2 isolate that has been circulating for a long time but showing now a new spectrum of manifestations. Our study does not support any difference in LGV strains obtained from extrarectal sites or from rectum.


Improvement of cyclic or dynamic performance of timber connections has been intensively conducted since the overall response of wooden structures is merely a function of joint performance. For a bolted joint, filling the lead-hole clearance with epoxy resin or gluing high embedding-strength materials at the interface of the individual timber member are probably the most common methods. This study presents cyclic test results of moment-resisting joints with a combination of bolts and nails. The nails were placed closer to the joint centroid than the bolts, acting as additional fasteners and were expected to improve the seismic performance of the joints. Static-cyclic test results confirmed the increase of joint stiffness and moment resistance due to the additional nails. The nails contribute to the increase of hysteretic damping significantly though pinching behavior or narrowing the hysteresis loops close to zero rotation points was still observed. The results indicated that contribution of nails or bolts on moment resistance and hysteretic damping can be superimposed.


Summary

Five dietary fibre rich ingredients were used at 5%, 10% and 15% replacement levels in a white flour cereal base to produce an extruded cereal product. The inclusion of the dietary fibres into the flour bases had no significant effect on the expansion ratio of the products. However, the bulk density of the extruded products increased with inulin addition. The pasting properties of the raw flour and fibre base as well as the extruded products were altered with the incorporation of dietary fibre, with guar gum enriched products showing elevated peak and final viscosity readings. This appeared to be related to moisture manipulation and hence the regulation of gelatinisation. In vitro starch hydrolysis of the raw bases and the extruded samples illustrated that the extrusion process significantly increased the availability of carbohydrates for digestion. Additionally, the inclusion of dietary fibres in the raw bases significantly reduced the rate and extent of carbohydrate hydrolysis of the extruded products. As such the addition of dietary fibres to extruded products reduced the amount of readily digestible starch components of breakfast products, and increased the amount of slowly digestible carbohydrates.


An important characteristic of the Ghanaian population is its high potential for growth. The growth has been accompanied by profound changes in the age structure of the population. This paper analyses the population of Ghana with respect to changes in the age structure between 1960 and 1970 and the relationships of this kind of change with population growth. Increasing and declining trends are identified. The analysis reveals that at the 1970 census relatively fewer infants were returned than 1960 with the result that most districts recorded absolute losses among infants. The deficits are more pronounced in the predominately rural northern savanna lands; in contrast the large towns recorded substantial incraeses in the number of infants. The paper concludes by suggesting a method for computing the potential growth among infants as a basis for projecting population trends of each region in Ghana for the period 1970-1980.


A series of characteristic patterns on the fracture surface of brittle bulk metallic glasses, including river-like patterns, dimple structures and self-organized corrugations, are briefly described and possible explanations for their formation are summarized. Studies of these patterns can reveal and further our understanding of the fracture mechanism and mechanical behavior of the material. Moreover, this will be helpful for the design of high-performance metallic glasses and for defining safety criteria when selecting materials for engineering purposes.


Background: An inactivated Vero cell culture derived Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine (IXIARO) requires a booster dose 1 year after primary schedule for long-term antibody persistence in adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate immunogenicity and safety of a booster dose in children 2 months to <18 years of age. Methods: This is a randomized, controlled open-label study in the Philippines. Three hundred children vaccinated with IXIARO in a previous trial were randomized 1:1 to receive either no booster or a booster 12 months after initiation of the primary series. Neutralizing antibody titers were assessed before and after the booster and up to 3 years after primary series. Safety endpoints included the rate of subjects with solicited adverse events (AEs), unsolicited AEs and serious AEs within 1 month after the booster. Results: Geometric mean titer declined by 1 year after the primary series, but titers remained above the established protective threshold in 85%–100% of children depending on age group. The booster led to a pronounced increase in geometric mean titer and 100% seroprotection rate in all age groups. The booster was well tolerated, with AE rates lower compared with the primary series. Most AEs were mild. Conclusions: A booster dose of IXIARO administered 12 months after the primary immunization was well tolerated and highly immunogenic.


Electrophysiological response termed mismatch negativity (MMN) indexes auditory change detection in humans. An analogous response, called the mismatch response (MMR), is also elicited in animals. Mismatch response has been widely utilized in investigations of change detection in human speech sounds in rats and guinea pigs, but not in mice. Since e.g. transgenic mouse models provide important advantages for further studies, we studied processing of speech sounds in anesthetized mice. Auditory evoked potentials were recorded from the dura above the auditory cortex to changes in duration of a human speech sound /a/. In oddball stimulus condition, the MMR was elicited at 53-259 ms latency in response to the changes. The MMR was found to the large (from 200 ms to 110 ms) but not to smaller (from 200 ms to 120-180 ms) changes in duration. The results suggest that mice can represent human speech sounds in order to detect changes in their duration. The findings can be utilized in future investigations applying mouse models for speech perception.


Telavancin is a novel semisynthetic lipoglycopeptide derivative of vancomycin with a dual mode of action. This study sought to understand the mechanisms of decreased telavancin susceptibility in a laboratory-derived Staphlococcus aureus mutant Tlv(DS)MED1952. There were extensive changes in the transcriptome of Tlv(DS)MED1952 compared to the susceptible parent strain MED1951. Genes upregulated included cofactor biosynthesis genes, cell wall-related genes, fatty acid biosynthesis genes, and stress genes. Downregulated genes included lysine operon biosynthesis genes and lrgB, which are induced by telavancin in susceptible strains, agr and kdpDE genes, various cell surface protein genes, phenol-soluble modulin genes, several protease genes, and genes involved in anaerobic metabolism. The decreased susceptibility mutant had somewhat thicker cell walls and a decreased autolytic activity that may be related to decreased proteolytic peptidoglycan hydrolase processing. Membrane fatty acid changes correlated with increased membrane fluidity were observed. It seems likely that there are multiple genetic changes associated with the development of decreased telavancin susceptibility. The Tlv(DS) mutant showed some similar features to vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus and decreased daptomycin susceptibility strains, but also exhibited its own unique features.


In the current study, a sol-gel-synthesized tricalcium magnesium silicate powder was coated on Ti-6Al-4V alloys using plasma spray method. Composition of feed powder was evaluated by X-ray diffraction technique before and after the coating process. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used to study the morphology of coated substrates. The corrosion behaviors of bare and coated Ti-6Al-4V alloys were examined using potentiodynamic polarization test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in stimulated body fluids. Moreover, bare and coated Ti-6Al-4V alloys were characterized in vitro by culturing osteoblast and mesenchymal stem cells for several days. Results demonstrated a meaningful improvement in the corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloys coated with tricalcium magnesium silicate compared with the bare counterparts, by showing a decrease in corrosion current density from 1.84 μA/cm2 to 0.31 μA/cm2. Furthermore, the coating substantially improved the bioactivity of Ti-6Al-4Valloys. Our study on corrosion behavior and biological response of Ti-6Al-4V alloy coated by tricalcium magnesium silicate proved that the coating has considerably enhanced safety and applicability of Ti-6Al-4V alloys, suggesting its potential use in permanent implants and artificial joints.


Purpose: To assess the Influence of strategic positioning indicators namely customer orientation and competitor awareness on firm performance in the bottled water Industry, with sector standards as a moderating variable. Design/Method/Approach: This study adopted a quantitative methodology and cross-sectional explanatory study design of which a sample of 424 licensed bottled water firms were randomly selected. Structured questionnaires were distributed to the managers and a factor analysis was used to reduce the number of variables and establish the underlying constructs, while the analysis of moments of structures was applied to develop theory. Findings: It was found that there exists a positive and significant relationship among consumer orientation and competitor awareness on firm performance. The moderating effect of water sector standards on consumer orientation and firm performance was found to be statistically significant and operates fully or in part as a mediating variable in predicting the influence of competitor awareness on firm performance. Theoretical Implication: This study concluded that to enhance firms' performance measured in terms of growth, there is need to manage and sustain consumers' needs based on gender and age preferences, buying behavior as well as conducting market analysis and have internal capability to retaliate. Originality/Value: This study will not only add value to the existing body of knowledge in strategic management, but will also address the application of strategic position to improve firm performance. Research Limitations/Future Research: Since the study was quantitative, there was risk of omitted variable and nonresponse bias, limited access to performance data and lack of previous research on the subject. Future research should extend to other categories of firms which have diverse decision processes and purchase intentions amongst consumers.


Liquids (~7 neutron mean free paths thick), with certain restrictions, can probably be used in magnetic fusion designs between the burning plasma and the structural materials of the fusion power core. If this works there would be a number of profound advantages: a cost of electricity lower by as much as a factor of 2; removal of the need to develop new first wall materials, saving over 4 billion US dollars in development costs; a reduction of the amount and kinds of wastes generated in the plant; and the wider choice of materials permitted. The amount of material that evaporates from the liquid which can be allowed to enter the burning plasma is estimated to be less than 0.7% for lithium, 1.9% for Flibe (Li2BeF4 or LiBeF3) and 0.01% for Li17Pb83. The ability of the edge plasma to attenuate the vapour by ionization appears to exceed this requirement. This ionized vapour would be swept along open field lines into a remote burial chamber. The most practical systems would be those with topological open field lines on the outer surface, as is the case with a field reversed configuration (FRC), a spheromak, a Z pinch or a mirror machine. In a tokamak, including a spherical tokamak, the field lines outside the separatrix are restricted to a small volume inside the toroidal coil making for difficulties in introducing the liquid and removing the ionized vapour, i.e. the configuration is not open ended


FePt magnetic nanoparticle systems are an excellent candidate for ultrahigh-density magnetic recording. Monodisperse FePt nanoparticles are synthesized by superhydride reduction of FeCl24H2O and Pt(acac)2 at 263° C under N2 atmosphere. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show monosize FePt nanoparticles with diameter of 4nm and a standard deviation of about 10%. The average distance between monodispesre particles is nearly 3 nm, and oleic acid and oleylamine surround the nanoparticles as surfactants. Stability investigation of nanoparticle colloidal solution is done via spectrophotometery analysis. The results for FePt nanoparticles dispersed in hexane indicate that adding surfactants with concentration of 3 × 10−3 part by volume for centrifugation stage increases the stability of FePt nanoparticles solution with concentration of 16 mg/mL, about 67%.


Progress report Abstract CLIC is based on the two beams concept that one beam (drive beam) produces the required RF power to accelerate another beam (main beam). The drive beam is produced and accelerated up to 50MeV inside the CLIC drive beam injector. The drive beam injector main components are a thermionic electron gun, three sub-harmonic bunchers, a pre-buncher, a TW buncher, 13 accelerating structures and one magnetic chicane. This document is the second report of the RF structure design of the TW buncher. This design is based on the beam dynamic design done by Shahin Sanaye Hajari due to requirements mentioned in CLIC CDR. A disk-loaded tapered structure is chosen for the TW buncher. The axial electric field increases strongly based on the beam dynamic requirements. This second report includes the study of HOM effects, retuning the cells, study of dimensional tolerances and the heat dissipation on the surface.


A thorough spectral study of the intrinsic single-photon detection efficiency in superconducting TaN and NbN nanowires with different widths has been performed. The experiment shows that the cut-off of the intrinsic detection efficiency at near-infrared wavelengths is most likely controlled by the local suppression of the barrier for vortex nucleation around the absorption site. Beyond the cut-off quasi-particle diffusion in combination with spontaneous, thermally activated vortex crossing explains the detection process. For both materials, the reciprocal cut-off wavelength scales linearly with the wire width where the scaling factor agrees with the hot-spot detection model.


We describe a self-starting optical pulse source generating ultra low noise 15-ps-wide pulses at 10 GHz. It is based on a hybrid optoelectronic oscillator comprising a fiber extended cavity mode-locked diode laser which injection locks a self-oscillating heterojunction bipolar phototransistor. Average jitter levels of 40-43 fs and an amplitude noise of 0.1-0.15% over a frequency range of 500 Hz-15 kHz or 500 Hz-1 MHz were obtained, respectively. The noise is slightly larger, a 57-fs jitter and 0.2% amplitude noise, for a frequency range of 100 Hz-1 MHz. A 10-GHz electrical signal with a low phase noise (-108 dBc/Hz at 10-kHz offset from the carrier) is also generated.


Thank you very much for downloading the product managers desk reference. As you may know, people have search numerous times for their favorite novels like this the product managers desk reference, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some harmful virus inside their laptop. the product managers desk reference is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our book servers saves in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the the product managers desk reference is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Abstract Our objective was to examine the likelihood of dying in RC/AL among a national cohort of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries who died in 2018 (N=31,414) as a factor regulations allowing hospice care. We estimated multivariable logistic regression models to examine the association between RC/AL as place of death and supportive hospice regulations, controlling for demographic characteristics, dual Medicare/Medicaid eligibility, years in AL, and hospital referral region (HRR) to control for hospice practice patterns. A majority of beneficiaries in our cohort died in RC/AL; more than half while receiving hospice services. In unadjusted models, the odds of remaining in RC/AL communities until death were significantly higher in the presence of regulations supportive of hospice care. This relationship was no longer significant once adjusting for covariates and an HRR fixed effect, suggesting important variation in end-of-life experiences for AL residents not explained by hospice regulations.


Socioeconomic status and net fertility in the demographic transition: Sweden in 1900 – A preliminary analysis There has recently been a renewed interest in the socioeconomic aspects of reproduction during the great fertility decline. While most previous work on the European fertility decline has been macro-oriented, using various kinds of aggregate data picturing of the demographic processes at regional or national level, much less has been done using micro-level data, and specifically looking at patterns across social groups. In this paper we look at the association between socioeconomic status and net fertility in Sweden's fertility transition using micro-level census data covering the entire population around 1900. The data contain information on number of children by age, occupation of the mother and father, place of residence and household context. Coding occupations in HISCO and classifying them into a social class scheme (HISCLASS) enables us to study the impact of socioeconomic status on number of children under 5, controlling also for spatial variations in social stratification. Our results indicate that the crude socioeconomic differentials in net fertility were substantial in Sweden immediately before 1900, with the elite and the upper middle classes having considerably lower marital child-woman ratios than the working classes. However, these crude differences were partly explained by compositional differences between classes according to age, community context and spatial heterogeneity. Nonetheless, even when controlling for individual and household variables as well as parish level fixed effects, the elite group had considerably lower net fertility than the other groups. DOI: 10.4424/ps2010-13


A new marine benthic, sand‐dwelling Prorocentrum species from the temperate region of the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada, is described using LM and EM and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The cells have a broad oval shape, 40.0–55.0 μm long and 30.0–47.5 μm wide, and a wide U‐shaped periflagellar area on the right thecal plate. The left thecal plate consists of a straighter apical outline in the form of a raised ridge. Five to six delicate apical spines in the center of the periflagellar area are present. The nucleus is located in the posterior region of the cell, and a conspicuous pusule is located in the anterior region of the cell. The cells have golden‐brown chloroplasts with a compound, intrachloroplast pyrenoid that lacks a starch sheath. The thecal plates are smooth with round pores of two different sizes. The larger pores are arranged in a specific pattern of radial rows that are evenly spaced around the plate periphery and of irregular rows (or double rows) that form an incomplete "V" at the apical end of the plates. Large pores are absent in the center of the left and right thecal plates. The intercalary band is striated transversely and also has faint horizontal striations. Trichocysts and two types of mucocysts are present. The molecular phylogenetic position of Prorocentrum tsawwassenense sp. nov. was inferred using SSU rDNA sequences. This new species branched with high support in a Prorocentrum clade containing both benthic and planktonic species.


The determining effect of personality similarity upon interpersonal attraction was investigated. (1) As for extraversion, 60 Ss assigned as extraverts or introverts rated 2 standard strangers, one extraverted and the other introverted on interpersonal judg ment scales. They all were attracted the extraverted stranger as a whole. (2) As for need, complementarity as well as similarity hypothesis was examined. Another 80 Ss rated 2, nurturant and succorant strangers. Similarity effect was evident on nurturance, but not explicit on succorance. And complementary effect was only slightly found. Thus, the mediating factors underlying between personality similarity and attraction are reasoned. The functioning of the affective value of infomation is such.


Background: Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder. The existence of autoreactive T cells has long been proposed in ITP. Yet the identification of autoreactive T cells has not been achieved, which is an important step to elucidate the pathogenesis of ITP. Methods: ITP patients' peripheral blood was collected prior to the treatment and one month after initiating dexamethasone treatment per related therapeutic guideline. Serum cytokines were profiled to examine T cell subtypes imbalance using a protein chip. TCR Vβ analysis in CD8+T cells of ITP patients, and TCR CDR3 DNA sequencing of CD4+T and CD8+T cells were performed to determine the autoreactive T cells' clones. Results: Cytokine profiling revealed imbalanced distribution of T cells subtypes, which was confirmed by CD4+T and CD8+T cells' oligoclonal expansion of TCR Vβ analysis and TCR CDR3 DNA sequencing. VDJ segments were found to be more frequently presented in ITP patients, when compared with health controls. There was an individualized CD4+T cell or CD8+T cell CDR3 sequence in each ITP patient. Conclusions: The present study revealed that T cell clones expanded in ITP patients' peripheral blood, and each clone had an individualized TCR CDR3 sequence. The expanded T cell clones preferred to use some specific VDJ segment. Further studies are warranted to get access to individualized treatment such as Car-T in patients with ITP.


Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) is widely used on golf courses and sport fields in Florida. Most cultivars used on golf courses are triploid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers. var. dactylon × C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy) resulting from hybridizations between tetraploid common bermudagrass and diploid African bermudagrass. In order to breed and develop bermudagrass cultivars with superior characteristics, it is essential to know the ploidy levels of available bermudagrass accessions and select fertile ones. The objective of this study was to determine the DNA content and ploidy level of bermudagrass germplasm accessions in the University of Florida germplasm collection to aid in future cultivar breeding. Flow cytometry was used to determine the nuclear DNA contents of 48 bermudagrass accessions, and one diploid (2%), 19 triploid (40%), 24 tetraploid (50%), one pentaploid (2%) and three hexaploid (6%) accessions were identified. The range of the nuclear DNA contents was 1.17, 1.38 to 1.61, 1.94 to 2.24, 2.47 and 2.64 to 2.75 pg/2C nucleus-1 for the respective ploidy levels. As such, tetraploid and hexaploid accessions could be utilized for future breeding efforts. The triploid accessions could be the results of mutations that have occurred in existing commercial bermudagrass cultivars or from natural hybrids between diploid C. transvaalensis and tetraploid C. dactylon.

 Key words: Cynodon spp., flow cytometry, nuclear DNA content, ploidy level.


A pixel scale digital to analog converter and driver for liquid crystal (LC) cells is presented. The circuit is a compact CMOS logic gate that sums pulse density modulation (pdm) signals. Low pass filtering of the pdm signal is done by the LC material. The circuit is suitable to implement large arrays of converters as, for example, in display applications. It is applicable in LC on silicon displays where gray scale data are stored and converted at each pixel site. Advantages over the commonly used active matrix technology include the removal of all analog circuitry, no need for refresh, reduced interconnect complexity, no capacitive loading of analog lines, and the ability to build larger scale or smart displays that combine memory, processing, and drive circuitry. Experimental results from a CMOS implementation are presented. >


INTRODUCTION: To assess patients' preference of which provider they prefer to disclose the results of prenatal aneuploidy screening, divided by whether the results were high-risk or low-risk for aneuploidy. METHODS: This study surveyed patients undergoing prenatal aneuploidy screening at Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, from July to September 2015. The survey included four questions asking patients for their first and second preferences for provider (either nurse practitioner, OB/GYN specialist, maternal-fetal subspecialist, or genetic counselor) who should disclose the aneuploidy screening results if the results were high-risk or low-risk. Demographic information was also collected. Questions that were not answered or had multiple answers were excluded from the analysis. RESULTS: A total of 54 patients were surveyed. Only 7% of those surveyed were older than age 35. The majority of patients (n=40, 74%) indicated that if the results were low-risk, they preferred to be informed by their primary OB/GYN specialist or nurse practitioner. The most frequent second choice of providers for low-risk results is a nurse practitioner unrelated to their care (28%) or a maternal-fetal medicine subspecialist (24%). If the results were high-risk, many of the patients (n=26, 49%) indicated that they would like to be informed by their OB/GYN specialist or nurse practitioner first. For high-risk results, maternal fetal medicine subspecialists are the first choice of 26% of patients and the second choice of 37% of patients. CONCLUSION: Regardless of whether the results are high-risk or low-risk, patients have a strong preference for hearing the results from their primary OB/GYN specialist or nurse practitioner.


One of the main objectives in systems biology is to understand the biological mechanisms that give rise to the phenotype of a microorganism by using high-throughput technologies (HTs) and genome-scale mathematical modeling. The computational modeling of genome-scale metabolic reconstructions is one systemic and quantitative strategy for characterizing the metabolic phenotype associated with human diseases and potentially for designing drugs with optimal clinical effects. The purpose of this short review is to describe how computational modeling, including the specific case of constraint-based modeling, can be used to explore, characterize, and predict the metabolic capacities that distinguish the metabolic phenotype of cancer cell lines. As we show herein, this computational framework is far from a pure theoretical description, and to ensure proper biological interpretation, it is necessary to integrate high-throughput data and generate predictions for later experimental assessment. Hence, genome-scale modeling serves as a platform for the following: (1) the integration of data from HTs, (2) the assessment of how metabolic activity is related to phenotype in cancer cell lines, and (3) the design of new experiments to evaluate the outcomes of the in silico analysis. By combining the functions described above, we show that computational modeling is a useful methodology to construct an integrative, systemic, and quantitative scheme for understanding the metabolic profiles of cancer cell lines, a first step to determine the metabolic mechanism by which cancer cells maintain and support their malignant phenotype in human tissues.


In most buildings, occupants are the main source of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) due to exhalation. Although CO2 is not considered to pose serious health risks to occupants, elevated levels of CO2 may serve as an indicator of insufficient ventilation. This study examines how CO2 is distributed within a complex indoor environment of a classroom and how this distribution is affected by different parameters. Measuring CO2 concentrations at a single location or height may not act as a true representation of an entire space, unless it is measured in a very small confined space. In this study, it was observed that higher CO2 concentration values can be found at higher levels in a room and not only at a height between 1 m and 1.2 m as claimed by many researchers. Therefore, if CO2 concentration levels vary significantly, deviations from the average measured values could become large. It was also found that the CO2 concentration reflects the dynamic relationship among the occupants, their activity levels and occupancy periods. The findings present a useful contribution for future researchers to efficiently and strategically design experimental set ups with well-organised positioning of sensors for CO2 monitoring purposes.


Diabetes mellitus is often described as a syndrome considering its clinical and pathophysiological manifestations. It results due to relative or absolute insulin deficiency and or resistance. Diabetic nephropathy forms part of the microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. The incidence is on the increase the world over hence an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Due to higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the populace, there are more cases of diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes than in type 1. In addition to genetic and racial predisposition, the initiation and progression of diabetic nephropathy is multi-factorial including glycaemic and other metabolic abnormalities, alterations in systemic and renal haemodynamics and various cytokines and growth factors. Early detection and prompt treatment of diabetic nephropathy is of utmost importance in the prevention of renal failure. In addition to tight glycaemic control, other factors that constitute an insult to the kidneys (like urinary tract infection and analgesic abuse) should be attended to diligently. Hypertension is quite outstanding in this regard hence the need to optimally control it. Use of ACEi and ARBs greatly influence the progression and outcome of nephropathy in diabetics. Other factors that deserve mentioning are: protein restriction, cessation of smoking, reduction in salt intake, and control of lipid; these measures significantly help in the prevention and progression of diabetic nephropathy. A review of relevant literatures was conducted using available medical journals, MEDLINE and Science direct via the internet. Other websites were also visited to source for information. The key words employed were: diabetes mellitus, diabetic nephropathy and renal failure. This review was able to outline measures that should be employed in the prevention and progression of diabetic nephropathy, the importance of early detection of nephropathy in diabetics and the role of protein-sparing drugs (ACEi, ARBs and beta-blockers) and life style modifications. To achieve a significant reduction in the number of diabetics presenting with diabetic nephropathy, early diagnosis and surveillance of patients for microalbuminuria, life style modifications, avoiding conditions that constitute an insult to the kidneys, and optimal blood pressure control especially with protein-sparing drugs are of beneficial effect. Keywords : Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Nephropathy, Renal Failure Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 53 (3) 2008: pp. 28-32


This article points out the dissonance between young people's environmental and justice concerns, and the lack of sufficient interest in the ecological aspects of Christian witness in Scottish evangelical circles. Reminding us that language matters enormously – as illustrated by the tensions even around the terminology used to describe the current ecological challenge – it explores the anthropological lens through which evangelicals tend to view the created world, and suggests a pragmatic response in terms of the kind of images and language that would naturally speak and relate to evangelical believers.


The sleep of thirty elderly patients with recurrent unipolar depression was examined at baseline (before acute treatment of the index episode) and again in a state of symptomatic remission with nortriptyline (mean steady-state level: 82.1 ng/ml). Continuation therapy with nortriptyline was associated with improvement of polysomnographic sleep maintenance (mainly in the third and fourth sleep cycles, to a level similar to that of controls), prolongation of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep latency (exceeding that of controls), and potentiation of slow-wave activity during the first non-REM (NREM) sleep period. Clinical improvement, as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, was significantly associated with shift of delta activity toward sleep onset (p less than 0.002), prolongation of REM sleep latency (p less than 0.0001), and improvement in sleep maintenance (p less than 0.0002). Multiple regression analysis showed that the single best correlate of clinical change was prolongation of REM sleep latency (i.e., prolongation of first NREM period). Perceived sleep quality improved significantly during early continuation therapy with nortriptyline, but not to the level reported by a group of 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The findings are consistent with the concept that anti-depressant drug efficacy may depend upon strengthening of the homeostatic regulation of sleep and upon changes in the REM-sleep regulation.


Several diagnostic and treatment procedures require the segmentation of anatomical structures from medical images. However, the automatic model-based methods that are often employed, may produce inaccurate segmentations. These, if used as input for diagnosis or treatment, can have detrimental effects for the patients. Currently, an analysis to predict which anatomic regions are more prone to inaccuracies, and to determine how to improve segmentation algorithms, cannot be performed. We propose a visual tool to enable experts, working on model-based segmentation algorithms, to explore and analyze the outcomes and errors of their methods. Our approach supports the exploration of errors in a cohort of pelvic organ segmentations, where the performance of an algorithm can be assessed. Also, it enables the detailed exploration and assessment of segmentation errors, in individual subjects. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other tool with comparable functionality. A usage scenario is employed to explore and illustrate the capabilities of our visual tool. To further assess the value of the proposed tool, we performed an evaluation with five segmentation experts. The evaluation participants confirmed the potential of the tool in providing new insight into their data and employed algorithms. They also gave feedback for future improvements.


Prior studies of Peripartum Cardiomyopathy (PPCM) are limited by short-term follow-up. Contemporary long-term outcomes and change in myocardial function over time are poorly characterized.

 This retrospective cohort study included women with PPCM at the University of Michigan (2000-2011), with follow-up on March 31, 2017. Subsequent pregnancies were excluded. Recovery was sustained left ventricular Ejection Fraction (EF) ≥55%. Major Adverse Events (MAE) included death, cardiac transplantation, left ventricular assist device, or inotrope-dependence. A total of 59 women were included (mean [SD] age at diagnosis, 29.5 [6.8]; 28.8% Black), with a mean follow-up of 6.3 years. Recovery occurred in 22 women (37%); of these, 8 women (36%) had delayed recovery (>12 months). All cause mortality was 20% (12/59) with median survival 4.2 years; of these, 9 women (75%) died after the first year (range 2 - 10 years). MAE occurred in 19 women (32%); of these, 11 women (42%) had MAE >12 months from time of diagnosis (range 2-20 years). Deterioration in EF by >10% from the time of diagnosis occurred in 16 women (27%). This group had worse long-term outcomes, including lower final EF (mean 25 vs 42%, p=0.010), less recovery (12 vs 46%, p=0.016), and higher rates of death (38 vs 14%, p=0.046) and MAE (56 vs 23%, p=0.016).

 Women with PPCM have long-term risks of mortality, MAE, and subsequent decline in EF, even in the absence of a subsequent pregnancy. Deterioration in EF is associated with adverse events; thus, long-term management is important.


The infl uence of fi ve different temperatures (20, 26, 32, 39 and 44°С) under two irradiance levels (132 μmol photons m s, unilateral and 2×132 μmol photons m s, bilateral) on the biological activity of a newly-isolated unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain R10 was studied. Water cellular extracts, fatty acids, culture liquids and extracellular polysaccharides of Synechocystis sp. were found to have activities against bacteria, fungus and tumor cells. The exopolysaccharides showed the most potent antibacterial and antifungal activities (MIC=0.25 mg mL). The mixture of substances, excreted in the culture medium, inhibited a broad range of target pathogens. The cyanobacterial fatty acids had the strongest growth inhibitory effect on HeLa cells (IC 50 <15 μg mL). The cultivation conditions (temperature, light intensity) and the culture age had considerable and specifi c effects on the activity of the different groups of metabolites tested. Because of the pronounced potential of Synechocystis sp. R10 to produce various biologically active substances and the possibility to increase the activity of its intracellular and extracellular metabolites through manipulation of the cultivation conditions, this strain is of undoubted biotechnological interest.


This study sought to compare the relative accuracy of a commercially available hand-held water fluoride analysis unit with a standard laboratory bench-top fluoride-specific electrode/millivoltmeter apparatus, with the goal of identifying possible practical applications of the hand-held unit for preventive dentistry. The units analyzed identical gravimetrically prepared fluoride solutions ranging from 0.1 to 4.0 ppm. The average difference between the measurements from the hand-held unit and the nominal values of the fluoride solutions was 0.011 ppm (SD = 0.068), and the average difference between the hand-held unit's measurements and the bench-top unit's measurements was 0.030 ppm (SD = 0.115). T-test analysis demonstrated no statistical difference between measurements from the hand-held unit with either the nominal values of the fluoride solutions or the bench-top unit's measurements. Results indicate that the hand-held water fluoride analysis unit has an appropriate level of accuracy for the measurement of fluoride levels in drinking water samples by dental professionals.


The authors substantiate the necessity of organization and conduction in the Russian Federation Armed Forces of control checkup and medical examination of servicemen by permanent military medical commissions. It is emphasized that control checkup and medical examination are the most effective form providing control of organization of medical-and-diagnostic process and military medical examination in medical institutions. Basing on long experience of military medical examination organs the methods of organization and conduction of control checkup and medical examination in central and district (naval) military hospitals is discussed in details. The conclusions were made that it is necessary to conduct control checkup and medical examination of servicemen with obligatory participation of head (chief) medical specialists of military district (Navy), medical institutions and specialists of permanent military medical commissions.


This paper proposes an approach to recognize Common Imaging Signs of Lesions (CISLs) in lung CT images. We combine the bag-of-visual-words based on the Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) and the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) to represent regions of interest (ROIs) in lung CT images. Then the Max-Min posterior Pseudo-probabilities (MMP) learning method is applied to recognize the category of the imaging sign contained in each ROI. We conducted the 5-fold cross validation experiments on a set of 696 ROIs captured from real lung CT images. The proposed approach achieved the average sensitivity of 91.8%, the average specificity of 98.5% and the average accuracy of 98%. Furthermore, the HOG-LBP features surpassed individual HOG or LBP as well as the hybrid of LBP and intensity histograms, and the MMP behaved better than the Support Vector Machines (SVMs). These experimental results confirm the effectiveness of our approach.


The European-funded Framework Programme 7 project, Joint Learning in Innovation Systems in African Agriculture (JOLISAA), assessed agricultural innovation experiences focused on smallholders in Benin, Kenya, and South Africa. Fifty-six cases were characterized through review of grey literature and interviews with resource persons, according to a common analytical framework inspired by the innovation systems (IS) perspective. Thirteen of the cases were assessed in greater depth through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and multistakeholder workshops. The cases covered a wide diversity of experiences in terms of types, domains, scales, timelines, initiators of innovation and stakeholders involved. Findings revealed multiple triggers and drivers of innovation. For external stakeholders, key triggers included likelihood of offering a technological fix to an existing problem and availability of funding. For local people, access to input and output markets was a powerful trigger and driver. Market types and dynamics varied greatly. Developing functional value chains and accessing markets proved particularly challenging, especially for poorer and weakly organized farmers. Over long periods, determinants of innovation changed dynamically and often unpredictably, including motivations of key stakeholders, triggers, drivers and stakeholder arrangements. The direction of innovation evolved, often moving from a technology entry point to more organizational or institutional issues. A recurring challenge for fostering innovation is whether and how to build on local initiatives and knowledge, and how to sustain externally driven innovation processes beyond the project time frame. A major conclusion from JOLISAA is that innovation has to be seen as a continuously evolving process of 'innovation bundles' (a combination of different types of innovation) of various kinds, rather than as a pre-planned, and usually, narrowly-defined technical intervention. Consequently, open-ended, flexible approaches to innovation are needed with the potential to engage meaningfully over a long time with local stakeholders and bearers of local innovation dynamics, so that they take full charge of the innovation process and direction.


The distinction between adjectival passives and verbal passives is a very well known one. In this paper, I try to define the operation that forms adjectival passives in Hebrew. I claim that a close look at Hebrew adjectival passives reveals that they do not form a homogenous group, but rather two groups, which behave differently with regard to their interpretation. Adjectives of the first group behave like verbal passives in that they have an implicit Agent in their interpretation; adjectives of the second group behave like unaccusative verbs, in that the external argument of the transitive verb is no longer a part of their semantics. Based on this parallelism, I label the first type of adjectives ('true') adjectival passives and the second —adjectival decausatives. Having established that there are two types of adjectival passives, I claim that they are derived by the same operations which derive the corresponding verb types. Therefore, no additional operations need to be stipulated in order to account for adjectival passive formation.


Abstract Introduction Efficient intestinal peristalsis is a function of intact enteric nervous system, muscle, and connective muscularis propria tissue. Malfunction of any component results in impaired peristalsis. Hirschsprung disease (HD) as prototypic enteric neural migration disorder is increasingly well characterized. More recently, intestinal myopathies and particularly defects of myenteric collagenization have entered the focus of attention. However, detailed development of muscularis propria connective tissue is not well known. The aim of this study was to morphologically characterize intestinal connective tissue in fetal and postnatal development and intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Materials and Methods In this study, 130 archival specimens of fetal autopsies, intestinal resections, and biopsies were analyzed. Patients' age was 10th gestational week (gw) to 70 years. Muscularis mucosae, muscle layers, collagen tissue, and enteric plexus were analyzed. Picrosirius red stains, enzyme histochemistry, and immunohistochemistry for collagens I, III, and IV were performed. Results Total 89 normal intestinal specimens were from fetal autopsies or intestinal resections; 41 patients showed a primary structural colon wall defect (HD, desmosis). Our results showed a constant increase in tunica muscularis propria thickness with age. Separation into circular and longitudinal muscle layer first occurred in the 11th gw. A tendinous collagen plexus layer first arose in the 10th gw and showed a steady caliber increase. Muscularis mucosae first appeared in the 10th gw and grew independent of any primary gastrointestinal disease. In the 11th gw, enteric ganglia were fully developed. In desmosis, a collagen plexus layer was absent. In contrast, in HD, muscularis mucosae showed hypertrophy, but the collagen plexus layer was intact in the aganglionic segment. In intestinal neuronal dysplasia and hypoganglionosis, nerve cell development was disturbed; connective tissue and muscle layers were well developed. Conclusion Our comprehensive study of intestinal connective tissue development in comparison to neural intestinal wall components in normal and pathological conditions showed that tendinous tissue develops parallel to muscularis propria and arises early in embryogenesis. In enteric nervous system disorders, ganglionic lesions develop independently of impaired collagen network, whereas mucosal biopsies serve for diagnosis of HD, seromuscular biopsies are required to prove desmosis in gastrointestinal dysmotility disorders.


To explore potential fertility of soil and utilized coefficient of soil water, it is researched that potassium release from soil minerals by releasing K bacteria with different inoculation amounts and water contents in static culture. Releasing K bacteria is inoculated in illite and feldspar substrates, which are the main soil minerals in northwest arid land. The changes of mineral morphology, structure and composition are tested by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR), Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM) and Energy Disperse Spectroscopy(EDS). Results show that silicate bacteria C6 X has significant effect on potassium release from feldspar and illite, which is effected by water and inoculation amount. The appropriate inoculation conditions are 15% of inoculation amount, 70% of moisture content for feldspar and 20% inoculation amount, 70% of moisture content for illite. Feldspar is dissolved by releasing K bacteria, potassium content, and Si/Al are both low. It is showed that the releasing K bacteria can not only release potassium from feldspar, but also dissolve Si which is used for their own growth. Interlayer charge of illite is reduced by releasing K bacteria; divalent cations are released from alumina octahedral; interlayer charge is lower, which cause the release of K + ions and adsorbed water. FTIR of illite shows that the release of K is associated with the release of interlayer water. Therefore, the further study on Si and Fe element migration from soil clay minerals by releasing K bacteria, and interaction between interlayer K element and water molecules has important ecological significance.


Pelvic angiography was performed in 24 patients with primary or secondary tumours. 17 patients were submitted to arteriography and 7 to phlebography of the pelvis veins. An angiographic classification was established and compared to the pre-operative and histopathological results determining tumour staging. These results were compared to those obtained by bimanual palpation under narcosis and demonstrated the significant contribution of angiography in determining the extravesical spreading of bladder tumours.


Lake Jelonek is a small lake located in central northern Poland, in the Tuchola Forest. The sediments of the lake represent a natural archive that offers insights into the natural history of the region from the Late Glacial to present. In winter 2002, a 1330 cm long sediment core was recovered from the deepest part of lake. Using a multiproxy approach (cladocerans, pollen and basic geochemistry), we reconstructed trophic status changes through the last ~15,000 years. Special attention was devoted to the evaluation of nutrient contributions to the lake from natural and anthropogenic sources. The Cladocera analyses yielded a total of 29 species belonging to five families (Bosminidae, Daphniidae, Leptodoridae, Chydoridae, Sididae), with planktonic species representing more than 60% of Cladocera relative abundance throughout the core. The pollen results suggested four periods of increased human activity, so-called settlement phases. The first traces of human activity in the basin of Lake Jelonek appeared in the Atlantic period and were related with Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements. The second (Bronze Age) and the third (Iron Age) settlement phases are well marked by the paleolimnological proxies studied. This time period clearly manifested on the lake waters as an increasing trophy level probably caused by human-associated discharges of nutrients to the lake. After the third settlement phase cladoceran data indicated a significant decrease in the lake trophic level and the pollen data showed a recovery of forest cover. The fourth period of human economic activity during the early Middle Age was characterized by deforestation associated with land reclamation for grazing and cultivation of cereals, and the subsequent nutrient enrichment of lake waters. According to our results, the biological development of Lake Jelonek was determined by climate changes from Late Glacial up to the Atlantic period. Contrastingly, the most important driver for the lake development though the middle and late Holocene has been human activity within the lake catchment. The recovery of the lake trophic level during the last century, which is primarily related to extensive afforestation of the lake catchment, highlighted the importance of land use in the conservation of healthy water bodies.


Conventional respiratory-gated CT and four-dimensional CT (4DCT) are disadvantaged by their low temporal resolution, which results in the inclusion of anatomic motion-induced artefacts. These represent a significant source of error both in radiotherapy treatment planning for the thorax and upper abdomen and in diagnostic procedures. In particular, temporal resolution and image quality are vitally important to accurate diagnosis and the minimization of planning target volume margin due to respiratory motion. To improve both temporal resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we developed a respiratory-correlated segment reconstruction method (RS) and adapted it to the Feldkamp-Davis-Kress algorithm (FDK) with a 256 multidetector row CT (256MDCT). The 256MDCT scans approximately 100 mm in the craniocaudal direction with a 0.5 mm slice thickness in one rotation. Data acquisition for the RS-FDK relies on the assistance of a respiratory sensing system operating in cine scan mode (continuous axial scan with the table stationary). We evaluated the RS-FDK for volume accuracy and image noise in a phantom study with the 256MDCT and compared results with those for a full scan (FS-FDK), which is usually employed in conventional 4DCT and in half scan (HS-FDK). Results showed that the RS-FDK gave a more accurate volume than the others and had the same SNR as the FS-FDK. In a subsequent animal study, we demonstrated a practical sorting process for projection data which was unaffected by variations in respiratory period, and found that the RS-FDK gave the clearest visualization among the three algorithms of the margins of the liver and pulmonary vessels. In summary, the RS-FDK algorithm provides multi-phase images with higher temporal resolution and better SNR. This method should prove useful when combined with new radiotherapeutic and diagnostic techniques.


Manufacturing logistics management consists of complex interconnections among manufacturing processes, facilities, warehouses, quality controlling, packaging and logistics. In recent years, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has become so matured that it has been widely applied on manufacturing logistics management. Firstly, this paper presents the significant potential of RFID application in manufacturing logistics, and aims to investigate the dynamic of manufacturing logistics management using RFID. Secondly, it has provided an analysis framework which describes the relationship of information technology, manufacturing management innovation and performance improvement. Then, take Leo Paper Group for example, it analyzes the dynamic of the application of RFID in manufacturing logistics. The research shows that manufacturing enterprises would gain competitive advantages and new economic growth by using RFID in manufacturing logistics management. Experience of Leo Paper Group is worth promoting to other traditional manufacturing enterprises.


rural population) since 1985 and 989 (68% women) in Vienna (mostly urban population) in the past year, who all suffered from contact dermatitis. We used commercial solutions of 100 ppm Kathon CG in water according to the criteria of the ICDRG. Using the Kathon from Dr. Brinkmann Parm., FRG, only 4 women in Graz ( > 0.1%) and 2 men and 5 women in Vienna (0.7%) reacted to Kathon CG, most of them only weakly; most of them revealed multiple sensitivities. A clinical relevance could be presumed in only I patient (0.0!6% of all patients). In contrast, 19 out of 265 patients (7.2%) that tested in parallel both the Kathon Hermal products reacted positively, and only I also to the Brinkmann product. Clinical relevance, however, was still not evident in most of them. Since neither the incidence of exposure in industry nor in topical ointments and cosmetics differs in our country as compared to other European countries, several factors have to be considered for these discrepancies: patient selection, testing procedures, quality of the test substance, test observation and interpretation. We believe that problems in the standardization of the test substance and in the interpretation of the data play a key role for the controversial and in some countries (up to 6.1 %) horrifying numbers of Kathon CO-positive patients.


An emerging global consciousness and rising attention given to international social work development has seen the recognition of comparative research within the profession. Understanding the functioning and organisation of social work within various country contexts is critical in order to formulate knowledge around its overall impact, successes and challenges, allowing social workers to learn from one another and build professional consolidation. The profession is mapped out in 10 countries, reflecting on its structure, identity and development. Although the profession is developing globally, it is also experiencing significant challenges. Key insights, conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented.


Currently, two distinct bodies of scholarship address the increased volume and diversity of global return migration since the mid-1990s. The economic sociology of return, which assumes that return is voluntary, investigates how time living and working abroad affects returnees' labor market opportunities and the resulting implications for economic development. A second scholarship, the political sociology of return, recognizing the increasing role of both emigration and immigration states in controlling and managing migration, examines how state and institutional actors in countries of origin shape the reintegration experiences of deportees, rejected asylum seekers, and nonadmitted migrants forced home. We review these literatures independently, examining their research questions, methodologies, and findings, while also noting limitations and areas where additional research is needed. We then engage these literatures to provide an integrated path forward for researching and theorizing return migration—a synergized resource mobilization framework.


Abstract In the western Woodlark Basin, off Papua New Guinea, the variation from continental rifting to sea-floor spreading has profound effects on the mechanical response of the lithosphere. The extension is well expressed in a seismically active, shallow-dipping detachment fault. Recent Ocean Drilling Program drilling (ODP Leg 180) in the area obtained cores from the hanging wall, detachment fault gouge, and footwall, of which samples underwent permeability testing in the laboratory. Permeability variation was found to be critically dependent on (1) flow direction, i.e. fabric anisotropy of the rocks, and (2) deformational structures in the hanging wall to the fault. Regarding the first, a slight but distinct increase in permeability has been recorded parallel to the fabric (compared with flow normal to this, as indicated by anisotropy indices of khorizontal/kvertical of >1.7). This phenomenon appears most profound directly above fault zones in the hanging-wall block, which are interpreted to represent splays to the main detachment fault plane at depth. Here, shear-enhanced compaction seals fluid flow to the sea floor, so that conductive flow parallel to the fault plane is favoured (in general one order of magnitude higher). The fault gouge, mainly consisting of highly serpentinized basalt and chlorite, exhibits an increase in permeability relative to the clay- and siltstones of the hanging-wall block. In the metamorphic basalt from the tectonic footwall, permeability decreases again by three orders of magnitude (k is c. 6e—17 to 5e—18 m2). Consequently, the detachment and synthetic splays related to it are zones of enhanced fluid migration in the fault plane direction. Fluid overpressure, and hence fault activity, is suggested to be trigered by seal of the top of the fault zone, owing to both shear fabrics and cementation processes.


Essentially, cloud computing is based on a scenario where specialized providers offer a huge amount of resources to stakeholders, which require them based on their actual needs. The stakeholders needs may be characterized by significant fluctuations due to the model of payment, which is based on the pay-per-use paradigm. This has an important implication: cloud providers have to make an initial expensive investment in resources. Nowadays, available cloud computing solutions are provided by known players on the IT market such as Google, IBM, Amazon, or Microsoft. Small or medium size players have difficulties to compete in this domain. In this paper, we introduce our vision for cloud computing which aims to (1) exploit adaptive mechanisms for resource management and optimize resource usage by discouraging idle resources, (2) provide a market exchange model exploiting trading mechanisms for resource allocation, and (3) support failure management for critical situations. These objectives are sustained by a motivating example. Furthermore, the paper introduces several implementation hints based on our current prototype.


A prospective survey was carried out in two Kathmandu hospitals and two rural districts to establish urban and rural perinatal mortality rates (PNMRs) for these four centres in Nepal and to ascertain the causes of perinatal mortality. All perinatal deaths occurring over a 1-year period in the four centres were included (during which time there was a total of 14,967 births). Cause of death was established by contemporary review of hospital case records or by structured questionnaire ('verbal autopsy') in the rural areas. The PNMRs in the hospitals were 48.0 and 23.7 per thousand total births respectively, whilst those of the rural settings were 96.2 and 42.5 per thousand births. Perinatal asphyxia, low birthweight and infection were the most common causes but many of the deaths were unexplained. The high mortality rates were felt to reflect the difficult circumstances of childbirth in Nepal. It was concluded that a number of interventions would appear appropriate, but that these should be introduced in a scientific manner.


Ostrander went to Chicago at the urging of his Williams professor Walter B. Smith who had studied with Frank Knight at Chicago in the early 1920s. He took four courses from Knight: the history of economic thought, economic theory, current tendencies, and economics from an institutional standpoint (his notes taken in these courses have appeared in volume 22B and 23B in this series). At the beginning of the academic year in which he was a graduate student at Chicago, Ostrander's major professor at Williams, Walter Buckingham Smith, wrote Knight introducing Ostrander to him. Ostrander did not know of this exchange of letters until he read a draft of this piece that I had sent him. The letters are useful in regard to Knight's legendary pessimism and candor.September 30, 1933Dear Professor Knight:I am writing to tell you that we are sending you a graduate student named Ostrander from Williams. To a considerable extent he is coming to the University of Chicago on my recommendation. I particularly want him to work with you and with Professor Viner and with Professor Douglas. I'll be interested to see what you do with him. In my opinion he has "promise."Mr. Ostrander graduated here in 1932 and spent last year in Oxford. He seems to have survived a year at Oxford. Usually a year or two there is pretty hard for an American to get over. Ostrander, contrary to the usual rule, seems to have benefited rather than deteriorated under the direction of his English tutors.Ostrander is much interested in theoretical economics. My hope is that you will be able to do for him what I think you have a unique capacity to do. I hope that you can make him see economic theory not as a body of neat precepts nor as dogmas that one must learn but rather as a critical philosophizing about the categories. Needless to say, I'm not trying to tell you what you should teach your students. I'm merely telling you that I think that Ostrander is an intelligent enough person to understand you if you do in the class room what you used to do when I listened to you. He will understand; and he won't reproach you if your lectures don't enable him to get up a good note book.I spent the year before last in Berkeley at the University there and got very well acquainted with your brother M.M. Needless to say, that was one of the most valuable things that happened to me while I was there. I don't understand why some eastern institution does not make M.M. a good offer and take him away from Berkeley where he is highly esteemed by all but sadly overlooked on pay-day.Do you ever come east? If you do we would be delighted to entertain you and Mrs. Knight here in Williamstown. I would like ever so much to be able to talk with you about economics. If you should come this way you may be sure that we would be very glad to see you.Sincerely yours,[signed] Walter SmithOctober 5, 1933Dear Smith:(I don't know how I ought to address you, but can't bring myself to "Professor" you, even though you did me.) I was just going to write you anyway when your letter came in the mail. Your man Ostrander arrived last week, and I had a couple of hours' talk with him, business being slack on the first day of registration. He impressed me quite favorably. One thing he may have gotten in Oxford or in part from his eastern bringing up (we have a Princeton boy who is fully as bed [sic]) is an extremely deferential air which is embarrassing to me. I very much appreciate your comments, and I am, of course, quite set up at your sending him to us as against Harvard.By all means, any possible opportunity to get together and talk about economics. I am so depressed that it is really serious for my work. I have to fight the conviction that anything in any degree fundamental is impossible, hopeless. On one hand I agree very largely with the "rebels" that rationalistic economics doesn't amount to a terrible lot, even if it were sound. But on the other hand the little that it does have to say about social relations and problems seems to me as peculiarly fundamental as it is limited in scope. But I suspect that man, in his well known capacity of "political animal," is an inveterate romanticist, and will never see things in balance or perspective. He will either be a rationalist to the point of romanticism – the "Enlightenment" attitude – or else insist on scorning all fundamentals and transforming the world by wish[ful] thinking or some magic formula.I wonder what you think about current developments. I hope it may partly be due to a run-down physical condition, but actually my feeling is that we are seeing from day to day the "finish" of all we have educated ourselves to call the principal cultural fruits of western civilization. What gripes me is less this fact than the fact that I cannot rationally oppose the abolition of liberty and [the] establishment of tyranny. I feel that the regime of liberty has been a failure, or an experiment with negative results, that it has shown the incapacity of large masses of people to reach any sound conclusion by thinking and discussion – indeed the inevitability of their ending up by selling out to some hero-prophet. If this is the wrong view of events, I wish you would give me any possible help in reaching a view in which my own kind of person and of activity would have any place. I wonder if your failure to write may be based on a feeling similar to this one of my own, which is making it increasingly difficult for me to pretend to try to fan the wi[nd] of culture history into a new direction with a hen feather of words. Indeed, it is making it take an actual moral struggle a good deal of the time to open the door and go into an economics classroom and hold forth.Sincerely,Frank H. KnightNovember 24, 1933Dear FH:Thank you ever so much for your letter about Ostrander. You will be interested to know that Ostrander writes with the very greatest enthusiasm for your course. I am sure that you are doing him a lot of good. Before the year is over I would be interested to have your opinion of him and of his capacities to undertake the arduous job of being an economist. He has seemed promising to me. If this promise seems not to be fulfilled in your opinion, I should feel disposed to tell him so and urge him to resume his plans for going to the Harvard Law School.Your remarks about being depressed over the apparent disillusion of the existing economic order I very much sympathize with. Not only am I troubled about that but I am also very much troubled about the intellectual confusion and the lack of good sportsmanship on the part of the better trained economists these days. President Roosevelt seems to me to be willing to listen to reasonable and constructive suggestions and he has shown an extraordinary disposition to do some social experimenting. In the face of this extraordinary state of affairs it seems to me that the great body of well trained economists has contented themselves with growling quietly to one another and saying nothing in public. From the standpoint of maintaining one's prestige that is in some ways the wise policy for it enables one to say "I told you so" when things in the world of business fact go wrong. It does seem to me, however, that under the circumstances economists ought to make their position known, that is[,] to point out where they think the existing policies are leading, the important and possibly conflicting goals of different lines of economic policy and certain long run changes in the set up of our legal economic structure. If the economists can't do that much then it seems to be that they are confessing that their field is in such a state of intellectual confusion that it is practically worthless, or else they are confessing that they are a timid lot of thin-blooded academics who have no right to object if this country is run by the Babbitts.This letter comes to you to find out if there is any possibility of starting a movement or making the opinion of the economists heard. Personally I think we ought to speak out or else publicly admit that the study and teaching of economics is a racket.Sincerely yours,[signed] Walter Smith


In this powerful and disturbing book, Rogers Smith traces political struggles over U.S. citizenship laws from the colonial period through the Progressive era and shows how and why throughout this time most adults were legally denied access to full citizenship, including political rights, solely because of their race, ethnicity, or gender. "An important and original argument that ranges through a long period of American history and makes a major contribution to the debate about the bases of American nationality and civic identity."-Eric Foner "Civic Ideals is a work of scholarly ambition on a Victorian scale."-Jeremy Rabkin, Public Interest "Extensively documented, grand in its aspirations, bold in its arguments, and highly significant, ...Smith's book is a towering achievement...[It] will be of great interest to specialists in American history, political culture, and ideology, and particularly to those who are interested in race, gender, and ethnic relations."-Michael McCann, Law and Politics Book Review "Each chapter is learned, provocative, full of telling quotations and appropriate statistical or institutional facts. The book will be carefully read and deeply mined...Wonderfully learned, passionately argued, carefully constructed. "-Jennifer Hochschild, Political Science Quarterly


The purpose of this study was to analyze students' specific ITP-related social skills goals, student self-reported social skills, and the relationship between teacher and employer ratings of vocational students social skills and problem behaviors. This study examined (48) vocational students, (24) general education vocational students and (24) special education vocational students in grades nine through twelve. The students' vocational teachers and employers also participated in the study. This represented (144) individual assessment of social skills and problem behaviors utilizing the Social Skills Rating System -Student version (SSRS-S) and the Social Skills Rating System Teachers -version (SSRS-T). The findings indicated no specific social skill goals were deliminated in the students' ITP's. However, the findings did indicate the general education vocational students rated themselves higher, on average, on the empathy subscale than did the special education students. The analysis of data comparing standardized social skill scores, social skill subscale scores, standardized problem behavior scores, and standardized problem behavior subscale scores between teachers and employers for general and special education vocational students indicated employers rated special education students higher on the cooperation subscale only. No other differences were found.


The primary determinants of control location are human physiological limitations, spatial relationship to the functions controlled, functional groupings, sequential arrangements, and priority of usage/frequency of use. The first four of these are relatively easy to determine, whether through anthropometrics or task/function analyses, but the final consideration is often less straightforward. The relative frequency of use of a set of controls that are primarily driven not by need, but by user preference are often almost impossible to determine before a product is actually put into use. This paper describes a study designed to evaluate the relative frequency of use of the controls available on automotive stereo products. The study focused on experienced users over an extended period of time and a relatively wide age range. Results indicated that control usage fell into several broad groups, with volume control being the most commonly used function.


Seeding of impurities into JET resulted in a pronounced modification of plasma confinement properties. In order to analyse the underlying mechanisms a predictive transport modelling has been performed by means of two approaches. (i) The Chalmers advanced fluid model for temperature gradient driven instabilities is applied to determine all transport coefficients necessary for transport modelling. In the present code computations the radial profiles of the particle densities and temperatures are computed using experimentally measured sources. The computations give good agreement of the temperature profiles with the measured ones. (ii) The Jülich transport model, used earlier to simulate the plasma evolution in TEXTOR radiative improved mode, has been amended by a proper description of trapped electron transport, which is important at low collisionality typical for JET. This model incorporated into the transport code RITM, which self-consistently computes particle sources due to plasma recycling and impurity ionization, reproduces well the peaking in density and pressure profiles caused by impurity seeding.


The Permian temnospondyl Fayella chickashaensis from Oklahoma, a purported member of the intriguing clade of terrestrially adapted dissorophids, has been difficult to contextualize within the clade because of uncertainties related to the holotype, an isolated and badly weathered neurocranium. However, postcranial material that has been attributed to this taxon is particularly important for furthering our broader understanding of the patterns of temnospondyl evolution as it relates to their terrestrial diversification at the same time as the diversification of amniotes. Here we present a reevaluation of all material assigned to Fayella. Our examination of the holotype indicates that it is not referable below Temnospondyli indet., and Fayella chickashaensis is hence designated as a nomen dubium. Significant postcranial and the partial cranial material from a different locality than the holotype was referred to the taxon and is sufficiently diagnostic to be associated with the olsoniforms, the clade of large-bodied terrestrial dissorophoids. The presence of osteoderms and the absence of a subdivided naris exclude trematopids. This specimen can be differentiated from other dissorophid taxa by the proportions of the limbs and the elongation of the intercentra and is herein designated as the holotype of Nooxobeia gracilis gen. et sp. nov. The gracile limb proportions of Nooxobeia are particularly exaggerated relative to other olsoniforms and indicate an unusually active, agile predator that is interpreted here as an advanced stage of terrestrial adaptation among dissorophid temnospondyls.


In recent years, an active field of research has developed around automated machine learning(AutoML). Unfortunately, comparing different AutoML systems is hard and often doneincorrectly. We introduce an open, ongoing, and extensible benchmark framework whichfollows best practices and avoids common mistakes. The framework is open-source, usespublic datasets and has a website with up-to-date results. We use the framework to conducta thorough comparison of 4 AutoML systems across 39 datasets and analyze the results.


All-digital transmitters are getting increased attention due to its closer proximity to the ideal software-defined radio (SDR) transmitter. In this paper we propose a new transmitter architecture that addresses two key limitations of current approaches, namely, the poor coding efficiency and the high quality factor requirements of the RF output reconstruction filter that significantly limit the practical usability and dissemination of these new flexible RF transmitters. The proposed architecture combines a maximum coding efficiency of 79.3% and a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 50 dB, while maintaining the high flexibility inherent to the all-digital transmitters and where the RF output carriers operating in the microwave frequency range are generated inside a single field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device. The obtained results also show the feasibility and potential of using FPGA-based architectures for implementing digital RF transmitters.


Objective: This study aimed to determine prognostic factors associated with mortality in pediatric oncology patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with pulmonary complications. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients 21 years of age with underlying oncologic diseases admitted to the ICU of a Korean Tertiary Referral Hospital with pulmonary complications from April 2009 to March 2017. Patients admitted for perioperative management or nonpulmonary complications were excluded. Demographic, laboratory, and clinical parameters (eg, Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS], pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [pSOFA], and Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction [PELOD] scores) were reviewed. Results: Overall, 110 patients (62 male, 56.3%) with a median age of 13 years (interquartile range: 8 to 16 y) were studied. The median ICU stay was 8 days (interquartile range: 4.25 to 16 d). Forty-five (40.9%) patients required mechanical ventilation. The overall mortality rate was 59.1% (65/110 patients). A multivariate logistic regression identified a low GCS score, peripheral oxygen saturation/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio, and hematocrit and increased total bilirubin as significantly associated with increased mortality. The pSOFA and PELOD scores on days 1 and 3 postadmission predicted in-ICU mortality, with corresponding areas under the curve of 0.80/0.76 and 0.87/0.83, respectively. Conclusion: Several clinical scores and factors may predict mortality in pediatric oncology patients with pulmonary complications.


While a wide range of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) have emerged as prime targets for pharmacological intervention long ago, a distinct group of GPCR has only recently been identified and become a research subject to fundamental and clinical scientists. Adhesion-type GPCR (aGPCR) are exceptional members of the GPCR superfamily in many aspects: structurally, they appear as chimeric surface molecules that possess signature domains of heptahelical (7TM) and adhesion proteins, many aGPCR are autoproteolytically processed, and several homologues have lately been shown to operate as mechanosensors. Bound together by the recent discovery of tethered agonism in aGPCR, these molecular and functional features have entered first models on how aGPCR are activated. Here, I briefly review recent discoveries pertaining to the role of aGPCR as metabotropic mechanosensors that control a large variety of processes in all major tissue types.


The potential of PO cattle in Merauke is quite high, this is the basis for the government to establish Merauke as one of the regions in eastern Indonesia as a center for beef cattle breeding. Efforts to increase population are carried out by utilizing reproductive technology in the form of artificial insemination (IB). IB failure can be caused by a number of factors including low quality of semen, unskilled inseminators and inaccurate detection of lust. The low quality factor of frozen semen can be caused by the post thawing process which affects the motility and viability. Therefore this study aims to determine the effect of different temperatures in the field on the quality of post thawing semen. The method used in the form of macroscopic test of semen quality includes Motility, viability and abnormality The results showed that the thawing process with a temperature of 38oC for 30 seconds was the best time and the percentage of spermatozoa motility and viability reached 65.2% ± 0.5 and 72.2% ± 0.4. The conclusion of this study is that the best temperature in the post thawing process for PO frozen semen is 38oC for 30 seconds, and this result is normal in accordance with Indonesian national standards for frozen semen.


The epidermal growth factor receptor (egfr) is often overexpressed or dysregulated in a variety of solid tumours, including gastrointestinal (gi) malignancies. Agents targeting the egfr-mediated signalling pathway are increasingly part of the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of advanced lung, head-and-neck, and colorectal carcinoma. The egfr inhibitors (egfris) approved in Canada include the tyrosine kinase inhibitors erlotinib and gefitinib (in selected cases), and the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) panitumumab and cetuximab. Although egfris have been proven effective in the treatment of a variety of malignancies, the entire class of agents is associated with a high prevalence of dermatologic side effects, most commonly skin rash. This reversible condition requires intervention in approximately one third of patients. A proactive, multidisciplinary approach to management can help to improve skin rash and optimize clinical outcomes by preventing egfri dose reduction or discontinuation. In addition, effective management and patient education may help to alleviate the significant social and emotional anxiety related to this manageable side effect, thus resulting in improved quality of life. The present article focuses on egfr-targeted mAbs for the treatment of gi malignancy, addressing the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and incidence of skin rash caused by this class of agents. Recommendations aimed at establishing a framework for consistent, proactive management of skin rash in the Canadian setting are presented.


High technologies of molecular biology and genetics, supported by computer use brought considerable advances in taxonomy, physiology, host/parasite relationships, ecology and epidemiology. New insecticides, IGR and bacteria are now available. Both simple methods (e.g. tsetse trapping, impregnated bednets) and large programs using heavy material (e.g. O. C. P. in West Africa, mosquito control in Northern hemisphere) have been successful. Guineaworm control lies in an intermediate position. Malaria control has difficulties and needs new tools and a better use of those already existing. A few progresses are noticed in biological and genetical control. Appropriate structures, well trained and motivated personnel, adequate funding and political willingness are the keys for the implementation of any control programme.


After decades of research and ambitious political programs, we still observe imbalances in the treatment of people on the basis of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, and social background. Such an issue raises questions about the degree to which information systems can help to overcome such imbalance; for instance, if design principles can be formalized to reshape information systems' design into a different, more-inclusive direction. We contend that IS falls short in tackling this issue. We took the theme of ICIS 2013 ("reshaping society through information systems") as an opportunity to reflect on the multiple aspects of social inclusion in the design and the resulting shape of information systems via a panel discussion. The fruitful discussion during the panel delivered more in-depth results than merely advocating a stance for more diversity in the IS workforce. Building on the principles of design science, we believe that our field can help reshape the digital economy. As a key takeaway, the panel and additional points added in this paper in the light of discussion at ICIS 2013 provide guidance on the impact of gender in IS theorizing as a demonstration example and reflect on the trend towards social design in the IS research community.


As introduced by Aanstoot et al. (1), the DAWN Youth fact-finding studies assessed, among other things, the availability of age-appropriate education and psychosocial support for self-management in pediatric diabetes care. The results showed a consistent lack of access to psychologists to support medical treatment, due to lack of reimbursement and lack of clinician training in psychosocial family-centered care. This observation contrasts with the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) clinical practice consensus guidelines (2), which recommend that professionals with expertise in the mental and behavioral health of children and adolescents (e.g., psychologists and social workers) should be available for inclusion within the diabetes healthcare team, with a goal to improving effective self-management and psychosocial functioning of the whole family. Nevertheless, these specialist resources are not available in all countries, so it is important to consider other ways to encourage assessment of psychosocial function with or without the availability of specialists in this area of care. Systematic assessment of the support needs of each individual family and child, using a structured psychosocial tool, is an important starting point in the provision of appropriate psychosocial support. Indeed, the development of assessment tools that can be used by all clinicians regardless of their training in mental health could help improve care for all those with diabetes. A survey of pediatric diabetologists at the ISPAD conference in 2007 found that almost none of the respondents were using structured psychosocial assessment tools, yet all would consider doing so. Furthermore, the use of valid psychosocial evaluation methods has been shown to be effective. de Wit et al. confirmed in a randomized controlled trial that regular monitoring and discussion of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) improves the psychosocial well-being and satisfaction with care of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. However, withdrawing the formal assessment of HRQoL resulted in the disappearance of those positive effects and a deterioration of glycemic control (3, 4). Psychosocial evaluation tools can be used to assess the psychosocial needs of the young person and family, and to identify possible barriers to effective selfmanagement. Problem areas can then be defined and an action plan developed to improve diabetes control and overall QoL. The DAWN Youth initiative aims to facilitate improved use of assessments of self-management, family function, and QoL as an essential part of routine appointments with healthcare professionals, regardless of whether they have extensive psychological training. The ultimate aim of this is to establish a new standard for pediatric care, under which any clinical encounter is based on a thorough understanding of each child and family's psychosocial needs.


ABSTRACT NorA is a membrane-associated multidrug efflux protein that can decrease susceptibility to fluoroquinolones in Staphylococcus aureus. To determine the effect of NorA inhibition on the pharmacodynamics of fluoroquinolones, we evaluated the activities of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin with and without various NorA inhibitors against three genetically related strains of S. aureus (SA 1199, the wild-type; SA 1199B, a NorA hyperproducer with a grlA mutation; and SA 1199-3, a strain that inducibly hyperproduces NorA) using susceptibility testing, time-kill curves, and postantibiotic effect (PAE) methods. Levofloxacin had the most potent activity against all three strains and was minimally affected by addition of NorA inhibitors. In contrast, reserpine, omeprazole, and lansoprazole produced 4-fold decreases in ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin MICs and MBCs for SA 1199 and 4- to 16-fold decreases for both SA 1199B and SA 1199-3. In time-kill experiments reserpine, omeprazole, or lansoprazole increased levofloxacin activity against SA 1199-3 alone by 2 log10CFU/ml and increased norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin activities against all three strains by 0.5 to 4 log10 CFU/ml. Reserpine and omeprazole increased norfloxacin PAEs on SA 1199, SA 1199B, and SA 1199-3 from 0.9, 0.6, and 0.2 h to 2.5 to 4.5, 1.1 to 1.3, and 0.4 to 1.1 h, respectively; similar effects were observed with ciprofloxacin. Reserpine and omeprazole increased the levofloxacin PAE only on SA 1199B (from 1.6 to 5.0 and 3.1 h, respectively). In conclusion, the NorA inhibitors dramatically improved the activities of the more hydrophilic fluoroquinolones (norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin). These compounds may restore the activities of these fluoroquinolones against resistant strains of S. aureus or may potentially enhance their activities against sensitive strains.


Background Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), commonly referred to as type II interferon, is a crucial cytokine that coordinates the tumor immune process and has received considerable attention in tumor immunotherapy research. Previous studies have discussed the role and mechanisms associated with IFN-γ in specific tumors or diseases, but the relevant role of IFN-γ in pan-cancer remains uncertain. Methods TCGA and GTEx RNA expression data and clinical data were downloaded. Additionally, we analyzed the role of IFN-γ on tumors by using a bioinformatic approach, which included the analysis of the correlation between IFN-γ in different tumors and expression, prognosis, functional status, TMB, MSI, immune cell infiltration, and TIDE. We also developed a PPI network for topological analysis of the network, identifying hub genes as those having a degree greater than IFN-γ levels. Result IFN-γ was differentially expressed and predicted different survival statuses in a majority of tumor types in TCGA. Additionally, IFN-γ expression was strongly linked to factors like infiltration of T cells, immune checkpoints, immune-activating genes, immunosuppressive genes, chemokines, and chemokine receptors, as well as tumor purity, functional statuses, and prognostic value. Also, prognosis, CNV, and treatment response were all substantially correlated with IFN-γ-related gene expression. Particularly, the IFN-γ-related gene STAT1 exhibited the greatest percentage of SNVs and the largest percentage of SNPs in UCEC. Elevated expression levels of IFN-γ-related genes were found in a wide variety of tumor types, and this was shown to be positively linked to drug sensitivity for 20 different types of drugs. Conclusion IFN-γ is a good indicator of response to tumor immunotherapy and is likely to limit tumor progression, offering a novel approach for immunotherapy's future development.


We provide algorithms to solve a linear-quadratic optimal control problem with commitment. By extending to the case of imperfect information a procedure outlined in Ljungqvist and Sargent (2002), we make the results of Svensson and Woodford (2000) easy to implement. We provide a Mat-lab package that solves this class of models and analyses their properties using simulations, impulse response functions and other techniques, with both commitment and discretion. A monetary policy application, based on the "new-Keynesian" model of Clarida, Gali and Gertler (1999), is used to illustrate how the toolkit can be used.


This work attempts to analyze the conceptual difficulties encountered by Algerian secondary school pupils aged (14-17) when studying mechanical school situations that can be modeled in terms of force. Based essentially on a qualitative method, and more specifically on the analysis of data collected after the completion of a questionnaire and in individual interviews, this study has, on the one hand, highlighted Difficulties related to modeling activities, on the other hand elucidated their causes.


A continuous cell line, U-1752, was established from a lung tumor originally diagnosed as a small cell carcinoma. The cell line has been in continuous in vitro passage for 29 months. The epithelial, rather than small cell nature of the U-1752 cells was demonstrated by the presence of desmosomes, prominent tonofilament bundles, by the reactivity with an anti-keratin antiserum and by the expression of cell surface receptors for epidermal growth factor (EGF). The U-1752 cells grow as monolayer cultures and have a population doubling time of around 36 hours at optimal growth in 20% calf serum. The most important neoplastic features of U-1752 were its aneuploidy, its capacity for colony formation in agarose and its tumorigenic potential subcutaneously in nude mice.


We address the problem of personalizing query completion in a digital commerce setting, in which the bounce rate is typically high and recurring users are rare. We focus on in-session personalization and improve a standard noisy channel model by injecting dense vectors computed from product images at query time. We argue that image-based personalization displays several advantages over alternative proposals (from data availability to business scalability), and provide quantitative evidence and qualitative support on the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Finally, we show how a shared vector space between similar shops can be used to improve the experience of users browsing across sites, opening up the possibility of applying zero-shot unsupervised personalization to increase conversions. This will prove to be particularly relevant to retail groups that manage multiple brands and/or websites and to multi-tenant SaaS providers that serve multiple clients in the same space.