Purpose: Classification of femoral trochanteric fractures is usually based on plain X-ray findings using the Evans, Jensen, or AO/OTA classification. However, complications such as nonunion and cut out of the lag screw or blade are seen even in stable fracture. This may be due to the difficulty of exact diagnosis of fracture pattern in plain X-ray. Computed tomography (CT) may provide more information about the fracture pattern, but such data are scarce. In the present study, it was performed to propose a classification system for femoral trochanteric fractures using three-dimensional CT (3D-CT) and investigate the relationship between this classification and conventional plain X-ray classification. Methods: Using three-dimensional (3D)-CT, fractures were classified as two, three, or four parts using combinations of the head, greater trochanter, lesser trochanter, and shaft. We identified five subgroups of three-part fractures according to the fracture pattern involving the greater and lesser trochanters. In total, 239 femoral trochanteric fractures (45 men, 194 women; average age, 84.4 years) treated in four hospitals were classified using our 3D-CT classification. The relationship between this 3D-CT classification and the AO/OTA, Evans, and Jensen X-ray classifications was investigated. Results: In the 3D-CT classification, many fractures exhibited a large oblique fragment of the greater trochanter including the lesser trochanter. This fracture type was recognized as unstable in the 3D-CT classification but was often classified as stable in each X-ray classification. Conclusions: It is difficult to evaluate fracture patterns involving the greater trochanter, especially large oblique fragments including the lesser trochanter, using plain X-rays. The 3D-CT shows the fracture line very clearly, making it easy to classify the fracture pattern.


This article describes a practical demonstration of a complete full‐duplex "amplitude shift keying (ASK)" retrodirective radio frequency identification (RFID) transceiver array.The interrogator incorporates a "retrodirective array (RDA)" with a dual‐conversion phase conjugating architecture in order to achieve better performance than is possible with conventional RFID solutions. Here mixers phase conjugate the incoming signal and a carrier recovery circuit recovers incoming angle of arrival phase information of an encoded amplitude shift keyed signal. The resulting interrogator provides a receiver sensitivity level of −109 dBm. A four element square patch RDA gives a 3 dB automatic beam steering angle of acceptance of ±45°. When compared to an RFID system operating by conventional (non‐retrodirective) means retrodirective action leads to improved range extension of up to 16 times at ±45°. Operator pointing accuracy requirements are also reduced due to automatic retrodirective self‐pointing. These features significantly enhance deployment opportunities requiring long range low equivalent isotropic radiation power (EIRP) and/or RFID tagging of moving platforms. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:160–164, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27258


Danzig and Breslau: The centres of cashless payment transactions in Poland and Silesia in the 17th and 18th century. Abstract Trade with and within Central Eastern Europe (here, Polish and Sile- sian trade is being looked into) in the early modern period has been researched carefully both by Polish and German scholars. By contrast, financial relations resulting from commerce received much less attention. This article attempts to fill this gap by analyzing the way of using bills of exchange in Poland. Thus, the article presents the development of an international system of cashless payment transactions until the late 16th and early 17th century and answers the question, why Central Eastern Europe had not been involved in it much longer. Moreover, the paper offers an insight into the transactions in Danzig and Breslau between the 17th and 19th century. It also presents the reasons, why there were only two major exchange markets in this area. Finally, the article provides an explanation of the decline of their role in the region. ----- Bibliographie: Denzel, Markus: Danzig und Breslau: Die Zentren des bargeldlosen Zahlungsverkehrs in Polen und Schlesien im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, JB historie, 1-2013, S. 196-219. https://doi.org/10.3224/jbh.v7i1.12


The Emergency Department (ED) is a place that regularly deals with acute scenarios and people that are generally sensitive in nature. In a fast-paced environment such as this, people can be emotionally charged and react in different ways. Unfortunately, nurses in the ED tend to be most affected. Literature shows that workplace violence incidents that occur tend to involve ED nurses. Furthermore, ED nurses are more inclined to have an attitude that makes them think that any acts of transgression are "part of the job" and incidents usually go underreported. Moreover, reporting tools are usually difficult to use and tend to be a barrier to reporting workplace violence. In this evidence-based project, ED nurses will participate in an educational prevention program that will help equip them with the knowledge and awareness that is needed to decrease the incidence of workplace violence. Furthermore, a new, easy-to-use reporting tool will be implemented for ED staff. An implementation of an easier reporting tool and an education prevention program on the incidence of workplace violence will help reduce the number of future incidents of workplace violence. The purpose of this evidence-based project is to create a "zero tolerance" workplace culture for ED nurses that ultimately decreases the incidence of workplace violence. Based on research, an educational program and new reporting tool will be implemented at an urban community hospital in Westchester. Included is a purpose statement, and operational and conceptual definition, PICO questions, and an evidence-based practice protocol for workplace violence.


India is home to around 140 million landless laborers who live below the poverty line and are the most vulnerable group in terms of food and nutritional security. The three critical problems faced by the poor laborer families are poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. To address these problems, a backyard farming system was conceptualized and evaluated with an aim to ensure the nutritional security of landless laborers. The main objective of this work was to utilize the homestead area of 100-150 m2 for ensuring year-round food availability.Integration of vegetables, pulses, fruits, spices, fishes, and ducks was done in the available area. Technological interventions with the integration of ducks (Khaki campbell), fish (carps and Self-recruiting species), pulses, and leafy vegetables can help in improving nutrient consumption.A total of 1400 kg of vegetables (including root vegetables and leafy vegetables) can be produced annually from an area of 150 m2 that can fulfil 30-70% of the vitamins (RDA of 70 % of B1 and 30% of B3) and mineral requirements (RDA of 45% of Iron and 30% of Ca) of the average family, as well as providing an annual saving of INR 25,000/annum and an extra income of INR 10,000/annum that can be earned from selling the extra produce. Herbs (Coriander, Mint, and Fenugreek) and spices (Ginger, Turmeric, and Chilli) with antioxidants ranging from 2-13 millimol/100 gm can help in developing a good immune status. Integration with ducks, pond dyke utilization with cucurbits, spices and herbs, and the introduction of self-recruiting species in a composite fish culture system can further enhance the income by INR 14,000/annum after family consumption. Year-round cultivation made the optimum use of the available resources. A net return of INR 30,000 from 300 m2 could be obtained with a B:C ratio of 2.98 as well as generating an employment of 136 mandays. The food produced from the system can contribute to the nutritive requirements throughout the year and lead to a greater diversity in the food consumption pattern of the family.


A series of perimidine derivatives (L1–5) were prepared and characterized by IR, 1H·NMR, mass spectroscopy, UV-Vis, XRD, thermal, and SEM analysis. Five VO(II) complexes were synthesized and investigated by most previous tools besides the theoretical usage. A neutral tetradentate mode of bonding is the general approach for all binding ligands towards bi-vanadyl atoms. A square-pyramidal is the configuration proposed for all complexes. XRD analysis introduces the nanocrystalline nature of the ligand while the amorphous appearance of its metal ion complexes. The rocky shape is the observable surface morphology from SEM images. Thermal analysis verifies the presence of water of crystallization with all coordination spheres. The optimization process was accomplished using the Gaussian 09 software by different methods. The most stable configurations were extracted and displayed. Essential parameters were computed based on frontier energy gaps with all compounds. QSAR parameters were also obtained to give another side of view about the biological approach with the priority of the L3 ligand. Applying AutoDockTools 4.2 program over all perimidine derivatives introduces efficiency against 4c3p protein of breast cancer. Antitumor activity was screened for all compounds by a comparative view over breast, colon, and liver carcinoma cell lines. IC50 values represent promising efficiency of the L4-VO(II) complex against breast, colon, and liver carcinoma cell lines. The binding efficiency of ligands towards CT-DNA was tested. Binding constant (K b) values are in agreement with the electron-drawing character of the p-substituent which offers high K b values. Also, variable Hammett's relations were drawn.


ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine dietary overlap between blueback herring and threadfin shad in J. Strom Thrumond Reservoir, South Carolina/Georgia. We also evaluated prey selectivity for each speices and diet differences between two size categories of blueback herring. Diet and zooplankton samples were collected every other month from April 1992 to February 1994. We examined stomachs containing prey from 170 large blueback herring (>140mm), 96 small blueback herring (<140mm), and 109 threadfin shad, and we also examined 45 zooplankton samples. Large blueback herring diets differed significantly from threadfin shad diets on 11 of 12 sampling dates, and small blueback herring diets differed from threadfin shad diets on all sampling dates. In general, blueback herring consumed proportionally more copepods and fewer Bosmina sp. and rotifers than threadfin shad. Large and small blueback herring diets were significantly different on five of eight sampling dates, primarily due to the tendency of small blueback herring to eat proportionally more Bosmina sp. than large blueback herring. Both blueback herring and threadfin shad fed selectively during some periods of the year. Diet differences between the species may contribute to their coexistence; however, both blueback herring and threadfin shad showed a strong preference for Bosmina sp., increasing the chance that they may negatively influence one another.


The purpose of this thesis is to develop corotational beam elements for the nonlinear dynamic analyse of flexible beam structures. Whereas corotational beam elements in statics are well documented, the derivation of a corotational dynamic formulation is still an issue. In the first journal paper, an efficient dynamic corotational beam formulation is proposed for 2D analysis. The idea is to adopt the same corotational kinematic description in static and dynamic parts. The main novelty is to use cubic interpolations to derive both inertia terms and internal terms in order to capture correctly all inertia effects. This new formulation is compared with two classic formulations using constant Timoshenko and constant lumped mass matrices. In the second journal paper, several choices of parametrization and several time stepping methods are compared. To do so, four dynamic formulations are investigated. The corotational method is used to develop expressions of the internal terms, while the dynamic terms are formulated into a total Lagrangian context. Theoretical derivations as well as practical implementations are given in detail. Their numerical accuracy and computational efficiency are then compared. Moreover, four predictors and various possibilities to simplify the tangent inertia matrix are tested. In the third journal paper, a new consistent beam formulation is developed for 3D analysis. The novelty of the formulation lies in the use of the corotational framework to derive not only the internal force vector and the tangent stiffness matrix but also the inertia force vector and the tangent dynamic matrix. Cubic interpolations are adopted to formulate both inertia and internal local terms. In the derivation of the dynamic terms, an approximation for the local rotations is introduced and a concise expression for the global inertia force vector is obtained. Four numerical examples are considered to assess the performance of the new formulation against two other ones based on linear interpolations. Finally, in the fourth journal paper, the previous 3D corotational beam element is extended for the nonlinear dynamics of structures with thin-walled cross-section by introducing the warping deformations and the eccentricity of the shear center. This leads to additional terms in the expressions of the inertia force vector and the tangent dynamic matrix. The element has seven degrees of freedom at each node and cubic shape functions are used to interpolate local transversal displacements and axial rotations. The performance of the formulation is assessed through five examples and comparisons with Abaqus 3D-solid analyses.


In this paper, we introduce a novel approach for incident ticket classification that aims at minimizing the manual labelling effort while achieving good-quality predictions. To accomplish this, we devise a two-stage technique that employs hierarchical clustering using a combination of graph clustering (community finding) and topic modelling as first stage, followed by either another round of hierarchical clustering or an active learning approach as second stage. We evaluate the performance of our method in terms of manual labelling effort, prediction quality and efficiency on three real-world datasets and demonstrate that classical approaches to text classification are not well suited for incident ticket texts.


This research aims improved data of the species and abudance freshwater fish for conservation planning Mamberamo region.  The survey was lasted 18 days from 5 February to 24 April 2008 in several habitat consists river, creeks, oxbowlake and stream. A total at least 20 species in 17 genera and 14 families were collected were captured using gillnet, castnet, handnet, longline and poisson plant from Deris sp. Two species new record for Mamberamo that is Chilaterina lorentzi was previously know only from Tawarin river on the north coast Papua about 200 km west Jayapura and Puive creek, tributary of the Pual River near Vanimo, PNG and Monopterus albus (intoduction fish) was not previously know in Mamberamo although Papua. The generally freshwater fish fauna were collected in Haya about 70 % similar to record from Dabra.


The study of gliomatous tumors has been considerably advanced in recent years by the development and perfection of neuroglial staining methods. The credit for this should be given to the Spanish school of neurohistologists, notably Cajal and del Rio-Hortega. The methods of using gold and silver solutions of the former and the technic of silver carbonate staining with all its variations of the latter have brought to light many details of importance in the furtherance of knowledge of the structure of the neuroglia. To Cajal and his school is due much of the present knowledge of the histogenesis and structure of the astrocytic neuroglia, while del Rio-Hortega has demonstrated clearly the histogenesis, morphology and pathologic variations not only of the oligodendroglia, but also of the other constituent of the third element, the microglia or mesoglia. These studies have clarified remarkably the knowledge of the normal structure of the neuroglia and


At its core, the goal of a firm is to create sustainable profitability. And corporate governance should work to ensure this steady increase in corporate performance. Understanding the determinant of corporate governance on firm profitability has warranted a special attention over time by different fields of scientific knowledge. This study was aimed to explore the relationship between corporate governance and profitability of firms, employing eight food and beverages firms listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2014. The data were analyzed using basic descriptive and inferential statistics with Ordinary Least Square multiple regression in a panel data setting. The results revealed that at 5 per cent level of significance, Board size have positive relationship with return on equity. However, Board skills and competence have negative relationship with return on equity, while Board gender diversity results indicated positive relationship with return on equity. it can be argued that the empirical results support the contention that corporate governance has a positive relationship with profitability of firms. The study recommends among other things, that Nigerian food and beverages firms should adopt effective corporate governance practice as a panacea to firm growth and survival. Further research using corporate governance processes and profitability will not only add value in explaining performance of firms, but also add value to the academic literature.


There has been a recent acknowledgement of surgical access inequities in low-middle income countries that substantially contribute to morbidity and mortality. The objective of this article was to examine the barriers that exist to implementation of neurosurgical infrastructure these countries. Specifically, barriers in surgical education programs, medical equipment availability, diagnostic imaging quality and presence of adjunct services such as intensive care and anesthesia are discussed throughout this review. The inadequacies of traditional neurosurgical training programs – which are typically taught by foreign surgeons – are elaborated. A general trend in the global health literature is the conjunctive use of online modules and tele-services to improve access. Furthermore, a common issue with neurosurgical programs is a lack of governmental support. A brief sustainability discussion delves into this sustainability issue and briefly mentions a data-driven approach to elicit fiscal support.


Debate on the centrality of field attachments/work experience to education has gained traction in the recent past, with consensus emerging on the necessity for such experience in order to progress along one's chosen career path (Essential Skills Ontario 2014; Hillage & Pollard 1998; Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman & Johnson 2005). Thus, work-based learning and apprenticeship–dual training systems now play an important role in facilitating employment and increasing economic competitiveness (Cornford & Gunn 1998; Simmons 2009). Traditionally, African universities, in particular departments of agriculture, embedded within their courses field attachment–apprenticeship programs, but these were generally orientated towards fulfilling the curriculum mandate of undergraduate training (Mugisha & Nkwasibwe 2014), while graduate training in most African universities rarely included such apprenticeships. Yet, research dissertations on graduate training programs continued to pile up on university shelves (Goolam 2014; Sawyerr 2004). The lack of connection between graduate training and research with communities meant that farmers from whom the information was generated lost on three grounds. First, they became simply providers of information to support attainment of higher degrees. Second, their production systems barely improved as there was hardly a functional relationship between farmers, graduate fellows and their knowledge, or between farmer activity and related curricular programs. Third, farmers were denied the valuable partnerships that should come through farm-level research. Despite universities trying to reach farmers, they continued operating within their silos and ivory towers. The university academics were becoming 'a cyclic burden', often seeking information from the communities without providing feedback. Elsewhere in the world, the above challenges had, in part, been addressed by enhancing outreach activities. For example, in the United States, the land grant agricultural colleges established in 1862 (Christy & Williamson 1992) and the more recent Research and Development University (Reddy 2011) and Research in Development (Douthwaite et al. 2015) concepts Anthony Egeru, Paul Nampala, Henry Makuma-Massa, Moses Osiru & Adipala Ekwamu Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)


To comprehend Liszt's greatness one needs a suspension of distaste, a momentary renunciation of musical scruples. -Charles Rosent In the 100th year following the death of Franz Liszt, Richard Posner has published the third edition of his own classic work, The Economic Analysis of Law.' This coincidence is in some sense fitting, for, in many respects, what Liszt was to the piano and musical composition, Posner is to legal scholarship and public policy. Just as Liszt was the dominant figure in the creation of the modem pianist, Posner has presided over the rise of law and economics in the domain of legal scholarship. Just as everyone concedes that Liszt demonstrated immense talent in performing his own and others' music, no one disputes Posner's abilities as an outstanding scholar and expositor of his own and others' economic analyses of legal issues. But both Liszt and Posner have heard some dissent amidst the applause. Some music critics claim that, despite his technical brilliance, Liszt's obsession with virtuosity led him astray at times. Liszt's flashiness exceeded the bounds of the aesthetically pleasing, becoming at times unpleasant or even unlistenable. Even his most ardent supporters agree that a number of Liszt's compositions are marred by uneven-


A one-electron model for lithium is used to calculate the radiative lifetime of the resonance 2p level and the ground-state dipole polarizability. The model includes dipole, quadrupole and octupole K-shell excitations, asymptotic corrections of order r-6 to the dipole operator and dynamical effects. The results are consistent with most other recent calculations and with a very recent measurement via photoassociative spectroscopy, but are not consistent with an earlier precise fast-beam laser measurement. The predicted hyperpolarizability of Li is in satisfactory accord with estimates from two extensive ab initio calculations.


We design a controller for the beam-and-ball system that renders the origin semiglobally asymptotically stable (semi-GAS). First, we view the problem as designing a controller for a second-order subsystem of the system. Then, using a new backstepping procedure we reconstruct the control for the whole system. As our main result, we developed a new version of backstepping procedure for systems that do not have a triangular structure.


A novel power supply system that directly couples pulsed high voltage (HV) pulses and pulsed 13.56 MHz radio frequency (rf) has been developed for plasma processes. In this system, the sample holder is connected to both the rf generator and HV modulator. The coupling circuit in the hybrid system is composed of individual matching units, low pass filters, and voltage clamping units. This ensures the safe operation of the rf system even when the HV is on. The PSPICE software is utilized to optimize the design of circuits. The system can be operated in two modes. The pulsed rf discharge may serve as either the seed plasma source for glow discharge or high-density plasma source for plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII). The pulsed high-voltage glow discharge is induced when a rf pulse with a short duration or a larger time interval between the rf and HV pulses is used. Conventional PIII can also be achieved. Experiments conducted on the new system confirm steady and safe operation.


Photonic Integrated Circuits, also called optical chips or PICs, are considered as the way to make photonic systems or subsystems cheap and ubiquitous. PICs still are several orders of magnitude more expensive than their microelectronic counterparts, however, which has restricted their application to a few niche markets. Recently, a novel approach in photonic integration is emerging which will reduce the R&D costs of PICs by more than a factor of ten. It will bring the application of PICs that integrate complex and advanced photonic functionality on a single chip within reach for a large number of small and larger companies. Europe is leading in this novel approach and the Netherlands is playing a key role.


Understanding how evolutionary constraints shape the elevational distributions of tree lineages provides valuable insight into the future of tropical montane forests under global change. With narrow elevational ranges, high taxonomic turnover, frequent habitat specialisation, and exceptional levels of endemism, tropical montane forests and trees are predicted to be highly sensitive to environmental change. Using plot census data from a gradient traversing >3000 m in elevation on the Amazonian flank of the Peruvian Andes, we employ phylogenetic approaches to assess the influence of evolutionary heritage on distribution trends of trees at the genus level. We find that closely related lineages tend to occur at similar mean elevations, with sister genera pairs occurring a mean 254 m in elevation closer to each other than the mean elevational difference for all genera pairs. We also demonstrate phylogenetic clustering both above and below 1750 m a.s.l, corresponding roughly to the cloud-base ecotone. Belying these general trends, some lineages occur across many different elevations. However, these highly plastic lineages are not phylogenetically clustered. Overall, our findings suggest that tropical montane forests are home to unique tree lineage diversity, constrained by their evolutionary heritage and vulnerable to substantial losses under environmental changes, such as rising temperatures or an upward shift of the cloud base.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
This review provides an overview of gastrointestinal tract colonization with carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), including risk factors for colonization, determinants for duration of colonization, and whether patients can decolonize, either spontaneously or via targeted interventions.

RECENT FINDINGS
CPE colonization is disseminating globally with increasing numbers of carbapenemases being identified in increasing patient cohorts. Numerous risk factors including repeated healthcare contact, patient co-morbidities and international travel have all been linked to increased rates of colonization. Duration of colonization has been investigated in various healthcare settings and ranges many months or even years. Although new methods for expediting decolonization are being investigated, including faecal microbiota transplantation, high quality evidence of impact is lacking.

SUMMARY
Current evidence indicates that CPE colonization usually persists throughout the duration of most hospital admissions, although the majority of patients will subsequently spontaneously decolonize. Difficulties remain in determining the point at which patients can be considered decolonized because of the lack acceptable criteria for defining eradication. This has significance implications for infection prevention and control measures during the initial and subsequent hospital admissions. Strategies to reduce the healthcare burden of CPE colonization continue to rely predominantly on preventing acquisition, whereas decolonization efforts remain a focus of research.


This Article makes the counterintuitive argument that Jewish law's millennia-old approach to regulating visual and aural surveillance, the protection of communications, and information collection, sharing, and use, offers important frameworks for protecting privacy in an age of big data and pervasive surveillance. Judaism views privacy as a societal obligation, and employs categorical behavioral and architectural mandates that bind all of society's members. It limits waiver of these rules, and rejects both technological capacity and the related notion of "expectations" as determinants of privacy's content. It assumes the absence of anonymity, and does not depend on the confidentiality or secrecy of information or behavior witnessed or overheard; whether or not knowledge is later used or shared; or whether the privacy subject can show concrete personal harm. And when certain types of sensitive information is publicly known, or can't help but be visible, Jewish law still provides rules against its use.

The modern approach to privacy has failed. Notions of individual "rights to be left alone" and "informational self-determination," offer little defense against rampant data collection and aggregation. The substantive promise of a "fundamental human right" of privacy has largely been reduced to illusory procedural safeguards of "notice" and "consent"—manipulable protections by which individuals "agree" to privacy terms with little understanding of the terms of the bargain, or power to negotiate or opt out.

Jewish law offers a language that can enrich ongoing policy debates. It suggests a move from individual control over information as the mechanism for shaping privacy's meaning and its enforcement, to a regime of substantive obligations on all societal members—personal and organizational—to protect privacy. It recognizes the interconnected nature of human interests, and comprehends the totality of the harm pervasive surveillance wreaks on both individuals and social relations. It offers a conceptual basis for extending traditional privacy protections to online spaces and new data uses. And it provides a language of dignity that recognizes unequal bargaining power; rejects the aggregation and use of information to create narratives and produce judgments that confine personal growth and free choice; and demands equal protection for all humans.


Questions: Forest fragmentation affects biodiversity locally (alpha diversity) and beyond - at relatively larger scales (gamma diversity) - by increasing dispersal and recruitment limitations. Yet, does an increase in fragmentation affect the relationship between alpha and gamma diversity and what can we learn from it?
Location: Northern France.
Methods: We surveyed 116 forest patches across three fragmentation levels: none (continuous forest); intermediate (forest patches connected by hedgerows); and high (isolated forest patches). Plant species richness of both forest specialists and generalists was surveyed at five nested spatial resolutions across each forest patch: 1 m(2); 10 m(2); 100 m(2); 1,000 m(2); and total forest patch area. First, we ran log-ratio models to quantify the alpha-gamma relationship. We did that separately for all possible combinations of fragmentation level (none vs intermediate vs high) x spatial scale (e.g., alpha-1 m(2) vs gamma-10 m(2)) x species type (e.g., alpha-specialists vs gamma-specialists). We then used linear mixed-effects models to analyze the effect of fragmentation level, spatial scale, species type and all two-way interaction terms on the slope coefficient extracted from all log-ratio models.
Results: We found an interaction effect between fragmentation level and species type, such that forest specialists shifted from a linear (i.e., proportional sampling) to a curvilinear plateau (i.e., community saturation) relationship at low and high fragmentation, respectively, while generalists shifted from a curvilinear to a linear pattern.
Conclusions: The impact of forest fragmentation on the alpha-gamma relationship supports generalist species persistence over forest specialists, with contrasting mechanisms for these two guilds. As fragmentation increases, forest specialists shift from proportional sampling towards community saturation, thus reducing alpha diversity likely due to dispersal limitation. Contrariwise, generalists shift from community saturation towards proportional sampling, thus increasing alpha diversity likely due to an increase in the edge:core ratio. To ensure long-term conservation of forest specialists, one single large forest patch should be preferred over several small ones.


Abstract. China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) exploits increased permeability of all kinds of boundaries even as old rhetorics of sovereign space are reanimated. This paper examines a very local example of impacts in Kibwezi, Kenya. Regarding more than a century of local land disputes, BRI's "dreamscape" (Jasanoff and Kim, 2015) can be repurposed especially given
persistence of sacred geographies of wood and water access. These mathembo landscapes are less refuges for emasculated traditional customs and institutions than resources that are as much affective as they are material in their revitalization to meet the contexts of changed times. Such "socionatures" (Swyngedouw, 1996) energize multiple answers to questions of who gets to imagine the future and how much latitude others have to participate in particular designed futures as they see fit. As it turns out, dreamscapes may be opposed not only by equally grandiose alternative narratives but also by more localized imaginaries, and while dreamscapes are future-oriented, alternatives referencing the past can compete well.


A noniterative N (7) triples correction for the equation-of-motion coupled-cluster method with single and double substitutions (CCSD) is presented. The correction is derived by second-order perturbation treatment of the similarity-transformed CCSD Hamiltonian. The spin-conserving variant of the correction is identical to the triples correction of Piecuch and co-workers [Mol. Phys. 104, 2149 (2006)] derived within method-of-moments framework and is not size intensive. The spin-flip variant of the correction is size intensive. The performance of the correction is demonstrated by calculations of electronic excitation energies in methylene, nitrenium ion, cyclobutadiene, ortho-, meta-, and para-benzynes, 1,2,3-tridehydrobenzene, as well as C-C bond breaking in ethane. In all cases except cyclobutadiene, the absolute values of the correction for energy differences were 0.1 eV or less. In cyclobutadiene, the absolute values of the correction were as large as 0.4 eV. In most cases, the correction reduced the errors against the benchmark values by about a factor of 2-3, the absolute errors being less than 0.04 eV.


In this paper, we consider mobile data gathering in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) by using a mobile collector with multiple antennas. By taking into account the elastic nature of wireless link capacity and the power control for each sensor, we first propose a data gathering cost minimization (DaGCM) framework with concurrent data uploading, which is constrained by flow conservation, energy consumption, link capacity, compatibility among sensors and the bound on total sojourn time of the mobile collector at all anchor points. One of the main features of this framework is that it allows concurrent data uploading from sensors to the mobile collector to sharply shorten data gathering latency and significantly reduce energy consumption due to the use of multiple antennas and space-division multiple access technique. We then relax the DaGCM problem with Lagrangian dualization and solve it with the subgradient iteration algorithm. Furthermore, we present a distributed algorithm composed of cross-layer data control, routing, power control and compatibility determination subalgorithms with explicit message passing. We also give the subalgorithm for finding the optimal sojourn time of the mobile collector at different anchor points. Finally, we provide numerical results to show the convergence of the proposed DaGCM algorithm and its advantages over the algorithm without concurrent data uploading and power control in terms of data gathering latency and energy consumption.


A case of spinal dural arteriovenous fistula presenting in a 7-year-old child as a Brown-Sequard syndrome is reported. Spinal arteriovenous fistulae are reviewed with emphasis on classification, pathophysiology, investigations and management.


Abstract Aim: To compare dose to target and organs at risk (OARs) in conventional plan (2D) versus computed tomography (CT)-based three-dimensional (3D) plan in vaginal cuff brachytherapy (VBT) and to compare the effect of bladder distension on target and OARs dosimetry. Materials and methods: Post-hysterectomy patients with an indication for VBT were included in the study. All patients underwent planning CT scans with a full bladder and an empty bladder protocol. For each CT, two plans were generated—one library-based 2D plan and another CT-based 3D plan. Dosimetric parameters were recorded for clinical target volume (CTV) and OARs. Results: A total of 92 observations were made from data collected from 46 patients. Difference between CTV dose in terms of 2D and 3D plans were not statistically significant for CTV (p = 0·11). Significant reduction in D0·1cc, D1cc and D2cc dose parameters were observed in bladder, rectum, sigmoid and bowel doses with the 3D plan (p < 0·001). Bladder distension showed a 20% reduction in dose for bowel (p < 0·001). Bladder distension also showed a 6·12% (p = 0·047) increase in D2cc, but there was a significant reduction in the mean dose to the bladder. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the dosimetric benefits with 3D CT-based planning for VBT over 2D-based conventional planning and benefit of bladder distension in the reduction of bowel dose without compromising dose to the target volume.


Learning subtle yet discriminative features (e.g., beak and eyes for a bird) plays a significant role in fine-grained image recognition. Existing attention-based approaches localize and amplify significant parts to learn fine-grained details, which often suffer from a limited number of parts and heavy computational cost. In this paper, we propose to learn such fine-grained features from hundreds of part proposals by Trilinear Attention Sampling Network (TASN) in an efficient teacher-student manner. Specifically, TASN consists of 1) a trilinear attention module, which generates attention maps by modeling the inter-channel relationships, 2) an attention-based sampler which highlights attended parts with high resolution, and 3) a feature distiller, which distills part features into an object-level feature by weight sharing and feature preserving strategies. Extensive experiments verify that TASN yields the best performance under the same settings with the most competitive approaches, in iNaturalist-2017, CUB-Bird, and Stanford-Cars datasets.


This paper intends to propose a way of utilizing color components for image retrieval. Like CLCM, GLCM (color, gray level co-occurrence matrix) (R. M. Haralick et al., Nov. 1973) and invariant moment (M.K. Hu, Sep. 1961)(M.K. Hu, Feb. 1962) use 2D distribution chart, which use basic statistical techniques in order to interpret 2D data. In order to interpret the spatial relationship and weight of data, this study has used principal component analysis (G. Pass et al., 1996)(Jun Zhang, Sep. 1997) that is used in multivariate statistics. In order to increase accuracy of data, it has proposed a way to project color components on 3D space, to rotate it and then, to extract features of data from all angles


Constraint programming has roots in logic programming, where a model has both a declarative and a procedural interpretation. A model is declarative because its statements can be read as logical propositions that describe the problem, and it is procedural because the statements can be processed as instructions for how to find a solution. To make constraint programming material to practical problems one needs propagation algorithms that are both viable and proficient. The most incredible propagation algorithm for the alldifferent constraint, i.e. the one getting hyper-circular segment consistency, is to be sure extremely productive. The reason is that we can apply matching hypothesis from operations research. Likewise for the symmetric alldifferent constraint and the weighted alldifferent constraint powerful and effective propagation algorithms exist, again dependent on techniques from operations research. From this paper we show that some time alldifferent constraint is more easy way to solve the MIP. For this we will choose an auction strategy by which a company get more revenue.Despite this considerable progress, there remains great potential for further integration, with the concomitantimprovement in both modeling and solution method.


Ultraviolet irradiation of the peroxo-complexes [Ti(O2)(tpp)] and [Mo(O2)(tpp)](tpp = 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinate) induces elimination of O2 and generation of the corresponding oxometalloporphyrins [TiO(tpp)] and [MoO(tpp)]. Reductive elimination of O2 from [{Fe(tpp)}2O] also occurs upon irradiation of argon-purged solutions. Studies using spin traps in e.s.r. experiments, together with quenching experiments, indicate that photolysis of the peroxocomplexes produces O2 in the 1Δg excited state. For [{Fe(tpp)}2O] the results differ with the conditions used. In aerated CH2Cl2 solutions, 1O2 is produced in the quenching process of the excited states by O2. In degassed CH2Cl2 solutions apparently 1O2 is not formed in the photoinduced deoxygenation reaction, but rather, studies using spin traps for e.s.r. investigations have indicated the formation of the superoxide ion O2–. The attack on solvent by 1O2 and of photogenerated O2– involving radical formation, is also discussed.


This paper analyses rural conflict in one of the most volatile areas of interwar Europe, the latifundia regions of the South of Spain. The historical and economics literature argues that rural conflict was a bottom-up, spontaneous response of landless peasants to unemployment, bad harvests, land ownership inequality, changes in property rights, and the lack of enforcement of pro-worker legislation. A second generation of historical studies has focused on democratization and concomitant changes in collective bargaining and labor market institutions. Was conflict caused by structural factors like poverty, inequality or unemployment or was conflict an endogenous response to political change? This paper analyzes the pattern of conflict in in three Andalusian provinces (Córdoba, Jaén and Seville) in the early 1930s to argue that the timing and geographical distribution of conflict is consistent with a wave of mobilization linked to greater political opportunities favored by lower repression, pro-worker institutional change, and labor market intervention. Time-series and cross-sectional variation in levels of rural conflict suggest conflict was not a spontaneous response to dismal living standards and inequality. Rather, it emerged in large, fast growing towns of Andalusia and was mediated by the strategic interaction of authorities and experienced rural unions. The instances of rural conflict analyzed here suggest it is very difficult for new democratic governments in agrarian societies to stave rural conflict off with labor-friendly intervention. It is often argued that conflict precedes political and institutional change, but it is shown here that conflict can emerge abruptly as a response to those changes.


Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a statistical method for transforming an observable multi-dimensional random vector into components that are as statistically independent as possible from each other. The binary ICA (BICA) is a special case of ICA in which both the observations and the independent components are over a binary alphabet. The BICA problem has received a significant amount of attention in the past decade, mostly in the form of algorithmic approaches and heuristic solutions. However, BICA still suffers from a substantial lack of theoretical bounds and efficiency guarantees. In this work we address these concerns, as we introduce novel lower bounds and theoretical properties for the BICA problem, both under linear and non-linear transformations. In addition, we present simple algorithms which apply our methodology and achieve favorable merits, both in terms of their accuracy, and their practically optimal computational complexity.


The evolutionary relationships between transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules are analyzed by parsimony algorithms. The position of the topologies expected on the basis of the hypotheses made to explain the origin of the genetic code, on the frequency distribution of all the possible tree topologies of the evolutionary relationships between tRNAs seems to lead to the following conclusion: The hypothesis (Wong, J. T., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1975, 72: 1909-1912) that sees the genetic code as a map of the biosynthetic relationships between amino acids seems to occupy a statistically significant position on these frequency distributions, thus reflecting a significant part of the tRNA phylogeny.


This work presents a new method for simultaneous adjustment of automatic voltage regulator (AVR) and power system stabilizer (PSS) parameters to control voltage oscillations and damping in a synchronous generator using the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) with two stages. The increment of a new stage aims to improve the efficiency of the PSO method, providing a better performance of the system. The algorithm was developed in Matlab software and used for the linearized 3-order model of a synchronous generator connected to an infinite bus. To analyze the performance of the controllers an objective function was used based on the system time response to a change in the reference voltage. The results were compared with the values found by the classical design method of the conventional tuning technique.


Tool travel and tool switch scheduling are two major issues in hole-making operations. It is necessary to find the optimal sequence of operations to reduce the total processing cost of hole-making operations. In this work therefore, an attempt is made to use both a recently developed particle swarm optimisation algorithm and a shuffled frog leaping algorithm demonstrating in this way an example of plastic injection mould. The exact value of the minimum total processing cost is obtained by considering all possible combinations of sequences. The results obtained using particle swarm optimisation and shuffled frog leaping algorithm are compared with the minimum total processing cost results obtained by considering all possible combinations of sequences. It is observed that the results obtained using particle swarm optimisation and shuffled frog leaping algorithm are closer to the results of the minimum total processing cost obtained by considering all possible combinations of sequences presented in this work. This clearly shows that particle swarm optimisation and shuffled frog leaping algorithm can be effectively used in optimisation of large scale injection mould hole-making operations.


The present study compares the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic behavior of the flow past two flat plate airfoils; viz. blunted trailing edge and sharp trailing edge, having a fixed aspect ratio of 1.867. The study is performed experimentally showing variance in lift and drag at two different velocity of 20m/s and 30m/s and at different angles of attack, viz. 5°, 12°, 20°, 25°, 30°. All the models are prepared by mild steel and the studies are conducted using 300×300×1000 mm subsonic wind tunnel. Results show that the drag coefficient in sharp trailing edge reduces significantly by a maximum amount of 22%. The lift coefficient, however, does not change significantly. Uncertainty analysis performed shows that maximum percentage of uncertainty in each case is less than 5%. Aero acoustic measurement of the noise radiated by the trailing edge of the two flat plates is performed in a reflecting environment at a velocity of 20m/s and at two different angles of attack of 10° and 15° with ¼'' inch far field microphone mounted near the trailing edge of the airfoil in the test section. The spectra obtained indicate that the noise from the sharp trailing edge is consistently lower than the blunt trailing edge. Thus, this paper adequately demonstrates the role of trailing edge in modifying the aerodynamic as well as aero acoustic characteristic.


The ironless inductive position sensor is a novel linear position-sensing device that should exhibit immunity to external magnetic fields while simultaneously guaranteeing high-precision measurements in harsh environments. This paper focuses on the characterization of the sensor's working principle and magnetic field immunity. The sensor is tested, with both voltage and current supply, with different dc and slowly varying magnetic field patterns in order to prove its immunity and analyze the differences and similarities between the two supply cases. The measurements are performed with a test bench on a custom prototype, which is especially manufactured for this purpose.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to explain the current role of foreign foundations in the cross-border mobility of Russian elite scientists. Design/methodology/approach - – The methodology is based on a combination of a quantitative survey (December 2004-February 2005) of former Russian Humboldtians and qualitative research (expert interviews in 2005 and in 2012, respectively) of Russian alumni of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation (Germany). Findings - – For Russian elite researchers participating in academic mobility, in 2000s it is rather cross-border mobility' brain circulation' rather than "brain drain" a dominant form of academic mobility typical. Even in 2000s, western foundations still played a significant while twofold role – promoting emigration of for a small part of Russian elite researchers, on the one hand, while and getting access to top-level labs, etc. and to international academic chains of excellence for the majority of them, on the other. Coming back to the home country, affiliation with foreign foundations reduces the dependence of Russian elite researchers on hierarchical structures within the national state science system and promotes project teams and network forms of interaction their career. However, Russian scientists dependence on foreign funding affect both the scope of research and their academic status (mostly – second-level positions within research projects, etc.). Among the reasons to for leave leaving Russia it is primarily the desire to remain have closer access to their academic community and the equipment to do on the top level in research. The paper formulates some measures to foster incentives to stay in Russia and respectively to support re-emigration of elite researchers, in form of world class research labs and strengthening the motivation of senior researchers to work in the home country. Research limitations/implications - – Research limitations consist in using of only one of the alumni networks of several western foundations database. Originality/value - – The paper is unique as regards the empirical results; its value consists in their organizational, social and political implications.


The rectangular clay bowl with a ring base shown in Figure 108 was unearthed in the area of the Old Line (Linea Vieja) in Costa Rica. It is 8.5 cm. high, 13.0 cm. wide, with an overall length of 18.5 cm., and is made of a well-fired clay painted in red. We consider this find most important as it appears to confirm the influence of foreign cultures in the area of the Old Line on the Atlantic side of the Republic of Costa Rica. The receptacle of this bowl has lateral ornamentation consisting of 2 distinct groups. The first group, at the lower part of Figure 108 a, depicts the legs of a man with calves and feet in an upright position. This peculiar detail was probably used in order to secure the esthetic arrangement of the border decoration. We see the male genitals and on the thigh of each leg the figure of a bird.


Concurrent helminth infections have been suggested to be associated with protection against cerebral malaria in humans, a condition characterised by systemic inflammation. Here we show that a concurrent chronic gastro-intestinal nematode infection does not alter the course of murine cerebral malaria. Mice infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus, and co-infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA 14 days later, developed malaria parasitemia, weight loss and anemia, at the same rate as mice without nematode infection. Both groups developed cerebral malaria around the same time point. The data suggest that a chronic helminth infection does not affect the development of cerebral malaria in a murine model.


Background. Long-term evolution data of olfactory disorders (OD) in COVID-19 are limited. Method. ANOSVID is a retrospective study in Nord Franche-Comté Hospital (France) that included COVID-19 patients from the first wave. The aim was to describe OD evolution, especially in patients with persistent OD (p-OD group) in comparison with patients with resolved OD (r-OD group). Results. Among 354 COVID-19 patients, 229 reported OD were included. Eighty-five percent of patients (n = 195) recovered from their OD within 90 days. However, 9.5 months (in average) after symptoms onset, OD were persisting in 93 patients (40.6%) and resolved in 136 patients (59.4%). In the p-OD group (n = 93), the mean age was 51.4 years (19–98) ± 20.2, and 65 patients (69.9%) were female; the three main comorbidities in the p-OD group were: asthma (20.4%, n = 19), allergic rhinitis (19.4%, n = 18), and arterial hypertension (16.1%, n = 15). Eleven patients (12%) presented anosmia, and 82 patients (88%) presented hyposmia. Asthma was more described in p-OD group than r-OD group (19 (20.4%) versus 10 (7.4%), p = 0.006). Cacosmia was more described in p-OD group than r-OD group (27 (29.0%) versus 18 (13.2%), p = 0.005). There was no significant difference between the two groups concerning other comorbidities and symptoms, clinical, biological, and imaging findings, and outcome or about the impact of OD on the quality of life of the patients between the p-OD group and r-OD group. sQOD-NS brief version score was 10.7 ± 5.89 and 12.0 ± 6.03, respectively (p = 0.137). Conclusion. Forty-one percent of patients with OD reported OD persistence 9.5 months after COVID-19 (hyposmia in 88% of cases). Asthma and cacosmia could be predictive factors of OD persistence.


School has a significant role in community development. The schoolcommunity linkage must take into account the 21 century needs of students. Consistent with the demands of the 21 century, the goals of academic and community improvements are to reinforce mutual priorities in cultivating collaborative school-community development. This article highlights the challenges to improve educational qualities in Indonesia by reviewing relevant literature on quality education. It is argued that a school council comprising principal, teachers, parents and fellows of community is a typical instrument to promote community participation in education. One prominent method of improving educational quality is by strengthening community participation in the educational process. However, the conventional view sees the role of the school council as commonly to do fundraise from parents and fellows of the community. Hence, this article proposes to broaden the roles of community to support and advise school principals and teachers and to improve parental involvement and community participation in school activities.


Forensic Linguistics (FL) is a relatively new subfield within applied linguistics that studies the different intersections between language and the legal field, which is heavily linguistic by nature. In order to have a fair, legal and effective procedure, anyone involved in a legal process (lawyers, judges, police officers, members of a jury, etc.) benefits from possessing a certain awareness of linguistic principles. With this purpose, the expert testimony of a linguist could contribute to the understanding or recognition of possible interpretations or points of view that might have gone otherwise unnoticed. This article provides the general linguist with an overview of the broad field of FL and highlights the different ways the discipline can contribute to the criminal justice system. It presents a summary of some of the most well-known and discussed legal cases and outlines the intersections between applied linguistics (mainly pragmatics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics) and this emerging field in three interrelated areas: (1) language as the medium of communication between law enforcement authorities and suspects/witnesses or as the medium of legal argumentation in the courtroom, (2) language of the law (issues of intelligibility, interpretation and construction of legal language), and (3) crimes of language and linguistic evidence (use, validity, and reliability in the courtroom). Challenges and limitations of the field are also discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.23.5020


This paper defines a generalization of the Connes-Moscovici Hopf algebra, $\mathcal{H}(1)$ that contains the entire Hopf algebra of rooted trees. A relationship between the former, a much studied object in non-commutative geometry, and the later, a much studied object in perturbative Quantum Field Theory, has been established by Connes and Kreimer. The results of this paper open the door to study the cohomology of the Hopf algebra of rooted trees.


An essential feature in the assessment of chest films is the comparability of successive examinations. This is particularly important in post-operative care and there are several factors which make the conventional departmental chest film an inappropriate standard for assessment of post-operative chest films. Pre-operative chest films in patients undergoing cardiac surgery have, therefore, been taken in both upright and supine positions at full inspiration (total lung capacity) (TLC) and at resting expiration (functional residual capacity) (FRC) and then compared with those taken post-operatively. Significant differences in transverse cardiac diameter, cardio thoracic ratio, mediastinal width and vertical lung height were found in films taken with the patient supine, AP at inspiration or resting expiration, circumstances in which many chest films are taken in both post-operative and in intensive care patients. The taking of pre-operative films at lung volumes and in postures comparable with those occurring post-operatively is advocated.


Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is caused by genetic deficiency of α-l-iduronidase and impairment of lysosomal catabolism of heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate. In the brain, these substrates accumulate in the lysosomes of neurons and glial cells, leading to neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Their storage also affects lysosomal homeostasis-inducing activity of several lysosomal proteases including cathepsin B (CATB). In the central nervous system, increased CATB activity has been associated with the deposition of amyloid plaques due to an alternative pro-amyloidogenic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), suggesting a potential role of this enzyme in the neuropathology of MPS I. In this study, we report elevated levels of protein expression and activity of CATB in cortex tissues of 6-month-old MPS I (Idua -/- mice. Besides, increased CATB leakage from lysosomes to the cytoplasm of Idua -/- cortical pyramidal neurons was indicative of damaged lysosomal membranes. The increased CATB activity coincided with an elevated level of the 16-kDa C-terminal APP fragment, which together with unchanged levels of β-secretase 1 was suggestive for the role of this enzyme in the amyloidogenic APP processing. Neuronal accumulation of Thioflavin-S-positive misfolded protein aggregates and drastically increased levels of neuroinflammatory glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes and CD11b-positive activated microglia were observed in Idua -/- cortex by confocal fluorescent microscopy. Together, our results point to the existence of a novel CATB-associated alternative amyloidogenic pathway in MPS I brain induced by lysosomal storage and potentially leading to neurodegeneration.


Purpose. Describe nutrition education at US colleges of osteopathic medicine; determine if it meets recommended levels. Method. We surveyed 30 US colleges of osteopathic medicine (US COM) with a four-year curriculum about the amount and form of required nutrition education during the 2012/13 academic year. The online survey asked about hours of required nutrition across all 4 years and also in what types of courses this instruction occurred. We performed descriptive statistics to analyze the data. Results. Twenty-six institutions (87% response rate) completed the survey. Most responding US COM (22/26, 85%) do not meet the recommended minimum 25 hours of nutrition education; 8 (31%) provide less than half as much. Required nutrition instruction is largely confined to preclinical courses, with an average of 15.7 hours. Only 7 of the 26 responding schools report teaching clinical nutrition practice, providing on average 4.1 hours. Conclusions. Most US COM are inadequately preparing osteopathic physicians for the challenges they will face in practice addressing the nutritional concerns of their patients. Doctors of osteopathy cannot be expected to properly treat patients or guide the prevention of cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome if they are not trained to identify and modify the contributing lifestyle factors.


Aiming at the small sample, more latent variables and the multicollinearity among them in the forecast modeling of warship equipment maintenance cost, a method of improving the generalization ability of PLS was presented, which was on the base of the partial least squares(PLS) regression with shrink-magnifying, and extended the shrinking factor more by shrinking or magnifying the inputs of different sample to different extent, in which the cross training between training set and testing set was implemented. Further more, the foregoing modeling process was applied to the forecast modeling of warship equipment maintenance cost, in which the genetic algorithm was used to seek the best shrinking factor vector. Finally, by comparing with the PLS which distills one, two and three principal components and PLS with shrink-magnifying approach, the method presented in this paper demonstrates the best.


Introduction: Mortality from acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in sub-Saharan adults is 50-60%, twice that in well-resourced settings. To date, interventions designed to impact on outcome have been ineffective in this setting. This thesis addressed the hypothesis that high mortality is due in part to delayed or inappropriate care, and that this may be improved by goal directed resuscitation. Methods: Clinical and laboratory surveillance data from a large central hospital in Malawi were analysed. Clinical predictors of poor outcome were synthesised into the Malawi Adult Meningitis Score (MAMS). To assess feasibility and outcome, patients with suspected ABM were recruited in the emergency department and observed in year one under routine clinical care (Phase 1), and then managed with a meningitis-specific EGDT clinical care bundle in year two (Phase 2). Laboratory data were tested for outcome associations. Results: A significant decline in the total number of CSF isolates over 12 years was noted, entirely in children under 5 years of age coinciding with Hib vaccination. Adult meningitis incidence remained unchanged, despite significant ART provision. Analysis of 715 historical meningitis episodes showed that the mortality rate was 54% at day 40; HIV seroprevalence was 87% and treatment delays were marked. Coma, seizures, tachycardia and anaemia but not HIV were significantly associated with mortality. The MAMS predicted outcome with good agreement, estimated sensitivity was 74%, specificity was 55%. EGDT was found to be feasible, more clinical targets were met using EGDT including reduced time to antibiotics, iv fluids, blood transfusion and airway placement. There was no significant difference in outcome at 40 days between the two cohorts. Neither high pneumococcal load nor the presence of EBV co-infection in the CSF were associated with poor outcome. CSF white cell counts were lower in non-survivors, other markers of inflammation were not associated with outcome. Conclusion: The incidence of bacterial meningitis is not falling in adults in Malawi. Important clinical predictors were identified and synthesised into a prediction tool. EGDT for meningitis is feasible in adult patients in Malawi; a larger trial is required to test the impact on outcome. Further work to improve pre-hospital care and identify novel adjunctive treatments is necessary.


Renal interstitial fibrosis is the most common process by which chronic kidney diseases progress to end‐stage renal failure. Epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transitions (EMTs) play a crucial role in the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis. A newly identified cytokine, interleukin‐like EMT inducer (ILEI), has been linked to EMT in some diseases. However, the effects of ILEI on renal tubular EMT have not yet been well established. Here, we characterize the expression of ILEI in tubular EMT and describe the role and mechanism of ILEI in transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF‐β1)–induced renal tubular EMT. The results indicate that ILEI is involved in renal tubular EMT induced by TGF‐β1, as overexpression of ILEI not only induces EMT of HK‐2 cells independently but also profoundly enhances EMT in response to TGF‐β1. Supporting this finding, ILEI small interfering RNA was found to block the EMT of HK‐2 cells induced by TGF‐β1. This work additionally suggests ILEI mediates TGF‐β1–dependent EMT via the extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERKs) and protein kinase B (Akt) signalling pathways. In conclusion, ILEI appears to play a crucial role in mediating TGF‐β1–induced EMT through the Akt and ERK pathways, which may provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of fibrotic kidney diseases.


Introduction: Internet has been easily accessible to students living in urban areas. With its unprecedented development and many benefits, it also leads to Internet addiction (IA) among people. Though IA is a disorder in itself, there can be other disorders associated with it as well. One such association of IA is with depression.
Objective: The aim of this paper is to show a potential relationship between internet addiction and depression among students belonging to the urban setting.
Materials and Methods: The research sample consisted of 228 students aged between 11-27 doing their schooling or graduation. To assess the study, a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three parts was given to them. The first part comprised of socio-demographic information and pattern of internet usage. Second part consisted assessment of internet addiction using Young's 20 item Internet addiction test (IAT) and the third module comprised of Birleson's depression self-rating scale (DSRS) questionnaire.
Results: The 228 study participants were classified based on their scores obtained on IAT and DSRS scales. They were divided into two class labels: Depression Yes and Depression No. 99 were classified to the "YES Depression class" and 129 were classified to the "No Depression class" and overall classification accuracy achieved was 85.5%.
Conclusion: Students get addicted to the internet due to its easy availability and accessibility. The current study showed that this addiction is associated with depression. It also showed that internet addiction and depression is more prevalent above the age of 19.

Keywords: Internet addiction, Internet addiction test, Depression, Depression self-rating scale, Logistic regression.


A familiar Texas quote is, "Everything is bigger in Texas." That's certainly true about many parts of its equine industry. But, even though its population is large, many of the issues facing the Texas Horse Industry are no different than those of the rest of the U.S horse industry. Texas ranks highest in the total number of horses of all the states. According to the Texas Equine Industry Study of 2015, Texas has 840,000 horses in the state that generate almost $6 billion dollars in statewide economic output. The industry supports 52,000 jobs. Horse racing alone supports 11,400 jobs. Like most states, recreation riding/ownership leads the industry's uses. In Texas, this segment alone accounts for $1.9 billion in revenues. The primary issues facing Texas' and the U.S industries are equine welfare in all aspects of the industry, a decline in participation, waning youth interest and participation, a public without livestock experience, the economy, unwanted horses and leadership for the future.


: Acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS) is a rare hemorrhagic condition that poses both a diagnostic and a therapeutic challenge. Here we report a singular case of AVWS with two associated conditions, small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and Sjögren's syndrome. The patient presented with recurrent and severe digestive bleeding that forced us to raise a curative attempt of AVWS. A first immunosuppressive therapy with immunoglobulins was unsuccessful and it was later decided to treat lymphoproliferative entity with bendamustine and rituximab effectively achieving SLL and AVWS remission. On the basis of our case and through literature review, we discuss potential strategies to achieve AVWS remission when it appears in the setting of several causative associated conditions.


Sedimentation in the reservoir gradually reduces its storage capacity. By keeping a check on the sedimentation and by providing control measures for the same, the reservoir life can be maintained. Ujjani dam was constructed for irrigation, water supply and power generation schemes. It lies in Solapur district which is a drought prone area. This makes Ujjani a socially and economically significant project for the state. In the present study, reservoir sedimentation for Ujjani reservoir is assessed for monitoring purpose. Two techniques namely Satellite Remote Sensing Technique (SRST) and mathematical modeling using HEC RAS, were used in the study for estimating sedimentation. Owing to advantages like low cost, time saving, less manpower requirement, accuracy in estimation and capability of carrying out past surveys, the Satellite Remote Sensing Technique is gaining importance over the time consuming and high cost conventional hydrographic surveys. The water spread areas for different reservoir levels were delineated from the satellite images of Ujjain Reservoir using ARC GIS software. Volume between two water levels was calculated using prismoidul formula. The present volume of reservoir was compared with the initial volume during impoundment of reservoir. This gave the loss of volume which was due to sedimentation.


In feature-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), line features complement the sparsity of point features, making it possible to map the surrounding environment structure. Existing approaches utilizing line features have primarily employed a measurement model that uses line re-projection. However, the direction vectors used in the 3D line mapping process cannot be corrected because the line measurement model employs only the lines' normal vectors in the Plücker coordinate. As a result, problems like degeneracy that occur during the 3D line mapping process cannot be solved. To tackle the problem, this letter presents a UV-SLAM, which is an unconstrained line-based SLAM using vanishing points for structural mapping. This letter focuses on using structural regularities without any constraints, such as the Manhattan world assumption. For this, we use the vanishing points that can be obtained from the line features. The difference between the vanishing point observation calculated through line features in the image and the vanishing point estimation calculated through the direction vector is defined as a residual and added to the cost function of optimization-based SLAM. Furthermore, through Fisher information matrix rank analysis, we prove that vanishing point measurements guarantee a unique mapping solution. Finally, we demonstrate that the localization accuracy and mapping quality are improved compared to the state-of-the-art algorithms using public datasets.


We propose a new model of quantum computation comprised of low-weight measurement sequences that simultaneously encode logical information, enable error correction, and apply logical gates. These measurement sequences constitute a new class of quantum error-correcting codes generalizing Floquet codes, which we call dynamic automorphism (DA) codes. We construct an explicit example, the DA color code, which is assembled from short measurement sequences that can realize all 72 automorphisms of the 2D color code. On a stack of $N$ triangular patches, the DA color code encodes $N$ logical qubits and can implement the full logical Clifford group by a sequence of two- and, more rarely, three-qubit Pauli measurements. We also make the first step towards universal quantum computation with DA codes by introducing a 3D DA color code and showing that a non-Clifford logical gate can be realized by adaptive two-qubit measurements.


The Semantic Web is growing in both size and complexity. The number of RDF vocabularies and data sources are both increasing. This paper shows how large RDF databases can be accessed in smaller and more manageable chunks called RDF Objects. RDF Objects encapsulate compound data structures to give applications a more granular view of a database. Applications can control the size and structure of Objects by specifying the Object extraction algorithm and filtering the returned data by vocabulary. Links between Objects, analogous to hypertext links, allow applications to navigate across distributed data sources and leave link-trails for other applications to follow. Information can be aggregated from multiple data sources by recursively following Object links. Resources without URIs in different databases are cross-matched using DAML and OWL ontologies. An HTTP implementation of an RDF Object Serverhas been developed and used to develop tools for W3C Working Groups.


In this paper we take an important step towards better understanding the existence and extent of entity-centric language-specific bias in multilingual Wikipedia, and any deviation from its targeted neutral point of view. We propose a methodology using sentiment analysis techniques to systematically extract the variations in sentiments associated with real-world entities in different language editions of Wikipedia, illustrated with a case study of five Wikipedia language editions and a set of target entities from four categories.


In this paper, the Kalman linear filter method is used to decompose non-synchronous observations of the realized volatility of financial indices (NIKKEI 225, FTSE 100, S&P 500) into unobservable global and local components. It is shown that the volatility of the New York S&P 500 index is a global component, while the Tokyo NIKKEI 225 index, on the contrary, is more sensible to the local news. It is shown that the largest contribution to the global component comes from the observation interval from the closing of the London Exchange to the closing of the exchange in New York (16:30 and 21:00 UTC, respectively). Starting from about 2012–2014, the contribution to the volatility of the global news market is growing from the interval from closing the exchange in New York to closing the exchange in Tokyo (from 21:00 to 6:00 UTC). This can be attributed to the recently increasing influence of the economies of Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea) on the world economy.


To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study aimed to examine the relationship between young students' design thinking disposition and their computer programming self-efficacy. To assess students' design thinking disposition, this study developed the Design Thinking Disposition Scale (DTDS) with a sample of 350 junior high school students who had computer programming experience in a STEAM course. A principle axis factor analysis with the promax rotation method was used to verify the DTDS's construct under the four dimensions: empathize, define, ideate and prototype. The Cronbach's alpha reliability was .90 for the overall scale. Correlation analyses results showed that all the four dimensions were significantly correlated with computer programming self-efficacy assessed by CPSES. A significant regression model was found in which the three factors, ideate, prototype and define, significantly predicted the overall computer programming self-efficacy. Meanwhile, except for the ideate subscale, no gender difference was found in the young students' design thinking dispositions. The students' self-directed programming learning experience was shown to benefit their design thinking disposition. The DTDS can be applied to design-thinking-embedded computer literacy curricula such as makers, STEAM, or robotics education. Several further studies are also suggested.


Subsequently to the publication of the above article, an interested reader drew to the authors' attention that a pair of data panels presented in each of Figs. 3 and 4 appeared to be overlapping, such that these data may have been derived from the same original sources where they were intended to have shown the results from experiments performed under different experimental conditions. The authors realised that these figures had inadvertently been assembled incorrectly; however, as they had retained their access to the raw data, the authors were able to make the appropriate corrections required for these figures. The corrected versions of Figs. 3 and 4, showing the correct wound healing assay result for the DU1450‑siSPAG9 experiment at 24 h in Fig. 3F and the correct Matrigel cell invasion assay result for PC3‑siSPAG9 in Fig. 4C, are shown on the subsequent pages. Note that these errors did not adversely affect the major conclusions reported in the study. The authors all agree with these corrections and thank the Editor of Oncology Reports for allowing them the opportunity to publish this corrigendum. The authors also apologize for any inconvenience caused, and agree to address any additional questions regarding their results. All raw data are available from the authors upon request. [Oncology Reports 32: 2533‑2540, 2014; DOI: 10.3892/or.2014.3539].


Precision oncology is a rapidly evolving field that uses advanced technologies to deliver personalized cancer care based on a patient's unique genetic and clinical profile. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in precision oncology has shown great potential to improve diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment outcomes. However, the integration of AI in precision oncology also raises important ethical considerations related to patient privacy, autonomy, and protection from bias. In this opinion paper, an overview is provided of previous studies that have explored the use of AI in precision oncology and the ethical considerations associated with this technology. The conclusions of these studies are compared, and the importance of approaching the use of AI in precision oncology with caution is emphasized. It is stressed that patient privacy, autonomy, and protection from bias should be made central to the development and use of AI in precision oncology. Clear guidelines and regulations must be established to ensure that AI is used ethically and for the benefit of patients. The use of AI in precision oncology has the potential to revolutionize cancer care, but it should be ensured that it striked a balance between advancements in technology and ethical considerations. In conclusion, the use of AI in precision oncology is a promising development that has the potential to improve cancer outcomes. However, ethical considerations related to patient privacy, autonomy, and protection from bias must be central to the development and use of AI in precision oncology.


Increasing evidence suggests that RNA m5C modification and its regulators have been confirmed to be associated with the pathogenesis of many diseases. However, the distribution and biological functions of m5C in mRNAs of placental tissues remain unknown. we collected placentae from normotensive pregnancies (CTR) and preeclampsia patients (PE) to analyze the transcriptomic profiling of m5C RNA methylation through m5C RNA immunoprecipitation (UMI‐MeRIP‐Seq). we discovered that overall m5C methylation peaks were decreased in placental tissues from PE patients. And, 2844 aberrant m5C peaks were identified, of which respectively 1304 m5C peaks were upregulated and 1540 peaks were downregulated. The distribution of m5C peaks were mainly located in CDS (coding sequences) regions in placental tissues of both groups, but compared with the CTR group, the m5C peak in PE group before the stop code of CDS was significantly increased and even higher than the peak value after start code in CDS. Differentially methylated genes were mainly enriched in MAPK/cAMP signaling pathway. Moreover, the up‐regulated genes with hypermethylated modification were enriched in the processes of hypoxia, inflammation/immune response. Finally, through analyzing the mRNA expression levels of m5C RNA methylation regulators, we found only DNMT3B and TET3 were significantly upregulated in PE samples than in control group. And they are not only negatively correlated with each other, but also closely related to those differentially expressed genes modified by differential methylation.Our findings provide new insights regarding alterations of m5C RNA modification into the pathogenic mechanisms of PE.


Some legal aspects concerning the performance of induced abortions in West Germany are discussed. Besides the medical and eugenic indications there is a new "fetal health" indication. The use of these three indications is relatively clear. The application of the criminological and especially the (social) emergency indications are more complex; these require the physician to make a legal evaluation based on specific factual information. By law no physician is required to perform an induced abortion except in cases of imminent danger to the mother. The emergency indication has been widely accepted by practicing physicians. In all cases the pregnant woman must have social counseling a counseling session with the physician and written evidence by a competent physician that the indication in question is valid. The physician performing the operation carries the final responsibility for the validity of the indication and the legality of the operation. The physician must always obtain the informed consent of the patient in writing which can cause difficulties in the case of minors or the mentally disturbed. In such cases it is advisable to obtain in addition the consent of the legal guardian.


BACKGROUND
Infection by Helicobacter pylori is very common in Eastern Europe, but the genotypes of predominant strains and prevalence of single vs. multiple infection in this geographic region have not been much studied.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
H. pylori was cultured from 13 Lithuanians belonging to six families, and characterized by arbitrarily primed PCR (RAPD) DNA fingerprinting, and by hybridization and PCR tests for polymorphic virulence-associated and neutral genetic markers.

RESULTS
Eleven distinct strains were identified: seven carried the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) and the s1 (generally toxigenic) allele of the vacuolating cytotoxin gene (vacA); the other four were cag- and carried the vacA s2 (nontoxigenic) allele; five of the seven vacA s1 strains carried an m1 middle region allele of vacA, whereas all other strains carried m2 alleles, which are generally less toxigenic; four strains carried the virulence-associated iceA1 gene, and the other seven carried the completely unrelated iceA2 gene at the same locus. Insertion sequences IS605 and IS606 and a plasmid replication gene (repA) were also found in some strains. RAPD fingerprinting identified a mixed infection in just one of the 13 persons. In two families, two of the members harbored the same strain, whereas in the other four families each member tested carried a different strain. Resistance to metronidazole (Mtz) was found in two persons; each of them also carried MtzS strains that were indistinguishable from the coresident MtzR strain by RAPD fingerprinting, and that were thus closely related in overall genotype.

CONCLUSION
The distribution of genotypes of Lithuanian H. pylori strains resembles that seen in Western Europe. This finding has important implications for understanding modes of H. pylori transmission and evolution.


Background: People with severe mental illness have difficulties finding and maintaining competitive employment. This is particularly so for those living in supported housing who, by definition, have significant day-to-day support needs: in the Netherlands only 3 to 5% of people with serious mental health problems who live in supported housing are competitively employed. To support these people in finding and maintaining competitive employment, Individual Placement, and Support (IPS) was introduced within supported housing services in the Netherlands in 2015. As this is the first country that broadly implemented IPS in supported housing settings, this paper will focus on the first results regarding feasibility and effects on employment in clients of IPS in this sector. Methods: We investigated the feasibility and employment outcomes of delivering IPS in supported housing services using fidelity assessments and quarterly employment outcomes on IPS program level within eight supported housing organizations, and compared these with 21 mental health treatment organizations in the Netherlands over a 4 year period. We investigated possible reasons for our findings and their implications through qualitative evaluations of the IPS fidelity assessors' notes and additional focus groups with IPS specialists and coordinators from supported housing services and fidelity assessors. Results: The overall fidelity scores indicated reasonable implementation of the IPS model within both supported housing services and mental health services. However, there were differences between services with regard to specific fidelity items; mental health treatment organizations scored higher for team integration, whereas supported housing services scored higher for rapid job search and caseload size, diversity of jobs, and employers. Our qualitative data suggested that the difference in team integration between the two sectors was due to differences in their organizational and financial structures, as well as in the specific needs of their clients. Conversely, supported housing services had better connections with employers which facilitated more rapid job searching and greater diversity in employment opportunities. The average total client employment rate did not significantly differ; and was 25.8% per quarter in supported housing services and 29.6% in mental health treatment services. Conclusion: Implementing IPS in supported housing settings is both feasible and effective.


Kidney tumors represent a type of cancer that people of advanced age are more likely to develop. For this reason, it is important to exercise caution and provide diagnostic tests in the later stages of life. Medical imaging and deep learning methods are becoming increasingly attractive in this sense. Developing deep learning models to help physicians identify tumors with successful segmentation is of great importance. However, not many successful systems exist for soft tissue organs, such as the kidneys and the prostate, of which segmentation is relatively difficult. In such cases where segmentation is difficult, V-Net-based models are mostly used. This paper proposes a new hybrid model using the superior features of existing V-Net models. The model represents a more successful system with improvements in the encoder and decoder phases not previously applied. We believe that this new hybrid V-Net model could help the majority of physicians, particularly those focused on kidney and kidney tumor segmentation. The proposed model showed better performance in segmentation than existing imaging models and can be easily integrated into all systems due to its flexible structure and applicability. The hybrid V-Net model exhibited average Dice coefficients of 97.7% and 86.5% for kidney and tumor segmentation, respectively, and, therefore, could be used as a reliable method for soft tissue organ segmentation.


The main purpose of the investment is to earn a profit or a high rate of return. That is, no investor wants to lose even loss of funds or capital that has been invested in certain instruments. Well, to make no mistake in taking investment decisions, obligatory for investors to conduct investment feasibility analysis. Investment feasibility can not be judged solely on the basis of assumptions or beliefs, but must be analyzed in depth from various aspects. Without careful consideration, investing is like buying a cat in a sack. That is, investors do not know clearly whether the investment is profitable or not. Sensivitas analysis is an analysis conducted to determine the effect of changes in production parameters on changes in production system performance in generating profit. By conducting a sentiment analysis then the likely effect of these changes can be known and anticipated beforehand. An approach based on the Cash flow concept of Payback Period Method, Net Present Value (NPV) Method and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Method. Minimum Acceptable Rate of Return or Minimum Atractive Rate of Return (MARR). MARR is the minimum rate of return on an investment that a brave investor would undertake.Keywords : NPV, IRR, MARR, sensitivity.


The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and its performance for the localization of a stationary emitter using a network of spatially separated passive stationary sensors is presented. The conventional approach for localization using multiple sensors is to first estimate the time differences of arrival (TDOAs) independently between pairs of sensors and then find the location of the emitter using the intersection point of the hyperbolas defined by these TDOAs. It has recently been shown that this two-step approach is suboptimal and an alternate direct position determination (DPD) approach has been proposed. In the work presented here we take the DPD approach to derive the MLE and show that the MLE outperforms the conventional two-step approach.We analyze the two commonly occurring cases of signal waveform unknown and signal waveform known with unknown transmission time. This paper covers a wide variety of transmitted signals such as narrowband or wideband, lowpass or bandpass, etc. Sampling of the received signals has a quantization-like effect on the location estimate and so a continuous time model is used instead.We derive the Fisher information matrix (FIM) and show that the proposed MLE attains the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).


In this paper, we studied the organization and function of TUBBY Transcription Factor gene family in maize. Initially, using comparative approach, we discovered the Arabidopsis thaliana orthologs in Zea mays. We found in total 13 genes, 12 of which are orthologs and a unique paralog that exhibits the highest activity in maize. We studied the role of TUBBY gene family across different developmental stages using existing expression data, and discovered the binding motifs present in the promoter region of the genes.


Introduction A variety of multicultural issues in clinical settings have been studied and discussed and multicultural competence has become an important research area in the field of counseling psychology (Pope-Davis et al., 2002). One of the beliefs from the research is that if a client and a counselor do not match culturally, the sessions conducted between them can possibly have limitations (Sue, 1977). Besides, as concerned Flaskerud (1991), if a client suffers from a persistent mental illness, the limitations of multicultural counseling can be much greater. Tim (assumed name) was a middle-aged single male immigrant from a South American country. He first became the client of a mental health agency in the United States during the 1990's for about half a year; his diagnosis was adjustment disorder with depressed mood. He was referred to the same agency again in the beginning of the 21st Century due to social withdrawal; his diagnosis was avoidant personality disorder. Within a year, he dropped out of treatment. Several years later, he became a psychiatric hospital patient with diagnoses of atypical depression and mixed (schizotypal and avoidant) personality disorders. Because of his tendencies to avoid going out in public and not to comply with taking his medications, the treatment did not last long. Tim's symptoms degenerated until his parents appealed to the above hospital for help. The parents claimed that Tim was withdrawn and had become uncontrollable. They could not get enough sleep since Tim was making loud noises every night. When they asked Tim to be quiet, he showed anger and pushed the parents occasionally. Tim refused to come to the hospital with them. The case was accepted and the author, a Japanese counselor, was assigned the case. The author soon made a home-visit and met with Tim. Although he declined the author's proposal that the author would visit him once a week, he agreed to an alternative proposal that the author would visit him once a month. His diagnoses were: (a) Axis I: schizophrenia, paranoid type, and (b) Axis II: deferred. Client Tim resided with his parents who were both in their seventies. Tim had sisters who were married and living outside of his home. He was born and raised in a South American country. As a child he was quiet; he tended to prefer reading books or doing homework rather than playing outside. His grades were very good. When he was a teenager, he became a little more outgoing; he played sports and made friends. He and his family left their country and immigrated into the United States. After immigration, he enrolled in college. Due to the onset of the mental illnesses, he dropped out a couple of years later. He periodically did temporary work before and during his college days. He had been unemployed for a long time and was receiving social welfare. He had no friends; the only social interaction he had was with his immediate family. However, as the deterioration of his mental stability progressed, he avoided communication even with them. Since he was depressed, unable to concentrate, and developing some memory problems, he read psychology books and did certain psychotherapeutic exercises without supervision. Then, he had a panic attack and was sent to a psychiatric hospital. The precise year that his mental illness had entered the active phase was unknown. He was able to speak English to some degree, but the English abilities of his parents were limited. Tim was 6 feet tall and weighed approximately 200 pounds. He had not have a history of major physical diseases. He had not received a medical checkup in the last 20 years, so his health conditions at the time was unknown. He looked healthy. He had an appetite. In his college days, he used alcohol and cigarettes. However, he has never been a substance abuser. Tim was disheveled. His affect was flat. He did not leave his home at all and usually stayed in his room. He slept in the daytime and was awake at night. …


In wireless ad hoc networks, the major quality of service (QoS) concern and challenge in the design and analysis of contention-based medium access control (MAC) protocols is to achieve good throughput and access delay performance in the presence of hidden terminals, which are defined as the terminals out of the radio coverage area of an intended transmitter but within that of the receiver. We propose and analyze in this paper a new dual-channel random access protocol, called "Double Sense Multiple Access" (DSMA), for improving QoS support in wireless ad hoc networks. By separating the transmissions of ready-to-send (RTS) and data packets into two time-slotted channels and by introducing a novel double sense mechanism, DSMA completely solves the hidden terminal problem and can guarantee the success transmission of data packets. By taking into account the most complex network scenario in which all transmitters are hidden terminals with respect to each other, key QoS metrics such as throughput, blocking probability and access delay are derived mathematically for the proposed DSMA protocol. These analytical results are verified by extensive computer simulations.


Summary

1. The response of phytoplankton to the installation of an artificial destratification system in North Pine Dam, Brisbane (Australia) was investigated over an 18 year period (1984–2002); 11 years before and 7 years after installation.

2. An overall increase in phytoplankton abundance was revealed for some groups (in particular, diatoms, cyanobacteria and chlorophytes), but not for others (chlorophytes). Changes in the abundance of chlorophyte functional groups was attributed to eutrophication.

3. A strong spatial gradient in phytoplankton abundance and chlorophyll a was observed, with low abundance in the downstream regions affected by the destratification system which was likely because of light limitation induced by vertical mixing. The upstream region acted as a surrogate for the unaltered state of the reservoir, particularly as an indicator of eutrophication without direct influence from the destratification system. Despite the continuous trend in eutrophication of the reservoir, there has been a definite decrease in the rate of eutrophication (approximately 30%) since the installation of the destratification system at the downstream locations.

4. Correlations of the dominant cyanobacteria Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii with other genera changed after destratification, indicating that prior to destratification the dominance of Cylindrospermopsis was because of its ability to compete for phosphorus, whereas after destratification its dominance was because of its ability to compete for light.