Things happen to the Banks children when they go to the park with Mary Poppins. Strange things, funny things, unexpected things: nothing is ever straightforward with Mary Poppins about - and it's never boring either! Mary Poppins, neat and prim in her blue skirt and a new hat trimmed with a crimson tulip, looked at them over her knitting. She was sitting bolt upright against the tree, with a plaid rug spread on the lawn around her. Her handbag sat tidily by her side. And above her, from a flowering branch, the parrot umbrella dangled. She gave a little sniff. The stories in this collection happened during all three of the visits Mary Poppins made to the Banks family. Jane and Michael are never quite sure whether what happens to them in the Park is just a dream - or not; things are never straightforward with Mary Poppins!


In Arctic catchments, bacterioplankton are dispersed through soils and streams, both of which freeze and thaw/flow in phase, seasonally. To characterize this dispersal and its potential impact on biogeochemistry, we collected bacterioplankton and measured stream physicochemistry during snowmelt and after vegetation senescence across multiple stream orders in alpine, tundra, and tundra-dominated-by-lakes catchments. In all catchments, differences in community composition were associated with seasonal thaw, then attachment status (i.e., free-floating or sediment-associated), and then stream order. Bacterioplankton taxonomic diversity and richness were elevated in sediment-associated fractions, and in higher-order reaches during snowmelt. Families Chthonomonadaceae, Pyrinomonadaceae, and Xiphinematobacteraceae were abundantly different across seasons, while Flavobacteriaceae and Microscillaceae were abundantly different between free-floating and sediment-associated fractions. Physicochemical data suggested there was high iron (Fe+ ) production (alpine catchment); Fe+ production and chloride (Cl- ) removal (tundra catchment); and phosphorus (SRP) removal and ammonium (NH4 + ) production (lake catchment). In tundra landscapes, these "hot spots" of Fe+ production and Cl- removal accompanied shifts in species richness, while SRP promoted the antecedent community. Our findings suggest that freshet increases bacterial dispersal from headwater catchments to receiving catchments, where bacterioplankton-mineral relations stabilized communities in free-flowing reaches, but bacterioplankton-nutrient relations stabilized those punctuated by lakes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


We present a new method for determining the complex dielectric permittivity profile of 3-D inhomogeneous dielectric objects from measurements of the scattered electric field vectors in the frequency domain. The method is formulated as a minimization of a cost function defined in terms of electric field integral equations known as the object and data equations. Instead of an unknown object function containing the electromagnetic parameters of the dielectrics, the contrast sources induced within the scatterers are designated as the unknowns of the inversion scheme to avoid solving the forward scattering problem at each step. Later, the minimization of the cost function is achieved via a limited-memory quasi-Newton scheme, based on the Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS) formula, which iteratively updates the Hessian matrix estimation. The numerical results with the simulated and experimental scattered electric fields demonstrate that the presented method is capable of reconstructing scatterers with complex shapes.


Integrating health care enterprise is one of hotspots in the present medical field. In the article, based on analysis of current status of medical information, a novel integration model is constructed where multi-agent technology and XML are introduced to medical information resource integration, called HIIS-MA, which is a multi-agent model, including user agent, management agent, integration agent and data agent. For each agent, detail arithmetic is designed. Accordingly, the multi-level and multi-role integration of heterogeneous medical information is realized. Keywords-multi-agent system; integrating health care enterprise; HIIS-MA; heterogeneous information


Speed perception tests are already used in several countries as part of the driver licensing curriculum; however, this test is not compulsively required in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between speed perception and eye movement for different driver groups. Forty-eight drivers, including 28 crash-involved (CI), with rear-end or side collisions, and 20 crash-not-involved (CNI) drivers, were recruited for the speed perception experiments. Drivers' reaction characteristics as well as eye movement data were analyzed. The results showed that CI drivers were more likely to overestimate the speed of visual stimuli and react in advance. The speed perception of CI drivers was more accurate than that of CNI drivers for visual stimuli with middle to high moving speeds, indicating that CNI drivers are more cautious and conservative when driving. Regarding eye movement, significant differences in saccade speed were found between the CI and CNI drivers in the occlusion area under high speed and the occlusion ratio. The relationship between visual pattern and speed perception accuracy was found to some extent. Implications of the speed perception test for the driver aptitude test were discussed.


Umbilical cord blood (UCB) stem cells from related and unrelated allogeneic donors have emerged as novel treatment for patients with hematologic malignancies. The incidence and severity of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after UCB transplantation compares favorably with that observed in recipients of matched unrelated donor allogeneic grafts, but remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. It has been shown that stimulated lymphocytes from UCB have reduced production of cytokines including interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), which play a role in GVHD pathophysiology. We investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying this reduced cytokine production by analyzing expression of nuclear factor of activated T cells-1 (NFAT1) in UCB T cells. We detected no constitutive expression of NFAT1 protein in unstimulated UCB T cells compared with adult T cells. Moreover, although NFAT1 expression in UCB T cells was upregulated after prolonged (40 hours) T-cell stimulation, it was only partially upregulated when compared with adult controls. Our observation of minimal NFAT1 expression after stimulation correlated with reduced cytoplasmic IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production in UCB T cells studied simultaneously. Reduced NFAT1 expression may blunt amplification of donor UCB T-cell alloresponsiveness against recipient antigens, thereby potentially limiting GVHD incidence and severity after allogeneic UCB transplantation.


Background Children and their parents report poor sleep in hospital and complain about noise. Objective To measure sleep quality and noise levels in hospital and compare these with the home environment. Design Observational within case-controlled study. Setting Paediatric medical wards at Southampton Children's Hospital and bedrooms at home. Participants and methods Participants were children aged 3–16 years and their co-sleeping parents. Sleep quality was measured using actigraphy for a maximum of 5 nights in each setting. Median sound levels at the bedside were monitored overnight in a subgroup in both settings. Main outcome measures Total sleep time, sleep efficiency, median sound levels overnight. Results 40 children and 16 mothers completed actigraphy in both settings. Children had on average 62.9 min, and parents 72.8 min, per night less sleep in hospital than at home. Both children and parents had poorer sleep quality in hospital than at home: mean sleep efficiency 77.0% vs 83.2% for children and 77.1% vs 88.9% for parents, respectively. Median sound levels in hospital measured in 8 children averaged 48.6 dBA compared with 34.7 dBA at home and exceeded World Health Organization recommendations of 30 dB. Conclusions Children and their mothers have poor quality sleep in paediatric wards. This may affect the child's behaviour, recovery and pain tolerance. Sleep deprivation adds to parental burden and stress. Sound levels are significantly raised in hospital and may contribute to poor sleep. Reduction in the level of noise might lead to an improvement in sleep, affecting the quality of stay of both parent and child.


In Jonglei State in South Sudan, cattle raiding is a common form of violence between communities, and finds its roots in socio-economic traditions around marriage and adulthood. Perpetuated by limited economic opportunities and fragile livelihoods, every year thousands of heads of cattle are stolen and civilian lives are lost in pernicious patterns of attacks and retaliatory attacks in one of the most remote and underdeveloped parts of the world. Based on successful cattle raiding responses in the East African region, Jonglei now has a Livestock Patrol Unit (LPU) to prevent cattle theft and mitigate cattle-related conflict. This article takes a closer look at how the South Sudanese government, with the support of the United Nations (UN), has developed this specialised police unit in an attempt to end cycles of violence that have existed in South Sudan for generations.


Abstract The novelty of this document is that the empirical support for the predictions it examines, predictions about the distribution and interpretation of transitive reciprocal constructions, will be different each time it is read. The evidence will change because this paper will only provide parameters for a search of the Afranaph Database (ongoing) and two other databases, and as these databases grow and change over time, the search results returned today will be different from the results returned by the same search executed months or years from now. Reversing the normal priorities of linguistic research, the proposal we present about the nature of reciprocal constructions in natural language, which contends that direct object full DPs anaphors do not directly contribute reciprocal meaning (a proposal more broadly and specifically defended by Safir and Selvanathan (in preparation) is secondary (a) to our demonstration of the methodology we employ to support our claims and (b) to the lessons we draw from it about the evaluation of evidence for research in linguistics in the digital age.


Multislice computerized tomography (MSCT) is a relatively new, noninvasive method for evaluating coronary stenosis. In symptomatic patients, the use of MSCT has been shown to be effective in identifying coronary lesions with comparable accuracy to the traditional, catheter-based invasive angiography. With the 64-slice MSCT scanner, units are acquired faster and the slices are thinner, resulting in improved temporal and spatial resolution and coronary artery imaging. Additional benefits of the 64-slice MSCT scanner as compared with the older generation scanners include a shorter period during which the patient must hold his or her breath, a wider range of acceptable heart rates, and the ability to image very obese patients and those with moderate coronary calcium with lower volumes of contrast. The 64-slice MSCT scanner has some limitations, but it demonstrates an improved image resolution that allows for a more precise evaluation. This new generation of MSCT scanners may eventually eliminate the need for invasive coronary angiography.


Objective: To quantitate plasma amyloid β protein (Aβ)40, Aβ42, and neopterin levels in Down Syndrome (DS) children and controls.
 Background: DS persons (>40 years) have neuropathological changes characteristic of Alzheimer disease (AD). Soluble forms of Aβ generated from amyloid precursor protein (APP) end at C-terminal residues 40 and 42. Neopterin is an immune activation marker for the cell-mediated immune response.
 Design/Methods: Blood was collected from DS (N = 35; 7 ± 3.8 years old) and their siblings (N = 34; 10 ± 4.5). Plasma Aβ40, Aβ42, and neopterin levels were quantitated by ELISA.
 Results: Aβ40 (Mean ± SD; 277 ± 70 pg/ml) and Aβ42 (31 ± 8 pg/ml) levels were higher in DS children than controls (Aβ40 155 ± 35 pg/ml, Aβ42 22 ± 5 pg/ml) (p<.0001). There were significant negative correlations between age and Aβ40 in DS (r=.47, p<.004) or controls (r=.38, p<.026) and Aβ42 levels in DS (r=.61, p<.001) but not in controls. Neopterin levels were higher in DS (3.01 ± 1.37 ng/ml) than controls (1.57 ± 0.65 ng/ml) (p<.0001). There was no correlation between neopterin levels and age, and Aβ40 or Aβ42 levels in DS or controls.
 Conclusion: The overexpression of APP gene in DS leads to increases in plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels before plaque formation in DS brain. A lack of correlation between neopterin and Aβ levels suggests that higher neopterin concentrations in DS reflect inflammatory cell activation rather than AD neuropathology.


The authors present two ways to evaluate the impact of family allowances upon fertility. The first approach consists of an a priori evaluation derived from a small micro-model of fertility behavior. The model describes how people plan the successive births of their children giving particular attention to the aggregation of individual decisions in determining the total level of fertility and its changes in response to changes in family policy. The macro-implications of this first model are then empirically tested in the second part of the paper by analyzing fertility and family benefits across OECD countries since the early 1970s. This is accomplished by deriving from the first model an aggregate econometric model whose main explanatory variable is female wages. An index of family benefits is then introduced and tested as a complementary variable. It is demonstrated that the empirical relationship between fertility and family allowances shown by the second approach agrees with the a priori evaluations of the first part suggesting a moderate but not insignificant impact of family policy upon demographic behavior.


Pharmacopuncture is a new needle therapy that integrates acupuncture and herbal therapies, and it has the potential to treat many diseases. A systematic review was performed to summarize and critically evaluate clinical trial evidence regarding the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture for asthma. Eight electronic databases and six journals were searched in this study. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in which human patients with asthma were treated with pharmacopuncture were included. The selection of studies, data extraction, and validation were performed independently by two reviewers. Four RCTs met our inclusion criteria, and the evidence from all RCTs in this study was positive. The meta-analysis showed statistically significant effects of pharmacopuncture compared to conventional treatment (n = 341, Risk Ratio = 1.13, 95% CI of 1.05 to 1.23, P = .002, heterogeneity: χ 2 = 3.55, P = .31, I 2 = 16%). Two trials showed favorable effects of pharmacopuncture on peak expiratory flow (PEF). However, few rigorous trials have tested the effects of pharmacopuncture on asthma. The results of our systematic review point to the potential benefits of pharmacopuncture for adults with asthma, and we suggest further RCTs and the development of a standard method of pharmacopuncture therapy.


Seismic refraction method is one of the most popular methods in assessing surface excavation. The main objective of the seismic data acquisition is to delineate the subsurface into velocity profiles as different velocity can be correlated to identify different materials. The physical principal used for the determination of excavatability is that seismic waves travel faster through denser material as compared to less consolidated material. In general, a lower velocity indicates material that is soft and a higher velocity indicates more difficult to be excavated. However, a few researchers have noted that seismic velocity method alone does not correlate well with the excavatability of the material. In this study, a seismic velocity method was used in Nusajaya, Johor to assess the accuracy of this seismic velocity method with excavatability of the weathered sedimentary rock mass. A direct ripping run by monitoring the actual production of ripping has been employed at later stage and compared to the ripper manufacturer's recommendation. This paper presents the findings of the seismic velocity tests in weathered sedimentary area. The reliability of using this method with the actual rippability trials is also presented.


The Thyrotropin receptor (TSHr), like the other members of glycoprotein hormone receptors (GPHR) family (LH/CG and FSH receptors), presents a bipartite structure, with a carboxyl-terminal serpentine region implicated in the transmission of the signal activation and a large extracellular domain (ECD) responsible of the hormone binding with a high affinity. This asks the question of the mechanism implicated in the intra-molecular transduction of the activating signal. The GPHR can be activated by a large diversity of mutations affecting also the ectodomain. Moreover, the TSH receptor can also be activated by autoantibodies from patients with Graves' disease, responsible for hyperthyroidism. The mechanisms implicated into the stimulation by the hormone binding, "gain of function" mutations or by autoantibody from patients with Graves' disease remain unknown. Our study is mainly focusing on the knowledge of these mechanisms of activation.


Human-wildlife conflicts restrict conservation efforts, especially for wide-ranging animals whose home ranges overlap with human activities. We conducted a study to understand conflicts with, and factors influencing the perceived value of an expanding population of onagers (Equus hemionus onager) in local communities in southern Iran. We asked about locals' perceptions of six potential management strategies intended to lessen human-onager conflict. We found that human-onager conflict was restricted to 45% of respondents within the Bahram-e-Goor Protected Area, all of whom were involved in farming or herding activities. Locals within the protected area were more knowledgeable about onagers and valued onagers more than those living outside the protected area. The perceived value of onagers increased with level of education, total annual income, and perceptions of onager population trends; the perceived value of onagers decreased with the magnitude of conflict between onagers and locals. To tolerate or avoid conflicts with onagers, locals were supportive of monetary compensation and changing from a traditional lifestyle to industrialized farming (for farmers) or livestock production (for herders) with the help of government; locals did not support selling land to the government. Our study is among the first in human-wildlife conflict and local attitudes towards an endangered species and its recovery in Iran. We conclude that current levels of human-onager conflict are relatively low and perceived value of onagers is still relatively high. Therefore, wildlife authorities should consider the development of mitigation strategies with local communities before conflicts intensify.


The Yeonhwa I, Yeonhwa II, and Ulchin mines, producing 13.5 million metric tons of ore in the period 1962 to 1981, account for 80 percent of South Korea's Zn and Pb production. These skarn deposits occur in basal Cambrian limestone (locally dolomitic) overlying slate, quartzite, and Precambrian granitic basement, and they are the result of hydrothermal activity associated with felsic calc-alkaline plutonism of Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary age.Skarn at Yeonhwa I consists of pipes of pyroxene (+ or - garnet) at depth branching to veins of rhodocrosite-pyrite near the surface in an area of sparse quartz-porphyry dikes. In contrast, skarns at Yeonhwa II and Ulchin display higher garnet/pyroxene ratios and occur as stratabound lenses and irregular masses at or near contacts with larger bodies of quartz monzonite. Exoskarns are zoned in the sequence garnet-pyroxene-(pyroxenoid)-marble relative to slate-limestone contacts or fissures in limestone. The lack of zoning relative to igneous contacts and the presence of porphyry-limestone contacts without skarn indicate that skarn-forming fluids did not originate from magma at the present level of exposure.Electron microprobe analyses reveal that calc-silicates are notably enriched in Mn and Fe. Garnets are intermediate grandite-andradite with 1 to 5 mole percent spessartine. Calcic rhodonite is characteristic of endoskarns and garnet zones, whereas a more calcic pyroxenoid, manganoan bustamite, occurs in pyroxene skarn. Pyroxenes are manganoan salite-ferrosalite; average Fe/Mn ratio (and mole % hedenbergite) in pyroxene decreases from 5.7 (65%) at Ulchin, to 3.5 (59%) at Yeonhwa II, to 1.6 (30%) at Yeonhwa I. This ratio also decreases with distance from garnet zones and correlates with an increase in Mg, suggesting a progressive depletion of Fe in solution due to precipitation of iron-rich garnet near channelways, and a progressive enrichment in Mg in the fluid as it approached equilibrium with dolomitic wall rocks. Based on this and the geologic setting, Ulchin is the most proximal and Yeonhwa II the most distal skarn in terms of distance from their sources of fluids.Pyrrhotite, accompanied by sphalerite, lesser galena, and minor chalcopyrite, are concentrated in pyroxene zones variably altered to chlorite, Mn-rich clays, calcite, quartz, and fluorite. Pyroxene compositions indicate that the maximum oxidation-sulfidation state that could have been imposed on the ore fluid by early skarn was located near the pyrrhotite-pyrite-magnetite buffer. Only the hedenbergitic skarn at Ulchin lay below this buffer and could have controlled the precipitation of pyrrhotite rather than pyrite. Ulchin also contains the district's highest grades of Pb + Zn in skarn, suggesting that reduction of aqueous sulfate by ferrous iron was an important factor in ore deposition. Later ore fluids, and fluids that reached beyond skarn in the most distal deposit, envolved to higher sulfidation states, as demonstrated by pyrite-rhodochrosite veins that cut skarn and pyrrhotite ore, and by the near-surface pyrite-sphalerite-galena-rhodocrosite veins in limestone overlying skarn pipes at Yeonhwa I.


How do humans respond to their social context? This question is becoming increasingly urgent in a society where democracy requires that the citizens of a country help to decide upon its policy directions, and yet those citizens frequently have very little knowledge of the complex issues that these policies seek to address. Frequently, we find that humans make their decisions more with reference to their social setting, than to the arguments of scientists, academics, and policy makers. It is broadly anticipated that the agent based modelling (ABM) of human behaviour will make it possible to treat such social effects, but we take the position here that a more sophisticated treatment of context will be required in many such models. While notions such as historical context (where the past history of an agent might affect its later actions) and situational context (where the agent will choose a different action in a different situation) abound in ABM scenarios, we will discuss a case of a potentially changing context, where social effects can have a strong influence upon the perceptions of a group of subjects. In particular, we shall discuss a recently reported case where a biased worm in an election debate led to significant distortions in the reports given by participants as to who won the debate (Davis et al 2011). Thus, participants in a different social context drew different conclusions about the perceived winner of the same debate, with associated significant differences among the two groups as to who they would vote for in the coming election. We extend this example to the problem of modelling the likely electoral responses of agents in the context of the climate change debate, and discuss the notion of interference between related questions that might be asked of an agent in a social simulation that was intended to simulate their likely responses. A modelling technology which could account for such strong social contextual effects would benefit regulatory bodies which need to navigate between multiple interests and concerns, and we shall present one viable avenue for constructing such a technology. A geometric approach will be presented, where the internal state of an agent is represented in a vector space, and their social context is naturally modelled as a set of basis states that are chosen with reference to the problem space.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the macular choroidal and scleral changes in tilted disc syndrome (TDS) with staphyloma using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to determine the mechanism of serous retinal detachment (SRD) formation.

METHODS
All eyes underwent fluorescein (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in this retrospective, observational study. Enhanced-depth imaging (EDI) OCT and prototype high-penetration (HP) OCT were used to examine the choroid and sclera, respectively, at the upper and lower optical areas and the subfovea on vertical OCT sections.

RESULTS
Twenty-four eyes with TDS with inferior staphyloma were included. FA showed the macular area with the superior edge of staphyloma had a granular hyperfluorescent pattern and ICGA showed belt-like hypofluorescence. OCT showed SRDs in seven eyes. The mean EDI-OCT choroidal thicknesses in 19 eyes were: upper area, 211 ± 79 μm; subfovea, 153 ± 70 μm; and lower area, 158 ± 42 μm. The mean subfoveal and lower choroid were significantly (P < 0.01 for both) thinner than the upper area. The mean HP-OCT scleral thicknesses in 14 eyes were: upper area, 414 ± 36 μm; subfovea, 493 ± 40 μm; and lower area, 398 ± 83 μm. The subfoveal sclera was significantly (P < 0.01) thicker than the others.

CONCLUSIONS
The subfoveal choroid was relatively thin and the subfoveal sclera thickened in TDS with a staphyloma edge at the macula. The area with retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) atrophy was hyperfluorescent on FA; choriocapillaris occlusion was hypofluorescent on ICGA. Characteristic anatomic subfoveal scleral alterations might lead to a thinner choroid and inhibit chorioscleral outflow; a secondary RPE disorder subsequently could cause SRDs.


Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide .in Iraq Breast cancer ranks first among cancer diagnosed in women, the goal of this study is to bring the lights towards the importance of most common risk factors to reduce the incidence of breast cancer.
Materials and methods: A case control study of breast cancer women who attended oncology unit and Baghdad educational hospital in Baghdad between first of June 2018, and first of September 2018, the  cases were (60) and control (90) all of them use formula that contain (marital status of women, age, occupation, parity, age of first child, age of menarche,  of menopause, smoking, use of contraceptive pills, body mass index, family history of breast cancer) and cases was all had medical records available. We use SPSS version 23. Each parameter is compared separately for statistically significant differences.
Results: In this study show that the mean age of cases (48.30) and the mean of control (34.42) .
And as we show the domiation from house wife with percentage (71%) regarding case but the control also show like this percentage.
The BMI show so close mean between case (28.1) and control (27.07) and has no effect on disesas , the martial status was 84.7% of both cases and control  so no statisticaly significant, the gravity, abortion and breast feeding show no significant differences.
The family history shows highly significant, in case show (24) person from (60) have family member with diseas, most of them have (sister) with BC .
Radiation and smoking show no statistically differences, regarding radiation only 14 women of all sample had exposure to radiation from different source.  The contraceptive show significant differences there is (35) of case from (60) use contraceptive drug they have breast cancer.
Conclusion: The majority of women with breast cancer were had been in the 5th decade
and we show in this study no relation between smoking and BC, women with family history has more risk to have BC. Contraceptive pills is also strong predictor of Breast cancer.


This paper proposes an environment devoted to simulate the use of autonomous systems in the context of space exploratory missions and operations; this research focuses on supporting engineering of autonomous systems and of their innovative artificial intelligences through interoperable simulation. The proposed approach enables also development of training and educational solutions for use of robots and autonomous systems in space critical environments. The paper addresses different application areas including robotic inventory and warehouse solutions, intelligent space guard systems, drones for supporting extravehicular activities and for managing accidents and health emergencies. The paper investigates the potential of autonomous systems as well as their capability to interoperate with other systems and with humans, especially in critical environments. Finally, the paper presents the existing researches for interoperable simulators devoted to address these challenging topics within Simulation Exploratory Experience initiative.


This language course uses liaison interpreting to teach spoken French to advanced students. Designed to provide an alternative to conversation classes, it is a highly effective aid to language acquisition and consolidation. Interpreting French will improve students' confidence in speaking and discussing a wide variety of contemporary topics. Students learn a range of transferable skills including: * oral proficiency in French and English * presentation skills * linguistic flexibility * cross-cultural awareness. Interpreting French is ideal for those who have not taught interpreting before. The pack includes: * A Tutor's Book: how to make lessons a success, with notes on class design, preparation, feedback and assessment * Student Handouts: a wealth of photocopiable resources for use in and outside the classroom * Audio Cassettes: six hours of dialogues for practice and revision.


The aim of this text is the formulation, mathematical study and numerical treatment of static and dynamic problems in mechanical and engineering sciences involving nonconvex and nonsmooth energy functions, or nonmonotone and multivalued stress-strain laws. Such problems lead to a new type of variational forms, the hemivariational inequalities, which also lead to multivalued differential or integral equations. Innovative numerical methods are presented for the treatment of realistic engineering problems. The text deals with the variational theory of engineering problems involving nonmonotone multivalue relations, their mechanical foundation, their mathematical study (existence and certain approximation results) and the corresponding eigenvalue and optimal control problems. All the numerical applications give innovative answers to as yet unsolved or partially solved engineering problems, such as the adhesive contact in cracks, the delamination problem, the sawtooth stress-strain laws in composites, the shear connectors in composite beams, the semirigid connections in steel structures, the adhesive grasping in robotics, etc. The book closes with a consideration of hemivariational inequalities for fractal type geometries and with the neural network approach to the numerical treatment of hemivariational inequalities.


Summary Autobiographical memories are a key component of our identity. Here, in the light of Cuervo-Lombard and colleagues' paper in this issue, we review impairments in autobiographical memory in schizophrenia and the association between autobiographical memory and outcome in the disorder. We also discuss whether these deficits are specific to schizophrenia and a possible link with traumatic events.


We investigate a framework of the cooperative quantum teleportation (CQT) based on non-maximally entangled state basis (NB) measurements, instead of maximally entangled state basis (MB) measurements. It is implemented with two consecutive conventional (or direct) quantum telportations (DQT), where unknown quantum states can be transmitted in a point-to-point fashion. The security is based on the quantum-mechanical impossibility of local unitary transformations between non-maximally entangled states. It shows that the CQT can enhance the successful transmissions by self-correcting the errors introduced in the dual-teleportations.


The author describes approaches to utilization management and the growth of this segment of the health care industry. Issues posed for the mental health field by introducing a third party as the arbiter of care include professional uncertainty and the discretionary behavior of practitioners and third parties, the availability of clinically appropriate alternative services, shifting of costs between the public and private sectors, safeguarding privacy, accountability and the integrity of the review process, financial risk versus professional responsibility, and the impact of utilization management on the outcome of care.


The aim of this work was to study the cloning and characterization of HMW-GS 1Dx2 promoter from Triticum aestivum. A 1050 bp partial promoter fragment including a putative TATA box and 5' encoding sequence of the gene was cloned by amplifying the upstream sequences using the nest-PCR with appropriate primers. The analysis of the promoter sequence against the PLACE (Plant cis-acting Regulatory DNA Elements) database showed the presence of certain putative endosperm-specific regulatory cis-elements in the sequence along with the TATA and CAAT boxes. The histochemical method detected the transient expressions of GUS in the seeds of wheat. The results showed that HMW-GS 1Dx2 promoter had the endosperm-specific transcription activity in the wheat seeds.


The clustering of cardiovascular risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes suggests central mechanisms may exist that account for the presence of these abnormalities. Likewise, this clustering also suggests that key therapeutic targets may exist that could allow improvements in many of these parameters. Extensive data implicate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARα) as an important transcriptional regulator of lipid metabolism, energy balance and inflammation. PPARα is also an established drug target. Experimental data show that activation of PPARα by agonists such as fenofibrate improves dyslipidaemia, increases cholesterol efflux and limits inflammation. All of these effects would also be predicted to decrease atherosclerotic risk. Evidence from surrogate markers in humans is also supportive of the concept that PPARα may act as a central target capable of influencing a variety of different pathways involved in lipid metabolism. Thus, fenofibrate offers the potential for inducing a co-ordinated PPARα response that may improve dyslipidaemia, repress inflammation and limit atherosclerosis in patients with the metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes.


This paper extends the work of Bracco and Pedlosky (2003) investigating the eddy formation mechanism in the eastern Labrador Sea by including a more realistic depiction of the boundary current. The quasigeostrophic model consists of a meridional, coastally-trapped current with three vertical layers. The current configuration and topographic domain are chosen to match as closely as possible the observations of the boundary current and the varying topographic slope along the West Greenland coast. The role played by the bottom-intensified component of the boundary current on the formation of the Labrador Sea "Irminger Rings" is explored. Consistent with the earlier study, a short, localized bottom-trapped wave is responsible for most of the perturbation energy growth. However, in order for the instability to occur in the three-layer model the deepest component of the boundary current must be sufficiently strong, highlighting the importance of the near-bottom flow. The model is able to reproduce important features of the observed vortices in the eastern Labrador Sea, including the polarity, radius, rate of formation and vertical structure. At the time of formation the eddies have a surface signature as well as a strong circulation at depth, possibly allowing for the transport of both surface and near-bottom water from the boundary current into the interior basin. This work also supports the idea that changes in the current structure could be responsible for the observed interannual variability in the number of Irminger Rings formed.


This paper presents a model-based prognosis method for hybrid
systems i.e. that have both discrete and continuous behaviors.
The current state of the hybrid system is estimated
by a diagnosis process and the prognosis process uses this
state estimation to predict the future states and to determine
the end of life (EOL) or the remaining useful life (RUL) of
the system. The Hybrid Particle Petri Nets (HPPN) formalism
is used to model the hybrid system behavior and degradation.
A HPPN-based diagnoser has already been defined to
provide a current state estimation that takes uncertainty about
the system model and observations into account. We propose
to generate a prognoser from the HPPN model of the system.
This prognoser is initialized and updated with the result of the
HPPN-based diagnoser. It computes a distribution of beliefs
over the future mode trajectories of the system and predicts
the system RUL/EOL. The prognosis methodology is demonstrated
on a three tanks example.


M-PESA is a cellphone-based money transfer system which has been storied globally as a success in the Kenyan context. Our goal in this article is not to confirm or deny its success, nor is it to provide factual evidence of everyday actualities of M-PESA use in Kenya or elsewhere. Instead, our study focuses on how the marketing platforms provide discursive entry points for particular marginalized user-subject positions in the global staging of labor and consumption while contributing to a paradigm shift in information communication and technology for development (ICT4D) programs. Upon examination of much of the marketing material online for the Kenyan M-PESA model, we note that a key feature of promotional strategy is to highlight leisure and empowerment through the convenient use of mobile money tools. In this article, we examine leisurely exchange as part of the overall marketing of M-PESA in global ICT4D 2.0 (Heeks, 2009) cultures. We show how this happens by examining the online communication practices of social media participation on M-PESA-related YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter sites. We examine the role of marketing strategies using digital social space to build leisure networks by encouraging consumer participation. To this end we draw on select social media and visual texts to provide evidence for our analysis.


Metastatic breast carcinoma is rarely seen in clinical practice. It has been reported that lymphoma-leukemia, melanoma and sarcomas can metastasize to the breast. Bilateral metastases to the breast are rare and commonly have been seen to originate from ovarian carcinoma. Adenocarcinoma of rectum metastasizing to breast is an extremely rare clinico-pathological situation. We report a 28-year-old female who presented with bilateral breast metastasis 9 months after abdomino-perineal resection and total meso-rectal excision for a locally advanced mucinous adenocarcinoma of the rectum. A few case reports of a mucinous adenocarcinoma of rectum presenting with bilateral breast metastasis have been seen in the world literature and we hereby report this case who till now is the youngest patient reported.


Abstract Background: The use of aripiprazole has been associated with a positive influence on mood and improved cognitive skills and social interactions; however, studies of its effects on young schizophrenic patients have been limited to active symptoms. Aims: This prospective, open-label study investigated the neurocognitive effects of aripiprazole in adolescents and young adults with first and repeated episodes of schizophrenia. Methods: Twenty-three of 42 schizophrenic outpatients aged 12–26 completed a trial of aripiprazole, and its efficacy was determined using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impressions Severity (CGI-S) and WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL) scales. Cognitive function was measured with the Cognitive Performance Test (CPT) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) at 4, 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. Results: Results showed statistically significant improvements in BPRS, CGI-S and WHOQOL scores in certain (but not all) subcategories of cognitive measures including CPT detectability and total errors and perseverative errors on the WCST. There were few adverse side-effects. Conclusions: Psychotic symptoms and cognitive skills improved during treatment with aripiprazole in adolescents and young adults with schizophrenia. Patients with first psychotic episodes did better than did those with repeat episodes.


The dynamics of singlet fission (SF) are studied in monoclinic and orthorhombic crystals of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene. Picosecond time-resolved fluorescence measurements and the presence of a strong magnetic field effect indicate that up to 90% of the initially excited singlets undergo SF in both forms. The initial SF and subsequent triplet pair dissociation rates are found to be more rapid in the monoclinic crystal by factors of 1.5 and 3.5, respectively. These results provide clear evidence that molecular organization affects the rates of triplet pair formation and separation, both important parameters for determining the ultimate utility of a SF material.


Using a calibrated, solid-state, soft x-ray detector, the electron temperature and density have been measured over a wide range of operating conditions of ELMO Bumpy Torus (EBT). The empirical relations of the temperature or the density to the microwave power and the ambient pressure have been determined. The toroidally stored energy has been observed to increase as the stored energy of the hot electron annulus increases. The energy confinement time has been obtained for various plasma parameters and has been found to agree with the neoclassical theory. The advantages of EBT collisionless scaling for fusion plasma confinement have been noted, i.e., neTE increases as Te1.5 in the collisionless regime.


A general theory of mode combination is developed for structural systems subjected to stationary stochastic excitation. The analysis begins with a brief review of a mode combination expression for first-order systems. Then, new fundamental properties of this result are developed. These properties are used to establish common analytical foundations and make new extensions of previously developed mode combination results for under-critically damped, classically damped, cascaded and non-linear structures. In the second part of the paper, an efficient and general mode combination method is developed for cascaded structures. It is shown how the unified mathematical framework established herein can be applied to cascaded structures composed of different types of substructures without the need to derive separate mode combination expressions.


We investigated ion transport limitations on 3D graphite felt electrodes by growing Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms with advection to eliminate external mass transfer limitations. We characterized ion transport limitations by: (i) showing that serially increasing NaCl concentration up to 200 mM increased current linearly up to a total of +273% vs. 0 mM NaCl under advective conditions; (ii) growing the biofilm with a starting concentration of 200 mM NaCl, which led to a maximum current increase of 400% vs. current generation without NaCl, and (iii) showing that un‐colonized surface area remained even after steady‐state current was reached. After accounting for iR effects, we confirmed that the excess surface area existed despite a non‐zero overpotential. The fact that the biofilm was constrained from colonizing and producing further current under these conditions confirmed the biofilms under study here were ion transport‐limited. Our work demonstrates that the use of high surface area electrodes may not increase current density when the system design allows ion transport limitations to become dominant. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2015;112: 858–866. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This study aiming to determine the frequency of use of words in the narrative texts in which the best examples of standard language use are displayed ranks 268 stories compiled from the prominent names of Turkish story-writing. Frequency analyses were made on a corpus of approximately 450 thousand words and the frequency of use of words were tried to be listed according to their lexical categories. The words ranking at a certain percentage (about 2%-4%) were scored. It was observed that general words and grammatically functional words had higher frequencies, and the wordswere used with their antonyms. In terms of Turkish, categorization of words according to their positions in the sentence and their affixations, possible categorization of words in more than one lexical category, and variable meanings which homonyms gain in context were found as the most significant problems in frequency analysis and corpus formation.


Since 1928, hemagglutinins have been known to exist in saliva; however, they have not been utilized as evidence in criminal investigations because in the past, techniques for measuring them have not been sufficiently sensitive. In this paper we describe improved techniques for detecting salivary hemagglutinins and report initial results obtained with these methods. The stability of salivary hemagglutinins at several different temperatures was examined in liquid samples and in dried stains on filter paper, cigarette butts, and envelope flaps. Our observations indicate that salivary hemagglutinins may be sufficiently stable, over periods of one to several days at ambient room temperatures, to be of value to forensic science investigators. The results of the hemagglutinin assay are not affected by the age or sex of the sample donor. Because salivary hemagglutinins can be used to determine ABO blood type, analyses of this kind can serve as an important confirmatory test which the forensic serologist can use in conjunction with salivary agglutinogen determinations.


Reversing cisplatin resistance of lung cancer cell line A549/DDP through recovering cadherin 13 (CDH13) expression by demethylation was investigated in the current study. RT-PCR was used to measure CDH13 expression in lung cancer A549 and A549/DDP cells with or without 5-Aza-CdR intervention. Methylation-specific PCR was used to detect CDH13 methylation. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to measure the effects of cisplatin on inhibiting cell proliferation, apoptosis, and the reversal of cisplatin resistance. The IC50 value of cisplatin for A549 and A549/DDP cells was 3.278±0.532 and 28.341±1.435 µmol/l, respectively (P<0.05). The cisplatin-resistance index of A549/DDP cells was up to 8.65. After 2.5, 10, or 40 µmol/l 5-Aza-CdR treatment, the apoptotic rates of A549/DDP cells were 9.4±0.86, 18.1±1.42 and 42±2.01%, respectively, which were significantly different to those of the control group (P<0.05). Methylation-specific PCR detected both methylation (M) and unmethylation (U) bands at CDH13 promoter region before 5-Aza-CdR intervention while it only detected an unmethylation band after the treatment with a higher concentration of 5-Aza-CdR, which indicates the transformation to unmethylation state. When 10 µmol/l 5-Aza-CdR was added, the IC50 of cisplatin to A549/DDP cells was 8.472±0.415 µmol/l, and cisplatin resistance was reversed by 3.35-fold. CDH13 methylation is related to the cisplatin resistance of A549/DDP cells. 5-Aza-CdR can inhibit CDH13 methylation and recover CDH13 expression. With the increase in 5-Aza-CdR concentration, the unmethylation state of CDH13 is enhanced, which can strengthen the function of cisplatin inhibiting proliferation and apoptosis in A549/DDP cells.


Modern risk-oriented management of electric power system requires the definition of risk as an integral operation index that allows to reliably characterize the power system state. Assessment of the power system state is performed under a significant number of technical and operational uncertainties. The approach to the analytical determination of the fault risk in the electric power system without regular probabilistic and statistical modeling using the Monte Carlo method was proposed. The developed risk assessment method lies in determining, based on a one-time probabilistic-statistical modeling, analytical expression, which allows to reliably perform a rapid assessment of the fault risk in the power system based only on the equipment state characteristics and power system prefault parameters. Based on the developed method, the algorithm of the rapid risk assessment of dynamic instability in the power system was determined. The proposed algorithm allows to obtain an analytical expression for the fault risk in the power system as a polynomial dependence. In this interpretation, the risk is a function of the technical state of the power system elements and prefault conditions. Using the developed algorithm, risk assessment of dynamic instability in the test circuit of the power system was carried out.


Recent discussions of the 'geography of gentrification' highlight the need for comparative analysis of the nature and consequences of inner-city transformation. In this paper, the authors map the effects of housing-market and policy changes in the 1990s, focusing on 23 large cities in the USA. Using evidence from field surveys and a mortgage-lending database, they measure the class selectivity of gentrification and its relation to processes of racial and ethnic discrimination. They find a strong resurgence of capital investment in the urban core, along with magnified class segregation. The boom of the 1990s and policies targeted towards 'new markets' narrowed certain types of racial and ethnic disparities in urban credit markets, but there is evidence of intensified discrimination and exclusion in gentrified neighborhoods.


We investigate the incentive issues that surround the adoption and sharing of electronic health records (EHR) and the potential role of a personal health record (PHR) platform in facilitating data sharing. Through our analysis, we find evidence that health care providers may not have an incentive to share patients' records electronically even though EHR systems will increase consumer surplus, especially in the presence of provider heterogeneity and myopic consumers. In this context, we find that an independent PHR platform can create incentives for the providers to share their patients' records electronically with other providers by selectively subsidizing them. In a pluralistic health care system like that in the United States, where health care providers have varying incentives to implement electronic health records, an online PHR platform can provide a proxy for a 'national health information network' wherein consumers can freely exchange their health records among competing providers.


In December 2019 and January 2020, novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) - infected pneumonia (NCIP) occurred in Wuhan, and has already posed a serious threat to public health. ACE2 (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2) has been shown to be one of the major receptors that mediate the entry of 2019-nCoV into human cells, which also happens in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS). Several researches have indicated that some patients have abnormal renal function or even kidney damage in addition to injury in respiratory system, and the related mechanism is unknown. This arouses our interest in whether coronavirus infection will affect the urinary and male reproductive systems. Here in this study, we used the online datasets to analyze ACE2 expression in different human organs. The results indicate that ACE2 highly expresses in renal tubular cells, Leydig cells and cells in seminiferous ducts in testis. Therefore, virus might directly bind to such ACE2 positive cells and damage the kidney and testicular tissue of patients. Our results indicate that renal function evaluation and special care should be performed in 2019-nCoV patients during clinical work, because of the kidney damage caused by virus and antiviral drugs with certain renal toxicity. In addition, due to the potential pathogenicity of the virus to testicular tissues, clinicians should pay attention to the risk of testicular lesions in patients during hospitalization and later clinical follow-up, especially the assessment and appropriate intervention in young patients' fertility.


Background: The classification of the Poaceae family has changed over the years, due to the knowledge evolution, the use of different techniques and theoretical approaches and the technological advances. Important sources of taxonomic information on grasses are still their morphology and anatomy. However, in the past 20 years, molecular work seeking to infer the phylogeny of different taxa has dominated the Systematics of the Poaceae. This knowledge trend has resulted in changes and rearrangements at all taxonomic levels. Objective: To carry out the review and comprehensive updating of the taxonomic and geographic information of the Poaceae of Mexico, including the species checklist, highlighting the native, introduced and endemic taxa, as well as, the achievements obtained and the future research challenges.Methods: The main reference used was the work of Dávila et al. (2006). We also undertook a thorough revision of the available specialized literature since 2006 and the nomenclatural and taxonomic databases. This work also included the specimens' revision from 29 different herbaria that were consulted between 2006-2017. The species checklist follows the classification of Soreng et al. (2015).Results: The grasses recorded in the country belong to 11 subfamilies, 205 genera, 1,216 species and 207 infraspecific categories. A species alphabetical list is included, highlighting the introduced and endemic taxa. In addition, the species distribution, at the state level, is also presented. Also data regarding the achievements obtained and the challenges for the coming years, is included.


A study of the sizes of so-called polonium radiohalos of various types found in biotite from Bancroft, Ontario, has been carried out. The evidence is consistent with the interpretation that these halos are variants of the standard uranium halos. A review of the literature indicates that there is no firm evidence that polonium halos exist, all evidence being equally consistent with the interpretation that these are uranium halos.


BACKGROUND
Intravenous (IV) acetaminophen provides rapid and effective analgesia in the postoperative and inpatient settings. The utility and efficacy of acetaminophen is well established; however, due to chronic excessive dosing of over-the-counter acetaminophen products and prescription opioid combination products resulting in the potential for hepatic toxicity, concerns remain about acetaminophen safety. In order to evaluate the safety of IV acetaminophen 1,000mg q6h or 650mg q4h with repeated dosing for 5 days, a randomized, open-label study assessed the safety and tolerability of repeated doses used to treat acute pain or fever in 213 adult inpatients was conducted.

METHODS
Subjects were randomized (3:3:1) to receive IV acetaminophen (1,000mg q6h or 650mg q4h) or standard-of-care treatment for pain or fever. Safety was assessed according to spontaneous reports of adverse events (AEs) and clinically meaningful changes from baseline laboratory parameters.

RESULTS
Overall, IV acetaminophen was shown to be safe and well tolerated in adult inpatients when given as repeated doses for up to 5 days. Owing to the comorbidities in the study population, the frequency of AEs reported was high. However, the majority of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were unrelated to treatment, and only 8% of the study population withdrew because of TEAEs. No major hepatic issues associated with IV acetaminophen warranted concern, and most hepatic events were likely related to underlying medical conditions or recent trauma/surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
Consistent with the tolerability and safety results, both treatment groups (1,000mg q6h and 650mg q4h) demonstrated statistically significantly better ratings for the Subject Global Evaluations for the level of satisfaction with side effects related to study treatments as compared with the control group. The findings from this trial support the use of IV acetaminophen as a safe therapy in adult patients.


ABSTRACTHate speech is a special term for criminal offenses such as hate expression, incitement, libel and defamation on behalf of race, ethnicity, religion, class or gender. That action is flare in public communication, especially in the Internet media. Although there have been various regulations governing, countermeasures against hate speech is not maximized. It could not be separated from the difficulty of determining the boundaries of hate speech with freedom of expression. This study aims to answer these problems in the perspective of Islamic law. The theory used is takzir and Maqasidu al-Syari'ah. The results of this study illustrate that the hate speech is a criminal offense punishable takzir and require a social approach in overcoming it. In the formulation of Islamic law, definition of hate speech is taken from the Korans argument that protect human rights in order to be limiting freedom of expression. Keywords: Speech, Hate, Law, Islam


I study a mechanism design problem of allocating a single good to one of several agents. The mechanism is followed by an aftermarket, that is, a post-mechanism game played between the agent who acquired the good and a third-party market participant. The designer has preferences over final outcomes, but she cannot redesign the aftermarket. However, she can influence its information structure by disclosing information elicited by the mechanism, subject to providing incentives for agents to report truthfully.A companion paper (Dworczak, 2016) introduces a class of cutoff mechanisms, characterizes their properties, and derives the optimal mechanism within the class. In this paper, under the assumption that the aftermarket payoffs are determined by a binary decision of the third party, I provide sufficient conditions for optimality of cutoff mechanisms.I also analyze a version of the model in which cutoff mechanisms are sometimes suboptimal. I derive robust payoff bounds on their performance, and show that by using a cutoff mechanism the designer can often guarantee a large fraction of the payoff of the optimal (non-cutoff) mechanism.


RESEARCH PROBLEM: While the intended goals of Mixed Income Housing (MIH) are unquestionable as a means of deconcentrating poverty, encourage social and racial integration there is still persistence of NIMBY-ism due to the purported house-price lowering effects. The problem is that the negativeperceptions that often lead to resistance of MIH are largely based on heuristic judgments, with no solid evidence of the purported negative impacts in the case of South Africa. Compared to the developed world, the nature of research in South Africa has largely been descriptive and desktop analysis hence guidelines on MIH is to the bare minimum.METHODOLOGY: An explorative hedonic model was used to analyse the price elasticities associated with house price determinant variables of the Randburg area that received Cosmo City MIH.FINDING: There is an overall negative impact on house prices across six out of seven suburbs close to Cosmo City. This confirms the hypothesis that a typical MIH in South Africa is not viewed favourably despite all its highlighted benefits for residential markets.CONTRIBUTION: This study is part of a broader on going PhD research study at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. It provides an empirical insight on how market perceived Inclusionary Housing (IHP) in a South African market. Upgrading infrastructure, amenities and security are some of the policy implications that could reverse the impact of such models in the future.


Since 1983, the number of legal abortions reported to CDC increased by 5% to 1,333,521 in 1984; in 1985, that number decreased by less than 1% to 1,328,570. The national abortion rate was the same for both years-24 per 1,000 females ages 15-44 years. The abortion ratio for 1984 was 364 legally induced abortions per 1,000 live births; the ratio for 1985 was 354 per 1,000. Abortion ratios were higher among women of black and other minority races and among women younger than 15 years of age. Women undergoing legally induced abortions tended 1) to be young, white, and unmarried, 2) to have had no previous live births, and 3) to be having the procedure for the first time. Curettage was the procedure used in 96% of the reported cases. Eleven deaths were associated with legally induced abortions in 1984, and six in 1985. The case-fatality rate in 1985 was 0.5 deaths per 100,000 legally induced abortions, down from the 0.8 per 100,000 reported in 1983 and 1984. Overall, since 1980, the numbers and rates of abortion have had only slight year-to-year fluctuations. The steady increase in the percentage of repeat abortions since 1972 reflects the ongoing availability of legal abortions. Since the beginning of CDC's abortion mortality surveillance, the number of deaths related to legal abortions has decreased 75%, from 24 deaths in 1972 to six deaths in 1985.


Context. For computer modeling of complex objects and phenomena of various nature, in practice, the numerical finite element method is often used. Its software implementation (especially for the study of new classes of problems) is a rather laborious process. The high cost of software development makes the development of new approaches to improving the efficiency of programming and maintenance (including the addition of new functions) urgent.
Objective. The aim of the work is to create a new effective architecture of programs for finite element analysis of problems in mathematical physics, which makes it easy to expand their functionality to solve new classes of problems.
Method. A method for developing programs for finite element analysis using generalized programming is proposed, which makes it possible to significantly simplify the architecture of the software and make it more convenient for maintenance and modification by separating algorithms and data structures.
A new architecture of classes that implement finite element calculation is proposed, which makes it possible to easily expand the functionality of programs by adding new types of finite elements, methods for solving systems of linear algebraic equations, parallel computations, etc.
Results. The proposed approach was implemented in software as a class library in C ++. A number of computational experiments have been carried out, which have confirmed its efficiency in solving practical problems.
Conclusions. The developed approach can be used both to create general-purpose finite element analysis systems with an open architecture, and to implement specialized software packages focused on solving specific classes of problems (fracture mechanics, elastomers, contact interaction, etc.).


Nailfold capillary microscopy examination has been used since late 1950s as a non-invasive in-vivo technique for diagnosing and monitoring connective tissue disease in adults. Disorders such as Primary Raynaud's phenomenon, progressive systemic sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis were detected in more than 80% of adult patients, by analyzing such high resolution images. Internet computing and grid technologies have changed the way we tackle complex scientific problems. Grid computing environments are characterized by interconnecting a number of heterogeneous resources in geographically distributed domains. They enable large-scale aggregation and sharing of computational, data and other resources across institutional boundaries. In this paper, we discuss and develop a framework for nailfold capillary microscope image acquisition and analysis, using computational power provided by grid platforms. In this way, not only useful medical information can be extracted from large amount of history anamneses in an efficient way, with the use of a number of adequate techniques and methods in high performance computing, but also to diagnose abnormal nailfold capillary in far shorter time, to diagnose patient's disease in real-time basis. Based on the results of the classification, analysis of history anamneses are done to discover updated health information possibly hidden in patients' medical records.


The root lesion nematode, Pratylenchus spp., has a wide host range affecting many economically important crops (Castillo and Vovlas 2007). Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food crop in several countries, commonly used for the material of bioethanol, animal feed, and starch extraction (Howeler 2014). Soil samples were collected from a mono-cropping cassava farm located in the Houbi district, Tainan city, in Southern Taiwan in October 2021 in a routine soil survey, and there is no obvious above ground symptoms. The cassava is a local cultivar, the sampled tuber did not have lesions, but small brown lesions were present on the roots. Nematodes were extracted using the modified Baermann funnel method (Tsay et al. 2004) for 24 h. Root lesion nematodes were the dominant genera in this sample, containing over 20 individuals per 100 cm3 of soil. Females of the root lesion nematodes were picked, and surface-sterilized with 2000 ppm malachite green for 30 sec and streptomycin for 30 mins. After sterilization, a single female was transferred onto the carrot discs to establish a pure line (Coyne et al. 2014). After 2 months, nematodes were extracted from that pure culture for morphometric, molecular identification, and pathogenicity tests. The female has a moderately slender body, a low and flat lip region, a sclerotized head frame, and a short ventral overlap of the esophagus, monovarial, prodelphic, and post-uterine sac. The tail is conical and the tip is rounded or flattened. The body measures of 20 females were: body length 564.43 μm (511 to 619 μm), stylet length 18.64 μm (18.1 to 19.5 μm), tail length 32.43 μm (27.1 to 38.5 μm), post uterine sac length 12.79 μm (9.41 to 16.9 μm), and V value 85.16% (84.1 to 86.6%). Values of a, b, c, and c' ratios were 22.32 (18.9 to 26.1), 6.11 (5.36 to 6.73), 17.55 (13.8 to 20.5), and 1.18 (0.92 to 1.5), respectively. All morphometric data were similar to the previous description of P. brachyurus (Castillo and Volvlas 2007). DNA was extracted from three nematodes of the pure cultures using Viagen DirectPCR lysis buffer, and used for PCR amplification of the 18S rRNA fragment and the D2-D3 expansion segment of 28S rRNA using primer sets D2A/D3B and 988F/2646R, respectively (Holterman et al. 2006; Subbotin et al. 2006). The sequence of 18S ribosomal RNA (OP020594) shared 99% similarity with the P. brachyurus sequence deposited in the GenBank database (KY424148), and the sequence of 28S rRNA (OP020593) also shared 99% similarity with several P. brachyurus sequences (e.g. KF712473, MG745329). Bayesian consensus trees, constructed from both 18S and 28S sequences revealed that the nematodes collected in this study are clustered together with P. brachyurus sequences from other countries(Subbotin, et al. 2008). Therefore, the nematodes collected from cassava were identified as P. brachyurus based on morphology, molecular data, and phylogenetic relationship. To determine the pathogenicity, three eight-week-old cassava plants (cv. TMS 60444) were planted in 12-cm-diameter pots filled with 600 cm3 of sterile peat moss: sand (1:1, W: W) and inoculated with 50 nematodes containing different stages. Two plants treated with water were used as the mock control. Seventy-five days after inoculation, nematodes in the soil were recovered using the modified Baermann funnel method for 24 h, and the nematodes inside the root were stained with acid fuchsin. The average reproduction factor (final population/initial population) was 3.93, thus confirming cassava as a host of P. brachyurus. P. brachyurus was previously reported on peanuts and bananas in Taiwan, and wasn't a dominant species in the field. Finding this nematode on this cassava farm suggests this nematode might have a wider distribution than expected.


The gold mining sector in Ghana contributes substantially to the socio-economic development of the country. Unfortunately, gold mining also causes severe environmental and social problems such as ecosystem degradation that affects the livelihoods of farmers. According to Ghana's laws, mining companies are obliged to reclaim mined-out areas and make them safe for crop production. Currently, over 1 million ha of mined land have been reclaimed and handed back to the previous land users. However, some farmers seem reluctant to cultivate these reclaimed areas. To get an insight in how successful these reclamation activities are in practice, 20 farmers that are currently farming on reclaimed mined-out areas by the gold mine company "Managing Gods' Resources Limited" in Akyem Adukrom were interviewed about their experience and perception of cultivating the same area before mining and after reclamation and their involvement in the reclamation process. The result strongly indicated that even though in a few cases some crops seemed to be doing better on reclaimed areas than before mining, the reclaimed areas are not as fertile and productive as they were before mining. However, 16 farmers stated that reclaimed areas were as fertile as they were before mining and would recommend the cultivation of such lands to other farmers. The study indicated that some farmers were suffering from significant loss in yield but not all of them stated that to be a problem. The four farmers who perceived reclaimed lands to be contaminated and infertile, accounting for poor yields, were all part of the same cluster within the reclaimed area. None of the farmers was involved in the reclamation process. The results showed that the method applied in this study seems to be highly useful to monitor how successful the restoration activities are in practice and how the procedure can be improved further in order to secure as successful outcomes as possible. Land Restoration Training Programme Keldnaholt, 112 Reykjavik, Iceland UNU Land Restoration Training Programme ii


This study entitled Maqasid Shariahs View and Its Solution on Foreign Debt in Indonesia, aims to know the concept of debt from Islamic perspective and to analyze current issues foreign debt in Indonesia. Since economic crisis happened in European countries,Indonesia needs to be more careful in considering the impacts of the crisis. One of the causes was because of the high level of interest of the debts. It made most of crisis happened in many countries hard to pay back their debts. Therefore, it is needed to know how Islamic principles see the concept of debt and give the solution to the problem of debt by using Maqasid's approach. It can give comprehensive solution to the debt because it covers five dimensions: religion, self, intellect, family and wealth, which are very important in human life to attain the happiness and welfare on earth. The study will conclude with some suggestions for future research.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Career satisfaction among family physicians has declined over the last 15 years. The purpose of this study was to determine what aspects of residency training are associated with family medicine career satisfaction in recent graduates.

METHODS
This was a cross-sectional national survey of 1000 family physicians who graduated within the last 10 years. Questions were primarily Likert type. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify retained factors. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to identify residency characteristics, demographics, and current work characteristics that were associated with career satisfaction.

RESULTS
The response rate was 55.8% (558/1000). Exploratory factor analysis found three factors that explained the majority of the variance in career satisfaction: overall work life, rigorous residency training, and demographic factors. Many features of residency training were associated with career satisfaction on bivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis found that training that was exceptionally broad and in-depth was independently associated with career satisfaction. The factors with the largest association with career satisfaction were medical career satisfaction and current work satisfaction.

DISCUSSION
Our findings suggest that residency education that was broad and in-depth was associated with early family medicine career satisfaction. This construct reflected rigorous training that included hands-on procedural experience, breadth of experiences with patients and illness, and care for complex hospitalized patients.


The parent instincts male burying beetles, Nicrophorus spp. are put under doubt when, conspecific females invade on a substratum prepared for oviposition. Though females provide males with padding possibilities of pairing, they put under threat a survival of the male's brood of "parent". To research sexual answer of the parent's males to females, which invade in their nests, we added the virginal beetles (female) to nest conspecific a steam, which already have initiated to care of descendants. Half of the females (invader) were inseminated by males the parents in trials, with Nicrophorus humator (Gleditsch, 1767). In work the author reduces the experimental data obtained during laboratory learning of genesial cycle and the sexual ratioes for the beetles of a genus Nicrophorus Kirby Nicrophorus humator. Extra-pair copulations for Coleoptera are poorly investigated. In work this act for N. humator for the first time is featured. In work we shall try to give an explanation to the obtained outcomes. Keywords: Extra-Pair Copulations, Nicrophorus humator (Gleditsch, 1767), Parental Care, Brood-Care Behavior, Burying Beetles


Superhydrophobic surfaces are receiving increasing attention due to the enhanced condensation heat transfer, self-cleaning, and anti-icing properties by easing droplet self-removal. Despite the extensive research carried out on this topic, the presence or absence of microstructures on droplet adhesion during condensation has not been fully addressed yet. In this work we, therefore, study the condensation behavior on engineered superhydrophobic copper oxide surfaces with different structural finishes. More specifically, we investigate the coalescence-induced droplet-jumping performance on superhydrophobic surfaces with structures varying from the micro- to the nanoscale. The different structural roughness is possible due to the specific etching parameters adopted during the facile low-cost dual-scale fabrication process. A custom-built optical microscopy setup inside a temperature and relative humidity controlled environmental chamber was used for the experimental observations. By varying the structural roughness, from the micro- to the nanoscale, important differences on the number of droplets involved in the jumps, on the frequency of the jumps, and on the size distribution of the jumping droplets were found. In the absence of microstructures, we report an enhancement of the droplet-jumping performance of small droplets with sizes in the same order of magnitude as the microstructures. Microstructures induce further droplet adhesion, act as a structural barrier for the coalescence between droplets growing on the same microstructure, and cause the droplet angular deviation from the main surface normal. As a consequence, upon coalescence, there is a decrease in the net momentum in the out-of-plane direction, and the jump does not ensue. We demonstrate that the absence of microstructures has therefore a positive impact on the coalescence-induced droplet-jumping of micrometer droplets for antifogging, anti-icing, and condensation heat transfer applications.


Recently it is observed that there is an increasing trend of using lidar point clouds in construction, since lidar is able to provide highly accurate 3dimensional representations of objects. The flip side of a lidar point cloud is its massive size and therefore prolonged time for data processing. Our research aims to develop an efficient framework for as-built modelling in terms of time, cost and performance. For this, we collected lidar point clouds using two different data collection methods (i.e. mobile and terrestrial lidar systems with a few centimetre level accuracy) and constructed solid 3-dimensional models of a building. The procedures of creating asbuilt models from both data acquisition methods are compared to understand the capability of each for automatic building information modelling. In order to create as-built models, a framework consisting of eight key stages from data capturing to constructing the building information model is developed. It was found that the framework using mobile lidar enables contractors to create as-built models for complex objects in a timely manner, whereas the framework using terrestrial lidar provides us with more accurate as-built information models. The implementation results of the two frameworks using mobile and terrestrial lidar systems vary between 5-30 mm and 1-45 mm, respectively. It is anticipated that the proposed study becomes a step forward to full automation of lidar-based building information modelling.


Abstract Sufficiency, conditionality, and invariance are basic principles of statistical inference. Current mathematical statistics courses do not devote much teaching time to these classical principles, and even ignore the latter two, in order to teach modern methods. However, being the philosophical cornerstones of statistical inference, a minimal understanding of these principles should be part of any curriculum in statistics. The scaled uniform model is used here to demonstrate the importance and usefulness of the conditionality principle, which is probably the most basic and less familiar among the three.


Phenacoccus solenopsis is an aggressively invasive species on cotton plants in several countries. Hence, the pesticidal effect of copper nanoparticles synthesized from leaf extract of Prosopis juliflora (Sw) DC and Pluchea sericea (Nutt.) against P. solenopsis was investigated. The results showed that the Cu-nanoparticles (Cu-NPs) obtained from P. juliflora and P. sericea averaged 33.8 and 68.10 nm, respectively. The high stability for both synthetized Cu-NPs was indicated for their zeta potential (-69.7 mV for P. juliflora and -53.9 mV for P. sericea ). Both nanoparticles showed significant toxicity to P. solenopsis after 96 hours. Mortality rates of P. solenopsis were 14 and 20% when exposed to Cu-NPs extracted from P. sericea and P. juliflora , respectively. Tests in copper solution showed an insignificant mortality of P. solenopsis . Viability tests for Cu-NPs from P. sericea and P. juliflora indicated a significant reduction of cell viability by 30 and 38% respectively


ACCEpTED: March 29, 2023 Introduction: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) diagnosed by echocardiography has broad differential diagnosis. LVH is most frequently caused by abnormal loading conditions (i.e. uncontrolled arterial hypertension and valvular heart disease). When LVH cannot entirely be explained by abnormal loading conditions the diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is made. The most common cause of HCM is mutation in cardiac sarcomere protein genes. Some of the less common causes of HCM are metabolic, infiltrative and neuromuscular diseases1. Genetic testing is important in recognizing family members at risk of developing HCM. Detected variants of cardiac sarcomere protein genes can be classified (and reclassified) as pathogenic/ likely pathogenic, benign/ likely benign and variant of unknown significance (VUS)2. Case report: We present the case of 55-year-old, hypertensive patient who was admitted to the hospital because of recurrent presyncope and signs of LVH with typical load signs in the ECG that could not be related to hypertensive heart disease. Non-obstructive HCM with preserved ejection fraction was diagnosed by echocardiography, elevated hsTn and NTproBNP were detected and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease was excluded (Figure 1). By ECG monitoring ventricular nonsustained tachycardia was detected and an implantable cardioverter defibrillator was implanted in primary prevention of sudden cardiac death. Genetic testing identified a heterozygous missense variant rs201381085 in TTN gene and heterozygous missense variant in MYH6 gene. Currently, both of these variants are classified as VUS but with known HCM cases in literature related to these mutations. Genetic screening also revealed the same heterozygous variant in TTN gene in his 26-year-old son who is currently phenotype-negative (Figure 2). Conclusion: In daily clinical practice, genetic testing of HCM patients is still unfortunately underutilized due to work overload, administrative and organizational difficulties. Knowing the importance and potential benefits of genetic testing for the patient, as for their families, the goal is to simplify the entire process.


In this paper, we consider energy fairness problem in wireless sensor networks. However, the heterogeneous hostile operating conditions - different transmission distances, varying fading environments and distinct remained energy levels, have made energy balancing a highly challenging design issue. To tackle this problem, we model the packet transmission of sensor nodes as a game. By properly designing the utility function, we get the Nash equilibrium, in which, while each node can optimize its own payoff, the global objective - energy balancing can also be achieved. In addition, by imposing penalty mechanism on sensors to punish selfish behaviors, the delivery rate and delay constraints are also satisfied. Through extensive simulations, the proposed game theoretical approach is proved to be effective in that the energy consumption is balanced and the energy resources are efficiently utilized, which can significantly improve the network lifetime.


In industry 4.0, the education has been developing significantly. The current developing and mainstream education uses a standard-based national curriculum framework. However, nowadays it has established the new style of education as an alternative education in maintaining the balance with the existed mainstream education. Bangka Belitung Nature School is one of them which is located in Pangkalpinang City. The study aims to identify the educational learning systems in Bangka Belitung Nature School.Qualitative descriptive method was employed by analyzing the critical educational theory of Paulo Freire. The study found that the educational learning systems of Bangka Belitung Nature School were one of the alternative education which was different with the mainstream one.  The educational patterns of Bangka Belitung Nature School applied the posed-problem method whereby it used the student-centered learning. Thus, the pupils in the Bangka Belitung Nature School were expected to be creative, innovative and critical in facing the social phenomena.


Automatic incident detection and characterization is urgently required in the development of advanced technologies used for reducing non-recurrent traffic congestion on urban traffic. This paper presents a new method which is constructed on the basis of fuzzy value logic to automatically identify freeway incidents. As a component of a real-time traffic adaptive control system for signal control, the algorithm feeds an incident report to the system's optimization manager, which uses the information to determine the appropriate signal control strategy. Off-line tests were conducted to substantiate the performance of the proposed incident detection algorithm based on simulated data. The test results indicate the feasibility of achieving real-time incident detection utilizing the proposed method


Consider the following setup: Through a joint design, multiple observations of a remote data source shall be locally compressed before getting transmitted via several error-prone, rate-limited forward links to a (distant) processing unit. For addressing this specific instance of multiterminal Joint Source-Channel Coding problem, in this article, the foundational principle of the Information Bottleneck method is fully extended to obtain purely statistical design approaches, enjoying the Mutual Information as their fidelity criterion. Specifically, the forms of stationary points for two types of distributed compression schemes are characterized here. Subsequently, those acquired solutions are utilized as the centerpiece of the proposed generic, iterative algorithm, termed the Multiterminal Forward-Aware Vector Information Bottleneck (M-FAVIB), for addressing the design optimizations. Leveraging an unfolding trick, it will be proven that both distributed compression schemes fall into the category of Successive Upper-Bound Minimization, ensuring their convergence to a stationary point. Eventually, the effectiveness of the proposed compression schemes will be substantiated as well by means of numerical investigations over some typical transmission scenarios.


Abstract Two experiments evaluated the effects of preemergence herbicides on pampas grass [Cortaderia selloana (Schult. and Schult. f.) Asch. and Graebn.] growth. Herbicides were applied 1, 15, or 30 days after potting (DAP) from 36-cell packs into 3.8 liter (#1) containers. Ronstar (oxadiazon) applied at the manufacturer's recommended rate caused little or no injury when applied 1 or 15 DAP. Factor 65 WG (prodiamine) applied 1 DAP suppressed root growth compared to control plants; however, when applied 15 or 30 DAP root ratings of Factor treated plants were similar to control plants 60 and 75 DAP. Plant height at 90 DAP was about 10% greater when the herbicide application was delayed 30 DAP, compared to plants treated 1 DAP. In experiment 2, plant height and root ratings were greater when herbicides were applied 30 DAP than when applied 1 DAP. Pendulum 2G (pendimethalin), Pendulum 60 WDG (pendimethalin), and Factor 65 WG (prodiamine) suppressed root growth in the upper 5.1 cm (2 in) and lower 10.2 (4 in)...


In 1998, Ramaswami and Sivaraja, in the first edition of Optical Networks:
 A Practical Perspective, did a great job of assembling into a single book
 the main physics and network concepts required for serious professionals in this new
 field. Now, four years later in the second edition, the book has been updated with
 the more recent advances in the field, and the more promising optical networking
 technologies are emphasized.


Post-harvest technology forms an important component of any agricultural system. It is vital in all circumstances, whether there is surplus or deficit. A lot has been done on the dissemination of post-harvest loss reduction technologies in Swaziland, but very little has been done to evaluate the adoption of such technologies. This study evaluated the adoption of post-harvest technologies by small-holder farmers. The objectives were to describe the existing post-harvest technologies in Swaziland and identify factors that influence adoption. Face-to-face interviews, using an interview schedule, were conducted targeting 70,850 small-holder farmers with a sample size of 382 selected from all ecological zones. The technologies identified were traditional in nature and those that were imported. Imported technologies were highly adopted (61.8%) as compared to traditional (38.2%) and this was due to the effort of the Ministry of Agriculture in promoting such technologies. Technology adoption was influenced by farmer oriented and technology based factors. Amongst the farmer oriented factors, females adopted more (57.3%) technologies than males (42.7%). Technology factors that were ranked highly in terms of adoption rates were; faster crop drying rate (46.1%), safety of crop (27.3%), and better crop protection (16.2%). Research should be conducted over time to determine crop losses within both traditional and imported technologies at farm level at all the ecological zones to come out with the best option.

 Key words: Post-harvest technology, Swaziland, small-holder farmers.


Our confidence in technologically processed food is under increasing pressure and is no longer self-evident. Meaningful public discourse on the social impact of food technology is an important ingredient for restoring this confidence. This dissertation analyses the Dutch public debate on food technology, with a special emphasis on E numbers, and explains why technologists and consumers often engage in a dialogue of the deaf. Health risks are not the only reason behind our mistrust of E numbers; it also involves a food relationship that contributes to an indifferent, lazy and flat food culture. This dissertation offers several recommendations for improving this dialogue.


An immobilized enzyme is a biocatalyst that speeds up the conversion of a chemical reaction. The application of enzymes for chemical synthesis is an effort toward a responsible production initiative to ensure the sustainability of chemical synthesis. Therefore, in the present work, Candida rugosa lipase was immobilized onto glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan beads through covalent bond linkages. Chitosan is biodegradable and contains amine groups, which serve as bases for lipase binding via cross-linking with bifunctional cross-linkers like glutaraldehyde. The immobilization of lipase on the chitosan beads was confirmed by determining lipase activity through the hydrolysis of a standard substrate. The effect of lipase and glutaraldehyde concentrations on the immobilization and activity yield was investigated. In general, lipase and glutaraldehyde concentrations have a significant effect on immobilization and activity yield. The interaction between the investigated parameters is significant toward the activity yield rather than the immobilization yield. The optimized immobilization procedures give lipase activity up to 46 IU by using 0.013 g/mL lipase and 2 %/v/v glutaraldehyde. It was found that the immobilized enzyme was rather stable and could be recycled 7 times. Therefore, immobilization of lipase onto glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan support is feasible.


This article flips on its head Grace Davie's notion of 'believing without belonging'. From a consideration of the internet and social networking media as a public space and a new 'public' or fifth estate, the article proceeds through a discussion of religious activity online to investigate the concept of community, the function of communication theology and the place of morality in online activity. Finally, the article considers the popularity of Sunday Assembly and concludes that there is a significant move towards belonging without believing both on- and offline.


As a respiratory physician personally affected by pulmonary thromboembolism, I bring a unique perspective to managing this condition. It has made me realise that sometimes we do not see in detail the ways our colleagues practise, even working alongside them, although general management principles are the same. While banned from work, but permitted 'as much paperwork as I like' (the sole compromise that would ensure this patient's adherence), I sought to learn from my time as patient, hoping that other clinicians might gain from my experience in both roles. When it came to deciding which insights would be most useful to impart for the benefit of our patients, the leading concepts were not novel but important to emphasise in our current medical world, which prioritises both efficiency and quality of patient care.


The properties and curing mechanism of leaded samples solidified with phosphorous-slag-based cementitious pastes are studied. The compressive strength, pH of percolate, and lead-ion concentrations of leaded samples stabilized with the phosphorous-slag-based cementitious pastes and cement were analyzed. Results confirmed that the phosphorous-slag-based cementitious paste performed much better than cement in terms of solidifying lead. The cured form of lead with phosphorous-slag-based cementitious pastes had higher compressive strength, lower lead leaching, and smaller change in pH. Higher lead content corresponded with more obvious advantagees of phosphorus-slag-based cementitious pastes and lower risk of environmental pollution. By means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer-Scanning Electron Microscope (EDS-SEM) analyses, we found that the hydration of phosphorus-slag-based cementitious pastes produced hydrated calcium silicate gels, ettringite and other minerals with large specific surface areas, as well as some leaded products that can combine with lead ions to form chemically stable leaded products. This finding well explained the high performance of phosphorus-slag-based cementitious pastes in terms of lead solidification and stabilization.


Background/Aims: Knowledge regarding genetic factors that influence pancreatic cancer risk is currently limited. To identify novel pancreatic cancer susceptibility loci, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study. Methods: The Affymetrix® Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 and DNA pooling were used in the screening stage. Twenty-six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected for follow-up. These 26 lead SNPs and additionally selected tagSNPs for the regions around the lead SNPs were evaluated by individual genotyping of the pooling population and an independent validation population. Results: Of the lead SNPs, the strongest association was found with rs4820599 located in the γ-glutamyltransferase 1 (GGT1) gene. This SNP was significantly associated with pancreatic cancer risk in the validation population and the combined dataset (pallele-based = 0.019 and pallele-based = 0.003, respectively). Statistically significant associations were also observed with two GGT1 tagSNPs: rs2017869 and rs8135987. Lead SNP rs4820599 is in high linkage disequilibrium (LD; pairwise r2: 0.69) and tagSNP rs2017869 is in strong LD (pairwise r2: 0.96) with SNP rs5751901, which has been reported to be associated with increased GGT1 serum levels. GGT is expressed in the pancreas and plays a key role in glutathione metabolism. Conclusion: Our results suggest that common variation in the GGT1 gene may affect the risk of pancreatic cancer.


Recently, document-level neural machine translation (NMT) has become a hot topic in the community of machine translation. Despite its success, most of existing studies ignored the discourse structure information of the input document to be translated, which has shown effective in other tasks. In this paper, we propose to improve document-level NMT with the aid of discourse structure information. Our encoder is based on a hierarchical attention network (HAN) (Miculicich et al., 2018). Specifically, we first parse the input document to obtain its discourse structure. Then, we introduce a Transformer-based path encoder to embed the discourse structure information of each word. Finally, we combine the discourse structure information with the word embedding before it is fed into the encoder. Experimental results on the English-to-German dataset show that our model can significantly outperform both Transformer and Transformer+HAN.


The diagram of strand spaces is introduced. It is a formal model for a cryptographic protocol running in an infinite concurrent way, viz. a complex dynamic system, on the base of the theory for strand spaces. The open bundle, which is only one element for composing diagrams of strand spaces, was defined. And two operators such as prefixing, parallel composition over the set of open bundles were also defined. The open bundle set and its operators were written as the open bundle algebra. The bi-simulation of open bundles and the bi-simulation equivalent relation of diagrams of strand spaces were introduced. They are used to prove safety properties of cryptographic protocols in the open bundle algebra. The model of diagrams of strand spaces is a novel tool to prove safety properties of cryptographic protocols running in an infinite concurrent way, and is used to describe other normal concurrent systems


Background—Although troponin elevation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is common, uncertainties remain about the mechanisms of its release and its relationship to the volume of myocardial tissue loss. Delayed-enhancement MRI of the heart has been shown to reliably quantify areas of irreversible myocardial injury. To investigate the quantitative relationship between irreversible injury and cardiac troponin release, we studied the incidence and extent of new irreversible injury in patients undergoing PCI and correlated it to postprocedural changes in cardiac troponin I. Methods and Results—Fifty patients undergoing PCI were studied with preprocedural and postprocedural (24 hours) delayed-enhancement MRI for assessment of new irreversible myocardial injury. Cardiac troponin I measurements were obtained before PCI and 24 hours after PCI. Of these 50 patients, 24 underwent a further third MRI scan at a median of 8 months after the procedure. Mean patient age was 64±12 years. After the procedure, 14 patients (28%) had evidence of new myocardial hyperenhancement, with a mean mass of 6.0±5.8 g, or 5.0±4.8% of total left ventricular mass. All of these patients had raised troponin I levels (range 1.0 to 9.4 &mgr;g/L). Thirty-four patients (68%) had no elevated troponin I and no evidence of new myocardial necrosis on MRI. There was a strong correlation between the rise in troponin I measurements at 24 hours and mean mass of new myocardial hyperenhancement, both early (r=0.84; P<0.001) and late (r=0.71; P<0.001) after PCI, although there was a trend for a reduction in the size of PCI-induced myocardial injury in the late follow-up scan (P=0.07). Conclusions—In the setting of PCI, patients demonstrating postprocedural elevation in troponin I have evidence of new irreversible myocardial injury on delayed-enhancement MRI. The magnitude of this injury correlates directly with the extent of troponin elevation.