This article contains discussion of two main themes relating to the role of dance as activism and the power of dance to envision, move and create change. The first theme concerns practices of doing feminist pedagogy in relation to art, the body and social change. The second theme explores ways in which dance as aesthetic activism is 'haunted by meaning'. These themes intersect through a focus on dance and social justice, and community engagement and this article draws on keynote presentations given to different dance events while I travelled within Aotearoa, New Zealand as Fulbright Specialist in dance in 2015.


ABSTRACT Aim: To assess the value of PET/CT scan for malignancy diagnosis in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE) Methods: PET/CT scan performed for malignancy screening in patients with unprovoked VTE from January 2009 to October 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical history, imaging findings including conventional total body CT-scan data, and final diagnosis were analysed. Results: PET/CT scan was performed for malignancy diagnosis in 68 patients with unprovoked VTE. Thirteen patients were excluded because of prior history of carcinoma (n = 5), congenital or acquired thrombophilia (n = 5), inability to confirm VTE diagnoses (n = 2) and incomplete information (n = 1). Fifty-five patients (27 females, mean age 63 + 17 years-old) were included. VTE was a first episode in 83.6% (46/55) of cases including pulmonary embolism in 38 cases. The mean follow-up was of 10 + 11months. In 28 patients (50.9%), PET/CT scan showed increased-uptake suspicious for malignancy. After additional procedures, malignancy was confirmed in 12/28 patients including pancreatic (n = 2), ovarian (n = 2), bladder (n = 1), lung (n = 1), kidney (n = 1), breast (n = 1) and gallbladder (n = 2) cancers and non-hodgkin lymphoma (n = 2). All malignancies were diagnosed at advanced stages. Six patients died during a mean follow-up of 2.9 + 2.6 months. In all cases of confirmed malignancies, conventional CT-scan had equivalent diagnostic accuracy than PET/CT scan. In 16/28 cases, the suspected diagnosis of malignancy could not be confirmed despite extensive workup including specialist visits (n = 6), testis ultrasound (n = 1), pelvis MRI (n = 1), bone MRI (n = 1), colonic endoscopy (n = 4), lung biopsy (n = 1), endometrial biopsies (n = 2), and hysterectomy (n = 1). Interestingly, CT-scan was negative in all 16 cases and, considering only CT-scan findings, no further investigations would have been scheduled. No patients with negative PET/CT scan (n = 27) were diagnosed with cancer during follow up. Conclusions: Among subjects with unprovoked VTE conventional CT-scan was abnormal in all patients with cancer confirmed during follow-up. PET/CT scan imaging had no additive value. Furthermore, in 29% of patients with VTE, abnormal TEP imaging with normal CT scan led to unjustified, alarming, money-and time-consuming investigations. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Engineers capture growth strains in two ways, reflecting the inherent bending-stretching nature of shells: by a strain gradient through the thickness or by an average in-plane value. We analyse their interaction by assuming a uniform displacement and growth-strain field in shells with elastic spring supports and a radial force applied to their outer boundary. The increased degree of statical indeterminancy enriches the variety of existing solutions and we distinguish two in-plane actuation modes which can induce Gaussian curvature via radially varying quadratic expansions in either the circumferential or radial direction. Using a Rayleigh-Ritz approach, we find closed-form solutions of the Föppl-von Kármán shell equations for the buckling thresholds, bistable limits and the post-buckled shape, which show good agreement with finite element reference solutions and available results from the literature. Moreover, we show that 'natural' growth modes, which evoke a change of shape without incurring elastic strain energy, can be achieved by employing quadratic radial expansions only. Additionally, we study unsupported shells subjected to higher-order actuation distributions, which give rise to natural growth modes with varying wavenumbers. Our approach dramatically simplifies an otherwise non-trivial general solution, and may be applied in novel generations of smart materials with actively tunable material properties.


IntroductionIn our aging societies, there is a huge medical need fortreatments of degenerative muscle and tendon diseases, forwhichtherearecurrentlynoapprovedpharmaceuticaltherapies.Furthermore, also devastating muscle diseases that affectchildren and younger patients such as Duchenne musculardystrophyoramyothrophiclateralsclerosis(ALS)lackcurativedrug treatments. A major hurdle in new drug discovery anddevelopment is the nonexistence of normal functional humantissuesanddiseasedtissuesforcompoundscreeningandtesting.Currently,mosthigh-throughputdrugscreeningcampaignsareperformedwithtarget-centeredbiochemicalorsimplehumancell-basedassaysifthedrugtargetisknown,orwithtwo-dimensional(2D)cellculturephenotypicscreens,ifthetargetisunknown.Identifiedhitsandfurtheroptimizedcompounds(leads)arethenusually analyzed in low-throughput rodent ex vivo and/or invivo preclinicalanimalmodelsforefficacy, potency, specificityandsafety.Besidestheobviousslownessofthissteptoassessthe pharmacodynamic and physiological effects of new drugcandidatesthejumpfromhumancell-basedsystemstoanimalpreclinicalmodelsandtohumanclinicaltrialsisveryoftentoolargeandnotreliableenoughtomaster.Fortunately,recentyearshaveseenanincredibleprogressinnewapproachesgeneratingfunctional3Dhumantissuesfromnormalanddiseasedonors.Three-dimensional(3D)humanorganotypictissueculturesaregenerallymorepredictiveforinvivoeffects,becausetheymodelmuchmorein vivo tissuephysiologythanconventional2Dcellcultures.Thus,3Dtissueculturehasthepotentialtorevolutionizedrugdiscoveryanddevelopment.Theparadigmshiftfrom2Dto3Dcellcultureisalreadyshowinggreatbenefitinbasicresearchof tissues differentiation and homeostasis as well as in tissueengineeringeffortsforregenerativemedicineapplications.


This article, part of a continuing series of yearly analysis of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement and related developments, provides a detailed overview of quantitative and qualitative FCPA and related information and will be of value to anyone seeking to elevate their FCPA knowledge.

Section I of this article discusses how, similar to prior years in the FCPA's modern era, 2018 was another year of robust FCPA enforcement against companies large and small and across industry sectors. In fact, 2018 was the third most active year in the FCPA's forty-plus years in terms of the quantity of core corporate enforcement actions.

Section II of this article switches gears to discuss various qualitative FCPA enforcement issues including the long time periods associated with FCPA scrutiny, the general lack of judicial scrutiny of enforcement theories; the substantial gap between corporate and individual enforcement; how much of the largeness of FCPA enforcement is due to enforcement actions against foreign companies; and certain statutory interpretation issues.

Section III of this article highlights FCPA jurisprudence in 2018 and how courts rejected expansive enforcement theories as well as revisions to FCPA relevant enforcement agency policy as Trump administration officials settled into their positions.


— SMASH's skill is a technique that can be done by a person in a hard swooping towards your opponent to produce numbers. Interactive multimedia technology is expected to be a guideline for athletes in looking at more variation models of SMASH. The aim of development research is to produce an interactive multimedia volleyball playing skill training model. The method used in this research is development research design by Borg and Gall. The approach used in this study is a qualitative and quantitative approach. This study is hoped to improve volleyball skills by looking at the interactive multimedia volleyball playing practice model. This study concludes that interactive multimedia-based volleyball skill playing model can be used in the actual application of exercises.


In the United Kingdom a group has been established to help ensure that the right data resources are created and made available to help inform the important choices that decision makers need to make. The group is the UK Data Forum. The members of the Forum come from national research councils, chief statisticians and researchers within government, the national statistics office, national library and national archives, devolved administrations, sub-national bodies and other organisations in the private, public and not for profit sectors. The current Strategy for Data Resources for Social and Economic Research: 2009-2012 sets out practical actions on areas for collaboration and the development of cross-cutting facilities. The strategy is owned by the members of the Forum and represents a statement of intent by them. A central feature of the current strategy, and one of the strongest themes from the consultation undertaken to inform its development, is the internationalisation of the research agenda. Actions in the strategy include initiatives to make collaborative agreements with other agencies within and outside the UK at national, European Union and international levels. The Forum believes that the potential for close working with colleagues in the UK and Germany is likely to be especially valuable.Sharing the strategy with you on this site is a first step in encouraging what we hope will be a deep and fruitful relationship in the future.


A patented Durable Redundant Joint (DRJ) concept featuring multiple adhesive load-paths, via a novel composite preform insert, is being considered for joining composite sandwich panel segments. Applications are wide ranging from spacecraft bus structure to launch vehicle primary structure (i.e. interstage cylinders and payload fairings). Numerical and experimental investigations were performed to assess the DRJ's performance. A fracture-based approach was used to evaluate this design. Ply-level mechanical properties for the material systems were generated, and a double cantilever beam coupon was designed and tested to estimate the Mode I critical energy release rate for the interface between two different composite prepreg material systems. The DRJ was tested and compared to testing of the more conventional splice joint (CSJ) design. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) inserts were used at the free edges of the joints to simulate debonds between the doubler and facesheet laminates. The DRJ coupons reached 32% greater in-plane tensile failure load compared to the CSJ coupons. Furthermore, the predicted increased strength for the DRJ design compared to the CSJ design was in remarkably good agreement with test data. Using the insight gained from these studies, three design attributes were investigated relative to increasing damage tolerance characteristics of the DRJ: (1) Insert stiffness, (2) Relative length between the doubler and the insert, and (3) The use of tapers at the ends of doublers.


Single ionization of noble-gas atoms by linearly polarized synchrotron radiation has been studied by employing angle- and energy-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The measurements were carried out in the plane defined by the momentum and polarization vectors of the photon. Parameters describing the left-right asymmetry (LRA; relative to the photon propagation direction) of the photoelectron angular distribution were determined experimentally for the $s$ shells of He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe atoms and $\mathrm{H}{}_{2}$ molecules and for the $p$ shells of Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe atoms. The values of the left-right asymmetry differ significantly from zero for both subshells. The photon and photoelectron energy dependence of the LRA parameters is presented also. Possible experimental and instrumental sources that could generate asymmetry are discussed and excluded as well.


Burrowing, herbivorous mammals play important roles as ecosystem engineers and keystone species of grassland ecosystems around the world, but populations of many species have declined dramatically because of myriad threats from human activities. Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) play important roles in shaping the central grasslands of North America, and have declined by about 98% across their range, with consequent losses in associated species and grassland habitat. This has prompted much interest in restoring their populations to protected areas. Managers lack a clear understanding of the long-term success of reintroductions, however, and how success may vary across different species of prairie dogs and their widespread geographic ranges. We reintroduced over 1,000 Gunnison's prairie dogs (C. gunnisoni) to a semiarid grassland ecosystem in the southern portion of their range in central New Mexico, USA, and used standard capture–recapture methods to study their population dynamics over a period of 8 years. Mean adult survival was 27% over the course of the study, with precipitation identified as the primary driver of survival. Estimated survival was below 12% during severe drought periods and during the first few years following initial reintroduction, the latter likely because of high predation. Consequently, multiple releases of animals were required to prevent extirpation, and the long-term sustainability of this population remains questionable. Over the 8 years of our study, our site experienced 4 severe droughts during spring, the key period for prairie dog mating, pregnancy, and lactation. Production of offspring at the site was low, likely because of the dry and variable conditions that occurred. We show that prairie dog restoration in semi-arid grassland environments that are typical of the lower elevations and southern extent of their range may not succeed in producing viable colonies, and that dedicated management for multiple years is needed to counteract periods of slow or negative population growth. Our findings underscore the importance of maintaining and expanding existing colonies wherever possible in these more arid regions, and suggest that reintroductions should be treated as a secondary management strategy. Our work also reveals the high vulnerability of prairie dog population extinction due to drought, which has important implications for Gunnison's prairie dog conservation under a warming and drying climate. 2014 The Wildlife Society.


This paper proposes a novel curved shape piezoelectric unimorph using a new fabrication method. Instead of using thermal coefficient mismatch, which has been used for conventional processes for curved shape unimorphs, we used pre-stressed substrates and the room temperature adhesion process. A difference of the mechanical strains between the substrate and the piezoelectric layer makes the final manufactured unimorph get curved. Several performance tests of the proposed unimorph actuators were accomplished and the test results showed the proposed unimorph actuator got comparable actuation capability compared with conventional curved shape actuators.


This paper explores the possibilities of constructing scientific objects that guide the creation of disciplines situated under the spectra of Information Science (IS). For such, a theoretical model considering illustratively the construction of the organization object is regarding the disciplinary constitution of Knowledge Organization is presented (KO). Considering bachelarian assumptions about the construction of scientific objects, herein is presented a historical retrospect of KO whose disciplinary delimitation is oriented not only by its object, but also by its social function. It is argued here that the example of the organization process — taken as an object— gives way for the reflection on the proposition of other disciplines that compound the theoretical framework of IS.


To adapt to changing environmental niches, bacteria require taxis, a movement toward or away from a stimulus (ligand). Chemotaxis has been studied in some members of the Soft Rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP), particularly members of the genus Dickeya. On the contrary, there are fewer studies on this topic for the other genus in the SRP group, namely Pectobacterium. This study evaluated chemotactic responses in Pectobacterium brasiliense (Pb 1692) to various ligands. A total of 34 methyl-accepting chemotactic proteins (MCPs) were identified in the Pb 1692 genome and the domain architectures of these MCPs were determined. Four Pb 1692 MCPs previously shown to be differentially expressed during potato tuber infection were selected for further functional characterization. Toward this end, Pb 1692 mutant strains each lacking either AED-0001492, AED-0003671, AED-0000304, or AED-0000744 were generated. Two of these mutants (AED-0001492 and AED-0003671), were attenuated in their ability to grow and respond to citrate and are thus referred to as MCPcit2 and MCPcit1, respectively, while the other two, AED-0000304 (MCPxyl) and AED-0000744 (MCPasp), were affected in their ability to respond to xylose and aspartate, respectively. Trans-complementation of the mutant strains restored swimming motility in the presence of respective ligands. The four MCP mutants were not affected in virulence but were significantly attenuated in their ability to attach to potato leaves suggesting that ecological fitness is an important contribution of these MCPs toward Pb 1692 biology.


Cognitive decline is an increasingly important complication in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) as they age. We previously reported that compared with nondiabetic people, those with long-duration T1D have impaired cognitive function, similar to people with type 2 diabetes. To characterize factors associated with cognitive decline in people with T1D, 52 participants of the Joslin Medalist Study ("Medalists") with T1D≥50 years, and 20 age-matched nondiabetic controls, underwent clinical evaluation, cognitive assessments, and neuroimaging (Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-3 protocol). Compared to controls, Medalists had 49.4 (±21.9) cm3 (p=0.03) lower total brain volume, and 2.7 (±0.8) cm3, 3.0 (±1.5) cm3 and 3.1 (±1.5) cm3 lower volumes (p<0.05), respectively, in the deep gray matter region (thalamus, putamen, caudate and globus pallidus), the Alzheimer disease signature region (hippocampus, parahippocampus, entorhinal cortex, inferior parietal lobule, precuneus and cuneus), and the occipital lobe. No significant differences were observed in frontal, temporal, or parietal lobe volumes. In assessing small vessel disease, the number of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) or microvascular hemorrhages did not differ between Medalists and controls, nor did regional cerebral blood flow measures (via arterial spin labeling). Among Medalists, reduced total and all regional brain volumes were associated (p<0.05) with worse motor skills, female sex, lower education status, increased age, and longer diabetes duration. Increased WMHs were associated with worse renal function and higher coronary artery calcification scores. Volumes did not associate with other cognitive domains (recall, working memory, or executive function). These findings suggest that cognitive decline in people with long-duration T1D is related mainly to abnormalities in parenchymal CNS rather than neurovascular changes. Definitive confirmation of this finding by brain histopathology is underway.

 H. Shah: None. M. Desalvo: None. A. Haidar: None. S. Jangolla: None. M. Yu: None. J. Gauthier: None. N.A. Ziemniak: None. I. Wu: None. T. Billah: None. L. Ning: None. A. Adam: None. Y. Rathi: None. G.L. King: Research Support; Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (3P30DK036836-34S1); Thomas J. Beatson, Jr. Foundation


Highly depleted zones could represent a major challenge for well completion or intervention because of several issues, including high losses, crossflow, and low fracturing pressure. However, nowadays, there are several options to treat or isolate depleted zones to allow further well completion or intervention.
 A major North Sea operator had plans to perforate in Formations B and C formation on a well after determining that they could still be at original pressure and separated from the already producing and depleted Formation A. Following a second perforation run on wireline, tool lift was measured. This tool lift correlated with crossflow from the newly perforated zone to the existing depleted A zone, and did not allow the perforation guns to reach the required total depth (TD).
 The service company proposed a three-dimensional rigid gel system comprised of an organically crosslinked polymer (OCP) conformance sealant with particulates. The system, deployed with coiled tubing (CT), was designed to be squeezed into the near-wellbore matrix. The depth of penetration is controlled by adjusting the particulates concentration in the gel system and squeeze volumes. Fluid volumes were calculated to achieve 6 in. of formation penetration. Laboratory tests suggested that the polymer would cure after 12 hours at bottomhole static temperature (BHST) and excess in the wellbore could be jetted out using CT.
 A total of 30 bbl of gel system were pumped in two separate batches, with partial isolation and reduction in fluid loss achieved after the first 20-bbl batch. An additional 10-bbl batch was pumped to help ensure isolation. Pressure tests and fluid loss after the second treatment indicated almost 90% of the open perforations in the depleted zone were isolated with minor losses observed compared to a loss of more than 80% in the wellbore before the treatment. The operator was satisfied with the results and, after jetting the excess gel from the wellbore, perforation operations were performed successfully.
 This paper discusses in detail the job execution, including CT and pumping equipment which were selected specifically for this operation, and including cleaning and pumping, bottomhole assemblies, running in hole procedures, the pumping schedule; fluid recipe used, and laboratory testing performed to define curing time and rheology.
 This paper also highlights challenges faced during execution caused by high depletion, techniques used to overcome these challenges, and methods used to evaluate the success of the isolation while CT is still in hole.


The changed and changing circumstances of a world in which the performance of key technologies is improving at an exponential rate poses unique challenges to schooling systems that had their origins in the industrial revolution. This paper argues that there is a warrant for thinking about doing school differently. It traces the origins and details the key notions of a small project in Australia in which schools operate as sites of serious knowledge production.


Currently, the smart rice box has applied the Internet of Things (IoT) but without prediction of rice runs out which shows the amount of rice consumption. This study applies linear regression to predict the rice runs out in an IoT-based smart rice box and analyzes its performance. The prediction used the dataset obtained by measuring a smart rice box equipped with a load cell weight sensor and Hx711 module. The weight sensor accuracy was an RMSE of between 56 and 170 grams. The linear regression method applied to the smart rice box to predict rice running out has an MSE value of 0.2588 with a prediction window of 43 days. An R-squared value of less than one is obtained with a predictive threshold of 24 days.


Supervised machine learning requires a large amount of labeled data to achieve proper test results. However, generating accurately labeled segmentation maps on remote sensing imagery, including images from synthetic aperture radar (SAR), is tedious and highly subjective. In this work, we propose to alleviate the issue of limited training data by generating synthetic SAR images with the pix2pix algorithm [1]. This algorithm uses conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (cGANs) to generate an artificial image while preserving the structure of the input. In our case, the input is a segmentation mask, from which a corresponding synthetic SAR image is generated. We present different models, perform a comparative study and demonstrate that this approach synthesizes convincing glaciers in SAR images with promising qualitative and quantitative results.


Background— The present study examined whether transplantation of adherent bone marrow-derived stem cells, termed pMultistem, induces neovascularization and cardiomyocyte regeneration that stabilizes bioenergetic and contractile function in the infarct zone and border zone (BZ) after coronary artery occlusion. Methods and Results— Permanent left anterior descending artery occlusion in swine caused left ventricular remodeling with a decrease of ejection fraction from 55±5.6% to 30±5.4% (magnetic resonance imaging). Four weeks after left anterior descending artery occlusion, BZ myocardium demonstrated profound bioenergetic abnormalities, with a marked decrease in subendocardial phosphocreatine/ATP (31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy; 1.06±0.30 in infarcted hearts [n=9] versus 1.90±0.15 in normal hearts [n=8; P<0.01]). This abnormality was significantly improved by transplantation of allogeneic pMultistem cells (subendocardial phosphocreatine/ATP to 1.34±0.29; n=7; P<0.05). The BZ protein expression of creatine kinase-mt and creatine kinase-m isoforms was significantly reduced in infarcted hearts but recovered significantly in response to cell transplantation. MRI demonstrated that the infarct zone systolic thickening fraction improved significantly from systolic "bulging" in untreated animals with myocardial infarction to active thickening (19.7±9.8%, P<0.01), whereas the left ventricular ejection fraction improved to 42.0±6.5% (P<0.05 versus myocardial infarction). Only 0.35±0.05% donor cells could be detected 4 weeks after left anterior descending artery ligation, independent of cell transplantation with or without immunosuppression with cyclosporine A (with cyclosporine A, n=6; no cyclosporine A, n=7). The fraction of grafted cells that acquired an endothelial or cardiomyocyte phenotype was 3% and ≈2%, respectively. Patchy spared myocytes in the infarct zone were found only in pMultistem transplanted hearts. Vascular density was significantly higher in both BZ and infarct zone of cell-treated hearts than in untreated myocardial infarction hearts (P<0.05). Conclusions— Thus, allogeneic pMultistem improved BZ energetics, regional contractile performance, and global left ventricular ejection fraction. These improvements may have resulted from paracrine effects that include increased vascular density in the BZ and spared myocytes in the infarct zone.


Ultrasonic measurement of fetal chest circumference was tested as a predictor of pulmonary hypoplasia in a group of 26 fetuses at known risk. A 42% prevalence of autopsy-proved pulmonary hypoplasia was found in this population. Chest circumference measurements were plotted on published nomograms based upon head circumference, femur length, and gestational age. Longitudinal observations revealed a progressive lag in chest circumference growth among fetuses who proved to have pulmonary hypoplasia. The nomogram based on femur length provided sensitivity, specificity, and normal and abnormal predictive values of 80, 92, 92, and 89%, respectively. The results of this investigation suggest that fetal chest circumference measurement is a useful adjunct in establishing the diagnosis of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia. (Obstet Gynecol 73:261,1989)


The induction of decision trees from data is a well-known method for learning classiiers. The success of this method depends to a high degree on the measure used to select the next attribute, which, if tested, will improve the accuracy of the classiication. This paper examines some possibility-based selection measures and compares them to probability-and information-based measures on real world datasets. The results show that possibility-based measures do not much worse with regard to classiication accuracy, in certain cases they seem to do even slightly better.


Six organic extracts prepared with different solvents (methanol, acetone, hexane, chloroform and dichloromethane-methanol) and aqueous extract of 27 species of marine algae belonging to the Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta were studied for antibacterial and antifungal activities against pathogenic microorganism: eight Gram-positive bacteria: B acillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus subtillus, Clostridium sporogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Streptococcus faecalis and Bacillus sp , two Gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas sp and against fungi: Candida tropicalis and Cryptococcus neoformans . The best activity was observed in methanolic extract followed by acetonic extract and that prepared with methanol–dichloromethane. Of the 27 species tested, those belonging to Phaeophyceae were the most active in comparison with Chlorophyceae. The Gram-positive bacteria presented a sensibility superior to the Gram-negative and S. aureus ssp. aureus was the more sensitive Key words: Macroalgae, algal extracts, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, pathogenic microorganism.


In this paper we describe an algorithm for estimating the parameters of a linear, discrete-time system, in state-space form, having quantized measurements. The estimation is carried out using the maximum likelihood criterion. The solution is found using the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. A technical difficulty in applying this algorithm for this problem is that the a posteriori probability density function, found in the EM algorithm, is non-Gaussian. To deal with this issue, we sequentially approximate it using scenarios, i.e., a weighted sum of impulses which are deterministically computed. Numerical experiments show that the proposed approach leads to a significantly more accurate estimation than the one obtained by ignoring the presence of the quantizer and applying standard estimation methods.


We investigate the impact the risk sensitive regulatory ratio may have on banks' risk taking behaviours according to two aspects: potential effects induced by the implementation of a risk sensitivity ratio and cyclical impacts that could affect risk taking behaviour. We show that the risk sensitivity of capital requirements introduce by Basel II adds either a regulatory "bonus" or "penalty" on a bank that owns a fixed capital endowment. Depending on the magnitude of cyclical variations into requirements, the "bonus" may be exploited by the bank to increase its value toward the selection of a riskier asset or the "penalty" may restrict the bank to opt for a less risky asset. Whether the optimal asset risk level swings among classes of risk through the cycle, the risk level of bank's portfolio may increase during economic upturns, or decrease in downturns, leading to a rise in financial fragility or a "fly to quality" phenomenon.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess alternative economic explanations of buildings' height in Latin America and Chile, inductively producing a theory about skyscrapers' height in emerging countries. In the quest for height, global exposure as advertising guides developers located in emerging economies, while ego-building for investors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses mixed methods triangulation (MMT). Findings with small sample econometrics for 38 cities from 13 different countries are re-interpreted by linguistically analyzing 11 semi-structured interviews with local experts in Santiago.

Findings

Globalization is the main determinant of skyscrapers height in the Latin American region, its interaction with the need to portray management and technical skills of developer firms, determines a process toward over-construction.

Research limitations/implications

Because of small sample bias, the quantitative results are not fully reliable, but this is precisely why it makes sense to use MMT.

Practical implications

Santiago offers a valuable case study because, on the one hand, Chile was the first Latin American country to undertake neoliberal type reforms, as early as 1973. On the other, the tallest Latin American skyscraper is to be completed in this city by 2015. The theory developed, derived from the evidence and the perceptions, has a Global South reach and can open-up an empirical research agenda.

Originality/value

This paper innovates in real estate research by using MMT, not just to confirm quantitative findings, but as an inductive theory building tool. It also analyses Latin America, a region with scarce presence in the literature.


The aim of this study is to determine how physical education teacher candidates in Physical Education and Sports Higher Schools in different universities perceive the Community Service Course and to find out whether their perceptions change depending on several variables. The population of the study is composed of 146 fourth-year teacher candidate students who take the community service course in Physical Education and Sports Higher Schools in Ahi Evran, Aksaray, Kastamonu and Inonu Universities in 2011-2012 academic year. The data is collected through "Teacher Candidates' Perceptions towards Community Service Course Scale" developed by Elma et al. (2010), and the alpha reliability coefficient of the scale is .88. Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, t-test and one-way analysis of variance are applied on the data collected. SPSS 15 statistical package is used to analyse the obtained data in computer environment and a significance level of 0.05 is taken into consideration for relationships and differences between variables. According to the physical education teacher candidates' average points on the scale; it is observed that their perception towards the course is positive. According to the analysis of study results in terms of the independent variables of the study, there is a significant relationship in the sub-dimension of personal development of teacher candidates according to their universities. However, according to the analysis in terms of the variables of gender and membership to non-governmental organisations, no significant relationship is found in any sub dimension (P > 0.05).


CHRONIC relapsing pancreatitis is rare in childhood. Only 2 of the 29 cases reported by Comfort, Gambill and Baggenstoss 1 in 1946 were in children. Hyperlipemia was not coexistent with the pancreatitis in either of these cases. Thannhauser, 2 in 1940, included in his classification of the lipidoses hyperlipemia with secondary xanthomatosis associated with chronic pancreatitis, which he reported as occurring in adults. The rarity of this condition in children warrants the following case report. In this case, determinations of the enzymes and lipids in the blood, the fat and nitrogen in the stools, and the duodenal enzymes were made in the Division of Biochemistry, Mayo Clinic. REPORT OF CASE A white boy, 8 years of age, was brought to the Mayo Clinic because of attacks of severe abdominal pain which had been recurring from the time he was 4 years old. The family history revealed that one younger sibling


This paper deals with training-assisted carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The exact maximum likelihood (ML) solution to this problem is computationally demanding as it involves a line search over the CFO uncertainty range. To reduce the system complexity, we divide the CFO into an integer part plus a fractional part and select the pilot subcarriers such that the training sequences have a repetitive structure in the time domain. In this way, the fractional CFO is efficiently computed through a correlation-based approach, while ML methods are employed to estimate the integer CFO. Simulations indicate that the proposed scheme is superior to the existing alternatives in terms of both estimation accuracy and processing load.


Background: M2 macrophages play a critical role in the induction of T helper 2 (Th2) polarization. Methods: To investigate the contribution of M2 macrophages to the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid (BP) and pemphigus vulgaris (PV), we employed immunohistochemical staining for CD163 and CD206, as well as pSTAT1, pSTAT6, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, CCL17, CCL18 and Foxp3 in the lesional skin of 10 cases of BP and PV. Results: The numbers of CD163+ CD206+ M2 macrophages were higher in BP than in PV. Moreover, pSTAT6+ cells, CCL17+ cells, CCL18+ cells and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells were prominent only in the lesional skin of BP. To further investigate the function of M2 macrophages, we examined the mRNA expression and production of Th2-related chemokines from M2 macrophages in vitro, which showed a significant increase in the mRNA expression and production of CCL18 when stimulated by IL-4 or IL-13. Conclusion: Our study sheds light onto one of the possible immunological mechanisms of BP and PV.


To the Editor. —I had to write a response to the article concerning mandatory national health service by Dr Johns.1 Ideas concerning future medical delivery systems have been expressed well by authors of various articles inJAMAover the last few years. I am beginning to tire of articles emphatically pushing the "right" to medical care, the fact that "universal access" will solve all our medical problems, and the "fact" that specialists are always high-priced, do inappropriate procedures, and are now concerned about their financial bottom line. Now, to paraphrase Johns, "public service physicians would insure society's goal of competent, compassionate, and dedicated physicians." I have spent time in Haiti, Romania, and Mexico donating medical time, equipment, and service. In all situations I've found that I have most enjoyed giving medical care when my efforts have been received with gratitude, even when all I had to offer was compassion.


The Chandra X-ray Observatory achieved orbit on July 23, 1999, and began science observing in October 1999. Now over a year since the first light image of Cas-A, Chandra has observed several hundred science targets and many calibration objects. A few highlights from these data are presented including a discussion of the spatially resolved spectrum of supernova ejecta in Cas-A and X-ray emission from the central regions of M31, the nearby AGN Cen-A, and the quasar 3C273.


The conversions of NiAs-type structures of transition metal chalcogenides (FeS and CoSe) to pyrite-type structures of dichalcogenides (FeS(2) and CoSe(2), respectively) under irradiation by HeNe laser (wavelength, 632.8 nm; intensity, 6 x 10(4) W/cm(2)) have been investigated using Raman spectroscopy. The laser-induced conversions give rise to Raman peaks corresponding to vibrations of S-S or Se-Se bonds of respective pyrite structures. The results are of interest for the characterization and fabrication of pyrite-like structures necessary for applications as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts. Material modifications at the micrometer and submicrometer levels are attainable. The structural conversions are accompanied by self-polymerization of excess chalcogen. Extended laser irradiation (>500 s) in air induces the substitution of chalcogen (S or Se) by oxygen in the chalcogenide materials and the subsequent formation of transition metal (Fe or Co) oxides. Excess chalcogen appears to prevent further oxidation. The article also presents conditions necessary to avoid laser-induced structural changes and oxidation of metal chalcogenide materials during Raman measurements.


Wheatgrass extract was used for eco-friendly extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Stable silver nanoparticles were formed by treating the wheatgrass extract with aqueous silver nitratesolution as reducing agents. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy was used to confirm the presence of silver nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction analysis exhibited characteristic peaks signifying the crystalline nature of nanoparticels. The particle size and the involvement of various biomolecules in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles were determined using Atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The particle structure was studied by scanning electron microscopy and the elemental silver present in reaction mixture was confirmed by Energy dispersive x-ray. The nanoparticles were tested for their anticandidal activity against Candida albicans MTCC3017, Candida albicans MTCC1637, Candida albicans MTCC183, Candida tropicalis MTCC230 and Candida glabrata MTCC3814 and determined their minimum inhibitory concentration.


A young elite golfer, Judith, is about to compete in her second year on the professional circuit. She perceived that her choking situation might be a result of debilitative anxiety, poor focus, low confidence, and a lack of perceived control. To prevent choking and improve her ability to focus during pre-performance, the author orients with the Cognitive-behavioral Approach, and employs the Cognitive-Behavioral Consultation Model throughout her intervention in different phases. The followup evaluation of the mental skills and the intervention effectiveness such as the Reflective Questioning and CSAI-2R questionnaire are also employed. It is implicated that the pre-performance routine intervention program can be generalized to a wilder scope of populations in sport with similar situations. Future research can consider tracking the player's performance and making relevant refinements for the intervention program.


Agents with predominantly adrenergic antagonistic properties (the alpha-blockers, phentolamine and tolazoline, and the beta-blocker propranolol), and those with suspected alpha-blocking capabilities [hydralazine and 3,3'-(4,4'-biphenylene)bis(2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride) (neotetrazolium chloride); I] were added individually to a bath containing an isolated Mercenaria mercenaria heart. Two and one-half minutes later, dopamine was added to the bath as the second drug and cardiac responses were noted. Pretreatment with saline controls, followed by dopamine 2.5 min later, produced results that were identical with those which occurred after the administration of dopamine alone, i.e., marked stimulation and cardiac arrest. Pretreatment with phentolamine and I were the only procedures that prevented dopamine-induced cardiac arrest. Phentolamine, tolazoline, and hydralazine generally produced positive inotropic responses when initially added to the bath, whereas propranolol mimicked the effects caused by the addition of dopamine alone or after saline pretreatment. The M. mercenaria heart appears to possess an adrenergic receptor of an alpha-configuration.


Importance Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is a trauma-associated condition commonly found in elderly patients. Surgery is currently the treatment of choice, but it carries a significant risk of recurrence and death. Nonsurgical treatments remain limited and ineffective. Our recent studies suggest that atorvastatin reduces hematomas and improves the clinical outcomes of patients with CSDH. Objective To investigate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of atorvastatin to nonsurgically treat patients with CSDH. Design, Setting, and Participants The Effect of Atorvastatin on Chronic Subdural Hematoma (ATOCH) randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind phase II clinical trial was conducted in multiple centers in China from February 2014 to November 2015. For this trial, we approached 254 patients with CSDH who received a diagnosis via a computed tomography scan; of these, 200 (78.7%) were enrolled because 23 patients (9.1%) refused to participate and 31 (12.2%) were disqualified. Interventions Patients were randomly assigned to receive either 20 mg of atorvastatin or placebo daily for 8 weeks and were followed up for an additional 16 weeks. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was change in hematoma volume (HV) by computed tomography after 8 weeks of treatment. The secondary outcomes included HV measured at the 4th, 12th, and 24th weeks and neurological function that was evaluated using the Markwalder grading scale/Glasgow Coma Scale and the Barthel Index at the 8th week. Results One hundred ninety-six patients received treatment (169 men [86.2%]; median [SD] age, 63.6 [14.2] years). The baseline HV and clinical presentations were similar between patients who were taking atorvastatin (98 [50%]) and the placebo (98 [50%]). After 8 weeks, the HV reduction in patients who were taking atorvastatin was 12.55 mL more than those taking the placebo (95% CI, 0.9-23.9 mL; P = .003). Forty-five patients (45.9%) who were taking atorvastatin significantly improved their neurological function, but only 28 (28.6%) who were taking the placebo did, resulting in an adjusted odds ratio of 1.957 for clinical improvements (95% CI, 1.07-3.58; P = .03). Eleven patients (11.2%) who were taking atorvastatin and 23 (23.5%) who were taking the placebo underwent surgery during the trial for an enlarging hematoma and/or a deteriorating clinical condition (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.24-0.92; P = .03). No significant adverse events were reported. Conclusions and Relevance Atorvastatin may be a safe and efficacious nonsurgical alternative for treating patients with CSDH. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02024373


In this paper, we numerically study the influence of material and laser parameters on laser spatial beam uniformity improvement based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Owing to the intensity dependent property of SBS, the higher intensity parts of the laser beam experience a deep reflection, while the other parts transmit through the medium with weak reflection. Then, the uniformity of the input laser beam is improved. A single frequency laser with a 20th order super-Gaussian shaped output pulse was used as the pump. Five typical liquid materials were adopted as the Brillouin medium for comparison. The laser wavelength was set to 527 nm and 1053 nm; and the pulse duration was set to 3 ns and 5 ns, respectively. The numerically calculated results indicate that low gain coefficient and short phonon lifetime mediums (such as FC-70) are more suitable for the above-mentioned laser beam smoothing scheme. Meanwhile, short wavelength and pulse duration would be helpful for laser beam uniformity improvement. The energy efficiency is above 90% when the laser beam uniformity is greatly improved with an optimized input laser intensity. The calculated results are quite useful for high-power laser applications.


This paper presents an analysis of data obtained from wind tunnel tests of the aerodynamic interference induced by the reaction control system jets on Space Shuttle orbiter configurations. The test data was obtained using cold gas simulation techniques with nozzles scaled to match jet exit momentum ratio as the primary parameter at Mach numbers from 2.5 to 10. Significant induced effects have been found that degrade the performance of the pitch and roll reaction controls and that induce cross-coupling effects for yaw reaction control. Analysis of the induced data shows good correlation with jet exit momentum ratio.


Abstract Background In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics stopped recommending palivizumab to otherwise healthy 29–34 weeks' gestational age (wGA) infants aged <12 months at respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season start. Here, we compare the burden of RSV hospitalizations (RSVH) and all-cause bronchiolitis hospitalizations (BH) before and after 2014 among otherwise healthy 29–34 wGA infants hospitalized at ≤6 months of age. Methods A historical, observational cohort study was conducted to evaluate RSVH and BH in 29–34 wGA infants during the 2010–2017 RSV seasons using encounter data from 51 United States children's hospitals that comprise the Pediatric Health Information System. Results The overall cohort included 67 570 RSVH out of 96 281 patients with BH. wGA was known for 22 937 RSVH and 33 289 BH. For 29–34 wGA infants, there were 8.7% and 14.2% RSVH before and after 2014, respectively (P < .0001). Intensive care unit admissions increased for RSVH (from 54.5% to 64.2%; P = .0002) and BH (from 46.7% to 54.5%; P = .0005) after controlling for sex, race, comorbidity, and cluster. The total cost of care increased for RSVH from $37 million to nearly $60 million. Conclusions RSVH, BH, and their severity increased among 29–34 wGA infants in the 3 RSV seasons following 2014.


Invariance of the indefinite integral on the method of its calculation is noted. Model problem that can be used for the demonstration of this invariance is treated and solved via three different methods. Significance of formation and development of student's mathematical culture is noted.


The arsenic (As) methylation capacity is an important determinant of the susceptibility to arsenic-related diseases. Total As (TAs) or inorganic As (iAs) was reported to associate with As methylation capacity individually, however, influencing trend and extent of their combined exposure levels on methylation capacity remains poorly understood. We measured urinary concentrations of iAs, monomethylarsonic (MMA), and dimethylarsinic (DMA) acids using HPLC-HG-AFS, and calculated the primary (PMI: (MMA+DMA)/TAs) and secondary (SMI: DMA/(MMA+DMA)) methylation capacity indexes in 209 university students in Hefei, China, a non-As endemic area. Subjects were given with a standardized questionnaire to inquire their sociodemographic characteristics. Bayesian kernal machine regression (BKMR) analysis was used to estimate the association of lnTAs and lniAs levels with methylation indices (ln%MMA, ln%DMA, lnPMI, lnSMI). The median concentration of iAs, MMA and DMA was 1.22, 0.92 and 12.17 μg/L, respectively; the proportions of iAs, MMA and DMA were 8.76%, 6.13% and 84.84%, respectively. Females had higher %DMA and lower %MMA, while males had lower %DMA and higher %MMA. The combined levels of lnTAs and lniAs showed monotonic decrease in change of ln%DMA and lnSMI other than ln%MMA, additionally, change in ln%PMI was decreased only when levels of lnTAs and lniAs were larger than their 60th percentiles compared to they were at 50th percentile. With regard to single exposure level, the lnTAs showed positive correlation with ln%DMA, lnPMI, lnSMI when lniAs was set at a specific level; while lniAs showed negative correlation with ln%DMA, lnPMI, lnSMI when lnTAs was set at a specific level; and all the dose-response relationships were nonlinear. Our results suggested that combined levels of TAs and iAs played an important role in reducing As methylation capacity, expecially iAs; and the reduction only occured when TAs and iAs were up to a certain combined level.


In the wake of the 'climate apocalypse' global discourse, the environmental agenda of the European Green Deal and
 the overarching objective for the European Union are to deliver a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the
 environment. European cities are under pressure to reinvent urban environments and develop resilience to environmental risks. This
 paper looks at semiotic material appearing in Essen, a city in Germany awarded the European Green Capital title. Grounded in the
 multimodal social semiotic approach and ecolinguistics, the paper investigates strategically emplaced 'green' semiotic material
 which shape environmental values and privilege. The paper illustrates the political economy of city clean-ups which every so often
 result in questionable environmental choices and fail to alleviate social inequalities. The analysis ultimately shows how semiotic
 forms of sustainability are evidently implicated in the creation of urban eco-arenas accentuating the socioeconomic stratification
 and privileges of valorized places.


In this paper, an anomaly detection approach has been developed on video compressed in H.265 format. In order to detect anomalies, the motion vectors in the compressed video and the region information of the motion vectors were used. This information was provided as input to the autoencoder model, which is an unsupervised artificial neural network method, and thus the model was trained. The trained model was tested on video data containing anomalies. As output, during the streaming of any video, it is provided to draw a regularity score graph and display the anomaly regions by color. In this paper, we propose an autoencoder based method for anomaly detection in compressed video instead of the original uncompressed video.


A leading choice of error correction for scalable quantum computing is the surface code with lattice surgery. The basic lattice surgery operations, the merging and splitting of logical qubits, act non-unitarily on the logical states and are not easily captured by standard circuit notation. This raises the question of how best to design, verify, and optimise protocols that use lattice surgery, in particular in architectures with complex resource management issues. In this paper we demonstrate that the operations of the ZX calculus --- a form of quantum diagrammatic reasoning based on bialgebras --- match exactly the operations of lattice surgery. Red and green ``spider'' nodes match rough and smooth merges and splits, and follow the axioms of a dagger special associative Frobenius algebra. Some lattice surgery operations require non-trivial correction operations, which are captured natively in the use of the ZX calculus in the form of ensembles of diagrams. We give a first taste of the power of the calculus as a language for lattice surgery by considering two operations (T gates and producing a CNOT) and show how ZX diagram re-write rules give lattice surgery procedures for these operations that are novel, efficient, and highly configurable.


Conversation is an oral skill in which two persons can exchange their ideas, thoughts and opinions to communicate with each other. Learners can work in pairs or groups to practice dialogues chosen by the teacher from their textbook materials or from additional resources. Nowadays, because of Corona virus infection, our college students are taught all the subjects including conversation course either via google classroom platform or any other platforms. Google meet is one of online meetings between the teacher and students, i.e., a video meet in which students and the teacher join the online meetings in a specified time to communicate, express their ideas, thoughts and feelings about what is mentioned above. In this study, the researcher has chosen (third stage level/college students during the academic year 2020/2021) and the data of the study was two dialogues chosen from "Chris Redston and Gillie Cunningham Face2face Intermediate Student's Book. Cambridge University Press (2013)" to study by google meet. Another two dialogues were chosen from their required textbook Real Listening and Speaking 4 with Answers. Miles Craven (2008). Cambridge University Press to study by face to face. One group of thirty-two students was chosen randomly to be the experimental group for the sample of the study to practice the dialogues via face- to- face and via google meet.  This group post-tested by an observation checklist; results are calculated. At the end, the researcher concludes google meet has a great influence on students' learning in the post-test scores, the t-test value is found to be 20.320 which is more than the tabulated value 2.042. Then, recommendations and suggestions for further studies are put forward.


The purpose of the article is the detection of neoclassicism characteristics of A. Casella in the composition "Sicilianna and burlesque". Methodology. The intonational approach from the unity of music and speech from B. Asaief's school in Ukraine has become the methodological basis for this work. The scientific novelty of the work. The analysis of A. Casella's composition "Sicilianna and burlesque" has been made for the first time in the history of Ukrainian music studies. It has been done in a stylistic direction. Conclusions. The analysis has shown the polystylistic complex, which is determined by a variety of instrumental set-up, where the elements of the ancient sonata form were united with programmable and playing filling for entire. It unites the neo-baroque and neo-renaissance style characteristics with a primitivistic interpretation of semantic elements in genre typology, also generating a variety of ensemble and orchestra line-ups. The specified combination of semantic components creates the negligence in dealing with religious symbols, which is characteristic of the Italian modern (compare with atheistic beliefs of the futurists and neo expressionists in the second half of the 20th century).


Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and the affecting risk factors of obesity and the eating habits among adolescents. Methods: The study is a descriptive in design. The research was carried out between December 2013 and February 2014 at a private university in Ankara. This study was conducted with 260 students. The data were presented as frequencies, mean, standard deviations and were analyzed by test of chi-square, Pearson correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis. Data were collected using an Interview Questionnaire, the Eating Habits Index and anthropometric measurements were performed. Results: The mean age of students was 20.87±2.29. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among students were 23.1% and 6.5% respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was related with male gender (p


We review some recent learning approaches in variational imaging, based on bilevel optimisation, and emphasize the importance of their treatment in function space. The paper covers both analytical and numerical techniques. Analytically, we include results on the existence and structure of minimisers, as well as optimality conditions for their characterisation. Based on this information, Newton type methods are studied for the solution of the problems at hand, combining them with sampling techniques in case of large databases. The computational verification of the developed techniques is extensively documented, covering instances with different type of regularisers, several noise models, spatially dependent weights and large image databases.


Objective
When estimating incremental quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs in economic evaluations, prognostic models can be applied to predict survival times. However, these models do not themselves estimate whether the event, e.g. death or survival, would actually occur or not. When this projection is needed it is important to fully incorporate the uncertainty around it.

Study Design and Setting
This paper compares two methods for estimating patient specific outcomes. The average probability method uses the mean estimated proportion of survivors at a particular time point and assumes the patients with the longest survival times are the survivors. The second method uses probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to simulate individual patient outcomes. The two methods are illustrated using a prognostic model for estimating survival in the absence of liver transplantation.

Results
The mean survival, QALYs, costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were similar for the two methods. 95% confidence intervals were slightly wider for survival and QALY estimates and substantially wider for cost and ICER estimates when using PSA to estimate patient outcomes, thus capturing outcome uncertainty at the individual level.

Conclusion
PSA gives more realistic confidence intervals representing uncertainty than an average probability method and is the recommended method when estimating individual patient outcomes from prognostic models.


The concept of
converting recycled oils to clean biodiesel aims towards reducing the amount of
waste oils to be treated and lowering the cost of biodiesel production. Samples
of waste oils were prepared from Spent Frying oil collected from local hotels
and restaurants in Khartoum, Sudan. Selected methods to achieve maximum yield of biodiesel using the waste feedstock were presented and compared. Some properties of the feedstock, such as free fatty acid content and moisture
content, were measured and evaluated. Biodiesel yield recovery obtained, from
Base-transesterification process about 92%.
Produced Biodiesel specifications were also analyzed and discussed in
Base-transesterification process. Kinematic viscosity of biodiesel was found to
be 5.51 mm2·s?1 at 40?C, the flash point was 174.2?C and Cetane No of 48.19. Biodiesel
was characterized by its physical and fuel properties according to ASTM and DIN
V 51606 standards.


Total quality management is from a decade an important and useful organizational system for increasing companies' competitiveness, by optimizing processes with a particular focus on the customer. Among all the methodologies, ISO 9000 certification is one of the most common and recognized approaches for the benefits of the companies that decide to implement it. Several studies have been conducted in literature, presenting some important impacts of the ISO 9000 on the companies' performances. Due to the vast number of works, a classification of the main impacts of ISO 9000 on the principle business performances is needed. The aim of this paper is to present a literature review on this topic and classify the findings, in order to fix the results as the most important areas of company influenced by the certification. Finally the barriers and pitfalls for a successful ISO 9000 certification are presented, furnishing details for overcome this issue.


It is well known that crazing occurs when a magnet wire is immersed in an impregnating bath of varnish after the wire was coiled up. A quantitative study was carried out in this paper for clarifying the relation between the crazing and the residual stress in the polymer film on the wire. As test specimen were used magnet wires which had poor adhesion strength between the polymer film and the conductor. The crazing in the polymer film on the magnet wire occurred most severely between 3% and 5% elongation. The residual stress in the film attained a maximum value in, the same range of elongation. That is, the crazing occurred most severely in the range of elongation where the stress in the polymer film was most hardly relaxed . A morphological study of crazing was made by using two types of magnet wires coated with cross-linked and linear polymers. The crazing observed in the cross-linked polymer films, polyesterimide, was identified as a sort of micro-cracks. In the case of linear polymer films, ployamide (Nylon 66), orientation of polymer chains in crazing was observed.


The strength and direction of natural selection on floral traits can vary spatially and temporally because of variation in the biotic and abiotic environment. High spatial variation in selection should lead to differentiation of floral traits among populations. In contrast, high temporal variation in selection should retard the evolution of population-specific floral phenotypes. To determine the relative importance of spatial vs. temporal variation in natural selection, we measured phenotypic selection on seven floral traits of the wildflowers Lobelia cardinalis and L. siphilitica in 1999 and 2000. Lobelia cardinalis experienced significant temporal variation in selection, whereas L. siphilitica experienced spatial variation in selection on the same traits. This variation in selection on floral traits was associated with spatial and temporal differences in the soil microenvironment. Although few studies of natural selection include spatial or temporal replicates, our results suggest that such replication is critical for understanding the distribution of phenotypes in nature.


Pain represents an embodied process, wherein inferences are not only drawn from sensory inputs, but also from bodily states. Previous research has demonstrated that a placebo administered to an embodied rubber hand can effectively induce analgesia, providing first evidence that placebos can work even when applied to temporarily embodied, artificial body parts. Using a heat pain paradigm, the present study investigates placebo analgesia and pain perception during virtual embodiment. We examined whether a virtual placebo (a sham heat protective glove) can successfully induce analgesia, even when administered to a virtual body. The analgesic efficacy of the virtual placebo to the real hand (augmented reality setting) or virtual hand (virtual reality setting) was compared to a physical placebo administered to the own, physical body (physical reality setting). Furthermore, pain perception and subjective embodiment were compared between settings. Healthy participants (n=48) were assigned to either an analgesia-expectation or control-expectation group, where subjective and objective pain was measured at pre- and post-intervention time points. Results evinced that pre-intervention pain intensity was lower in the virtual reality setting, and that participants in the analgesia-expectation condition, after the intervention, exhibited significantly higher pain thresholds, and lower pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings than control-expectation participants, independent of the setting. Our findings evince that a virtual placebo can elicit placebo analgesia comparable to that of a physical placebo, and that administration of a placebo does not necessitate physical bodily interaction to produce analgesic responses, which might pave the way for effective new non-pharmacological approach for pain management.


Strains of Mycoplasma iowae were homogeneous in some characteristics and heterogeneous in others. Thus, the biochemical tests, immunofluorescence, and protein profiling by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were group-specific tests. However, some minor differences in protein patterns were seen among strains. The growth inhibition test tended to be strain-specific. Hemagglutination titers were very low and unstable for the majority of strains. One strain (RY-65) with a stable high-titer hemagglutinin failed to react in the hemagglutination-inhibition test against immune sera to the reference strains. Restriction endonuclease DNA analyses was the most useful method to differentiate 1 strain from another.


Epiphysisectomy was shown to increase depression in swimming rats, whereas epiphysisectomy combined with blending decreased it. Epiphysisectomy alone affected the minute rhythms of haloperidol catalepsy while the combined action was less obvious.


A method to extract turbulent statistics from three-dimensional (3D) PIV measurements via ensemble averaging is presented. The proposed technique is a 3D extension of the ensemble particle tracking velocimetry methods, which consist in summing distributions of velocity vectors calculated on low image density samples and then extract the statistical moments from the velocity vectors within sub-volumes, with the size of the sub-volume depending on the desired number of particles and on the available number of snapshots. The extension to 3D measurements poses the additional difficulty of sparse velocity vectors distributions, thus requiring a large number of snapshots to achieve high resolution measurements with a sufficient degree of accuracy. At the current state, this hinders the achievement of single-voxel measurements, unless millions of samples are available. Consequently, one has to give up spatial resolution and live with still relatively large (if compared to the voxel) sub-volumes. This leads to the further problem of the possible occurrence of a residual mean velocity gradient within the sub-volumes, which significantly contaminates the computation of second order moments. In this work, we propose a method to reduce the residual gradient effect, allowing to reach high resolution even with relatively large interrogation spots, therefore still retrieving a large number of particles on which it is possible to calculate turbulent statistics. The method consists in applying a polynomial fit to the velocity distributions within each sub-volume trying to mimic the residual mean velocity gradient.


"Use Auriol's Compendium as a mould, pour in Lyre, flavor with Augustine, and sprinkle with Grosseteste." This was John Wyclif's (1330–1384) recipe for biblical commentary. It may be the nature of biblical commentary that commentators do not follow recipes closely, but the history of how the admirers of Nicholas of Lyra's Apocalypse Commentary (1329) received and reworked it indicates that Nicholas's work served frequently as the "mould" into which other interpretations were "poured," while his own Augustinian seasonings were largely ignored. Although later commentators often adopted Nicholas's method, they more frequently poured in the ingredients of his younger Franciscan colleague, Peter Auriol (whose Apocalypse Commentary of 1319 Nicholas sharply critiqued), serving up a dish that Nicholas would not have enjoyed eating.


We propose a new yield estimation algorithm which estimates the acceptability region as the union of spherical cones. The algorithm works by dividing the input parameter space into approximately equi-probable cones, efficiently estimating the refined weight contributions for each cone, then combining the results to get the total yield. The algorithm is broadly similar to the worst-case-distances method, but is more generally applicable for cases with - for example - multiple failure regions. The algorithm is quite accurate, and offers several orders (>;100×) of magnitude of speedup compared to traditional Monte Carlo. The paper includes example applications to difficult high-yield circuits like SRAM.


Diagnosis is the weakest link in the chain of medical services as they are practised today. The computer has a major role to play in improving the situation and also in encouraging greater patient participation.


Article abstract-Myasthenic crisis, defined as respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation, occurs in 15 to 20% of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). Infection (usually pneumonia or viral upper respiratory infection) is the most common precipitant (40%), followed by no obvious cause (30%) and aspiration (10%). As a general rule, 25% of patients are successfully extubated after 1 week, 50% after 2 weeks, and 75% after 1 month. Risk factors for intubation beyond 2 weeks, the point at which tracheostomy is usually performed, include age greater than 50 years, preintubation serum bicarbonate 30 mg/dL or greater, and vital capacity within 6 days of intubation less than 25 mL/kg. Intensive care management of the myasthenic patient should focus on timely intubation, prevention of aspiration with tube feedings, and avoidance of complications, such as atelectasis, that can prolong the duration of crisis. Plasmapheresis leads to short-term improvement of weakness in 75% of patients, and should be performed in all patients unless otherwise contraindicated. Although myasthenic crisis is fatal in approximately 5% of cases, deaths are almost exclusively the result of severe medical comorbidity. Residual weakness leads to functional dependence in 50% of patients at the time of discharge, and one-third will experience two or more episodes of crisis. NEUROLOGY 1997;48(Suppl 5): S70-S75


Following work with TADDOLs and BINOLs, we have now prepared Salen derivatives (2, 3, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21) carrying two to eight styryl groups for cross-linking copolymerization with styrene. The Salen cores are either derived from (R,R)-diphenyl ethylene diamine (3, 15, 19, 21) or from (R,R)-cyclohexane diamine (2, 14, 18, 20). The styryl groups are attached to the salicylic aldehyde moieties, using Suzuki (cf. 1) or Sonogashira cross-coupling (cf. 11), and/or phenolic etherification (cf. 5, 7) with dendritic styryl-substituted Fréchet-type benzylic branch bromides. Subsequent condensation with the diamines provides the chiral Salens. Corresponding Salens lacking the peripheral vinyl groups (cf. 12, 13, 16, 17) were also prepared for comparison of catalytic activities in homogeneous solution with those in polystyrene. Cross-linking radical suspension copolymerization of styrene and the styryl Salens, following a procedure by Itsuno and Fréchet, gave beads (ca. 400 microm diameter) which were loaded with Mn or Cr (ca. 0.2 mmol of complex per g of polymer), with more than 95% of the Salen incorporated being actually accessible for complexation (by elemental analysis). The polymer-bound Mn and Cr complexes were used as catalysts for epoxidations of six phenyl-substituted olefins (m-CPBA/NMO; products 22a-f), and for dihydropyranone formation from the Danishefsky diene and aldehydes (PhCHO, C5H11CHO, C6H11CHO, products 23a-c). There are several remarkable features of the novel immobilized Salens: i) The dendritic branches do not slow down the catalytic activity of the complexes in solution; ii) the reactions with Salen catalysts incorporated in polystyrene give products of essentially the same enantiopurity as those observed in homogeneous solution with the dendritically substituted or with the original Jacobsen - Katsuki complexes; iii) some Mn-loaded beads have been stored for a year, without loss of activity; iv) especially the biphenyl- and the acetylene-linked Salen polymers (p-2, -3, -20, -21, Figure 2, 3) give Mn complexes of excellent performance: after ten uses (without re-charging with Mn!) there is no loss of enantioselectivity or degree of conversion under the standard conditions.


A finite element based microstructural modeling for the size dependent strengthening of particle reinforced aluminum composites is presented. The model accounts explicitly for the enhanced strength in a discretely defined "punched zone" around the particle in an aluminum matrix composite as a result of geometrically necessary dislocations developed through a CTE mismatch. The density of geometrically necessary dislocations is calculated considering volume fraction of the particle. Results show that predicted flow stresses with different particle size are in good agreement with experiments. It is also shown that 0.2% offset yield stresses increases with smaller particles and larger volume fractions and this lengthscale effect on the enhanced strength can be observed by explicitly including GND region around the particle. The strengths predicted with the inclusion of volume fraction in the density equation are slightly lower than those without.


To clarify which one has a different predominance of Th1 and Th2 immune responses in malignant and tuberculous pleural effusions. We did a meta-analysis of the results published previously to assess the levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in two types of pleural effusion, and evaluated its ability to distinguish TPE from MPE. We queried the PubMed and Embase databases for studies indexed from 2000 up to March 2021. We included studies that (a) diagnosis of TPE and MPE by on culture, or pleural biopsy tissue provided; (b) compared levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines in pleural effusion between TPE and MPE. Pooled data by using a random-effects model or fixed-effects model, standardized mean differences (SMD) across studies comparing TPE and MPE. We also performed Egger test to assess of publication bias. Of 917 identified studies, a total of 42 studies were selected in the meta-analysis. Compared with malignant subjects, tuberculous subjects had a significant higher level of TNF-α [2.22, (1.60–2.84)], an elevated level of IFN-γ [3.30, (2.57–4.40)] in pleural effusion, a situation where the Th1 immune response dominates. Conversely, Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-10 (Th2 cytokines) levels were higher in MPE than TPE. Besides, they were shown to be statistically insignificant tiny effects were [-0.15, (-0.94–0.63)], [-0.04, (-0.21–0.12)] respectively. We confirmed that pleural effusions caused by tuberculosis, a situation in which the Th1 cytokines are predominant. The slight preponderance of Th2 cytokines in malignant pleural effusions, which are not convincing enough to prove.


The mobile phone market is constantly evolving. Retailers and manufacturers offer a larger number of features to customers: a mobile network more and more efficient (2G, 3G then 4G), handsets with computer features, navigation, gaming, etc. This progress involves the use of more efficient and reduced electronic components: larger display panels with higher resolution, more powerful microprocessors and more memory available. One of today's most important problematic is the emergence of environmental consciousness. In this context, various studies based on LCA have been recently conducted by the mobile phones retailers and manufacturers to understand to which extend their product could contribute to the environmental issues. One of these studies goals is to provide information to consumers on the environmental impacts of mobile phones. These initiatives are supplemented by the French and European environmental labelling programs. Moreover, methodologies for LCA are also evolving. For example, the JRC, the European Union's scientific and technical research laboratory, advocated a series of recommendations in order to reduce uncertainty about the impact from LCA results [1]. However, there are two main constraints in the creation of an environmental labelling dedicated to mobile phones. Firstly, the time between designing a mobile phone and its marketing is very short. Time to perform LCA studies is thus limited. Secondly, mobile phones market share is large and submitted to an important turnover. The development of easy-to-use methodologies and tools with quick return on investment is necessary. In this context, how can we provide a reliable environmental labelling while meeting the criteria of cost and time? This article deals with the environmental labelling scheme of mobile phones developed by SFR, a French telecommunications company. First of all, this article summarizes the LCA results uncertainties caused by two main aspects: the need to update life cycle inventories datasets (LCI datasets) faces the lack of availability of these data with the manufacturers and the need to develop the methodology to monitor the market and scientific advances. Secondly, the article will address various solutions that have been implemented in relation to these issues. Finally this article will detail the future challenges about methodological and standardisation. Index Terms — Environmental labelling, ICT, mobile phones, LCA standardisation.


Background—The presence of the tumor-suppressor gene p53 in advanced atherosclerotic plaques and the sensitivity to p53-induced cell death of smooth muscle cells isolated from these plaques have fueled speculation about the role of p53 in lesion destabilization and plaque rupture. In this study, we describe a strategy to promote (thrombotic) rupture of preexisting atherosclerotic lesions using p53-induced lesion remodeling. Methods and Results—Carotid atherogenesis was initiated in apolipoprotein E knockout mice by placement of a perivascular silastic collar. The resulting plaques were incubated transluminally with recombinant adenovirus carrying either a p53 or &bgr;-galactosidase (lacZ) transgene. p53 transfection was restricted to the smooth muscle cell-rich cap of the plaque and led to an increase in cap cell apoptosis 1 day after transfer. p53 overexpression resulted in a marked decrease in the cellular and extracellular content of the cap, reflected by a markedly reduced cap/intima ratio (0.21±0.04 versus 0.46±0.03, P <0.001). The latter is a characteristic feature of plaque vulnerability to rupture, and whereas spontaneous rupture of p53-treated lesions was rare, it was found in 40% of cases after treatment with the vasopressor compound phenylephrine (P =0.003). Conclusions—We have demonstrated a potential role of p53-induced remodeling in atherosclerotic plaque destabilization. Being the first example of inducible rupture at a predefined location, this model offers a unique opportunity to delineate the processes that precede rupture and to evaluate plaque-stabilizing therapies.


As the silicon content in a silicomanganese alloy increase, silicon carbide becomes the stable carbon phase. Little work is published on the formation of silicon carbide in the SiMn process. This thesis examines the formation of SiC through the reaction between slag, metal and coke. The goal of the thesis has been to determine where and how SiC is formed in the silicomanganese process. Focus has been given to formation through liquid-solid reactions. The investigation was carried out by heating metal and slag together with coke. XRD analysis of SiC formed in the process, as well as wettability testing of slag and metal toward SiC and graphite substrates were also examined. The raw materials consisted of two industrial SiMn alloys, named Metal 1 and 2 in the thesis. These had 19 and 28 wt.% Si, respectively. Two slags, Slag 1 and 2, were used in combination with the metal. SiC was found to form on the coke particle through reaction with both slag and metal. The formation was fastest through the metal phase and the effect of increasing silicon content in the metal was evident. A temperature increase from 1600 C to 1650 C resulted in less SiC formed on the coke particle surface for Metal 1, but gave more SiC at the surface of the coke particle for Metal 2. The decrease in SiC on the coke particle for Metal 1 is likely to be caused by a decreased driving force, as the coexistence point of C and SiC increases with increasing temperature. For Metal 2 the relative distance is smaller, making the effect neglectable. The formation of SiC occurs at the surface of the coke particle. The metal samples indicate that carbon diffuses through the SiC layer to react with silicon in the alloy. Formation through the slag is likely to go through the reduction of SiO2 to Si, before reacting to form SiC. The XRD analysis determined beta-SiC to be the dominant phase formed through both slag and metal. alpha-SiC was found in one of the industrial slag samples, indicating temperatures higher than 1700 C. The wettability testing showed both slag and metal to be non wetting toward the SiC substrate. All angles were stable with increasing temperatures. Both slags were found to be non wetting toward graphite. The wetting angle of Slag 2 was stable with increasing temperature. Slag 1 showed decreasing wetting angle with temperature, before an abrupt change back to an angle larger than the initial angle. The sudden change is likely to be caused by a reaction product, possibly SiC, forming between the substrate and slag.


We present a complimentary objective for training recurrent neural networks (RNN) with gating units that helps with regularization and interpretability of the trained model. Attention-based RNN models have shown success in many difficult sequence to sequence classification problems with long and short term dependencies, however these models are prone to overfitting. In this paper, we describe how to regularize these models through an L1 penalty on the activation of the gating units, and show that this technique reduces overfitting on a variety of tasks while also providing to us a human-interpretable visualization of the inputs used by the network. These tasks include sentiment analysis, paraphrase recognition, and question answering.


We consider a class of infinite time horizon optimal stopping problems for spectrally negative Lévy processes. Focusing on strategies of threshold type, we write explicit expressions for the corresponding expected payoff via the scale function, and further pursue optimal candidate threshold levels. We obtain and show the equivalence of the continuous/smooth fit condition and the first-order condition for maximization over threshold levels. As examples of its applications, we give a short proof of the McKean optimal stopping problem (perpetual American put option) and solve an extension to Egami and Yamazaki (2013).


Conchotomy was done on 13 cases and the mucous membrane of the inferior conchae was subjected to histochemical investigaton. An activity of alkaline phosphatase was examined by Gomori's revised method (1946).The infiltrating cells in the epithelium and the connective tissue, and the wall of blood vessels showed remarkable activity.Strong activity was also obseryed in the epith-lium and the glandular cells.The ruclei and nucleoli showed a particularly strong activity.The basal membrane and the connective tissue fibers showed a fairly weak activity No activity of acid phosphatase was observed by Gomori's revised method (1946). Pas stain was positive in the basal membrane, infiltrating cells, the wall of blood vessels, and inner surface of the glands and excretory tubules.Strong positive reaction of PAS stain was seen in the inflamed glandular tissue and the wall of bloed vessels. A small amount of glycogen was found at the base of the cells of the serous glands, but hyaluronic acid was not demonstrated.


The people's demands for service satisfaction and patient safety during care were a major challenge for the world of nursing. Students must be equipped with adequate knowledge, attitudes and skills in implementing the patient safety goals program. The purpose of this study was evaluate the knowledge and learning experience of students towards Patient Safety Goals (PSG). Descriptive research was conducted on 71 level II students who had obtained patient safety subject chosen by convenient sampling technique. The questionnaire was used to measure the level of knowledge about PSG. The FGD was conducted on 7 participants to explore lecture in class and laboratory practice experiences. Student knowledge about patient safety goals rated category fairly by 53,5% of the samples. Good level of knowledge on patient safety goals 4. Lecturers are expected to emphasize the interests of patient safety goals when teaching subjects related to patient and family services. It is necessary to develop patient safety goals learning outcomes with practicum methods and adjust the development of patient safety goals instruments in the practice area.


We theoretically investigate the energy spectra of two-electron two-dimensional (2e 2D) quantum dots (QDs) confined by triangular potentials and bowl-like potentials in a magnetic field by exact diagonalization in the framework of effective mass theory. An in-plane electric field is,found to contribute to the singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of the 2e 2D QDs confined by triangular or bowl-like potentials in a perpendicular magnetic field. The stronger the in-plane electric field, the smaller the magnetic field for the total spin of the ground states in the dot systems to change from S = 0 to S = 1. However, the influence of an in-plane electric field on the singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of two electrons in a triangular QD modulated by a perpendicular magnetic field is quite small because the triangular potential just deviates from the harmonic potential well slightly. We End that the strength of the perpendicular magnetic field needed for the spin singlet-triplet transition of the ground state of the QD confined by a bowl-like potential is reduced drastically by applying an in-plane electric field.


Wireless Sensor Networks promise a new instrument for monitoring and collecting data about some outside world phenomenon. Since sensor nodes would embed valuable information, the failure of these nodes would cause the false alarms or missed detections. One solution is to use space-redundant technique along with the incremental checkpointing to save the sensor nodes states. Nevertheless, previous incremental checkpoint relies on the page protection hardware. Since sensor nodes do not have the page protection hardware, previous incremental checkpointing cannot be applied. In this paper, we thus propose three incremental checkpoint methods in MMU-less sensor networks. These three methods differ in the granularity of checkpoint unit and the module execution overhead. We have implemented the three incremental checkpointings on SOS in the mica2 mote sensor nodes. According to the experimental results, we checkpoint and restore the application state successfully. Besides, depending on the characteristics of a module, each application modules can select its own incremental checkpoint scheme to minimize the checkpoint overhead.


Objective We compared early and long-term outcomes between bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting and single internal thoracic artery (SITA) grafting in patients with LM disease. Methods We evaluated the outcomes of all patients with LM disease who underwent revascularization in our center during 1996–2011. Variables that were adjusted for in a multivariate analysis and in propensity matching included age, sex, comorbid diseases, repeat operation, the number of diseased vessels, other conduits used, the use of sequential grafting, the number of grafts constructed, and the operative era (1996–2000 vs. 2001–2011). Results In total, 949 patients with LM disease underwent BITA grafting and 564 underwent SITA grafting during the study period. SITA patients were more often female and more likely to have comorbidities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ejection fraction <30%, recent myocardial infarction, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic renal failure, and peripheral vascular disease, and to have undergone an emergency operation. We found no statistically significant difference between the SITA and BITA groups in 30-day mortality (4.8% vs. 3.3%, P = 0.136), sternal wound infection (2.0% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.548), and stroke (3.2% vs. 4.4%, P = 0.234). BITA patients had improved long-term survival (70.1% vs. 52.0% p<0.001), median follow-up of 15 years. In multivariate analysis, after propensity score matching (477 matched pairs), this finding was not statistically significant (P = 0.135). Conclusion This study did not demonstrate a clear benefit of BITA grafts among patients with LM disease.


On the internet, many websites provide services for users to post and share their contents. However, most systems do not address on the convenience in content portability or the extensibility in functionality on the information to be shared. This paper presents a methodology to construct an information system using the information object model. The key mechanisms behind the methodology are three parts: 1) the tools used to build the object tree; 2) the tools used to install the methods of an information object; 3) the tools used to browse and search the target information objects. Using the three key mechanisms, an application designer can systematically build an information object system in a relatively simple way. In this paper we will explore the methodology and the mechanisms used. We will also demonstrate how we develop an application using the methodology.


Australia's strategic analysis capabilities extend far beyond the staff, methods and sources available to formal intelligence assessment agencies, notably the Office of National Assessments (ONA) and the Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO). Capabilities also encompass: other government organisations, including policy departments, which retain subject-area and analytical expertise; the resources of allied and other friendly countries with which Australia has regular dialogue; and non-government capacity, such as in Australia's think tanks and universities, to the extent that this can be harnessed by government. The core capabilities, particularly those of ONA, have been substantially improved since the 2004 Flood Inquiry. In particular, staffing levels have been increased, and consultative and analytical processes better systematised. There remains, however, room for improvement, particularly in the exploitation and synthesis of online sources and other publicly-available expertise. The creativity and transparency of the US National Intelligence Council's 2025 project and the UK Ministry of Defence's DCDC Strategic Trends project provide models for a possible Australiaspecific process of presenting regular and contestable long-term assessments in the public domain.


Forecasting volatility as a proxy to risk is critical to investment decisions and the study of investment behaviour. Toward this, a growing literature has attempted but not yet been able to identify an optimal volatility forecasting model. In this paper, we show that this is because the optimal model is dynamic. The choice of the optimal model depends on three factors: the asset in question; the period being studied; and the fitted innovation distribution. Therefore, we propose a novel empirical strategy that enables the researcher to select the optimal model as a function of these three factors. Using our Multiple Hypothesis Testing framework with False Discovery Rate approach, we are able to consistently identify significantly more accurate models relative to the literature's benchmark volatility forecasting models of ARCH(1) and GARCH(1,1).


53-year-old male was introduced our hospital for treatment of his infective endocarditis and congestive heart failure. Further evaluation revealed massive destruction of the mitral valve and aneurysm of the right coronary artery. We carried out an operation of aneurysmectomy and CABG with RGEA for coronary artery, and MVR using 29 mm SJM valve. Postoperative course was excellent. Graftgram showed good patency and perfusion of RGEA. Pathological findings were 1) macrophage infiltration into thrombi, 2) disappearance of elastic fibers of the media. 3) least atherosclerosis of the intima. We concluded that it was a mycotic coronary artery aneurysm. There have been no report of surgical treatment of such a mycotic coronary artery aneurysm upon our investigation.


Abstract - In this modern age of science is inseparable from the rapid advancement of computer science. Many people use technology to search for information, do a job, as a media promotion, and others. Here the author will promote a sports hall with computer  media to be shown wuth the web-based diinternet. I want to help building owners to promote as well as compiling a list of rental houses online. Sports Centre gave priority to Astina rental for the sport of badminton and futsal. Inside the building there are four fields tha can be rented out and one futsal field. There is a rental system for member or daily. As for conditions on the member's system that should have an exercise routine (minimum one week). If a permit has to be confirmed two days earlier (no confirmation it will be removed from the registered user). This information system development method using prototype and his programming language for using PHP with a MySQL database as well as for it design using UML (Unifed Modeling Language). Keywords : Sports Hall Rental Information System, Astina, PHP, MySQL


There appears to be a lack of existing data that comprehensively summarizes the evidence of children and adolescents' active travel in the Republic of Ireland. In lieu of this, a scoping review was conducted to map the existing literature (2000–2020) on children and adolescents' active travel in the Republic of Ireland. A scoping review design extracted a total of 19 publications, which show a consistent focus on the identified population's active travel patterns, mainly to and from school, mostly self-report and cross-sectional research study designs; however, there are few longitudinal data, intervention and participatory studies. Key issues from these identified scoping review studies are discussed with the potential to better inform policy makers, practitioners and researchers to delineate programmes and strategies for promoting active travel among children and adolescents in the Republic of Ireland.


Background. In the modern world, people are short of time for physical and spiritual education, which may lead to major health problems. Due to passive lifestyle, many of them have a poor body composition, impaired circulation and reduced flexibility, which may contribute to physical disorders and susceptibility to chronic diseases (Chen, Tseng, Ting, & Huang, 2007). Hypothesis: lifestyle of yoga practitioners is healthier and health evaluation is better compared to those of nonpractitioners. The aims of the research were to asses and compare the features of lifestyle and health evaluation of yoga practitioners and non-practitioners. Methods. The study included middle-aged participants (from 35 to 55 years). A total of 193 people were evaluated, 86 of them were practising yoga. Among these participants, 63 were women, 23 – men. The other 107 did not practise yoga, 58 of them were women, 43 – men. The questionnaire of the lifestyle of Lithuanian adults was used (Grabauskas, Klumbienė, & Petkevičienė, 2011). Results. The analysis of the results confirmed the hypothesis proposed at the beginning of the work. Yoga practitioners' nutrition, physical activity, addictions and evaluation of their health was better than those of nonpractitioners. Conclusion. Yoga practitioners have healthier lifestyle habits, they consume less animal fat, eat more fruits, cereals and cereal-based products. In addition, they are more physically active than nonpractitioners, both men and women often exercise alone or in group practice sessions and without yoga they have more kinds of physical activity. A lower prevalence of addictions was observed among them; none of them smoked and they had a lower intake of alcohol beverages compared to yoga non-practitioners. Yoga practitioners are healthier and have a better value of their health and the quality of life.


We study unsupervised multi-document summarization evaluation metrics, which require neither human-written reference summaries nor human annotations (e.g. preferences, ratings, etc.). We propose SUPERT, which rates the quality of a summary by measuring its semantic similarity with a pseudo reference summary, i.e. selected salient sentences from the source documents, using contextualized embeddings and soft token alignment techniques. Compared to the state-of-the-art unsupervised evaluation metrics, SUPERT correlates better with human ratings by 18- 39%. Furthermore, we use SUPERT as rewards to guide a neural-based reinforcement learning summarizer, yielding favorable performance compared to the state-of-the-art unsupervised summarizers. All source code is available at https://github.com/yg211/acl20-ref-free-eval.