ABSTRACT Locally advanced upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) exhibits high recurrence and metastasis rates even after radical nephroureterectomy. Adjuvant immunotherapy can be a reasonable option, and a simple, low-cost, and effective biomarker is further needed. Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) has been demonstrated as a prognostic and predictive biomarker in various tumor types, but not yet in locally advanced UTUC. In this multicenter, real-world and retrospective study, we tried to investigate the prognostic role of sTIL and its correlation with the PD-L1/PD-1/CD8 axis by reviewing the clinicopathologic variables of 398 locally advanced UTUC patients at four high-volume Chinese medical centers. sTIL density was evaluated with standardized methodology on H&E sections, and patients were stratified by the cutoff of sTIL (50%). Results showed that high sTIL indicated improved survival (CSS, p = .022; RFS, p = .015; DFS, p = .004), and was an independent predictor of better CSS (HR, 0.577; 95% CI, 0.391–0.851; p = .006), RFS (HR, 0.613; 95% CI 0.406–0.925; p = .020) and DFS (HR, 0.609; 95% CI, 0.447–0.829; p = .002). A strongly positive correlation between sTIL density and the expression level of PD-1/PD-L1/CD8 axis was observed. We also found that aristolochic acid (AA) exposure was associated with increased sTIL and elevated PD-L1 expression, indicating that AA-related UTUC might be a distinct subgroup with unique tumor microenvironment characteristics. Our results show that sTIL can be an easily acquired biomarker for prognostic stratification in locally advanced UTUC.


AIMS AND SCOPE Clinical Medicine Insights: Women's Health is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal which considers manuscripts on all aspects of the diagnosis, management, and prevention of disorders specific to women, in addition to related genetic, pathophysiological, and epidemiological topics. Clinical Medicine Insights: Women's Health aims to provide researchers working in this complex, quickly developing field with online, open access to highly relevant scholarly articles by leading international researchers. In a field where the literature is ever-expanding, researchers increasingly need access to up-to-date, high-quality scholarly articles on areas of specific contemporary interest. This supplement is on Health Disparities in Women. This supplement aims to address this by presenting high-quality articles that allow readers to distinguish the signal from the noise. The editor in chief hopes that through this effort, practitioners and researchers will be aided in finding answers to some of the most complex and pressing issues of our time.


Currently, it is recognized that language and culture go hand in hand, which means that when we teach a language, we also teach the culture of that language or other languages that appear in the textbooks being used. This wide recognition of the vital role of culture in the second language teaching has presented challenges for EFL teachers in various contexts. This article reports a qualitative study on three Cambodian teachers of English at one school in Phnom Penh. The study aims to investigate EFL teachers' views and practices of textbook adaptation, as well as how they adapt textbooks to help students develop intercultural awareness in the ELT. To achieve these objectives, the qualitative data obtained from individual interviews, classroom observations, and teaching materials were engaged to shed light on the backdrop of the textbook adaptation and cultural integration in the ELT classroom. The findings in this study reveal an inconsistency between teachers' views and practices about the textbook adaptation and the teachers' limited capacity of interculturality-stimulated scholarship that is inherently tied to the development of cultural activities in the ELT classroom. This study suggests teacher training on the textbook adaptation and teaching culture should be provided to the teachers in the context and beyond.


Background/Aims: Stem cell-based therapy is attractive in many clinical studies, but current data on the safety of stem cell applications remains inadequate. This study observed the safety, immunological effect of cynomolgus monkey umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (mUC-MSCs) injected into cynomolgus monkeys, in order to evaluate the safety of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) prepared for human clinical application. Methods: Eighteen cynomolgus monkeys were divided into three groups. Group 1 is control group, Group 2 is low-dose group, Group 3 is high-dose group. After repeated administrations of mUC-MSCs, cynomolgus monkeys were observed for possible toxic reactions. Results: During the experiment, no animal died. There were no toxicological abnormalities in body weight, body temperature, electrocardiogram, coagulation and pathology. In the groups 2 and 3, AST and CK transiently increased, and serum inorganic P slightly decreased. All animals were able to recover at 28 days after the infusion was stopped. In the groups 2 and 3, CD3+ and IL-6 levels significantly increased, and recovery was after 28 days of infusion. There were no obvious pathological changes associated with the infusion of cells in the general and microscopic examinations. Conclusions: The safe dosage of repeated intravenous infusion of mUC-MSCs in cynomolgus monkeys is 1.0 × 107/kg, which is 10 times of that in clinical human use.


Within the context of self directed learning via the Internet, the on-going ARTyFACTS Learning Environment research project under development at the Learning Technology Research Institute, University of North London explores different ways of re-exhibiting 3D objects virtually. This multimedia facility will ultimately help remote students in their studies, the disabled person who cannot access the work, or a person who cannot travel to see the work. We describe aspects of the extension of our prototype ARTyFACTS Learning Environment. The prototype was evaluated by Architectural students at UNITEC Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, who provided positive feedback in terms of usability and utility.


We describe a technique to obtain linear descriptions for polytopes from extended formulations. The simple idea is to first define a suitable lifting function and then to find linear constraints that are valid for the polytope and guarantee lifted points to be contained in the extension. We explain the technique at an example from the literature (matching polytopes), obtain new simple proofs of results on path-set polytopes and small-cliques polytopes, and finally exploit the technique in order to derive linear descriptions of orbisacks, which are special Knapsack polytopes arising in the context of symmetry breaking in integer programming problems.


DOI: 10.21276/sjbms.2018.3.8.3 Abstract: Kebaya was born in Indonesia, especially in Java, then spread throughout the archipelago with a variety of cultural adjustment that enriched its form. Some designers start looking for ideas for preserving the cultural heritage through community activities kebaya lovers who want to develop the business sector with the creative industries by empowering home sewers. The method used is descriptive, while verification through hypothesis testing, modeling approaches use SEM. The results of the research reveales that creativity, supported by Quality of Service has a strong influence, resulting in the designers are difficult to develop their efforts because of the customers' image to the rules / grip of Kartini kebaya, Kerancang, or other old models which are still maintained. Apart from the taste of customers constantly changing, causing the designer difficult to standardize Kebaya models that will be sold. In addition to its impact to the Customer Value less balanced between the value / benefits to be obtained at a cost that will be incurred. Customer Loyalty which was expected to last a long time in fact customers are beginning to miss the kebaya Kartini and feel tired of Kebaya Modification although not all customers are turning to other older models of Kebaya.


This paper was presented to the VII Commonwealth and International Conference on Sport, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in Brisbane in 1982 (1200 delegates) and was subsequently published in Volume 1 (Dance) of the Conference Proceedings by the Department of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland Australia. The Conference (which preceded the '82 Commonwealth Games) addressed a wide range of topics, published in seven volumes. The dance volume covered scientifc aspects of dance, dance, styles, notation, computer, choreography, historical, educational, social, philosophical, community, theatre and therapeutic aspects of dance Conference. Faculty consisted of speakers world‐wide and included a number of contributors from the UK, including Gordon Curl and Professor David Best, both addressing philosophical issues. The critical and appreciative attitudes to the arts are seen to be logically and psychologically incompatible – the critical attitude assumes a detached impersonal approach whilst the appreciative requires an intimate and involved relationship with works of art. In so far as dance teachers are both 'critics' and 'appreciators' they share the dilemma which has plagued philosophical aesthetics since the time of Kant. The academic pressures to which the arts in education have been subjected are to be resisted in so far as they detract and diminish aesthetic experience. A more moderate critical approach is to be found in aesthetic perception theory but its restriction of the aesthetic to the discrimination of perceived qualities in the dance does not satisfy the appreciative approach. Central to the appreciative approach is imaginative involvement; this, in terms of dance, brings into play empathic, animistic, participatory, identificatory and other forms of imagination, the spectator becomes implicated imaginatively in the dance. The sceptical intellect derides the appreciative approach for its subjectivity but this is countered by the claim that imaginative thought can be developed into commentary, thus coupling the critical and the appreciative in an alliance beneficial to dance education.


The purpose of present study was to evaluate commercial preparations of carbamazepine tablets with respect to drug release through a defined sequence of experiments using Minitab software. The compliance of products with respect to United States Pharmacopeia (USP) dissolution test and comparison of the products with respect to drug release in different dissolution conditions is reported in the present paper. The different dissolution conditions studied include dissolution medium (1% SLS in purified water, 0.1 N HCl), volume (900 and 1,000 ml), rpm (50 rpm, 75 rpm). Studies indicated that all six products complied with USP dissolution criteria. However, the extent of influence of dissolution conditions on drug release was varied among the products. Distinct dissolution profiles were observed and there was no correlation with disintegration time in certain products. The in vitro dissolution experimentation helped in identifying the discriminatory dissolution conditions and also the formulations that were unaffected with change of dissolution variables. In summary, commercial preparations of carbamazepine vary widely in their dissolution behavior in multi dissolution run experimentation. Identifying this behavior of the products was essential as an in vitro tool for screening a good and a bad formulation.


Critical Issues in Human Resource Management is a substantial and authoritative multi-author textbook for HRM modules that take a critical approach. It problematises core HRM topics, encouraging sophisticated thinking about HR interventions.

- Written by a team of experts primarily at Middlesex University but also from other UK and international institutions

- Part 3 is unique in applying HRM practices to specific industry contexts rather than assuming `best practice is universal. This will enable students to think about how different issues might be dealt with differently in, for example, an NHS trust and a hotel

- Draws out the importance of state/corporate governance of the workplace and the politics of workplace relations

- Integrates students' prior understanding of the key operational aspects of HRM with the wider institutional and social contexts in which they occur

- Expands students' knowledge of HR-related theory with wider social and business theory, enabling them to apply critical approaches to HR problems


Multipotent human adipose stem cells (hASCs) are an abundant and potential source of cells for vascular tissue engineering when combined with a suitable biomaterial scaffold. Poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) has been shown to be a useful biodegradable material for tissue engineered vascular grafts due to its flexibility, excellent biocompatibility and enzymatic degradation by surface erosion in vivo. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the proliferation and differentiation of hASCs towards smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on gamma-crosslinked and photo-crosslinked PTMC membranes.

PTMC macromers were functionalized with methacrylate end groups and crosslinked by UV initiated radical polymerization. High molecular weight linear PTMC was crosslinked by gamma irradiation. Cell viability, cell numbers and SMC differentiation of hASCs were evaluated on the differently crosslinked PTMC films at 7 and 14 days (d).

On the photo-crosslinked membranes, homogenous monolayers of hASC were detected by live/dead assay. Consistently, cells on the photo-crosslinked membranes had significantly higher cell numbers compared to cells on the gamma-crosslinked membranes after 14 d of culture. SMC specific genes were expressed on both membranes at 14 d. Photo-crosslinked membranes showed higher expression of SMC specific proteins at 14 d compared to gamma-crosslinked membranes.

These results suggest that especially the photo-crosslinked PTMC membranes are suitable for vascular tissue engineering applications when combined with hASCs.


Understanding the mechanisms of prostate cancer (PC) development into castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a key factor in finding better diagnostic and treatment tools. Although a number of studies have tried to explain the molecular evolution of CRPC, more refined understanding on molecular mechanisms is still needed for improved patient care. While increasing amounts of genomic aberrations are accumulating in prostate cancer genome during the disease progression, we still lack understanding on the functional impact of the majority of these aberrations or their combinations. Identification of the regulatory regions from tissue samples enables in-depth analysis of regulatory elements and upstream regulators that are driving tumor development. Thus, we can gain detailed understanding of how the genomic alterations reorganize the chromatin and enable the emergence of cancer phenotype. We have previously characterized a cohort of 60 clinical prostate tissue samples including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), PC, and CRPC with RNA-seq, MeDIP-seq, DNA-seq, small-RNA-seq, and mass spectrometry. To gain insight into the epigenetic regulation during the disease progression, we decided to use assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq). We first developed a method that allows us to use freshly frozen prostate samples as starting material, and performed ATAC-seq for BPH, PC, and CRPC samples from the above-mentioned cohort. High quality peaks were identified from all the samples, ranging from tens of thousands to over one hundred thousand peaks per sample. Large variation in the chromatin structure was observed across the cohort. Unsupervised clustering based on peak intensities was able to separate the three different sample types into separate clusters with distinct chromatin state profile for each sample cluster. Next we extracted nucleosome signals from the data. This signal is able to illustrate nucleosome occupancy and positioning with high resolution in the areas of open chromatin. We observed organized nucleosome patterns in our BPH samples, but this organization start to fall apart in PC and especially in CRPC samples where nucleosome localization is no longer uniform inside the group. The results imply increased heterogeneity in chromatin structure as a result of disease progression. Our data show that ATAC-seq data from clinical prostate material are sufficient to separate different sample groups to their own clusters, and it is possible to have detailed information about nucleosome binding in tumor tissues. These data allow us to reveal novel changes in chromatin state and integrate those changes to other features such as gene expression. With these data we aim to connect specific regulatory elements and upstream regulators to cancer phenotypes and genomic alterations. This new layer of information will bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms that drive molecular evolution of CRPC with potential implications in clinical practice for patients suffering from this devastating disease. Citation Format: Joonas Tuominen, Tomi Hakkinen, Matti Annala, Kati Kivinummi, Teuvo Tammela, Leena Latonen, Kirsi Granberg, Tapio Visakorpi, Matti Nykter. Chromatin state alterations in human prostate cancer progression [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Prostate Cancer: Advances in Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research; 2017 Dec 2-5; Orlando, Florida. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(16 Suppl):Abstract nr A077.


Background and Objectives: Race and sex differences in the trajectory of survivors' cognitive changes after stroke are uncertain. We measured changes in cognitive function associated with incident stroke and variability by race (black vs white) and sex, controlling for prestroke cognitive trajectories. Methods: Prospective study of 654 survivors of incident stroke and 22,969 stroke-free participants aged ≥45 years without baseline cognitive impairment from the REGARDS cohort enrolled 2003-2007 and followed through September 30, 2014. Median follow-up was 7.3 years. Changes in global cognition (Six-Item Screener [SIS]; range, 0-6; primary outcome), new learning, verbal memory, and executive function (Word-List Learning, Word-List Delayed Recall, and Animal Fluency Test) were measured using a regression discontinuity analytic approach, where the acute effect of stroke was estimated as the difference in the expected cognitive level on the day of the stroke from the modeled trajectory of cognitive functioning before the stroke and the trajectory of cognitive functioning after the stroke. These trajectories of post-baseline cognitive function were estimated after adjustment for calendar time and baseline values of socio-demographics, vascular risk factors, clinical factors, baseline cognitive score, and random effects for intercept and slope. Results: After stroke, acute declines in global cognition were greater in men compared with women (P=0.003) and also greater in blacks compared with whites (P=0.03) (Figure). Adjusted declines in SIS scores were 0.22 points (95% CI, 0.14 to 0.31) in black men, 0.13 points (95% CI, 0.06 to 0.20) in white men, 0.10 points (95% CI, 0.02 to 0.18) in black women, and 0.01 points (95% CI, -0.06 to 0.09) in white women. Secondary cognitive assessments did not differ significantly by race or sex. Conclusion: The acute declines in global cognition after stroke are greater in men compared with women and in blacks compared with whites.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of online review's tactile cues in consumer's purchase intention, given the absence of direct experience in online shopping.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on four empirical studies, the authors examine the role of online review's tactile cues in consumer's purchase intention. A secondary data analysis on Taobao and three experiments were conducted.

Findings
First, this research demonstrates that tactile cues in online reviews are sure to have a significant influence on consumers' purchase intention. Second, the purchase intention of consumers is easily influenced by the reviews of holistic tactile cues of the search product, which affects the final purchase intention through the way of outcome simulation. Consumers' purchase intention is also easily influenced by concrete tactile cues of experience product, which affects the final purchase intention through the way of process simulation. Temporal distance is the boundary condition.

Practical implications
A seller should manage the order of online review or labels related to corresponding tactile cues, in order to encourage consumers to comment on the relevant tactile features. Besides, in the aspect of website design, a seller can also encourage consumers to image about the process and the result of using so as to promote his sales volume.

Social implications
The conclusion may give a solution on how to deal with the absence of direct experience in online shopping.

Originality/value
There has been little research about the influences of others' tactile behaviors on consumers' behaviors. The authors focus the other tactile experience in online review. The previous studies on online reviews focus on the its influences of valence, quantity and sentiment polarity on the usefulness of reviews and sales volume. However, few studies are explored on contents of reviews. The authors focus on the content such as tactile cues.


The effect N-stearoilethanolamines on lipide classes and their fatty acid composition was studied in the isolated rat heart under ischemia--reperfusion. It was shown that the amount of cholesterol esters increased at ischemia--reperfusion by 4.6 fold. The addition of 10(-7) M, 10(-6) M and 10(-5) M of N-stearoilethanolamines into perfused solution prevented these negative consequences of the myocardium ischemic injury. The addition of N-stearoilethanolamines decreased the quantity oleinic (18:1 omega 9) and free n-6 fatty acids. N-stearoilethanolamine lowered the amount of short chain saturated fatty acids and also polyunsaturated n-6 fatty acids in cholesterol esters. As well the lipide composition of perfused solutions was also investigated.


LiNixV1-x-y AlyO2, are cathode materials for lithium ion batteries which have been synthesized via carbon combustion method. Lithium nickel oxide derivatives are considered by the battery manufacturers to be very promising for application in 4V lithium-ion batteries. The objective of this study is, to successfully synthesize a lithium nickel vanadium aluminum oxide cathode which can show intercalation and de-intercalation process during cyclic voltammetry testing and a discharge capacity of above 50mAh/g. LiNi1-x-yVxAlyO2were synthesized by the carbon combustion method using acetylene carbon black as a binder. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) reveals extra peaks related to Vanadium metal when it is added into LiNiAlO2. The intensity peak of the spectrum increased when the V content is increased. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) shows the grain particles become non-spherical and flakes when more vanadium substituted for nickel in the sample. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis and Energy dispersive analysis of X-Ray (EDAX) confirmed that NO3- impurities are not present and composition in samples Galvanostatic charge/discharge data obtained illustrates a discharge capacity of 80.57mAh/g LiNi0.8V0.1Al0.1O2 and an average of 80.55mAh/g for 10 cycles whereas LiNi0.6V0.3Al 0.1O2 highest discharge capacity is 80.52mAh/g and also an average of 80.53mAh/g for 10 cycles. Voltammographs of the LiNi0.8V0.1Al0.1O2, LiNi0.7V0.2Al0.1O2 and LiNi0.6V0.3Al0.1O2 materials showed good oxidation and reduction loop at 0.05mV/s and 1 mV/s scan rate.


The relationship between migratory processes and the diffusion , appropriation and hybridisation of cultural practices has been systematically documented in the scholarly literature . Within these processes there are highly mobile people whose frequent travels and short stays make them less visible as agents of cultural circulation . They often do not see themselves as migrants , nor they are classified as such by national bureaucracies . Therefore , their participation in the diffusion of cultural practices has not been fully considered . This article focuses on the ways in which journeying with a musical practice entails forms of informal transnational labour and , simultaneously , meanings of diffusion , promotion and cultivation of regional cultures that are valued by geographically dispersed communities of practitioners . This account is based on an ethnographic study on the circulation of a traditional musical practice between Mexico and the US . It specifically focuses on the case of a musician , workshop facilitator and luthier who travels several times a year between these two countries performing , teaching and selling handmade instruments . Although his journeying with a musical practice representsa way of making a living , a job , he does not perceive himself as a labour migrant , but as a teacher , performer and cultural promoter . Differing from the experiences of international migrants , this article shows how the meanings of his mobility exhibitsa distinct form of existential mobility .


MYC is one of the most frequently mutated and overexpressed genes in human cancer but the regulation of MYC expression and the ability of MYC protein to repress cellular genes (including itself) have remained mysterious. Recent genome-wide association studies show that many genetic polymorphisms associated with disease risk map to distal regulatory elements that regulate the MYC promoter through large chromatin loops. Cancer risk-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) contain more potent enhancer activity, promoting higher MYC levels and a greater risk of disease. The MYC promoter is also subject to complex regulatory circuits and limits its own expression by a feedback loop. A model for MYC autoregulation is discussed which involves a signaling pathway between the PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) tumor suppressor and repressive histone modifications laid down by the EZH2 methyltransferase.


The global economy was sluggish due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until March 2020, the economy began to decline, along with the pandemic outbreak throughout the world, including in Indonesia. People lost jobs due to the weakening of the national economy. This study aims to analyze the effect of Earning per Share (EPS) Net Profit Margin (NPM), Gross Profit Margin (GPM) Total Assets Turnover (TATO), and Total Assets Turnover (TATO) on company stock prices in manufacturing in the food and beverage sector. It was listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) with an observation period of 2016-2021. The population and sample in this study are the quarterly financial reports of manufacturing companies in the food and beverage sector listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sampling method used is the purposive sampling method, with a total sample of 252 quarterly financial statements taken from 12 companies. The data used in this research is secondary data. Furthermore, the data collected was tested by multiple linear regression analysis, processed using the SPSS version 18 application. The results showed that partially EPS and NPM had a positive and significant effect on stock prices, while GPM had no significant effect on stock prices, and TATO had a negative effect. And significant to stock prices. Simultaneously, EPS, NPM, GPM, and TATO have a positive and significant effect on stock prices with a coefficient of determination of 67.4%.


In the South African context, public participation is an essential component for enhanced and effective accountable governance. National government, therefore, intends to effect a level of accountability and confidence from citizens in respect of governance for improved service delivery. Local government is an important sphere of government to facilitate sustained accountability and confidence in governance by engaging with the citizenry in a participatory manner to effect improved service delivery. However, despite a variety of legislative prescriptions pertaining to participation, a degree of apathy remains amongst communities.
This article reviews the constitutional objectives that indicate the necessity for public participation. Additional legislative prescriptions that give effect to these objectives will also be reviewed. Proposals will be made for enhanced facilitation of public participation in the local sphere of government with specific reference to the role that ward committees can play.


A challenge in presenting augmenting information in outdoor augmented reality (AR) settings lies in the broad range of uncontrollable environmental conditions that may be present, specifically large-scale fluctuations in natural lighting and wide variations in likely backgrounds or objects in the scene. In this paper, we present a user-based study which examined the effects of outdoor background textures, changing outdoor illuminance values, and text drawing styles on user performance of a text identification task with an optical, see-through augmented reality system. We report significant effects for all of these variables, and discuss design guidelines and ideas for future work.


We report the results of monitoring the radial velocities of 31 confirmed Ba dwarfs and CH subgiants, showing that about 27 of them have a variable radial velocity. Therefore, mass transfer in a binary most probably explains their chemical anomalies, as for the Ba giants. The orbital parameters of the 14 systems having sufficient phase coverage are very similar to those of the Ba giants. Whether the CH subgiants and Ba dwarfs may become Ba giants is discussed briefly. Most of the marginal Ba dwarfs listed by Edvardsson et al. (1993) are single, so that their chemical peculiarity, if real, cannot be due to binary evolution.


The paper briefly describes a full-wave frequency-domain (FD) approach aimed at developing a SPICE-equivalent circuit model for predicting the effects of coupling of external electromagnetic fields to transmission lines (TLs). The approach employs the method of moments combined with rational approximation of the desired observable, and vector fitting technique. A Norton equivalent circuit representing the TL structure at the selected port is derived from the results of FD numerical simulation. Numerical example demonstrates the usefulness and efficiency of the approach.


BACKGROUND Systemic emphysematous infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) is a rare but severe infection which can be lethal if the diagnosis is delayed. CASE SUMMARY We report a rare case of systemic emphysematous infection via hematogenous dissemination from a liver abscess caused by K. pneumoniae, complicated by multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, septic shock, bacteremia, emphysematous cystitis, prostate and left seminal vesicle abscesses in a diabetic patient. The patient simultaneously presented with spontaneous pneumoperitoneum secondary to rupture of the emphysematous liver abscess. His condition after admission deteriorated rapidly and he died within a short period. This disease is a great challenge for the clinician as K. pneumoniae can cause multifocal emphysematous infections and fulminant septic shock. Pneumoperitoneum following spontaneous rupture of the liver abscess can result in intra-abdominal sepsis that further increases mortality rate. Moreover, appropriate site-specific intervention and adequate drainage of numerous emphysematous liver lesions are difficult. CONCLUSION Early diagnosis followed by efficient antibiotic therapy and surgical management are essential for systemic emphysematous infection.


The objective of this paper is to analyse the physical performance of two technologies in a water and electricity co-generation scheme: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant coupled to a Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit for a location in the city of Trapani, in southern Italy. The modelled system is compared with the results of another study [2], in which a Multi-Effect Desalination (MED) is powered by a CSP plant for the same location in Italy, using as reference an existing stand-alone gas powered MED plant located at Trapani [3] (which has operated until very recently). The overall aim is to assess and compare these two cogeneration schemes, using as reference the existing MED plant. This work was conducted using as the main simulation tool: the System Advisor Model (SAM) developed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); a recent upgrade to SAM made available to this work through Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia I.P. (LNEG); and the Reverse Osmosis System Analysis (ROSA) developed by the Dow Chemical Company. A technical visit to a real commercial RO plant in the south of Portugal (Alvor) was conducted, and the data gathered was used in the validation of the ROSA model. The results for the Trapani case study show that the CSP-RO arrangement has the capability to produce ~50% of the total production of the full scale plant at Trapani, if operated at nominal capacity, year round. Also, the CSP-RO system provides ~20% more electricity and water than the CSP-MED system throughout the studied period of one year. The two co-generation schemes provide promising potential to fight the issues related to fresh water shortages and dependency on fossil fuelled desalination. Thus, they can aid in decreasing the effects associated with CO2 emissions and climate change.


Previous work has focused on the methods and results for calculating flaw driving force in simulated three-dimensional (3D) weld residual stress (WRS) fields using contour (J) integral techniques. This paper extends that work to look at explicit modeling of the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) in these same WRS fields, and for the same range of semi-elliptical flaws. Comparison is made between the predicted trends of driving force with crack size for the calculated driving force (J-integral) versus the "measured" value (CTOD). Implications for fracture assessments are given, and recommendations for future work are made.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


OBJECTIVE
Cardiac marker sensitivity depends on chest pain duration at the time of sampling. Our objective was to estimate the sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios of early CK-MB and myoglobin assays in patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with nondiagnostic ECGs, stratified by the duration of ongoing chest pain at the time of ED assessment.

METHODS
This was a prospective observational study carried out in 10 US and 2 Canadian EDs. Patients >25 years of age with ongoing chest pain and nondiagnostic ECGs were stratified by pain duration (0-4 h, 4-8 h, 8-12 h, >12 h). CK-MB and myoglobin assays were drawn at T = 0 (ED assessment) and T = 1 hr. Patients were followed for 7-14 days to identify all cases of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). ED test results were correlated with patient outcomes.

RESULTS
Of 5005 eligible patients, 565 had AMI. Pain duration was 0-4 h in 3014 patients, 4-8 h in 961, 8-12 h in 487, and >12 h in 543. Marker sensitivity increased with pain duration, ranging from 28%-77% for CK-MB and 39%-73% for myoglobin. The maximal sensitivity achieved by a T = 0 assay was 73%, and this was in patients with 8-12 or >12 h of ongoing pain. No combination of tests achieved 90% sensitivity in any pain duration strata.

CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of chest pain duration, single assays and early serial markers (0+1 hr) do not rule out AMI; therefore, serial assays over longer observation periods are required. Likelihood ratios derived in this study will help physicians who use Bayesian analysis to determine post-test AMI likelihood in patients with chest pain.


A series of mixed-linker metal-organic frameworks(MIXMOFs) of the general formula Zn4O(BDC)x(ABDC)3–x has been synthesized and tested as catalyst in the reaction of propylene oxide (PO) and carbon dioxide. Based on MOF-5 a new synthetic route was developed which allows the partial substitution of benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (BDC) linkers in the material by functionalized 2-aminobenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate. In that way the number of catalytically active amino groups can be tuned using the desired BDC/ABDC ratio. The presence of MIXMOFs (instead of a mechanical mixture of MOF-5 and IRMOF-3) was proven by high-resolution X-ray diffraction and DTG. XRD and TG/MS analysis revealed that pure MIXMOF materials can be obtained up to an ABDC loading of 40 %. The thermal stability in air is decreasing with increasing ABDC content from 450 °C for pure MOF-5 (0 % ABDC) to ca. 350 °C for the 40 % MIXMOF Zn4O(BDC)1.8(ABDC)1.2. Consequently, MIXMOF materials represent a promising class of materials for catalytic applications in the temperature range at least up to 300 °C which is proven using the synthesis of propylene carbonate (PC) from propylene oxide and carbon dioxide as a test reaction. The catalytic results indicate that solid MIXMOF catalysts in combination with tetraalkylammonium halides (NR4X) as promoters are as active as the corresponding homogeneously dissolved reference compounds (H2ABDC, H2BDC and Zn salts) and that they can be recycled with only moderate loss in activity. A comparison of MIXMOFs from 0 to 40 % of ABDC revealed a dependence of activity on the number of amino groups. Due to the fact that even pure MOF-5 catalyzed the reaction to some extent, surface Zn centers with free coordination sites might also contribute to substrate activation. Using optimized reaction conditions, a PC yield of up to 63 % can be obtained after 3 h in the presence of low catalyst concentration (0.045 mol-% of 40 % MIXMOF, containing 0.05 mol-% of NH2 groups).(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009)


Hand written Tamil Character recognition refers to the process of conversion of handwritten Tamil character into Unicode Tamil character. The scanned image is segmented into paragraphs using spatial space detection technique, paragraphs into lines using vertical histogram, lines into words using horizontal histogram, and words into character image glyphs using horizontal histogram. The extracted features considered for recognition are given to Support Vector Machine, Self Organizing Map, RCS, Fuzzy Neural Network and Radial Basis Network. Where the characters are classified using supervised learning algorithm. These classes are mapped onto Unicode for recognition. Then the text is reconstructed using Unicode fonts. This character recognition finds applications in document analysis where the handwritten document can be converted to editable printed document. This approach can be extended to recognition and reproduction of hand written documents in South Indian languages. In the training set, a recognition rate of 100% was achieved and in the test set the recognized speed for each character is 0.1sec and accuracy is 97%. Understandably, the training set produced much higher recognition rate than the test set. Structure analysis suggested that the proposed system of RCS with back propagation network is given higher recognition rate.


We investigated whether attention to different stimulus attributes (location, intensity) has different effects on the activity of the secondary (SII) somatosensory cortex. Tactile stimuli were applied to the left index finger and somatosensory evoked fields (SEFs) were recorded using a whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. Two oddball paradigms with stimuli varying in location or intensity were performed in an ignore and an attend condition. Brain sources were estimated by magnetic source imaging. No attention effect was observed for the primary SI area. However, attention enhanced SII activity bilaterally from 55 to 130 ms by 52% in the spatial and 64% in the intensity discrimination task. SII attentional enhancement was very similar in both paradigms and occurred both for deviants and standards.


Objective. To investigate the prevalence of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms in health checkup examinees and in patients with otitis media with effusion (OME) of undetermined etiology and the significance of age, body mass index (BMI), and pepsinogen (PG) concentration in middle ear effusions (MEEs). Study Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Health checkup and private clinics. Subjects and Methods. A total of 410 subjects who had undergone a health checkup were asked to respond to the reflux symptom index (RSI) to identify the distribution of the RSI score, and the results were compared with 62 patients with OME by BMI and PG concentration in the MEEs. Results. The RSI-positive (score >13) rate was 7.1% in the health checkup examinees. The highest rate was observed in men in their 40s, who had the highest average BMI. None of the men in their 80s were RSI positive. The RSI-positive rate in patients with OME was 21.0%. None of the male patients ≥70 years of age were RSI positive, whereas the average PG concentration was significantly higher in this group. Conclusion. The prevalence of LPR symptoms evaluated by the RSI was significantly higher in OME patients than in the health checkup examinees; however, a similar pattern in which LPR symptoms were prominent in middle-aged men with a high BMI and much less in elderly men was observed. Middle-aged men with a high BMI might be diagnosed as having LPR disease based on the relevant symptoms. LPR findings would be more sensitive than symptoms in elderly men.


UMMARY Introduction: Headaches commonly affect working-age people. Dipyrone is largely used in many countries. Objectives: To determine effectiveness/safety of dipyrone for adults with acute primary headaches. Method: Double blind randomized controlled trials systematic review. Dichotomous data were expressed as relative risks and risk differences, and continuous data as weighted mean differences. If possible, numbers-needed-to-treat were calculated. Results: Four studies were included (636 subjects). Meta-analysis was possible for one outcome, favouring dipyrone. Regarding episodic tension-type headache and migraine, individual studies data showed dipyrone statistically significant beneficial effect. No severe adverse events were reported. There was no statistically significant difference between dipyrone and placebo regarding mild to moderate adverse events. Conclusion: Dipyrone is effective in migraine and episodic tension-type headache. Conclusions about its safety and agranulocytosis can not be drawn probably due to the relatively small sample. If the results of a recent study, which is related to the incidence of agranulocytosis in Latin America, do not clarify the question, data from observational studies on dipyrone side effects should be searched to determine its safety


OBJECTIVES:Biliary complications are one of the important issues to be addressed after liver transplantation. Endoscopic management of biliary complications after deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) is widely accepted, but it remains to be established in patients after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Endoscopic management in LDLT patients is difficult mainly because of the complexity of duct-to-duct reconstruction.METHODS:A total of 174 adult LDLTs with duct-to-duct reconstruction were performed in our institution. Biliary complications developed in 53 patients (30%). Among these, 18 patients were referred for endoscopic management and were the subjects of the present study. Success rate, early morbidity, and outcome were evaluated in these 18 patients.RESULTS:The type of graft was the right liver in six, left liver in eight, and right lateral sector in four patients. Ten out of 18 patients had one biliary anastomosis and the remaining eight had multiple anastomoses. Six patients had a previous history of surgical or percutaneous intervention for biliary complications after LDLT. Seventeen patients had one or more biliary strictures. Biliary casts were found in nine patients, three of whom had concomitant bile leaks. Strictures were successfully treated with endoscopic balloon dilation in 12 (71%) of the 17 patients (nasobiliary catheter placement in eight and stent placement in four patients). Bile leak was successfully managed in two of three patients. Biliary casts were removed by endoscopic papillary balloon dilation in eight of nine patients. Five patients with failed endoscopic therapy were converted to percutaneous or surgical intervention. Endoscopic-procedure-related cholangitis developed in one patient. During follow-up with median periods of 10 months (range 2–20 months), four of nine patients without stent placement developed biliary strictures, and these were relieved by additional endoscopic management.CONCLUSIONS:Endoscopic approach has the potential to be a first-line therapy for the management of biliary complications after LDLT.


The incidence of cardial involvement in mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) was investigated by two-dimensional echocardiography. Pericardial manifestation was found in two patients. Mitral valve prolapse was detected in 61% of the patients, which may indicate a specific cardial involvement in MCTD. Myocardial changes were rare.


CLTS focuses on trigger commitment to ending open defecation. But what do you do when communities practice fixed point defecation, yet almost NONE of it is hygienic and it leaks into the environment??This paper will first generally describe the USAID WASHplus/Bangladesh activity, and continue to highlight some of the innovative behaviour change approaches we are applying to a particularly challenging area of Southwestern Bangladesh. Our approach to increasing the practice of WASH behaviours is both theory-based and grounded in established best practice, and focuses on making change possible and sustainable by addressing both essential 'supply' of key WASH products and negotiating a menu of "small doable actions" that are both feasible and effective for resource constrained households.


Universal Grammar and statistical generalization from linguistic data have almost always been invoked as mutually exclusive means of explaining child language acquisition. This papers show that such segregation is both conceptually unnecessary and empirically flawed. We demonstrate the utility of general learning mechanisms in the acquisition of the core grammatical system through frequency effects in parameter setting, and develop an optimization-based model of productivity with applications to morphology and syntax in the periphery. These findings in child language support the approach to the evolution of language that seeks connections between language and other cognitive systems, in particular the consequence of general principles of efficient computation. # 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Protocols for determining postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) have long been problematic for forensic investigators due to the wide variety of factors affecting the rate of decomposition of submerged carrion. Likewise, it has been equally problematic for researchers to develop standardized experimental protocols to monitor underwater decomposition without artificially affecting the decomposition rate. This study compares two experimental protocols: (i) underwater in situ evaluation with photographic documentation utilizing the Heaton et al. total aquatic decomposition (TAD) score and (ii) weighing the carrion before and after submersion. Complete forensic necropsies were performed as a control. Perinatal piglets were used as human analogs. The results of this study indicate that in order to objectively measure decomposition over time, the human analog should be examined at depth using the TAD scoring system rather than utilizing a carrion weight evaluation. The acquired TAD score can be used to calculate an approximate PMSI.


There is now compelling evidence indicating that there is a greater sympathetic innervation of blood vessels in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) when compared with the innervation of corresponding vessels in the normotensive genetic control rat (WKY). In selected vascular beds in the SHR, increased sympathetic innervation occurs immediately after birth and prior to the expression of hypertension in the animal. In contrast, the available evidence suggests that the sympathetic innervation of cardiac tissue in SHR and WKY are similar in young and adult rats. The functional significance of the enhanced sympathetic innervation of blood vessels in the SHR with regard to the development or maintenance of hypertension relates in two ways to the well-established phenomena of vascular smooth muscle cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia, which are thought to be the pathophysiological basis for the increased peripheral vascular resistance and elevated blood pressure in this animal model of hypertension. First, the enhanced innervation of blood vessels in the SHR leads to an augmented release of the vasoconstrictor transmitter noradrenaline (NA). The predicted consequences of this augmented release of NA upon vascular contraction are modulated by the presence of a larger number of sites for neuronal inactivation (i.e. reuptake sites) of NA by virtue of the presence of the increased innervation. Second, and of more significance, is the inter-relationship between hypernoradrenergic innervation and vascular smooth muscle hyperplasia, as the early appearance of such changes is a powerful indicator for the subsequent expression of hypertension in the SHR. In view of the substantial evidence that implicates vascular smooth muscle cells in regulating the degree of their sympathetic innervation and confirms the influence of sympathetic nerves upon vascular smooth muscle hyperplastic change, attention is drawn to the role of trophic factors in providing the setting for the development of hypertension in the SHR.


This last decade has seen an increasing interest for wireless communications. With the current use of smart-phones and tablets coupled to the rise of the Internet of Things, the number of mobile terminal nodes in networks will significantly change the way we manage them. Indeed, these wireless networ ks are highly dynamic, especially concerning topology and tra ffic matrices. The fast moves of mobile devices can for instance impact the connexity of the networks, or the importance of one of the nodes in the routing graph. Therefore distributed network control, and traffic management are of increasing complexites. Given this high dynamicity, network management will need to be as autonomous as possible regarding the service they are providing to users and their resilience. In this paper, we propose a method for monitoring and assessing the quality of a dynami c mobile network. For this purpose, we introduce the concept of System Development Index (SDI). We especially provide methods and algorithms, which are based on events collectio n and distributed mining to analyze the evolution of this index. We illustrated it by simulation, considering different scenarii under NS3. We evaluated the evolution of the SDI, and analyzed its possible underlying reasons for one scenario and analyze er ro estimation for various network properties.


The role of an educational technologist is difficult to define. This paper reflects on the experience of working on a range of technology enhanced learning in science projects to review a number of working principles which have proved effective in the practice of educational technology. It discusses how these principles relate to the theories in use in educational technology. Three case studies are considered illustrating methods of participatory design, design based research and socio-cultural approaches. All the case studies are taken from the application of educational technology principles to the design of examples of science instruction. The paper offers an interpretation of the contemporary practice of educational technology


We propose a framework called ReFInE to directly obtain integral image estimates from a very small number of spatially multiplexed measurements of the scene without iterative reconstruction of any auxiliary image, and demonstrate their practical utility in visual object tracking. Specifically, we design measurement matrices which are tailored to facilitate extremely fast estimation of the integral image, by using a single-shot linear operation on the measured vector. Leveraging a prior model for the images, we formulate a nuclear norm minimization problem with second order conic constraints to jointly obtain the measurement matrix and the linear operator. Through qualitative and quantitative experiments, we show that high quality integral image estimates can be obtained using our framework at very low measurement rates. Further, on a standard dataset of 50 videos, we present object tracking results which are comparable to the state-of-the-art methods, even at an extremely low measurement rate of 1%.


Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels and industry comprise ~90% of all CO2 emissions from human activities. For the last three years, such emissions were stable, despite continuing growth in the global economy. Many positive trends contributed to this unique hiatus, including reduced coal use in China and elsewhere, continuing gains in energy efficiency, and a boom in low-carbon renewables such as wind and solar. However, the temporary hiatus appears to have ended in 2017. For 2017, we project emissions growth of 2.0% (range: 0.8%−3.0%) from 2016 levels (leap-year adjusted), reaching a record 36.8 ± 2 Gt CO2. Economic projections suggest further emissions growth in 2018 is likely. Time is running out on our ability to keep global average temperature increases below 2 °C and, even more immediately, anything close to 1.5 °C.


We investigated the effects of a four-day treatment with 0.3 mM glutathione (GSH) and 10 mM O-acetyl-L- serine (OAS), negative and positive regulators of sulfur-responsive gene expression, respectively, alone or in combination, on the sulfur-responsive gene expression in ten-day-old Arabidopsis thaliana plants. We determined the relationship between the concentrations of GSH, OAS and sulfate, and expression of sulfur-responsive genes in rosette leaves. The concentrations of GSH and OAS correlated negatively and positively with expression of genes, respectively, suggesting that GSH and OAS independently affect expression of sulfur-responsive genes.


D‐line luminescence at the photon energies of 0.81 and 0.87 eV in Czochralski silicon containing extended dislocation loops has been characterized. In samples containing a high‐oxygen concentration and in tin‐doped samples, the D‐line luminescence was observed. In contrast, no D‐line luminescence was detected in samples containing a low‐oxygen concentration, except when the sample was deliberately contaminated with Cu. The results clearly indicate that the optical centers responsible for the D‐line luminescence are associated with an interaction between the dislocations and impurities. It is hypothesized that the optical centers responsible for the D1 line at 0.81 eV could be associated with an interaction between the edge dislocation component of the dislocation loop and impurities, while the D2 line at 0.87 eV could be produced as a result of an interaction between the screw dislocation component and impurities.


A 93 m core obtained at Portage, Alaska records four prograding cycles of estuarine deposition for the past 8230 ± 100 years. Analyses of texture, mineralogy, paleontology, and sedimentary structures enable definition of eight lithologic units. Mineralogic studies show that past and present sedimentation at Portage has been largely mud and sand from the Susitna River on the northwest side of Cook Inlet. Six radiocarbon dates from concentrated organic debris in the core and on the surface enable determination of sedimentation rates for four intervals and show rates to be higher and to vary more at depth than rates nearer the surface. The glacier-carved Turnagain Arm fiord has been receiving sediment for at least the past 14 000 years, as estimated by extrapolation of calculated sedimentation rates to the thickness of unconsolidated sediment drilled at Portage, which totals approximately 300 m. Presently, deposition is accomplished "instantly" as the result of tectonic subsidence and compaction of sediment ...


Abstract. Measurements of halogenated hydrocarbons in ambient air frequently rely on canister sampling followed by offline laboratory analysis. This allows for a large number of compounds to be analysed under stable conditions, maximising measurement precision. However, individual compounds might be affected during sampling and storage of canister samples. In order to assess halocarbon stability in whole air samples from the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere, we performed stability tests using the air sampling unit High REsolution Sampler (HIRES) which is part of the CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the Atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) instrument package. HIRES holds 88 light-weight stainless steel cylinders that are pressurized in flight to 4.5 bar using metal bellows pumps. The HIRES sampling unit was first deployed in 2010, but has up to now not been used for regular halocarbon analysis with exception of chloromethane. The sample collection unit was tested for sampling and storage effects of 28 halogenated compounds. The focus was on compound stability in the stainless steel canisters during storage of up to five weeks and on the influence of ozone, since flights take place in the upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere with ozone mixing ratios of up to several hundred ppbV. Most of the investigated (hydro)chlorofluorocarbons and long-lived hydrofluorocarbons were found to be stable over a storage time of up to five weeks and were unaltered by ozone being present during pressurization. Some compounds such as for example dichloromethane, trichloromethane and tetrachloroethene started to decrease in the canisters after a storage time of more than two weeks or exhibited lowered mixing ratios in samples pressurized with ozone present. Few compounds such as for example tetrachloromethane and tribromomethane were found to be not stable in the HIRES stainless-steel canisters independent of ozone levels. Also growth was observed during storage for some species, namely for HFC-152a, HFC-23, and Halon-1301.


This study examines the impact of a new master's degree program on the instructional practices of K-8 in-service teachers. This 2.5-year master's program was designed to deepen in-service teachers' knowledge in science and mathematics and promote greater use of reform-oriented instruction. Teachers' instructional practices were captured annually through classroom observations, student reports, and teacher self-reports. Based on the results of the first 2 years of program implementation, there was a significantly positive change in the extent to which teachers implemented reform-oriented practices in the classroom. However, these changes were most prominent in the first year of the program. A comparison of different data sources indicated that teachers perceived their progress toward reform-oriented instruction as far more steady than indicated by outside observers or student reports. Implications for current policies, professional development, and further research are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 219–249, 2014


Experiments show that a ligand-receptor complex formed by binding a bivalent ligand (D) in which the two ligating units are joined covalently by a flexible polymeric spacer (S) can be orders of magnitude more stable than the corresponding complex formed with monomeric ligands. Although molecular models rationalizing this "enhancement effect" have been proffered, they ignore spacer-receptor (S-R) interactions, which can substantially influence the relative stability of complexes. Here, the results of a computational study designed to assess the impact of S-R interactions in the prototypic bivalent complex are presented and compared to results of experiments. The S-R interactions mimicking general features of biological systems are modeled by contoured R surfaces with hills (or depressions) at the binding sites. In the fictitious limit of vanishing S-R interactions, the enhancement is pronounced, as observed in experiments. For strictly repulsive S-R interactions (hard R surface), the enhancement vanishes, or even reverses. This is particularly the case if the R surface is convex (i.e., rising between the binding sites), while the enhancement is only moderately reduced if the R surface is concave. Alternatively, a weak S-R attraction close to the R surface can increase the enhancement. It is concluded that large enhancement should be observed only if both features are present: a concave R surface plus a weak S-R attraction. The latter occurs for spacer material such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), which is weakly hydrophobic and thus attracted by protein surfaces. It is shown that the enhancement of bivalent binding can be characterized by a single key parameter, which may also provide guidelines for the design of multivalent complexes with large enhancement effect.


Introduction: Rectus sheath hematoma is a rare but an important clinical entity in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain. It is often a self-limiting condition that can be managed successfully in conservative measures. If not recognized, it can lead to unnecessary emergency surgical procedures. A 55-year-old male patient suffering from chronic renal failure and cardiomyopathy presented with a progressively growing abdominal mass diagnosed to be a bilateral rectus sheath hematoma. Despite many complications related to alteration of general status, electrolyte imbalance and coagulation problems, conservative management proved successful, while prompt surgical intervention could have ended in death in such a fragile patient. The advent of radiology and computer tomography has noticeably increased the diagnosis rate of rectus sheath hematoma. Despite the classic opinion that surgery should be reserved only for those patients with hemodynamic instability or complications such as infection or free intraabdominal rupture, the trend to treat conservatively with great patience is emphasized.


This study was conducted to ascertain the views and opinions of the faculty and personnel as recipients of the Rizal Technological University (RTU) Graduate School Executive Master's program as to its reasons for availment, importance of the core and major subjects of the curriculum, lecturers' professional skills, duration/time allotment, level of satisfaction, significant difference of the two programs, problem encountered and gathered possible solutions to the problems; determine whether the Executive Master's Program was able to realize its goals and objectives and find out the overall impression of the recipients about the Executive Master's Program. A total of fifty (50) RTU faculty and personnel graduated from this Executive Master's program, twenty six (26) Master of Arts in Education (MAEd) and twenty four (24) Master of Arts in Engineering (MAE).


This study addresses the effects of various parameters on moving axle load identification when vehicles move across a bridge. Main emphases are placed on valuation of two solutions, pseudo-inverse (PI) and Singular value decomposition (SVD) solutions, to an over-determined set of equations established under the time domain method (TDM)
and frequency-time domain method (FTDM). The effects of vehicle-bridge system parameters and of measurement system parameters on the TDM and FTDM are also investigated.
Assessment results based on experiments in laboratory show that the TDM is a better and non-sensitive method. The SVD technique can effectively improve identification accuracy when using TDM and FTDM particularly in the case of the FTDM.


This study scrutinizes the meaning and use of "Copt" and "Coptic" in the middle ages, when three interrelated—yet distinct and, at times, contradictory—"sets" of definitions circulated among Christians and Muslims. The first set comes from linguistic etymologies and mythical histories. In that context, this study contests the historicity of "Copt" in the earliest versions of the written Talmud. A second set of definitions emerged from Arabic historical and ethnogenetic narratives, while a third set reflects religious communal identity. Here, the evidence suggests that "Copt" and "Jacobite" were not only used interchangeably, but that "Jacobite" was often preferred and, at times, exclusive to the Copts. Significantly, the communal boundaries of the third set of definitions blatantly transgress those of the second, and even the first. In addition, this study demonstrates that pre-modern texts switched from one definition to the other without pause, which places a greater burden on scholars to clearly discern the contexts of any attestation for "Copt[-ic]." The three sets of definitions parsed here challenge contemporary usage among the Coptic community, church, and academics, which largely depend on the paradigm of the nation state.


Monoclonal antibodies against human fetal haemoglobin (MbF) were obtained by fusion of mouse myeloma cells with spleen lymphoeyies from mice immunized against HbF from human umbilical cord blood erythrocyles. Initial antibody screening was by indirect immunofluor‐escence assays on smeared cord blood and normal adult blood erythrocytes. The specificity of these antibodies was further studied by combined immunoprecipitation assays and direct or inhibition solid‐phase enzyme immunoassays. The combined pattern enabled recognition of three types of antigenic determinants: (i) common to both HbF and HbA, by both immunofluroescence and enzyme immunoassays; (ii) common to both HbF and HbA by enzyme immunoassays, present on fixed cord blood erythrocytes and adult thalassaemic erythrocytes by immunofluorcscence, but not found on fixed normal adult erythrocytes; and (iii) private HbF by both immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassays.


Background and Objectives Triple anti-platelet therapy is known to prevent restenosis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. However, there is little available data concerning the efficacy of triple anti-platelet therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Subjects and Methods We analyzed 528 consecutive patients with AMI undergoing DES implantation between Nov 2005 and Apr 2008. We compared clinical outcomes in the triple anti-platelet therapy (group I, n=413: cilostazol combined with aspirin and clopidogrel for at least one month) and dual antiplatelet therapy groups (group II, n=115: aspirin and clopidogrel). Results There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. However, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and use of TAXUS® stents were more common (70.9% vs. 55.7%, p=0.002; 83.5% vs. 73.0%, p=0.011) in Group I. Group I had lower incidences of cardiac death, 6-month target lesion revascularization (TLR), and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) compared to Group II (1.7% vs. 5.7%, p=0.022; 5.7% vs. 11.5%, 0.035; 7.9% vs. 16.0%, p=0.011). On subgroup analysis, the incidence of 6-month TLR was lower among patients with American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) B2 or C lesions and non-STEMI (6.0% vs. 14.9%, p=0.012; 4.3% vs. 19.1%, p=0.002) in Group I compared to those in Group II. The rates of bleeding complications were no different between the two groups. On multivariate analysis, Killip III or IV and triple anti-platelet therapy were independent predictors of 6-month MACCE {hazard ratio (HR)=3.382; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.384-8.262, HR=0.436; 95% CI=0.203-0.933}. Conclusion Triple anti-platelet therapy is safe and efficacious, and it prevents TLR in patients with AMI, especially those with complex lesions and non-STEMIs.


The article consists of a Powerpoint presentation on broadband wireless access. The areas discussed include: WiFi; WiMAX; personal area networking; notebook computers; QoS; quality of service; VOIP; mobile phone; orthogonal frequency division multiplexing; Bluetooth; GSM; wireless metropolitan access; wireless data transfer; satellite services and Internet.


Expression of the neuronal K/Cl transporter KCC2 is tightly regulated throughout development and by both normal and pathological neuronal activity. Changes in KCC2 expression have often been associated with altered chloride homeostasis and GABA signaling. However, recent evidence supports a role of KCC2 in the development and function of glutamatergic synapses through mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Here we show that suppressing KCC2 expression in rat hippocampal neurons precludes long-term potentiation of glutamatergic synapses specifically by preventing activity-driven membrane delivery of AMPA receptors. This effect is independent of KCC2 transporter function and can be accounted for by increased Rac1/PAK- and LIMK-dependent cofilin phosphorylation and actin polymerization in dendritic spines. Our results demonstrate that KCC2 plays a critical role in the regulation of spine actin cytoskeleton and gates long-term plasticity at excitatory synapses in cortical neurons. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Changes in the expression of neuronal chloride transporters, such as KCC2, occur during postnatal development and are induced in a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions. Such changes are expected to primarily impact GABA signaling because GABAA receptors are predominantly permeable to chloride ions. However, the KCC2 transporter forms clusters near glutamatergic synapses and interacts with several actin-related proteins. We show that KCC2 is strictly required for LTP expression at hippocampal excitatory synapses. This effect is due to KCC2 interaction with the Rac1/PAK signaling pathway that controls actin polymerization. Suppressing this interaction promotes actin polymerization thereby hindering AMPA receptor traffic upon KCC2 suppression. Alterations of KCC2 expression therefore impact not only GABAergic signaling but also glutamatergic synaptic function and long term plasticity.


This work presents an RL-based agent for out-patient hysteroscopy training. Hysteroscopy is a gynecological procedure for examination of the uterine cavity. Recent ad-vancements enabled performing this type of intervention in the outpatient setup without anaesthesia. While being beneficial to the patient, this approach introduces new challenges for clinicians, who should take additional measures to maintain the level of patient comfort and prevent tissue damage. Our prior work has presented a platform for hysteroscopic training with the focus on the passage of the cervical canal. With this work, we aim to extend the functionality of the platform by designing a subsystem that autonomously performs the task of the passage of the cervical canal. This feature can later be used as a virtual instructor to provide educational cues for trainees and assess their performance. The developed algorithm is based on the soft actor critic approach to smooth the learning curve of the agent and ensure uniform exploration of the workspace. The designed algorithm was tested against the performance of five clinicians. Overall, the algorithm demonstrated high efficiency and reliability, succeeding in 98 % of trials and outperforming the expert group in three out of four measured metrics.


We have recently shown that a combination of three transcription factors governs the expression of the human transferrin gene in different brain cell types, oligodendrocytes, choroid plexus cells and neuronal cells. It was essential to elucidate the role of each factor in the regulation of transferrin gene transcription. Site-directed mutagenesis and co-transfection experiments in neuronal cells revealed that chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor (COUP-TF), which binds to the promoter region I, acts as a repressor. Overexpression of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP-alpha), which binds to the promoter region II, transactivates the -164/+1 promoter, even enables the -125/+1 region to promote transcription, and synergistically activates transcription in the presence of CREB. The C/EBP-alpha-mediated activation is antagonized by COUP-TF. The positive action of the cAMP response element-binding protein called CRI-BP is revealed by mutations of the central region I site which repress transcription. Moreover addition of dibutyryl cyclic AMP or overexpression of the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A increase transcription from the wild-type and not from the CRI mutant promoter, which shows that CRI-BP is responsible for mediating cAMP stimulation of Tf gene transcription.


Of late, there has been a dramatic shift of world economic power towards less-developed countries, in particular, emerging economies (EEs). The growing influence of EEs is shifting the global competitive landscape, as these new economies are a great source of opportunity, inspiration and innovation. However, companies face the challenge to identify what organizational capabilities are required to serve mass market customers to meet their unique demand and price-performance conditions. In depth empirical studies in this context are largely unexplored in the academic literature. Focusing on the product innovation for India and other EEs with the creation of passenger vehicles from the Indian multinational automaker- Mahindra & Mahindra, our analysis highlights that capabilities to recombine are required to achieve an altered price-performance package. Furthermore, linkage capabilities are required to economize on resources. Also, capability to modularize is required for product performance improvements to serve multiple tiered customers. Using case study design, our study aspires to contribute to the innovation literature on mass markets formulating a set of testable propositions to advance research in this subject.


The main goal of this study was to examine the differences in employing conflict management strategies with regard to the study program and the study progress. In total, 437 students from two faculties from the University of Rijeka, Croatia participated in the research. Dutch Test for Conflict Handling (DUTCH) was used to measure students' conflict management preferences. The results showed that students of both majors used strategies of compromising and problem solving the most. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed the main effect of the study program on the students' preferences for compromising. It was found that the students of psychology reported using compromising more often than the students of economics and business. The interaction of the study program and the study progress on compromising was also significant. It was found that the seniors of psychology preferred compromising significantly more than the seniors of economics and business. Another ANOVA showed that the main effects of the study program and the study progress on forcing were significant with no interaction: preferences for forcing were higher among senior students than among freshmen as well as among the students of economics and business than among the students of psychology. The results provide guidelines for the future design of study programs relative to the needs of the labor market and social needs for integrative solutions and inclusiveness. Despite the validity of our findings, the results cannot serve as an accurate predictor of the student behavior in the workplace. It is possible that college students would use a combination of conflict management strategies once they enter the workforce. In addition, our results are based on self-report data. That is why we suggest that future studies include experimental design as a more accurate way of data collection.


A detailed study of the optical properties of InGaAs-InP single quantum wells (QWS) grown by atmospheric-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition is described. Photoluminescence (PL), photoluminescence excitation (PLE), photoconductivity (PC) and electroreflectance (ER) are employed to study both undoped and modulation-doped quantum wells. The role of extrinsic processes in determining the low-temperature PL spectra is demonstrated from the variation of peak position and linewidth with temperature. The best PL linewidth obtained for a 150 AA well is 5.3 meV, fairly close to the limit imposed by alloy fluctuations in the InGaAs. The role of free carriers in the undoped QWS in determining the energy threshold for optical absorption is demonstrated from a comparison of PLE and PC spectra. Lineshape fitting of the PL spectra is described, and it is deduced that at 160K recombination processes in both doped and undoped QWS proceed with wavevector conservation, although at lower temperatures highly anomalous lineshapes are found in modulation-doped samples. The observation of a threshold in PC spectra under forward bias is interpreted as a transition from the valence-band well to the top of the conduction well. The ratio of the conduction- to valence-band discontinuities is deduced to be approximately 0.4:0.6.


Abstract: This editorial introduces the papers presented in the special issue. In a first point we show the coopetition research rise. Coopetition research really begins with the 21th century. Since the first academic papers on coopetition there is a fast growing trend which is looked as an opportunity for publications. Researches are now specialized in narrow topics, as the link between coopetition and innovation. The second point of this editorial introduces the main elements of the discussion on this topic. The link between coopetition and innovation is driven by "coopetitive dilemma" as a paradox between the need of cooperation to create value, and the attraction to compete for value appropriation. Coopetition should be a real opportunity to develop innovation, but also creates a risk of knowledge transfer to the coopetitors. So cooperating with competitor for innovation is a strategy under tension in a situation of instable equilibrium. The question is to know if firms must or not follow this kind of strategy. The question is also to know if risk created by coopetition for innovation could be successfully managed. Papers presented in this special issue are dedicated to these questions.


Summary An extensive thin bed of oncoids, peloids and columnar stromatolites occurs at the top of the Cycle 1 carbonate of the English Zechstein sequence in NE England; here termed the Trow Point Bed, it lies on the lower part of the basin-margin slope, basinward of a linear shelf-edge reef in the Ford Formation. The bed is generally 0.05–0.20 m thick but locally ranges to 0.60 m; it rests on an uneven surface that has a local relief of up to 15 m and slopes exceeding 35° in places. It contains a sparse marine fauna of foraminifera, ostracods and bivalves; there are only a few traces of current action and sorting, and terrigenous sediment nowhere comprises more than 2% of the bed. The Trow Point Bed is generally similar to deposits described at a comparable stratigraphical position in Germany and Poland and although environmental indications are partly mutually contradictory, it seems likely that the bed accumulated in oxic conditions on the basin floor under water perhaps 25–100 m deep.


This enquiry was held between 2009 and 2011, of second year engineering students enrolled in architectural, civil and mechanical engineering at Victoria University (VU). The basis for this study was to ascertain student perceptions of engineering profession and their motivation for undertaking the study of engineering. It is a part of a pilot program which, hopefully, with a research grant support will expand to a broader nation-wide program encompassing engineering faculties and disciplines at other Australian Universities to determine socio-economic comparisons and students' perceptions and motivations for studying engineering. Victoria University was selected for this study not only because of its accessibility but also because of its uniqueness among other metropolitan engineering education providers. A high proportions of the student body enrolled in engineering programs at VU comes from a low socio-economic background and with relatively low entrance score. The preliminary study indicated that though there were some disciplinary deviations, students have exhibited positive, if sometimes inaccurate, perceptions of engineering profession and to be highly motivated and hard-nosed in studying engineering.


Over 100 years ago, Coley first explored the use of bacterial products as immunostimulatory therapy for nonbacterial disease. It is now clear that bacterial DNA, and synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides containing specific motifs centered on a CpG dinucleotide (CpG ODN), are potent immunostimulatory agents. The molecular mechanisms responsible for the immunostimulatory effects of CpG ODN have yet to be elucidated fully, although it is clear that CpG ODN act rapidly on a variety of cell types. This includes activation of B cells, natural killer cells, and antigen‐presenting cells including monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. These effects have led to evaluation of CpG ODN as immune adjuvants in immunization where they have been shown in animal models to enhance the development of a TH1‐type immune response. Preliminary results from clinical trials using CpG ODN as an immune adjuvant are promising. Preclinical studies suggest CpG ODN can also enhance innate immunity against a variety of infections, synergize with monoclonal antibody to enhance antibody‐dependent cellular cytotoxicity, and alter the Th1/Th2 balance as a possible treatment for allergic diseases and asthma. Clinical evaluation has recently begun to determine whether promising preclinical results with CpG ODN can be translated into effective and tolerable clinical treatment approaches.


OBJECTIVE To describe the extent of the tobacco industry involvement in establishing international standards for tobacco and tobacco products and the industry influence on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). METHODS Analysis of tobacco industry documents made public as part of the settlement of the Minnesota Tobacco Trial and the Master Settlement Agreement. Search words included "ISO", "CORESTA", "Barclay", "compensation and machine smoking", "tar and nicotine deliveries", and the name of key players, in different combinations. RESULTS It is clear that the tobacco industry, through the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco (CORESTA), play a major role in determining the scientific evidence and suggesting the standards that are eventually adopted as international standards for tobacco and tobacco products in several areas, including the measurement of cigarette tar and nicotine yield. CONCLUSIONS ISO's tobacco and tobacco products standards are not adequate to guide tobacco products regulatory policies, and no health claims can be made based on ISO's tobacco products standards. There is an urgent need for tobacco control advocates and groups worldwide to be more involved with the work of the ISO, both directly and through their national standardisation organisations.


Estimation of admixture fractions has become one of the most commonly used computational tools in population genomics. How ever, there is remarkably little population genetic theory on their statistical properties. We develop theoretical results that can accurately predict means and variances of admixture proportions within a population using models with recombination and genetic drift. Based on established theory on measures of multilocus disequilibrium, we show that there is a set of recurrence relations that can be used to derive expectations for higher moments of the admixture fraction distribution. We obtain closed form solutions for some special cases. Using these results, we develop a method for estimating admixture parameters from estimated admixture proportion obtained from programs such as Structure or Admixture. We apply this method to HapMap data and find that the population history of African Americans, as expected, is not best explained by a single admixture event between people of European and African ancestry. A model of constant gene flow for the past 11 generations until 2 generations ago gives a better fit.


The presented study verifies the desensibilization effect and the plaque score influence of a therapeutical toothpaste Fluocaril bi-fluoré 250 applied in a chosen group of patients with sensitive exposed tooth necks. In the course of six-week application of the toothpaste Fluocaril bi-fluoré 250, a decrease of the sensitivity of the exposed dentin, tested by cold and tactile stimuli and an improvement of the oral hygiene estimated with the help of plaque score were observed in the studied group. After withdrawal of the treatment, the estimated criteria returned to the initial values recorded at the beginning of the experiment.


This paper is on the analysis of the survey results for the recognition of the practical engineering education among the engineering educators and educatees including alumni. After performing the survey, we classify 4 forms of practical engineering education, company-oriented, major-field-oriented, 실무형 공학교육에 대한 공학교육 당사자들의 인식 조사 결과 분석 홍익대학교 과학기술대학을 중심으로 第10券 第1號 2007年 3月 21 basic-engineering-knowledge-oriented and others. Also we survey what are necessary for the students to get employed. The survey results indicate that the respondents understand the practical engineering education as company-oriented and many of them also recognized basic-engineering-oriented engineering education. For the employment, the professors and the alumni focus on the personal character but the students feel that major field knowledge and the English ability are vital to the employment tests. Concerning the opinion for the students on the shortage of ability as an engineer, the professors respond the major field knowledge while the students and the alumni answer the English ability. This research produces some interesting results on the direction of practical engineering education, but needs more detailed and extended survey and analysis. 주제어: 실무형 공학교육, 기업 맞춤형, 전공 강화형, 기본소양 강화형


To meet the goal of creating reliable, predictable, efficient, and transparent methods to harness cellular capabilities for human benefit, it is necessary both to have standard libraries of elements from which useful pathways can be constructed and an understanding of the how host physiology and the environment impacts the functioning of these heterologous circuits. We show how variations in cellular and environmental context affect the operation of the basic central dogma functions underlying gene expression. Then we describe progress on creating a complete, scalable, and relatively homogeneous and designable sets of part families that can control central dogma function predictably in the face of varying configurations, genetic contexts, and environments. We show the challenges that arise in attempting this in applications such as a tumor destroying bacteria. Citation Format: Adam P. Arkin. Changing chasses and inventing elements: Developing a combined systems biology and engineering approach to designing complex function in cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Chemical Systems Biology: Assembling and Interrogating Computational Models of the Cancer Cell by Chemical Perturbations; 2012 Jun 27-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(13 Suppl):Abstract nr IA21.


The present research was aimed to explore the relationship between managers' communication skills and employees' job satisfaction in the Kurdistan province Technical and Vocational Organization. Managers' communication skills were considered as predictive variable with such indices as openness, empathy supportiveness, positivism, self-regulation, social skills, purposeful stimulation and inspiration, while job satisfaction was regarded as the criterion variable. According to the research, the methodology was correlational, and from among then statistical population (N=210), a sample size of 136 people was selected by using Morgan Sampling Table. Also, to collect data, two questionnaires of Communication skills and Job satisfaction with reliability coefficient of 0/949 and 0/915 each based on the Cronbach's alphas were applied. The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS statistical software and with the help of Spearman Correlation Test and other tools in the area of descriptive and inferential statistics. According to research findings, it can be concluded that managers' communication skills and employees' job satisfaction were having a significant relationship and its correlation coefficient was 0/802. The above-mentioned indices could be effective based on the variable of job satisfaction. The results are indicative of the significance if communications which lie in the concept of relationship between mentioned variables and it requires much attention within organizations.


The central dogma of molecular biology asserts the vastly important roles of nucleic acids in all domains of life. In order to explore and illuminate the intricate biomolecular interactions of nucleic acids with themselves and other biomolecules, isomorphic fluorescent nucleoside analogs have been developed. Fluorescence spectroscopy allows for the monitoring of molecular dynamics down to the subnanomolar concentration in real-time. In order to continue to evolve as a field, novel isomorphic fluorescent nucleoside analogs must be synthesized and implemented in a variety of ways. Thiophene-modified fluorescent nucleoside analogs have proven to be of significant utility. However, the low quantum yield of several of these modified fluorescent nucleosides leaves room for further experimentation and improvement. To increase fluorescence signal sensitivity for several biophysical assays, multiple incorporations of a single thiophene-modified nucleoside were explored. These resulted in an enhanced on-signal for duplex melting and annealing as well as mismatch dC detection. Additionally, in order to form pi-expanded chromophores, four new thiophene-modified fluorescent nucleoside analogs base on pyrrolo-cytidine (PyC) were synthesized and evaluated. Although these new nucleosides (fused and extended PyC analogs) are slightly larger than previous generations of Tor lab fluorescent nucleosides, they possess exceptional photophysical qualities such as unusually high brightness and sensitivity towards solvent polarity. Finally, a novel fluorescent nucleoside analog FRET system was explored in hopes of monitoring RNA helicase activity in real-time. After synthesizing a novel fluorescent nucleic acid construct, a number of important factors were illustrated with regard to the need for a further red-shifted excitation wavelength and a higher quantum yield in the presence of endogenous proteins and their autofluorescence. Further studies into nucleic acid- protein interactions with a fluorescent nucleoside FRET pair hold great promise


Before proceeding, I want to break down how this discussion will be structured. This is the introductory portion of my thesis. Its purpose is to introduce some of the topics that this paper will address, and it has done that. It will also frame the paper for the reader. What will follow this introduction is a short section on past productions of As You Like It, both professional, and from my personal life, so that the reader can understand why my design of As You Like It is unique. Then I will discuss why my design is appropriate to the play, using some scholarly work on both Abstract Expressionism and the play itself to justify the marriage of the two. Finally, once all of this groundwork has been laid, I will describe the journey I went through: from being awarded a thesis, to writing this paper, and all of the things I learned along the way.


This article explores the development of Saudi Arabia during King Fahd's era through research which highlights the challenges and reasons behind the decline in achieving five year plans. Saudi Arabia is one of those Middle Eastern countries, based on a traditional Islamic Law system, where the process of innovation is extremely slow. The purpose of the study was to focus on the policy implementations and improvements effected during the era of King Fahd and how they changed the economy of the Kingdom. The study also uncovered some of the achievements and limitations of the initiative to educate women in their chosen fields. The impact of the innovative development plans were explored, with education, industrial development, and trade identified as core focuses during the King Fahd era. The focus on these three aspects essentially resulted in the development of Saudi Arabia's economic processes, although some failures suggested the need for further improvements through the application of new strategies. Moreover, there was a need for developmental procedures in education, industry and trade areas that ultimately affected the economy of the Kingdom.


The Equivalent Noise Charge (ENC) of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors has been determined using an analytical approach. The ENC is an important characteristic when these sensors are used for charged particle detection as it determines the Signal to Noise ratio. This paper gives the dominant contributions to the temporal noise as a function of an observation time directly related to the clocking frequency of the pixel array. Measured data made on MIMOSA8 array confirms the validity of the approach. In addition both theoretical computation and experimental data show that the residual ENC is of the order of 10 e- and can be further reduced.


There are individual differences in reasoning which go beyond dimensions of ability. Valid models of cognition must take these differences into account, otherwise they characterise group mean phenomena which explain nobody. The gap is closing between formal cognitive models, which are designed from the ground up to explain cognitive phenomena, and statistical models, which traditionally concern the more modest task of modelling relationships in data. This paper critically reviews three illustrative statistical models of individual differences in reasoning which embed some notion of cognitive process. Although the models are each developed in different frameworks, it is shown that they are more similar than would first appear. The cognitive meaning of elements in the example models is explored and some sketches are developed for future directions of research.


Background Cooling may not be appropriate and further treatment is likely to be futile in babies who appear moribund or have persisting extremely severe encephalopathy and severely abnormal aEEG changes (CFM) beyond 12–24 h of age. (www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/tobyregister/Register-Clinicans-Handbook) Aims To assess whether severely abnormal CFM changes in babies receiving therapeutic hypothermia were clearly documented and to ascertain whether treatment-limiting decisions were discussed with parents at 24 h of age. Methods A retrospective review of case notes of babies who received therapeutic hypothermia at a tertiary NICU between October2007-December2013. Results 89 patients were included in our final analysis. 31/89(35%) patients had abnormal CFM changes at 24 h. Of these 16/31(52%) had severely abnormal CFM changes. Withdrawal of care was discussed with parents in 10/16(62.5%) of babies with severe CFM changes at 24 h of age. Of these 10 cases with severely abnormal CFM, 1 baby had care withdrawn due to multiorgan failure before 24 h. In 8 /16 (50%) cases, care was subsequently withdrawn after 24 h. In 6/16(37.5%) of cases with severely abnormal CFM cooling was continued. However, 1 of these 6 cases later had a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) placed on day 5. Conclusions Severely abnormal CFM findings between 12–24 h of age must always be discussed with parents and where appropriate parents must be counselled regarding the likely futile nature of continuing intensive care.


If c = 0, it follows that bf(p, q) = 0, whence b = 0 orf(p, q) = 0; but 6 = c = 0 entails/(p, g) = 0, and so excluding the symmetrical solution/ (p, q) = 0, we find c = 1 (which is consistent withf(p, p) = 0). If c = 1 and 6 = 1 then f(p, q) = p + q which again is symmetrical, and so the only non-symmetrical solution is given by c = 1, b = 0, and therefore f{p,q) = (1 + P)q, and it is readily verified that this satisfies equation (3).


Contents §1. Formulation of the elementary problem §2. Finitely additive measures §3. Admissible sets and their relaxation §4. Questions of asymptotic insensitivity of attainable sets §5. Extremal selection of a stepwise density function §6. Optimization of the scalar criterion §7. Conclusion Bibliography


Background: Paediatric acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHOM) is a serious disease requiring early diagnosis and treatment. To review the clinical presentation, management and organisms responsible for AHOM, and to explore risk factors for complicated AHOM, a large cohort referring to a single center over a 6-year period was evaluated. Methods: Data from children with AHOM, hospitalized between 2010 and 2015, and aged > 1 month, were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Results: 121 children (median age 4.8 years; 55.4% males) were included. Fever at onset was present in 55/121 children (45.5%); the lower limb was most frequently affected (n = 68/121; 56.2%). Microbiological diagnosis (by culture and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR)) was reached in 33.3% cases. Blood and pus/biopsy culture sensitivities were 32.4% and 46.4%, respectively. PCR sensitivity was 3.6% (2/55) on blood, and 66.6% (16/24) on pus/biopsy sample. Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly identified pathogen (n = 20); no methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was isolated, 10.0% (n = 2) strains were Panton-Valentine-Leukocidin (PVL) producer; 48.8% (59/121) cases were complicated. At univariate analysis, factors associated with complicated AHOM were: recent fever episode, fever at onset, upper limb involvement, white blood count (WBC) ≥ 12,000/µL, C reactive protein (CRP) ≥ 10 mg/L, S. aureus infection. At multivariate analyses S. aureus infection remained the only risk factor for complicated AHOM (aOR = 3.388 (95%CI: 1.061–10.824); p-value = 0.039). Conclusions: In this study microbiological diagnosis was obtained in over one third of cases. Empiric treatment targeting methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus seems to be justified by available microbiological data.