S100-positive T lymphocytes account for less than 3% of peripheral blood T cells. Rare cases of S100-positive T-cell lymphoma have been previously described. We report four such cases of S100-positive T-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disease. In all cases, hepatosplenomegaly was observed, without prominent lymphadenopathy. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement by the leukemic cells was suggested in three cases by physical symptoms and confirmed in two cases by cerebrospinal fluid studies. Despite treatment, three patients died at 3, 6, and 8 months after diagnosis. Although there was a leukemic presentation, only minimal bone marrow infiltration was evident. Splenectomy showed red pulp infiltration. Liver and lymph node biopsies showed sinusoidal leukemic involvement. In all cases, the leukemic cells expressed mature T-cell- and natural killer cell-associated antigens. Cytoplasmic S100 was detected in the leukemic cells in the blood, spleen, liver, and lymph node. Southern blot studies in two cases showed T-beta, T-gamma, and T-delta gene rearrangements. RNA Northern blots showed T-alpha and T-beta chain transcripts with no T-gamma or T-delta RNA identified. Southern blot analysis showed no hybridization to probes specific for Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, human immunodeficiency virus-1, or human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1. These findings show that S100-positive T-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorder is an aggressive, extramedullary-based disease frequently associated with CNS involvement and characterized by short survivals.


Background Epidemiological studies, mainly prospective population-based studies, of acute kidney injury (AKI) are still scant, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (>85% of the world's population). This study aimed to identify incidence and factors associated AKI in critically ill patients of Brazilian Amazon, a region with limited health care facilities. Methods Prospective cohort study of all adult patients without chronic renal disease admitted, and staying >2days, in all Intensive Care Units(ICU) of Rio Branco, the largest city in Acre State, covering approximately 70% of the state population (800,000 inhabitants), from Feb 2014 to Feb 2016. Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of AKI (diagnosed by KDIGO criteria) were evaluated. Patients were followed for up to 7 days, discharge or death. Mortality was assessed 30d after ICU discharge. Factors associated with AKI development and, in those with incident AKI, associated with mortality were evaluated in multiple logistic regression analysis. The proportional multiple Cox analysis evaluated 30-day mortality in non-AKI and AKI patients, using SPSS(v.22.0) software. Results Of 1,494 patients admitted, 1,073 fulfilled selection criteria. AKI incidence was 52% (Stage 1=62.1%, 2=15.6% and 3=22.2%; 8.2% received dialysis). 60% of patients were admitted due to clinical condition, 25% were hemodynamically unstable, 19% had respiratory failure. Only 2.2% had tropical diseases. Risk factors for AKI were age (adjusted OR(aOR) 1.2[CI95% 1.1–1.3 for 10 years increase]), positive fluid balance >1500 ml/24h (aOR 2.9[2.1–3.9]), APACHE score (aOR 1.06[1.04–1.07 per unit increase]), clinical patients (reference surgical: aOR 1.6[1.2–2.6]). AKI had higher ICU mortality (AKI 43.4% vs non-AKI 13.9%). AKI mortality was associated with age (aOR 1.3[1.1–1.4 for 10 years increase]), mechanical ventilation (aOR 5.2[3.0–9.0]), KDIGO stage 3 (ref 1) (aOR 1.6[1.03–2.5]), vasoactive drugs or shock (aOR 2.6[1.4–4.7]), and sepsis (aOR 2.3[1.6–4.7]). Adjusted AKI hazard for 30 days after ICU discharge mortality was 1.8 (1.1–3.0). Conclusion AKI incidence was strikingly high in critically ill patients in the Brazilian Amazon. Hospitalizations due to tropical diseases were rare, likely due to particular conditions of the Amazon area, with difficulty access to larger cities and limited health care facilities. AKI etiology and risk factors were similar to those seen in developed countries. However, mortality rates were higher. The follow-up of the cohort was for7 days and data collected may not represent all factors affecting outcomes. Poor social-economic conditions and infrastructure of health services may explain the high incidence and mortality rates for AKI observed. The results may contribute to the care of this group of patients.


. The function of Olneya tesota (ironwood) as a nurse plant and habitat modifier species in the Sonoran Desert was evaluated at five study sites (using 75 250-m2 sample plots) from Bahia Kino, Sonora to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Beneath the canopy of O. tesota trees 75 perennial plant species were found. A principal component ordination of the plots created three groups: southern, perturbed and protected sites. A strong triple association of columnar cacti, big shrubs with berry type fruits and O. tesota was detected. The relationships of Lophocereus schottii and Peniocereus striatus with O. tesota were studied in more detail. Significant differences in soil surface temperatures and stem temperatures of P. striatus were detected beneath the shade of O. tesota trees compared with soils and plants in open spaces. Olneya tesota must be considered as a habitat modifier species with ecological and conservational importance to the plant communities in the Sonoran Desert.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

HER2 gene amplification/overexpression has been identified in 10-34% of invasive breast cancers and correlates with reduced disease-free and overall survival. The HER2-targeted therapy with trastuzumab decreases the risk of relapse and prolongs survival. Resistance to trastuzumab is a significant barrier to the effective HER2-positive breast cancer treatment: response rate ranges from 20-35%, underlining that HER2-positive breast cancer is hardly a homogeneous disease and, more importantly, that other HER2-related pathways need to be unveiled. Recent studies provided evidence that HER2 overexpression increases skin tumorigenesis through CDC25A maintenance: HER2 suppresses DNA damage-induced checkpoint activation through lack of CDC25A degradation. CDC25A phosphatase, an essential component of the cell cycle machinery, is also a key player in integrating the specific signals of checkpoint control in response to DNA damage. CDC25A misregulation contributes to genomic instability and cancer development. Oncogene activation during early stages of tumor development causes DNA replication stress resulting in the DNA damage response (DDR) induction and the selection of cells defecting in their DDR could lead to malignant progression. Accordingly, CDC25A overexpression in primary human breast cells promotes the DDR alteration, increasing the chances of tumorigenic conversion by enhancing genomic instability at common fragile sites.

The aim of our work was to verify a relation between HER2 and CDC25A in human breast cancer. To this end HER2 amplification and CDC25A overexpression were determined in 220 breast cancer patients. We found a statistically significant correlation between HER2 gene status and CDC25A expression (p=0,000): 64,4% of HER2 amplified tumours show CDC25A overexpression and 75,5% of tumours with no HER2 amplification do not overexpress CDC25A. Furthermore HER2 status and CDC25A expression significantly correlate with prognosis (p=0,003 and p=0,047 respectively). A mortality risk stratification was identified when four different combinations of HER2 status and CDC25A expression were evaluated for their relative effect on survival: the group with the highest mortality was the one in which breast carcinomas showed both HER2 amplification and CDC25A overexpression (p=0,019).

Our in vitro studies demonstrate that HER2 can stabilize CDC25A protein levels in breast cancer cell lines, through PI3K-AKT pathway: decreased HER2-mediated signaling by HER2 inhibitors resulted in CDC25A decreased expression; remarkably CDC25A inactivation by specific inhibitor can restore response to IR-induced DNA damage in HER2-positive, both trastuzumab sensitive and resistant, breast cancer cell lines.

These findings suggest a CDC25A role for a more specific characterization of HER2-positive breast cancers, warranting further study of its potential as therapeutic target in combination with HER2.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3147. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3147


The aim of this thesis is to develop and study a method for estimation of the pulse pressure in centrally located arteries. Obtaining the central pulse pressure is desirable for several reasons. For example, the central pulse pressure can be used to assess aortic stiffness, which in turn is an important predictor of cardiovascular mortality. In this thesis a method of estimation based on a one--dimensional wave propagation theory applied to a physiological model of the human systemic arterial tree is studied. For the purpose of validation, recorded pressure signals from twenty four control subjects are used. Various methods for individualization of the tree model are discussed, and a method that utilizes an optimization routine is proposed.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of gluteal taping on pelvic alignment, trunk stability, and balance during sitting posture in children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Thirteen children with unilateral cerebral palsy (six females. seven males; mean age 8.5) participated in this study. All participants were evaluated before and after gluteal taping using an Inclinometer for pelvic lateral inclination, trunk impairment scale (TIS) for trunk stability, and modified functional reaching test for balance during sitting. The collected data were analyzed using a paired t-test. Results: The results of this study were as follows: 1) Statistically significant decreases in the angle of pelvic lateral inclination were observed after gluteal taping in children with unilateral CP (p<.05). 2) Statistically significant increases in TIS score were observed after gluteal taping (p<.05). 3) Statistically significant increases in the range of reaching during sitting were observed after gluteal taping (p<.05). Conclusion: : In conclusion, this study showed that gluteal taping improves pelvic alignment, trunk stability, and balance during sitting in children with unilateral cerebral palsy. Further studies will be required to determine the short- and long-term effects of gluteal taping on improving postural symmetry, trunk stability, and balance.


A study by Signer and Crowley 1 appearing in this issue ofThe Journaladdresses important matters related to medical training. The students described seek clinical instruction in the United States to complement or finish their program of medical education while enrolled in foreign medical schools, primarily in the Caribbean Basin or Mexico. These circumstances are of concern because they differ from the usual entry pathway to clinical experience and differ from the educational relationships common to most US medical schools. The requirements for enrollment, examination of the credentials, and evaluation of the performance of these students are variable. This raises important questions regarding readiness and outcome. Also in question is the comparability of credit derived from such experiences with the credit given students enrolled in an approved program of medical education evaluated by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Approval by the LCME requires the examination of admissions


Fish processing environment is very favorable for the growth of microorganisms and highlights a potential risk associated with microbial hazards. The present study investigated the growth behavior of aerobic bacteria, yeasts and molds, and bacterial pathogens or surrogate (Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium sporogenes) on thawed and fresh catfish fillets during refrigerated storage (5°C - 7°C). Thawed and fresh fillets were respectively inoculated with L. monocytogenes and C. sporogenes, and packaged in LDPE bags. In uninoculated catfish, the populations of aerobic bacteria, and yeasts and molds increased significantly (P < 0.05) after 24 h of storage. The acceptable microbial limit was exceeded by aerobic bacteria (7.446 log CFU/g) after 4 days, and yeasts and molds (2.97 log CFU/g) after 3 days of refrigerated storage. Listeria population increased by 1.51 log CFU/g on thawed catfish after 6 days of storage. However, there was no significant increase in growth of C. sporogenes vegetative cells on fresh catfish fillets. These results indicated that the microbiological quality of refrigerated thawed catfish would become unacceptable within 3 - 4 days. Our results also implied that environmental pathogens such as L. monocytogenes and Clostridium sp. can survive on catfish fillets for extended periods during refrigerated storage. Proper sanitation and hygienic practices are essential to control microbial hazards during handling and processing of catfish fillets.


Several retinoid candidates which possess an amide bond at the position corresponding to the 9-ene part of retinoic acid (1) were synthesized and their conformations and biological activities were investigated. N-(Methoxycarbonyl)dienamines, prepared by the rearrangement of dienoic acid azides trapped by methanol, were condensed with acid chlorides, followed by removal of the methoxycarbonyl group and hydrolysis of the ester group to afford the secondary dienamides, N-(2, 6, 6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)muconamic acid (7a), 5-[[3-(2, 6, 6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-2-propenoyl]amino]-2, 4-pentadienoic acid (8a), and 4-[N-[2-[2, 6, 6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)ethenyl]carbamoyl]benzoic acid (26a). The tertiary amide derivatives were also prepared by N-methylation of the secondary amides. NMR studies indicated that the secondary dienamides exist predominantly in trans-amide form in solution, like the potent retinoidal aromatic amide, 4-[(5, 6, 7, 8-tetrahydro-5, 5, 8, 8, -tetramethyl-2-naphthalenyl)-carbamoyl]benzoic acid (Am80). N-Methylation of the secondary amides resulted in cis-amide preference in solution. The biological activities of these amides were examined in terms of the differentiation-inducing activity towards human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60.


The recent Findings of Fact in United States v. Microsoft Corp. paint a vivid picture of a monopolist abusing its dominant position. Even if one accepts the court's description of Microsoft's conduct, however, the fundamental antitrust economics question posed by the case remains to be answered - what limits should be placed on a dominant firm's ability to compete aggressively? Answering this question requires us to first understand the underlying economics of Microsoft's conduct.The purpose of this article is to apply economic analysis to Microsoft's three major competitive decisions: to price its browser software - Internet Explorer (IE) - at zero; to integrate IE into the Windows operating system; and to sign de facto exclusive deals with a number of online service providers, most importantly AOL. It is assumed throughout the analysis that Microsoft possesses monopoly power in Intel-compatible PC operating system software, as was found by the court. Accepting this fact, and essentially all other facts describing Microsoft's behavior presented in Judge Jackson's Findings (but not all the economic implications he draws from these facts), we see that there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the economic principles one should employ when setting limits on permissible dominant firm competitive behavior.


This mini-review will provide an overview on the recent design principles and structure-activity-relationship of β-selective thyroid hormone receptor (TR) agonists. The prospects for the treatment of metabolic diseases as dyslipidemia with TRβ-selective ligands are considerable enough so as to avoid cardiovascular acceleration mediated through TRα.


In the supply chain finance service, banks face in various types of small and medium-sized enterprises in supply chain. In order to evaluating supply chain finance risks reasonable, we should consider about not only the enterprise internal risks, but also the risks of enterprise external and the impact of supply chain. This paper according to the differences of small and medium enterprises, combined with the characteristics of supply chain, constructs the loan risk identification and evaluation system of supply chain finance. We use Entropy weight method to calculate the weight of evaluation vectors, and Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method is used to determine the membership function. Through the example of verification, the system gets a good result.


B105 Background
 >Mammographic density (MD) and serum sex hormone levels are important risk factors for breast cancer.
 >Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme responsible for the conversion of catechol estrogens into inactive metabolites. A valine to methionine substitution (V158M) leads to a COMT enzyme with reduced activity. Previous studies have shown some evidence of an association between COMT V158M single nucleotide polymorphism and MD, especially for premenopausal women. Further studies have examined the association between COMT genotypes and circulating sex hormone levels with controversial findings.
 >Methods
 >Premenopausal women (n = 235) were randomly assigned in a double-blind four-arm trial to receive tamoxifen 5 mg/d, fenretinide, a vitamin A derivative, 200 mg/d, both agents, or placebo for 2 years. A total of 181 premenopausal women with a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 54 unaffected women with a Gail 5-years risk for breast cancer>1.6% were enrolled.
 >Mammography and fasting blood samples were collected at baseline and every 12 months, within the same phase of the menstrual cycle.
 >Mammographic percent density was centrally measured on analogic screen films or digital using the computer-assisted method described by Boyd et al.
 >Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood with QIAmp blood kit (Qiagen) and 208 subjects were genotyped for COMT V158M with a real time PCR method (Applied Biosystems) or direct sequencing.
 >Serum concentration of FSH, LH, 17β-estradiol (E2), progesterone, testosterone, androstenedione, prolactin, DHEAS, SHBG were determined at baseline and every 12 months with radioimmunoassay or chemiluminescent methods.
 >Results
 >The COMT 158 genotype frequencies for VV, VM, MM were 25%, 50% and 25% respectively. At baseline, there were no significant differences between COMT genotypes distribution and disease status (affected vs unaffected women). Among DCIS subgroup, 38 subjects (23%) were wild-type for COMT V158M, 88 (54%) were heterozygous and 38 (23%) homozygous for the variant COMT allele; whereas among Gail subgroup we found 14 (32%) wild-type, 16 (36%) heterozygous and 14 (32%) homozygous.
 >We found no significant association between COMT V158M genotypes and MD levels by quartiles at baseline, 12 months and 24 months not even if considering MD as a continuous variable.
 >In a repeated measured analysis, we observed borderline significant higher LH levels in subjects with the variant COMT allele compared to wild-type, adjusting for baseline and menstrual cycle phase (p=0.05).
 >We also found a weak significant association between E2 levels and COMT genotypes at baseline: subjects heterozygous or homozygous for the COMT V158M had lower E2 levels compared to wild-type, adjusting for menstrual cycle phase (p=0.06).
 >None of the other circulating sex hormones levels differed significantly within COMT genotypes at any time points.
 >Conclusions
 >Frequency distribution was not different between affected and unaffected women. No evidence of an association between COMT V158M genotype and MD was observed.
 >Our results showed a weak significant association of the variant COMT allele and LH and E2 levels, suggesting a potential interaction of COMT genotype on these sex hormones and, possibly, with breast cancer risk.


We present a method for software development in which information flow security is taken into consideration from start to finish. Initially, the user of the method (i.e., a software developer) specifies the system architecture and selects a set of security requirements (in the form of secure information flow properties) that the system must adhere to. The user then specifies each component of the system architecture using UML inspired state machines, and refines/transforms these (abstract) state machines into concrete state machines. It is shown that if the abstract specification adheres to the security requirements, then so does the concrete one provided that certain conditions are satisfied.


Plant-derived polyphenol coating offers a promising route to fabricate functional surfaces for different substrate materials. However, almost all of the deposition approaches are time-consuming and involve inefficient processes, and the mechanisms behind the coating deposition are rarely understood. Herein, we report a rational methodology to achieve the rapid deposition of poly(caffeic acid) (PCA) by using H2O2 as a trigger under the assistance of copper sulfate (CuSO4). The comparative monomer structure of PCA oxidation polymerization has illustrated a significant distinction in the reaction path for PCA coating deposition which has never been reported before. Until now, the unprecedented fast velocity for polyphenol coating has been obtained, and the PCA coating exhibits excellent homogeneity, spatiotemporal tunability, and firm stability. Moreover, three different types of filtration membranes, poly(vinylidene fluoride) microfiltration membrane (PVDF MF membrane), poly(ether sulfone) (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) hollow fiber membrane, and PCA-coated PES nanofiltration (NF) membrane, are all successfully dip-coated using H2O2-triggered PCA coating. Without synthetic complexities and intricate procedures, the formation of hydrophilic and homogeneous PCA aggregates on the surface and/or inside pore walls resulted in various membranes. The as-prepared PCA-coated PVDF MF membrane demonstrates excellent oil/water separation efficiency of less than 150 ppm and a flux recovery rate of approximately 90% even after five cycles. By one-step co-deposition of PCA and poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx) on the PES UF membrane surface, hydrophilicity and biofouling resistance are implemented for efficient protein filtration. The PES NF membrane formed by the PCA layer exhibits high mono-/divalent ion selectivity and excellent chlorine resistance. Overall, these results represent a rapid and sustainable approach to tailor PCA coatings for versatile liquid separation processes.


Mice lacking p35, an activator of cdk5 in the central nervous system (CNS), exhibit defects in a variety of CNS structures, most prominently characterized by a disruption in the laminar structure of the neocortex (Chae et al., 1997). In addition, alterations of certain axonal fiber tracts are found in the cortex of p35 mutant mice. Notably, the corpus callosum appears bundled at the midline, but dispersed lateral to the midline. Tracer injection experiments in adult p35 mutant mice reveal that projecting cortical axons fail to assimilate into the corpus callosum, and take oblique paths to the midline. After crossing the midline, cortical axons defasciculate prematurely from the corpus callosum and take similarly oblique paths through the cortex. This callosal phenotype is not detected in reeler mice, which also exhibit defects in cortical lamination, suggesting that the lack of fasciculation of callosal axons is not an inherent manifestation of a disruption of cortical lamination. The embryonic callosal axon tract is defasciculated before crossing the midline, suggesting that axon guidance may be affected during embryonic development of the corpus callosum. In addition, embryonic thalamocortical afferents also exhibit a defasciculated phenotype. These results suggest that defective axonal fasciculation and guidance may be primary responses to the loss of p35 in the cortex. Furthermore, this study postulates a role for the p35/cdk5 kinase in molecular signaling pathways necessary for proper guidance of selective axons during embryonic development. J. Comp. Neurol. 415:218–229, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In macromolecular crystallisation, success is often dependent on the pH of the experiment. However, little is known about the pH of reagents used and it is generally assumed that the pH of the experiment will closely match that of any buffering chemical in the solution. We use a large data set of experimentally measured solution pH values to show that this assumption can be very wrong and generate a model which can be used to successfully predict the overall solution pH of a crystallisation experiment. Further, we investigate the time dependence of the pH of some polyethylene glycol polymers widely used in protein crystallisation under different storage conditions.


Our efforts in this book have focused on providing the network-on-chip (NoC) new functionalities such as virtualization, fault-tolerance and reconfiguration support in a fast, efficient, and scalable manner. One remarkable contribution is the development of a virtualization framework based on NoC partitioning in order to achieve traffic isolation. Moreover, another part of this book deals with NoC configuration strategies able to support faults in the NoC. Obviously, a system enabling these new functionalities will continuously change among NoC configurations. We also propose an extremely fast reconfiguration framework that allows the NoC to change the routing function in a deadlock-free manner.


The prevalence of obesity is widely anticipated to continue to heighten the burden of obesity-related morbidity and mortality in the coming era. The global rise of obesity has serious health effects. Over two-thirds of United States adults are overweight or obese; nearly 35% are obese. Despite extensive public health efforts, obesity prevalence among both adults and children in the United States remains high and largely unchanged over the past decade while rates of weight counseling among primary care physicians have significantly declined.A very wide range of obesity-related co-morbidities are becoming more prevalent in the population, and this will have serious consequences for the health of these individuals, and for the health care economies that will have to fund the costs of this increased burden of disease. The greatest contributor to this is undoubtedly type 2 diabetes, closely followed by the related problems of dyslipidemia and hypertension which lead to greater risk of macrovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.


A lot of research is been being done on Visible Light Communication (VLC), which has shown to be of interest for many applications, such as localization. Since localization based on VLC requires active modulation of light sources, this limits the amount of light sources that can be used for localization. Furthermore, in some situations there might not even be a controllable light source present (for example outdoors). To extend the use of light-based localization schemes, this thesis looks into a way to achieve the same result as current VLC localization methods in a passive manner, i.e. without control of the light sources. Previous work has been done on passive ambient light-based localization by Wang et al.: objects are equipped with unique barcodes, that reflect ambient light in a distinct manner. The reflected light is received by photosensors, from which their ID is obtained. However, this work has focused on identifying large-sized objects in one dimension. Using the same principle for localization of small-sized objects, and in two dimensions, are open challenges that this thesis addresses . The work presented here forms a proof-of-concept of a passive light-based localization system for two-dimensional, real-time tracking of small-sized objects. In order to achieve this, a special enclosure has been designed, giving simple photosensors the ability to distinguish small-sized objects without compromising their FOV. With this enclosure, a single photosensor can detect barcodes down to 7 cm in size in the test set-up, while distinguishing up to three different IDs. A particle filter has been implemented to combine detections from different photosensors into a single estimate of an object's location. The localization system is designed around the robots designed by a MSc student at the Embedded Systems group at TU Delft. By moving these robots at a speed of 15.4 cm/s in a straight line through the test set-up, a localization error of 4.8 cm is obtained. The distance between the robots and the sensor equals 20 cm.


This article reconsiders Marx's thinking on religion in light of current preoccupations with the encroachment of religious practices and beliefs into political life. It argues that Marx formulates a critique of the anticlerical and Enlightenment-critique of religion, in which he subsumes the secular repudiation of spiritual authority and religious transcendence into a broader analysis of the 'real abstractions' that dominate our social existence. The tools forged by Marx in his engagement with critiques of religious authority allow him to discern the 'religious' and 'transcendent' dimension of state and capital, and may contribute to a contemporary investigation into the links between capitalism as a religion of everyday life and what Mike Davis has called the current 'reenchantment of catastrophic modernity'.


Growing public interest in health and fitness have fueled the development of sports medicine, a field devoted to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sports-related injuries. This article examines the types and locations of common sports injuries, the mechanisms of injury and the role of imaging in diagnosis. The special needs of pediatric patients are considered throughout.


Introduction: The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) program sponsors the development of systematic reviews to inform clinical policy and practice. The EPC program sought to better understand how health systems identify and use this evidence. Methods: Representatives from eleven EPCs, the EPC Scientific Resource Center, and AHRQ developed a semi-structured interview script to query a diverse group of nine Key Informants (KIs) involved in health system quality, safety and process improvement about how they identify and use evidence. Interviews were transcribed and qualitatively summarized into key themes. Results: All KIs reported that their organizations have either centralized quality, safety, and process improvement functions within their system, or they have partnerships with other organizations to conduct this work. There was variation in how evidence was identified, with larger health systems having medical librarians and central bureaus to gather and disseminate information and smaller systems having local chief medical officers or individual clinicians do this work. KIs generally prefer guidelines, especially those with treatment algorithms, because they are actionable. They like systematic reviews because they efficiently condense study results and reconcile conflicting data. They prefer information from systematic reviews to be presented as short digestible summaries with the full report available on demand. KIs preferred systematic reviews from reputable entities and those without commercial bias. Some of the challenges KIs reported include how to resolve conflicting evidence, the generalizability of evidence to local needs, determining whether the evidence is up-to-date, and the length of time required to generate reviews. The topics of greatest interest included predictive analytics, high-value care, advance care planning, and care coordination. To increase awareness of AHRQ EPC reviews, KIs suggest alerting people at multiple levels in a health-system when new evidence reports are available and making reports easier to find in common search engines. Conclusions: Systematic reviews are valued by health system leaders. To be most useful they should be easy to locate and available in different formats targeted to the needs of different audiences.


We present optical spectra of the host galaxies of the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 070429B and the likely short-duration with extended emission GRB 070714B. In both cases, we find a single emission line that we identify as O II lambda 3727 at z ~ 0.9. Both events are more distant than any previous short-duration GRB with a secure host association from the sub-arcsecond position of an optical afterglow. GRBs 070429B and 070714B provide strong evidence in support of our previous claims in Berger et al. that a significant fraction of short-duration hosts (>~ 33%) reside at z > 0.7. We discuss the implications of the existence this population on the energetics of short-duration GRBs, as well as on progenitor models. In the context of the degenerate binary merger scenario, such events require progenitor systems with a range of lifetimes and disfavor progenitor models with a long, narrow lifetime distribution.


Developing new materials to fabricate proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for fuel cells is of great significance. Herein, a series of highly crystalline, porous and stable new covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have been developed by a stepwise synthesis strategy. A high density of azo groups accompanied by phenolic hydroxyl groups are integrated into the COF structures, allowing azo groups to serve as proton acceptors and load sites for added acids, while phenolic hydroxyl groups serve as proton donors facilitating proton conduction. The synthesized COFs exhibit high hydrophilicity and excellent stability in strong acid or base (e.g. 12 M NaOH or HCl), and boiling water. These features make them ideal platforms for proton conduction applications. Upon loading with H 3 PO 4 , the COFs (H 3 PO 4 @COFs) not only realize an ultrahigh proton conductivity of 1.13 × 10 -1  S/cm, the highest among all COF materials, but also maintains high proton conductivity across a wide relative humidity (40-100%) and temperature range (20-80 °C). Furthermore, membrane electrode assemblies are fabricated using H 3 PO 4 @COFs as the solid electrolyte membrane for proton exchange resulting in a maximum power density of 81 mW/cm 2 and a maximum current density of 456 mA/cm 2 , which exceeds all previously reported COF materials. This work not only develops an approach to prepare COFs with multiple bond linkages, but also sets new COF benchmarks for proton conduction and PEM fuel cell performance.


Developed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Nutrition Care Manual serves as an evidence-based, point-of-care tool for students, educators, and professionals. The content covers the most common nutrition issues, professional background information, treatment plans, and patient education information. However, the user interface is confusing with few paths for logical search or navigation and lacks many of the common features users expect from most electronic resources, such as permalinks or mobile viewing. While the content and flexibility meet a previously unfulfilled need in allied health resources, the interface problems hinder maximum utilization of the content quickly. Author's Note: In September 2013, the Academy announced a series of updates to NCM including easier mobile navigation and content organization that may differ slightly from the body of this review.


While the number of our lexical resources for exegeting and translating both testaments has grown enormously, our understanding of how words mean remains lodged in a model of communication that has come under challenge in recent years. The way we understand the nature of and relationship between lexemes and concepts will affect how we develop and utilize our lexicons for exegesis. Traditionally, lexical semantics has oriented both these lexicographic endeavors. But recent research in the field of lexical pragmatics, currently discussed among those working on Relevance Theory (RT) and other cognitive approaches to linguistics, gives important new guidance to orient our use of the lexicon and offers valuable insights that can help shape their future design. Lexical pragmatics points to a new, more context-oriented and dynamic approach to understanding the relationship between lexemes and concepts, and the nature of concepts as ad hoc constructions, in the communication of meaning.


Vulnerability of Dytiscidae species (Coleoptera) in Cuba. Cuba has one of the richest diving beetles species diversity in the Caribbean islands. However, Cuban Dytiscidae remain scarcely studied, and there is need to identify those species and habitats that urgently require effective conservation actions. Here we aim to identify the threatened taxa of the family Dytiscidae in Cuba according to their degree of vulnerability. For that, we compiled distributional data on the Cuban fauna, including data from literature, collections and own samplings carried out between the period 2000 and 2014. In addition, the vulnerability of the species was evaluated using a methodology that combines six criteria regarding both species and habitat attributes. This analysis of vulnerability was completed to 50 (94 %) out of 53 Cuban species. Five species (9 %) were identified as highly vulnerable, 20 (38 %) moderately and 25 (48 %) as having low conservation status. The five most threatened species were Laccodytes cobrinae , Laccophilus alariei , Copelatus barbouri , C. darlingtoni , and Desmopachria glabella . These species are endemic to Cuba and characterized by highly localized populations and low abundance as well as high habitat specificity. Thus, we propose the inclusion of these five species in both the red list of Cuban fauna and the IUCN Red List (under the category of "Vulnerable"). In addition, not all areas where these species were found belong to the National System of Protected Areas of Cuba. Thus, we suggest the inclusion of the Laguna Base Julio A. Mella and the North of Imias, and to develop effective management measures to prevent the alteration of these aquatic ecosystems. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(2): 709-721. Epub 2018 June 01. Key words:


The calibrations or checking of mass standards with nominal values greater than 10 kg and high accuracy class require special attention to the environmental conditions stability due to the their volume. The equipment used to calibrate this kind of mass standards usually has a weighing chamber (in this case a glass campanula or bell jar) to avoid, at least to reduce, the effects of environmental changes. In this study will be present the effects of these weighing campanulas on the standard deviations and in mass measurements results using only the internal tare (without weights in the balance plate) and using two 10 kg test weights.


Using administrative data from Finland, this paper empirically examines the relationship between university graduates' early career earnings and three measures of university quality: the number of teachers per student, the number of publications per researcher and the number of applicants per admitted student. A distinction to previous studies is made by paying special attention to field-of-study heterogeneity: the quality measures are allowed to vary by a student's field, while the heterogeneity of earnings and individuals across fields is accounted for in the analysis. For the most part, the results indicate that the relationship between institution quality and earnings is rather weak; however, certain significant quality effects are also found. In particular, the teachers/student ratio is found to be positively associated with the earnings of women and graduates from the humanities. Overall, the results indicate considerable heterogeneity in quality effects across genders and fields.


It is well-established that multicomponent superconductors can host different nonstandard phenomena such as broken-time reversal symmetry (BTRS) states, exotic Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov phases, the fractional Josephson effect as well as plenty of topological defects like phase solitons, domain walls and unusual vortex structures. We show that in the case of a two-component superconducting quasi-one-dimensional channel this catalogue can be extended by a novel inhomogeneous current state, which we have termed as a multiple-q state, characterized by the coexistence of two different interpenetrating Cooper pair condensates with different total momenta. Within the Ginzburg–Landau formalism for a dirty two-band superconductor with sizable impurity scattering treated in the Born-approximation we reveal that under certain conditions, the occurrence of multiple-q states can induce a cascade of transitions involving switching between them and the homogeneous BTRS (non-BTRS) states and vice versa leading this way to a complex interplay of homogeneous and inhomogeneous current states. We find that hallmarks of such a multiple-q state within a thin wire or channel can be a saw-like dependence of the depairing current and the existence of two distinct stable branches on it (a bistable current state).


Objectives To describe postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) against varicella zoster virus (VZV) in children being treated for malignancy in the UK and Ireland: the population at risk, frequency of exposure, clinical practice and attitudes among healthcare providers. Design An observational study in three parts: (1) a retrospective survey of serostatus at diagnosis of malignancy, (2) collation of varicella zoster immune globulin (VZIG) dispensing data over a 3-year period and (3) an online survey of paediatric oncologists' clinical practice and beliefs in relation to VZV disease and its prevention. Setting UK and Ireland. Participants Children diagnosed with malignancy in 2009 (serostatus survey) or receiving VZIG between April 2006 and March 2009 (VZIG dispensing study). Paediatric oncologists and haematologists working in tertiary paediatric oncology centres and related shared care units in the UK and Ireland (physician survey). Results Of 1500 children diagnosed with malignancy each year, at least 24% are VZV seronegative. Few centres make efforts to prevent household exposure by vaccinating VZV-susceptible family members. Exposures to VZV result in the administration of PEP to approximately 250 children with cancer annually: half receive an intramuscular injection of VZIG while the remainder receive a course of oral aciclovir. The choice of PEP is made by doctors. There is no consensus among paediatric oncologists as to which is the better option, reflecting the lack of a secure evidence base. Conclusions A randomised controlled trial to compare the effectiveness and acceptability of VZIG and aciclovir as PEP against varicella is both desirable and feasible.


In this paper, a dynamical robust nonlinear Hinfin filtering method is proposed for a class of Lipschitz descriptor systems in which the nonlinearities appear in both the state and measured output equations. The system is assumed to have norm-bounded uncertainties in the realization matrices as well as nonlinear uncertainties. We synthesis the Hinfin observer through semidefinite programming and strict LMIs. The admissible Lipschitz constants of the nonlinear functions are maximized through LMI optimization. The resulting Hinfin observer guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics with prespecified disturbance attenuation level and is robust against time-varying parametric uncertainties as well as Lipschitz nonlinear additive uncertainty. Explicit bound on the tolerable nonlinear uncertainty is derived based on norm-wise robustness analysis.


This research has two objectives, namely to determine soybean industry overview in sub Barabai and calculating the amount of value added generated by the soybean industry in the Barabai District Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency.   The research was conducted at tempe existing tempe industrial business in the District Barabai Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency. The method used in analyzing the data available from industry employers in the Barabai District Hulu Sungai Tengah is to use the formula of gross value added, net value added, and value-added raw materials. The calculations associated with the equipment used, the main raw material, and auxiliary raw materials used in the process of making tempe.   Based on the results of research conducted on the existing soybean industry in the District Barabai gross value added generated from all respondents of Rp 56.247.500, net value added generated amounted to Rp 48.062.500, while for value-added raw materials amounting to Rp 125.363/Kg. The existence of the soybean industry in Barabai be able to increase the added value for entrepreneurs tempe


Despite maintaining mean blood pressure at optimal levels, cardiovascular complications still occur in hypertensive patients. Blood pressure variability (BPV) has been implicated as a prominent factor responsible for incurring this additional risk. In this review we attempted to generate a consensus on the importance of BPV in the hypertension management and to evaluate different therapeutic options available to reduce BPV. Panel comprising of 11 leading experts from India in different areas of clinical practice (including nephrology, diabetes and endocrinology, cardiology, and critical care medicine) was convened. The board reviewed up to date literature on BPV, shared personal experiences from their clinical practice, and debated their opinions on the significance of BPV in hypertension management and also on various therapeutic options available to control it. The reviewers agreed that BPV is frequently observed in hypertensive individuals and it is a critical factor in hypertension management. Blood pressure variability can be measured by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, home blood pressure monitoring, and office blood pressure monitoring. Members concurred that variations in blood pressure that are 10 standard deviations above the mean blood pressure should be considered as pathologically significant and such variations should be reduced using pharmacological therapies. The board opined that Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers,Calcium Channel Blockers etc such as Olmesartan, Nifedipine can be used to reduce BPV. As a way forward, the panel recommends to bridge the evidence gap that establishes a possible direct relationship between BPV and cardiovascular complications. Blood pressure variability has paramount role in the current hypertension management scenario. To reduce disease burden and increase quality of life of hypertensive individuals, physicians should consider lowering BPV along with physiological BP levels.


The phrase 'not safe for discharge home' is often heard in relation to an older person in hospital, commonly due to functional limitations or risk of falls. But it remains unclear how such a standard of safety should be set in this context, or who should set it. In addition, labelling someone 'unsafe' to return to their own home has significant practical and ethical implications. After briefly exploring these issues, this Commentary suggests that a holistic approach and shared decision-making is required in this setting. Instead of simply declaring someone safe or unsafe for discharge home, specific 'safety concerns' (or 'hazards') should be identified and addressed as able. Ongoing specific concerns can then be discussed in conjunction with a patient's values and perceived benefits of returning home, in comparison with potential pros and cons of other discharge options. Overall, this paper suggests that paying attention to our words and values can enhance discharge planning and person-centred care.


Acute appendicitis is an infrequent condition in neonates, especially in term infants. With around 100 cases in the last century and no specific diagnostic tool, this case report is an addition to the existing literature that helps in our understanding of the disease. A preterm infant who had greenish aspirates and dilated bowel loops on abdominal x ray and was treated on the lines of necrotizing enterocolitis failed to improve. Baby had issues of abdominal distension whenever feeds were started hence exploratory laparotomy was done on the 45th day of life which showed appendicitis with adherent terminal ileum, caecum, and appendix. Two months after the surgery, the patient was unable to respond to antibiotic therapy for septic condition leading to death.


SUMMARY The apicoectomy with apical retrograde filling is a surgical alternative either to treating persisting apical injuries or when unsuccessfully using the conventional endodontic therapy. There are, in the literature, a great number of studies about the techniques of apical resections, retrocavities and retrograde filling materials. In this study, ten single-rooted human teeth have been used and treated endodontically, apicetomized, retrocavitated and retrograde filled with cement of glass ionomer (Fuji Ortho LC). The objective of this study was to verify if the tested material fulfilled the necessary conditions to be used as retro filler. The results showed that Fuji ORTHO LC is a material with sufficient properties to promote the adequate sealing of the root conduit when used in apical retro fillings.


This article examines the various groups and subjects attach to the dependence of Colombian former paramilitary combatants coming from the process of disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion begun in 2003. Primary information is based on interviews to key informants. It posits that the legitimacy of the dependence legitimacy on state assistance in postconflict contexts is based on different axes of values to those that structure the liberal notion of legitimate dependence. It concludes that these social programs are challenged as regards merit and individual responsibility for the absence of self-worth, but are also acknowledged because of the need for social pacification.


[1] A diagrammatic method to intuitively describe the inductive response of wave fields in the magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere-Earth (MIAE) electromagnetically coupled system is developed. The coupling process of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and atmospheric electromagnetic waves, which interact with an anisotropically conducting thin sheet ionosphere, can be understood in terms of a process of redistribution of the induced current of wave modes. On the basis of the current conservation law and Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction, a redistribution process of the source-induced current of wave modes to the secondary wave is simply illustrated. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology to describe the inductive response of a complex electromagnetically coupled system that is divided by a conducting boundary layer. As an example, we derive the reflection coefficient and the mode conversion ratio of MHD waves at an anisotropic, inductive ionosphere by using the concept of induced current redistribution. We also demonstrate that the redistribution process of wave modes under the law of conservation of induced current also satisfies an energy conservation law in the MIAE system. However, the true merit of this method is its applicability to the highly inhomogeneous region, in which many types of waves exist and interact through the arbitrary boundary layers.


The processing of data acquired by the CMS detector at LHC is carried out with an object-oriented C++ software framework: CMSSW. With the increasing luminosity delivered by the LHC, the treatment of recorded data requires extraordinary large computing resources, also in terms of CPU usage. A possible solution to cope with this task is the exploitation of the features offered by the latest microprocessor architectures. Modern CPUs present several vector units, the capacity of which is growing steadily with the introduction of new processor generations. Moreover, an increasing number of cores per die is offered by the main vendors, even on consumer hardware. Most recent C++ compilers provide facilities to take advantage of such innovations, either by explicit statements in the programs sources or automatically adapting the generated machine instructions to the available hardware, without the need of modifying the existing code base. Programming techniques to implement reconstruction algorithms and optimised data structures are presented, that aim to scalable vectorization and parallelization of the calculations. One of their features is the usage of new language features of the C++11 standard. Portions of the CMSSW framework are illustrated which have been found to be especially profitable for the application of vectorization and multi-threading techniques. Specific utility components have been developed to help vectorization and parallelization. They can easily become part of a larger common library. To conclude, careful measurements are described, which show the execution speedups achieved via vectorised and multi-threaded code in the context of CMSSW.


Mounting evidence indicates that vitamin B6 is a protective factor for colon cancer. Elevations in colonic damage, cell proliferation and heat shock proteins (HSPs, molecular chaperones) have been suggested to be associated with colon carcinogenesis. This study was performed to examine the effect of dietary levels of vitamin B6 (1, 7 or 35 mg pyridoxine HCl/kg diet) for 22 weeks on colon damage, epithelial cell proliferation and expression of HSPs in rats exposed to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Supplemental vitamin B6 with a low vitamin B6 diet (1 mg pyridoxine HCl/kg diet) significantly reduced fecal activity of intestinal alkaline phosphatase (an index of intestinal damage) and the colonic epithelium PCNA labeling index (a marker of cell proliferation). Analysis using ELISA indicated that supplemental vitamin B6 significantly lowered protein levels of colonic HSP70 and heme oxygenase-1, HSP32 (HO-1). However, real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that the mRNA levels of these HSPs were not decreased by supplemental vitamin B6, suggesting that the lowering effect of vitamin B6 on the colon protein expression of the HSPs is mediated by mechanisms not involving altered gene expression. This study provided evidence that dietary supplemental vitamin B6 suppresses colon damage, epithelial cell proliferation and protein expression of HSP70 and HO-1, the targets for anti-tumor agents, in rats exposed to DMH. Introduction In previous studies, we provided the first evidence for the anticolon tumor effect of dietary vitamin B6 in azoxymethane (AOM)-treated mice (1,2). In accordance with this finding, accumulating epidemiological evidence indicates an inverse association between vitamin B6 status and colon cancer (3-5). It has been suggested that the anti-tumor effect of vitamin B6 is mediated by lowering cell proliferation, inflammation, angiogenesis, oxidative stress and DNA damage (6-10). However, the underlying mechanism has yet to be clarified. Colon damage and loss of epithelial cells was considered to be a risk factor for colon carcinogenesis (11,12). Epidemiological studies indicated that the association between vitamin B6 status and colon cancer is particularly significant in males consuming alcohol (3). Consumption of alcohol has been reported to cause colonic epithelium damage, which has been considered to promote colon carcinogenesis (13). Evidence suggests that vitamin B6 has a protective role against cytotoxicity in cell culture studies (14,15), although the mechanism remains unclear. Thus, the protective effect of vitamin B6 on colonic damage caused by a carcinogen should be determined. In general, tissue damage caused by stress exposure (heat shock, oxidative stress and hypoxia) is associated with a higher expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs, molecular chaperones) (16-18). HSPs are overexpressed in a variety of human cancers, and are involved in tumor cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, metastasis, death and recognition by the immune system (16-18). Conversely, HSPs are well known for their cytoprotective factor in response to cell injury. Accordingly, it is of interest to examine whether dietary vitamin B6 modulates the expression of colonic HSPs. The present study was performed to examine the effect of dietary vitamin B6 on colonic damage and expression of HSPs in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-treated rats. Materials and methods Animals. Male Sprague Dawley rats (4 weeks of age) were purchased from the Hiroshima Laboratory Animal Center Consumption of vitamin B6 reduces colonic damage and protein expression of HSP70 and HO-1, the anti-tumor targets, in rats exposed to 1,2-dimethylhydrazine TOMOKO KAYASHIMA1,4, KENTA TANAKA2, YUKAKO OKAZAKI3, KIMINORI MATSUBARA1, NORIYUKI YANAKA2 and NORIHISA KATO2 1Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8524; 2Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528; 3Faculty of Human Life Sciences, Fuji Women's University, Ishikari 061-3204, Japan Received April 29, 2011; Accepted July 15, 2011 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2011.370 Correspondence to: Dr Yukako Okazaki, Faculty of Human Life Sciences, Fuji Women's University, Ishikari 061-3204, Japan E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Present address: 4Faculty of Culture and Education, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan Abbreviations: PN, pyridoxine; HSP, heat shock protein; HO-1, heme oxygenase-1; DMH, 1,2-dimethylhydrazine; AOM, azoxymethane


Recent advances in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and underwater communication technology have promoted a surge of research activity within the area of signal and information processing. A new application is proposed herein for capturing and processing underwater video onboard an untethered AUV, then transmitting it to a remote platform using acoustic telemetry. Since video communication requires a considerably larger bandwidth than that provided by an underwater acoustic channel, the data must be massively compressed prior to transmission from the AUV. Past research has shown that the low contrast and low-detailed nature of underwater imagery allows for low-bit-rate coding of the data by wavelet-based image-coding algorithms. In this work, these findings have been extended to the design of a wavelet-based hybrid video encoder which employs entropy-constrained vector quantization (ECVQ) with overlapped block-based motion compensation. The ECVQ codebooks were designed from a statistical source model which describes the distribution of high subband wavelet coefficients in both intraframe and prediction error images. Results indicate that good visual quality can be achieved for very low bit-rate coding of underwater video with our algorithm.


One of the greatest achievements of climate science has been the establisment of the concept of climate change on a multitude of time scales. The Earth's complex climate system does not allow a straightforward interpretation of dependences between the external parameter perturbation, internal stochastic system dynamics and the long-term system response. The latter is usually referred to as climate change in a narrow sense (IPCC, 2007). The focused international conference "Planetary Boundary Layers and Climate Change" has addressed only time scales and dynamical aspects of climate change with possible links to the turbulent processes in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). Although limited, the conference topic is by no means singular. One should clearly understand that the PBL is the layer where 99% of biosphere and human activity are concentrated. The PBL is the layer where the energy fluxes, which are followed by changes in cryosphere and other known feedbacks, are maximized. At the same time, the PBL processes are of a naturally small scale. What is the averaged long-term effect of the small-scale processes on the long-term climate dynamics? Can this effect be recognized in existing long-term paleo-climate data records? Can it be modeled? What is the current status of our theoretical understanding of this effect? What is the sensitivity of the climate model projections to the representation of small-scale processes? Are there significant indirect effects, e.g. through transport of chemical components, of the PBL processes on climate? These and other linked questions have been addressed during the conference. The Earth's climate has changed many times during the planet's history, with events ranging from ice ages to long periods of warmth. Historically, natural factors such as the amount of energy released from the Sun, volcanic eruptions and changes in the Earth's orbit have affected the Earth's climate. Beginning late in the 18th century, human activities associated with the Industrial Revolution such as the addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the atmosphere. These changes are likely to have influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level (IPCC, 2007). However, these features of the climate also vary naturally, so determining what fraction of climate changes are due to natural variability versus human activities is challenging and not yet a solved problem. Africa is vulnerable to climate change as its ability to adaptat and mitigate is considerably dampened (IPCC, 2007). Climate change may impede a nations ability to achieve sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals, and because of that Africa (particularly sub-tropical Africa) will experience increased levels of water stress and reduced agricultural yields of up to 50% by 2020. An example of the scale of the region's vulnerability was demonstrated during the last very dry year (1991/92) when 30% of the southern African population was put on food aid and more than one million people were displaced. Climate change in Africa is essentially dependent on our understanding of the PBL processes both due to the indispensible role of the atmospheric convection in the African climate and due to its tele-connections to other regions, e.g. the tropical Pacific and Indian monsoon regions. Although numerous publications attribute the observed changes to one or another modification of the convective patterns, further progress is impeded by imperfections of the small-scale process parameterizations in the models. The uncertainties include parameter uncertainties of known physical processes, which could be reduced through better observations/modelling, as well as uncertainties in our knowledge of physical processes themselves (or structural uncertainties), which could be reduced only through theoretical development and design of new, original observations/experiments (Oppenheimer et al., Science, 2007). Arguably, the structural uncertainties is hard to reduce and this could be one of the reasons determining slow progress in narrowing the climate model uncertainty range over the last 30 years (Knutti and Hagerl, Nature Geoscience, 2008). One of the most prominent structural uncertainties in the ongoing transient climate change is related to poor understanding and hence incorrect modelling of the turbulent physics and dynamics processes in the planetary boundary layer. Nevertheless, the climate models continue to rely on physically incorrect boundary layer parameterizations (Cuxart et al., BLM, 2006), whose erroneous dynamical response in the climate models may lead to significant abnormalities in simulated climate. At present, international efforts in theoretical understanding of the turbulent mixing have resulted in significant progress in turbulence simulation, measurements and parameterizations. However, this understanding has not yet found its way to the climate research community. Vice versa, climate research is not usually addressed by the boundary layer research community. The gap needs to be closed in order to crucially complete the scientific basis of climate change studies. The focus of the proposed forum could be formulated as follows: The planetary boundary layer determines several key parameters controlling the Earth's climate system but being a dynamic sub-system, just a layer of turbulent mixing in the atmosphere/ocean, it is also controlled by the climate system and its changes. Such a dynamic relationship causes a planetary boundary layer feedback (PBL-feedback) which could be defined as the response of the surface air temperature on changes in the vertical turbulent mixing. The forum participants have discussed both climatological and fluid dynamic aspects of this response, in order to quantify their role in the Earth's transient heat uptake and its representation in climate models. The choice of the forum location and dates are motivated by the role of tropical oceans and convection in the climate system and the prominent demonstration of the climate sensitivity to the ocean heat uptake observed off Cape Town. The international conference responded to the urgent need of advancing our understanding of the complex climate system and development of adequate measures for saving the planet from environmental disaster. It also fits well with the Republic of South African government's major political decision to include the responses to global change/climate change at the very top of science and technology policy. The conference participants are grateful to the Norway Research Council and the National Research Foundation (NRF) RSA who supported the Conference through the project "Analysis and Possibility for Control of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Processes to Facilitate Adaptation to Environmental Changes" realized in the framework of the Programme for Research and Co-operation Phase II between the two countries. Kirstenbosh Biodiversity Institute and Botanical Gardens, Cape Town contribution of securing one of the most beautiful Conference venues in the world and technical support is also highly appreciated. G. Djolov and I. Esau Editors Conference Organising Comittee Djolov, G. South Africa University of Pretoria Esau, I. Norway Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center Hewitson, B. South Africa University of Cape Town McGregor, J. Australia CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Midgley, G. South Africa South African National Botanical Institute Mphepya, J. South Africa South African Weather Service Piketh, S. South Africa University of the Witwatersrand Pielke, R. USA University of Colorado, Boulder Pienaar, K. South Africa University of the North West Rautenbach, H. South Africa University of Pretoria Zilitinkevich, S. Finland University of Helsinki The conference was organized by: University of Pretoria Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center With support and sponsorship from: Norwegian Research Council (grant N 197649) Kirstenbosh Biodiversity Institute and Botanical Gardens


The quality factor of the traditional Solidly Mounted Resonator (SMR) is limited by substrate losses, as the traditionally employed acoustic mirror reflects longitudinal waves but not shear waves. Modern mirrors do reflect both waves, but design rules for such mirrors have not been published so far. We propose a systematic design procedure derived from optics leading to a novel embodiment for the acoustic mirror which effectively reflects both longitudinal and shear waves. This method can be applied for the acoustic mirror design for any given material combination. An analytical model is presented; its agreement with FEM simulations is good. With the optimized design, we can obtain a minimum transmission for longitudinal and shear waves of −25 dB and −20 dB at resonance frequencies for longitudinal and shear waves, respectively, for various reflector material combinations.


The protective effect of some novel nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents has been studied on the endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide B) shock induced mortality in mice and biochemical changes in rats. All the three compounds included in this report, namely isoxicam, fentiazac and ketoprofen have been found to produce significant protection against the endotoxin mortality in mice. Isoxicam and fentiazac have been found effective in antagonizing some of the biochemical changes induced by endotoxin in rats. On the other hand isoxicam and ketoprofen exacerbated the increase in serum aminotransferases induced by endotoxin. It is suggested that mechanisms other than the prostaglandin synthetase inhibition may be involved in the protective effect of these drugs.


Primary pulmonary vascular sclerosis was first fully described by Brenner (1935) who stressed the presence of hypertrophy of the right, but not of the left ventricle; he concluded his description with the opinion that primary sclerosis is not a pathological entity but includes several conditions. Other authors, notably De Navasquez et al. (1940), preferred the term " primary or idiopathic right ventricular hypertrophy." Until recently pulmonary hypertension was an assumption from the physical signs and morbid anatomy, but in the last few years evidence has accrued from cardiac catheterization that it does in fact exist in these cases. By definition, in primary pulmonary hypertension, none of the known causes of pulmonary hypertension are present: it is therefore not surprising that few suggestions as to the cause are reported. The only experimental evidence available is that of Harrison (1948) who, working on rabbits, produced lesions in the smaller pulmonary arteries morphologically indistinguishable from spontaneous arteriosclerosis, by means of intravenous injections of finely fragmented fibrin. He was unable to produce significant hypertrophy of the right ventricle. The purpose of this paper is to record a possible cause for some of these cases.


RGB-Infrared person re-identification (RGB-IR ReID) aims to associate people across disjoint RGB and IR camera views. Currently, state-of-the-art performance of RGB-IR ReID is not as impressive as that of conventional ReID. Much of that is due to the notorious modality bias training issue brought by the single-modality ImageNet pre-training, which might yield RGB-biased representations that severely hinder the cross-modality image retrieval. This paper makes first attempt to tackle the task from a pre-training perspective. We propose a self-supervised pre-training solution, named Modality-Aware Multiple Granularity Learning (MMGL), which directly trains models from scratch only on multi-modal ReID datasets, but achieving competitive results against ImageNet pre-training, without using any external data or sophisticated tuning tricks. First, we develop a simple-but-effective 'permutation recovery' pretext task that globally maps shuffled RGB-IR images into a shared latent permutation space, providing modality-invariant global representations for downstream ReID tasks. Second, we present a part-aware cycle-contrastive (PCC) learning strategy that utilizes cross-modality cycle-consistency to maximize agreement between semantically similar RGB-IR image patches. This enables contrastive learning for the unpaired multi-modal scenarios, further improving the discriminability of local features without laborious instance augmentation. Based on these designs, MMGL effectively alleviates the modality bias training problem. Extensive experiments demonstrate that it learns better representations (+8.03% Rank-1 accuracy) with faster training speed (converge only in few hours) and higher data efficiency (< 5% data size) than ImageNet pre-training. The results also suggest it generalizes well to various existing models, losses and has promising transferability across datasets. The code will be released at https://github.com/hansonchen1996/MMGL.


A graph G is k-colourable with defect d, or simply (k, d)-colourable, if each vertex v of G can be assigned one of k colours so that at most d neighbours of v are assigned the same colour as v. That is, each monochromatic subgraph has maximum degree at most d. Let's focus on minimising the number of colours k rather than the degree bound d. This viewpoint motivates the following definition [7]. The defective chromatic number of a graph class C is the minimum integer k (if such a k exists) for which there exists an integer d such that every graph in C is (k, d)-colourable.


Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) participate in the formation of bone marrow niches for hematopoietic stem cells. Donor MSCs can serve as a source of recovery for niches in patients with graft failure (GF) after allogeneic bone marrow (BM) transplantation. Since only few MSCs reach the BM after intravenous injection, MSCs were implanted into the iliac spine. For 8 patients with GF after allo-BMT, another hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with simultaneous implantation of MSCs from their respective donors into cancellous bone was performed. BM was aspirated from the iliac crest of these patients at 1-2, 4-5, and 9 months after the intraosseous injection of donor MSCs. Patients' MSCs were cultivated, and chimerism was determined. In 6 out of 8 patients, donor hematopoiesis was restored. Donor cells (9.4 ± 3.3%) were detected among MSCs. Thus, implanted MSCs remain localized at the site of administration and do not lose the ability to proliferate. These results suggest that MSCs could participate in the restoration of niches for donor hematopoietic cells or have an immunomodulatory effect, preventing repeated rejection of the graft. Perhaps, intraosseous implantation of MSCs contributes to the success of the second transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells and patient survival.


Characterization of nitrogen ion implanted InGaAs photoconductive devices is performed in both the electronic and optoelectronic regime. In the dark state, the optoelectronic device shows a dark resistance of a few kΩ and a wide electrical bandwidth in the RF domain. This large bandwidth is also confirmed in the illuminated state, optoelectronic autocorrelation experiments performed with ultra-short optical pulses allow us to measure the picosecond optoelectronic time response of the device. In the second part of the work, we investigate the potentiality of this component to be used in the photonic assisted heterodyne detection of RF modulated carriers for radio-over-fibre telecommunications. We demonstrate that this photoconductor, thanks to its properties, can be used to demodulate complex data modulation formats in such an experiment.


Cutting edge composite materials now play an essential role in micro/nano-structural systems. Micro/ Nano particles and/or structural systems are embedded into a material matrix in order to enhance material properties, and make them a "smart material". A widely used type of smart material is piezoelectric materials, which have the property of piezoelectricity - an electromechanical effect that occurs in some micronano-structural materials. A further electromechanical effect called the flexoeletric effect is also induced due to the fact that strain gradient on the micro/nano scale provides an electrical polarization. In this work, the Finite Element Method (FEM) formulation for beam theories was used to investigate materials including both piezoelectric and flexoelectric effects. The variational form of 2D piezoelectric nanobeams with flexoelectric effect are also presented and be solved by FEM. The results from beam theories and 2D planar beam will be compared with analytical solutions and other numerical techniques.


The impact of globalization leaves no choice to universities but to go toward internationalization in order to survive in the growing competition in higher education. Following the global trend of internationalization, Mongolian universities plan to increase courses and programs in English in order to improve their competitiveness and ultimately to become internationally visible, at least in Asia. Based on two types of data, documents and an online survey, this study discusses the current process of internationalization at Mongolian universities and explores how faculty members perceive the rationales of implementing English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI). The findings revealed that the Mongolian government is the key player in internationalization through policies, taking initiatives, and encouraging national universities. The faculty members of the two leading private universities in Mongolia perceived that the introduction of EMI at their universities intends to improve their graduates' English language skills to operate globally and as well as to promote their university's international profile.


Purpose: To investigate the association of body mass index (BMI) with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) severity and TCF4 CTG18.1 expansion. Methods: A total of 343 patients with FECD were enrolled from the Mayo Clinic. FECD severity was graded by slit-lamp biomicroscopy. BMI values were obtained from the electronic medical records. DNA extracted from leukocytes was analyzed for CTG18.1 expansion length, with ≥40 repeats considered expanded. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare FECD grade and CTG18.1 expansion length in patients by BMI (<25, ≥25 to <30, and ≥30 kg/m2). FECD grade was regressed on age, sex, BMI, and CTG18.1 expansion and, separately, BMI on CTG18.1 expansion. Models were investigated for effect modification by age and sex with an interaction term of P < 0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: When examining the association between BMI and FECD, there was a significant interaction between BMI and sex (P for interaction = 0.004). When controlling for age and CTG18.1 expansion, a positive association was observed between BMI and FECD grade in women, but not in men. In addition, BMI was not associated with CTG18.1 expansion when controlling for age and sex. Conclusions: BMI was positively associated with FECD severity among women but not men. There was no significant association between BMI and CTG18.1 expansion. These findings suggest that increased BMI is potentially a modifiable risk factor for FECD disease progression among women.


Recent trends in the automobile industry focus towards enhancing the operating efficiency of the road vehicle. One can achieve this by a combination of increasing the powertrain efficiency, reducing the weight and increasing the aerodynamic performance. The scope of this study is on the latter, i. e. enhancing the aerodynamic performance. Most cars are optimized for minimum drag in idealized conditions, driving engineers to design for the test rather than for to optimize for actual flow encountered in real world conditions. These realistic conditions include (un)steady cross-wind flows encountered by the vehicle, rather than a perfectly aligned flow as is the case in an idealized situation. Different researchers studied the effect of these real world conditions on the performance of a vehicle. Many of these studies focussed upon the vehicle stability rather than the potential to reduce aerodynamic drag. This is because typical drag reducing means (such as radiused edges) tend to have a detrimental effect on the cross-wind stability and comfort of the vehicle. \\ The introduction of the fully electric Tesla Model S created new opportunities within this conception. This 2500 {kg vehicle has an 800 {kg battery underneath the car, which results in a different - relatively flexible - position of the center of gravity, total mass and corresponding mass moments of inertia. As a result it is questioned if this difference in vehicle specifications allow for drag reducing shape modifications on a vehicle which is then still stable during cross-wind flows. After a careful trade-off it was chosen to use the recently launched open-source CFD software suite SU2 in order to find an answer to the following research objective: What design modifications reduce the drag coefficient of a simplified vehicle model which experiences a cross-wind flow, and how does this affect the lateral dynamic performance? An interesting follow-up question on this would be to identify which design variables are (most) sensitive to drag increments in realistic crosswind flows. This document describes the process of solving the research objective within the framework of a Master of Science thesis. A thorough vehicle dynamics study was performed in order to assess the most influential parameters which affect the lateral deviation of a vehicle. Within this study it was found that the cross-wind induced lateral deviation with a longitudinal velocity of 30m/s and a cross-wind flow of 3.15m/s or 6 degrees is roughly similar to the situation where the steering wheel angle is set to 1 degree. This implies that the lateral deviation during cross-wind flows is not much of an issue during steady cross-wind flows of up to 6 degrees. Experiments were designed for three different cross-wind flows; 0 degrees, 3 degrees and 6 degrees cross-wind flow for both conventional and electric vehicles. Here the effects of the following shape modifications have been studied: arrowing the front of the vehicle, tapering the aft of the vehicle, applying a side-window tumblehome angle, varying the front and rear window angle, and varying the A - and C - pillars. The resulting drag coefficients for each configuration has been averaged over the three cross-wind angles. Here it was found that the most important shape modifications for the drag coefficient occur aft of the vehicle. The optimal angles are listed below, where the original angle is shown in parentheses. The resulting cross-wind flow averaged drag coefficient is shown per shape modification. Arrowing angle (0) - 15 degrees: 5% Tapering angle (0) - 15 degrees: 27% Tumblehome angle (0) - 15 degrees: 10% Front window angle (30) - 25 degrees: 2% Rear window angle: (25) - 15 degrees: 16% A-pillar radius: (0.10) - 0.15m: 4% C-pillar radius: (0.15) - 0.15m: 0% When these design modifications are simultaneously applied it was found that the drag coefficient is reduced by 17% for symmetric flow conditions, 30% during 3 degrees cross-wind flow and as much as 43% during 6 degrees during cross-wind flow conditions. This combines into a cross-wind averaged drag reduction of 30%.


The recognition and treatment of manufactured incontinence requires a thorough understanding of the pathogenesis of urinary incontinence. It is important to realize that is frequently not only what is done to the patient but what is not done or even what is overlooked.


A burn has been described as a family injury warranting the delivery of family-centered care (FCC) across the continuum of burns management. This assertion notwithstanding, only limited progress has been made to develop and implement FCC interventions in the burn unit. As a starting point, this study sought to formulate a tentative framework to underpin FCC in burn care. A multi-method design comprising an umbrella review and the secondary data analysis of qualitative datasets was employed. Following these, the findings were merged and aligned to the Universal Model of FCC to formulate the burn-specific FCC framework. For the umbrella review, four review articles met the criteria for inclusion. Following a data synthesis of the review findings and their integration with the qualitative dataset, four meta-themes that encapsulate the shared needs/concerns of family members of both pediatric and adult burn survivors emerged: (1) psychosocial concerns, (2) issues relating to role changes, (3) logistical concerns, and (4) requiring information. These issues were mapped to the following components of the Universal Model of FCC: family support, education, collaboration, and communication. All these are underpinned by dedicated policies, procedures, and consideration of the family context. Testing and further empirical work are needed to refine and implement the framework across the continuum of burn management.


In a previous paper (Almeida L 1996 Topological sectors for Ginzburg-Landau energies Rev. Mat. Iberoamericana to appear (preliminary version in author's thesis, ENS Cachan, January 1996)) we studied the components of level sets of Ginzburg-Landau energy functionals on multiply connected domains, and showed that they can be (partially) classified by an extended notion of topological degree. We used this to show the existence of stable states and mountain-pass solutions of Ginzburg-Landau equations. In this work, partly inspired by the techniques we developed with Bethuel (Almeida L and Bethuel F 1998 Topological methods for the Ginzburg-Landau equation J. Math. Pures Appl. 77 1-49), we first improve the classification into topological sectors of our earlier mentioned paper, and then obtain quite precise estimates on the threshold transition energies between different sectors. These enable us to, in the setting of the simple models considered, obtain the existence of states whose condensed wavefunction has a non-vanishing topological degree and which are separated from the ground state by very high-energy barriers - this phenomenon can be linked to the great stability of permanent currents in superconducting rings.


Introduction: Epistaxis is the occurrence of an active nasal bleeding. Epistaxis is estimated to occur at least once during lifetime for more than 60% of the general population, with varying seriousness. The etiology behind epistaxis varies from local, systemic, and environmental causes. Primary care physicians should be educated on how to deal with an epistaxis case acutely and when to refer a patient to ENT for further evaluation. Thus, a review of the current management modalities is imperative for both primary care and otolaryngology physicians. Aim of the work: we tried to understand the causes, classification, diagnosis, and management of epistaxis. Methodology: we conducted this review using a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE from January 2001 to March 2017. The following search terms were used: epistaxis, causes of epistaxis, classification of epistaxis, management of epistaxisConclusion: Epistaxis is considered to be one of the common presentations encountered in the emergency department and it can sometimes be serious or even fatal. Many etiologies can cause epistaxis. Management of epistaxis mainly centers on stopping bleeding locally and treating the cause if non local or local. Some cases will have to be referent to ENT for better outcomes. New treatment modalities for complicated cases are being developed.


The relationship of blood pressure to fasting and postglucose serum insulin and lipid levels was examined in 133 (70 men, 63 women) newly diagnosed, non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients and 144 (62 men, 82 women) non-diabetic control subjects. In addition, the frequency of left ventricular hypertrophy by ECG criteria and left ventricular mass determined by M-mode echocardiography in diabetic patients were compared to that in non-diabetic subjects. Fasting serum insulin showed a significant correlation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels in male non-diabetic subjects, but not in male and female diabetic or in female non-diabetic subjects. Postglucose serum insulin levels showed no significant correlations with systolic or diastolic blood pressure levels in men, but in female diabetic and non-diabetic subjects significant correlations were found in particular with systolic blood pressure level. The correlations between serum insulin and blood pressure levels could not be accounted for by obesity. In male and female diabetic subjects serum triglycerides correlated positively with systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels even after adjustment for obesity. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy based on ECG criteria between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects, but female diabetic subjects showed in echocardiography an increased left ventricular mass related to body surface area compared to their non-diabetic counterparts. Elevated systolic blood pressure and high postglucose serum insulin levels showed an independent, significant association with left ventricular mass in female diabetic subjects.


This paper proposes the Extended State Observer (ESO) based control strategy for quarter-car active suspension systems with performance constraints. The proposed control scheme requires an ESO to estimate and compensate road disturbances, so that ride comfort of the vehicle is improved significantly. Besides achieving good control performance, the system constraints on both the suspension movement and dynamic tire load are guaranteed. Simulation results shows that the ESO-based controller is robust against different disturbances and variation of the load mass.


Abstract : The military has an increasing number of patients with combat-related impairments that contribute to suboptimal medication self management. These impairments include TBI, PTSD, poly-trauma, and mental health issues. A significant number of these patients are in transitional care outpatient settings, lacking adequate clinical staff to provide the necessary pharmacy services. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the use of a TelePharmacy robotic remote medication dispensing unit (TRMDU), in addition to medication review inpatients assigned to WTUs, VA hospitals, and similar units, leads to improved outcomes and reduced health care costs for patients when compared with medication review alone. This study will use a prospective non-randomized repeated measures design with two sites using a control condition for 12 weeks, followed by a 12-week TRMDU intervention condition. The third site will serve as intervention only.


BACKGROUND
Recently molecular chimerism analysis after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) has become more important. The use of quantitative chimerism methods aims to assess the kinetics of engraftment to determine graft rejection and failure or relapse of the underlying disease after AHSCT. An accurate and sensitive determination of chimerism status is mandatory after AHSCT. This study aimed to compare two chimerism methods: Multiplex Short Tandem Repeat-Polymerase Chain Reaction (STR-PCR) and quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR).

METHODS
Thirty-nine blood samples at +28 day were used to extract DNA. Most patients had been diagnosed with acute leukemia (74.3 %) and other hematological diseases. For Multiplex STR-PCR method, PCR products were separated on an ABI 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystem, USA) and for qRT-PCR, an ABI 7500 (Applied Biosystem, USA) Plate System Real Time Analyzer was used to determine the quantification of chimerism per-centage.

RESULTS
Of the 39 analyzed samples, 82% concordant chimerism results were detected for both STR-PCR and qRT-PCR methods. Ten mixed chimerisms (MC) were found by qRT-PCR whereas of only 3 MC cases were detected by STR-PCR. In the discordant group of 7 by qRT-PCR, we observed Acute Graft versus Host Disease (aGVHD). Three MC cases that were detected by both STR- and qRT-PCR methods died because of relapse.

CONCLUSIONS
The quantitative chimerism method along with multiplex STR-PCR method is important for early detection of MC. qRT-PCR methods can be valuable options in the prevention of graft failure and assisting with fast and early treatment strategies for patients undergoing AHSCT.


This study aims to examine the effects of English course with background music on self-efficacy beliefs and achievement emotions of students who have different learning styles and find out what students think about the implementation. For this purpose, the sequential explanatory design was used. To obtain quantitative data, an experimental design, and to collect qualitative data, a semi-structured questionnaire form was applied. The study was carried out with 53 students at a high school in Turkey. During the experiment period, the background music was used in the English course. The study has revealed that using background music leads to a significant diferentiation in the achievement emotions in a positive way but not on self-efficacy beliefs. In terms of learning styles, the implementation has had positive effects on class-related enjoyment of the students with the style of converging and accommodating. In terms of class-related boredom, the implementation has had a positive effect on students having converging learning styles. The data obtained from qualitative processes also has confirmed this. The qualitative data has proved that the implementation is effective on emotions such as happiness, enjoy, excitement, boredom, anger and on motivation, engagement and actively participating. The students generally have supported background music.


Along the North-West Shelf of Australia, mining export operations must work in tune with nature's whims. This paper discusses some of the refinements that have been made to enable loading and mooring operations to work more effectively with the environmental conditions on a daily basis for the port of Cape Lambert. This approach is shown to have a positive impact on moored vessel safety and port throughput efficiency. Though infrequently dangerous to deep draft vessels, the swells that propagate along the NorthWest Shelf (some from as far away as the Antarctic ocean) can on occasion threaten safe sailing opportunities due to ship motions and under-keel clearance concerns. Furthermore, large swells, along with strong winds and currents, can be dangerous to moored vessels, causing increased line tensions and potential line breakage. Depending on port operations, shippers may have pro-active measures to manage hazardous conditions, such as deploying tugs to assist moored vessels. However, deploying such measures comes at a cost, for instance burning thousands of litres of fuel and exposing operations to dangerous conditions. Therefore, users require accurate information on the potential levels of line breakage to help make informed decisions between the 'do-something' and 'do-nothing' options, i.e. balancing the costs of deploying preventative measures with the potential costs of line breakage. To operate safely and economically, shipping operations make use of stochastically enhanced forecasts to ensure that modelling inaccuracies are accounted for, and that local observations can also be used to inform predictions. All the data sources (waves, wind, and currents) are incorporated into a single model which generates warning levels, giving users an easy-tounderstand idea of the potential dangers to moored vessels without having to view and interpret multiple data sources which may be difficult and imprecise.


This paper shows a feasibility study on the use of discrete SiPMs to read out monolithic scintillator-based detectors for use in molecular imaging applications. Monte Carlo simulations are carried out in order to evaluate the basic performance of 8 × 8 arrays of discrete SiPMs with different PDE values and compare it to conventional 64 channel multi-anode PMT (MA-PMT) readout. A detailed optical transport model was incorporated into the Monte Carlo simulation and a detector module based on a monolithic scintillator crystal of 50 × 50 × 4 mm3 coupled to a MA-PMT was built for experimental validation. The effect of the SiPM dynamic range was also investigated by including a model of the saturation effects into the optical transport simulation. The results show that a detector module based on an array of 8 × 8 discrete SiPM devices (3 × 3 mm2 and PDE > 32%) is feasible as a replacement of a 64 channel MA-PMT in order to read out large monolithic crystals for MR-compatible gamma cameras.


In this investigation, glucose was produced from rice straw using cells of Aspergillus niger, isolated from maize grain. Glucose yield was found to increase from 43 to 87% as the rice straw particle size decreased from 425 to 75 im, while the optimal temperature and pH were found within the range of 45 - 50°C and 4.5 - 5 respectively. The concentration and rate of glucose production was observed to depend on pretreatment of rice straw, substrate concentration and cell loading. A kinetic model rate expression has been developed for such a process based on the Michaelis – Mentens and Lineweaver – Burk approach. Comparison between the experimental data and those predicted from the rate model indicate good agreement with a mean absolute deviation of about 0.2.


The reaction of H atoms with electronically excited O/sub 2/, H(/sup 2/S/sub 1/2/) + O/sub 2/(/sup 1/..delta../sub g/) ..-->.. OH(/sup 2/PI) + O(/sup 3/P) (1a), was studied in an isothermal flow reactor in the temperature and pressure ranges of 295 less than or equal to T/K less than or equal to 423 and 70 less than or equal to p/Pa less than or equal to 1070, respectively, with He as the main carrier gas. The concentration profiles of H and O atoms were followed by resonance absorption and those of OH radicals by LIF. The O/sub 2/(/sup 1/..delta../sub g/) molecules which were present in an excess over H atoms were generated in a microwave discharge in O/sub 2/(/sup 3/..sigma../sub g//sup -/) and their absolute concentrations determined by photoionization. At a pressure of p = 130 Pa, an Arrhenius expression of k/sub 1a/ (T) = 1.1 x 10/sup 11/ exp(-(13 +/- 2 Kj mol/sup -1/)/RT) cm/sup 3//(mol s) was obtained. It is proved that energy transfer from O/sub 2/(/sup 1/..delta../sub g/) to HO/sub 2/(X,A) is significant for the understanding of the H + O/sub 2/(/sup 1/..delta../sub g/), (/sup 3/..sigma../sub g//sup -/) system. The result of k/sub 1a/(T) and the reaction mechanism more » including the reactions of O/sub 2/(/sup 3/..sigma../sub g//sup -/) and the energy-transfer processes O/sub 2/(/sup 1/..delta../sub g/) + HO/sub 2/(X,A) are discussed. 29 references, 8 figures, 3 tables. « less


Main papers on quantum games are written by physicists for physicists, and the inevitable exploitation of physics jargon may create difficulties for mathematicians or economists. Our goal here is to make clear the physical content and to stress the new features of the games that may be revealed in their quantum versions. We first introduce from scratch the most fundamental facts of finite-dimensional quantum mechanics. In the main sections the foundations of quantum games are built via the basic examples. We omit sometimes the lengthy calculations (referring to the original papers) once the physical part is sorted out and the problem is reformulated as pure game-theoretic problem of calculating the Nash or dominated equilibria. Finally we touch upon general theory of finite quantum static games and provide further links and references.