Purpose. To determine the reproductive risks of women using the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the acceptability of delivering preconception screening and counseling with the WIC encounter. Design. A mixed methods approach to include quantitative analysis of reproductive risks and qualitative analysis of postcounseling interviews. Setting. A WIC clinic in Clayton County, Georgia Participants. A quota sample of 150 African-American women 18 to 44 years of age recruited from the attendees of WIC nutrition classes for postpartum and breastfeeding women and mothers of children under 5. Intervention. A brief individual counseling based upon identified risks. Method. Participants were administered a risk assessment questionnaire by a member of the study team to determine topics for brief counseling. Following standardized brief counseling, participants completed an individual semistructured interview. The risk assessment questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively; transcripts from the postcounseling interviews were analyzed thematically. Results. Reproductive risks were prevalent among women of reproductive age seeking WIC services: unintended pregnancy (27%), history of sexually transmitted infection (49%), inadequate folic acid supplementation (66%), intimate partner violence (47%), tobacco use (21%), binge drinking (10%), and illicit drug use (5%). The vast majority of WIC clients found the preconception risk assessment and brief counseling to be acceptable and important. Conclusion. WIC constitutes a suitable location for identifying low-income African-American women in need of preconception and reproductive health services and at risk for poor reproductive health outcomes.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the aggressive synovial expansion due to angiogenesis and subsequent destruction of the underlying cartilage and bone. Synovial cells produce inflammatory mediators, proteases, and angiogenic growth factors such as prostaglandin (PG) E2, IL-6, matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). We previously demonstrated that blocking hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor, c-Met signal by HGF antagonist, NK4 inhibited arthritis in RA model of SKG mice. Objectives In the present study we examined the role of c-Met signal for the production of PGE2, IL-6, MMP-3 and VEGF by synovial cells. Methods HGF or c-Met expressions in synovial tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry using either anti-human HGF Ab or anti-human c-Met Ab. Human MH7A synovial cell line was established by transfection with SV40 T antigen to synovial cells which was isolated from knee joint intraarticular soft tissue of RA patients. PGE2, IL-6, MMP-3 and VEGF productions from MH7A cells were determined by ELISA. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and AKT phosphorylation was determined by Western blot analysis. The effect of MEK1/2 inhibitor, PI3 kinase inhibitor or c-Met kinase inhibitor was examined by the treatment of the cells with PD98059, LY294002 or SU11274, respectively. Results HGF and c-Met expressions in RA synovium were increased comparing to those in osteoarthritis synovium, suggesting the increased c-Met signal in RA synovial cells. We also detected c-Met expressions in MH7A. Blocking c-Met signal by SU11274 or NK4 inhibited ERK1/2 and AKT phosphorylation by HGF-stimulated MH7A cells. Both MEK and PI3K inhibitor suppressed PGE2, IL-6, MMP-3 and VEGF production. These results indicate that positive c-Met-MEK-ERK and c-Met-PI3K-AKT signal pathways are involved in MH7A cells. Although blocking c-Met signal by SU11274 or NK4 inhibited the production of MMP-3 and VEGF, however, it enhanced the production of PGE2 and IL-6 by MH7A cells. Conclusions These results indicate that positive c-Met-MEK-ERK and c-Met-PI3K-AKT signal pathways are involved in MMP-3 and VEGF production by MH7A cells. Although positive MEK-ERK and PI3K-AKT signal pathways are involved, negative c-Met signals independent to MEK-ERK and PI3K-AKT signal pathways are involved in PGE2 and IL-6 production. Blocking c-Met signal may be useful for the inhibition of angiogenesis and cartilage and bone destruction by the inhibition of VEGF and MMP-3 production, while it enhances PGE2 and IL-6 production by synovial cells in RA. References Arthritis. Res. Ther. 22 (2013) R75. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2551


The German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is currently established to minimize the risks of disastrous events such as the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. To maximize alerting periods, to avoid false alarms and to accurately predict tsunami wave heights, real-time observations of ocean bottom pressure are required from the deep ocean. To this end, the PACT system (Pressure Acoustic Coupled Tsunameter) was developed. PACT's bottom unit combines a highly-sensitive pressure sensor, a data processing unit for automatic tsunami detection, and an acoustic modem in a single, robust housing. The data are transferred via a bidirectional acoustic link to PACT's surface unit, which is mounted to a surface buoy (not part of the PACT system), allowing also remote activation of the tsunami mode in case a wave is expected from e.g. seismic data. The PACT system has successfully passed extensive laboratory and at-sea tests. The first deployments off Indonesia as part of GITEWS are scheduled for April 2009.


In Indonesia, strawberry is one of fruits which has high economic values. The growth of strawberry has increased significantly, but its productivity is still low because of disease attack. Disease that attacks strawberry started from nursery to post harvest is anthracnose that can be caused by Colletotrichum spp. Control efforts of anthracnose disease up to now has been done with application of synthetic chemicals which are known to be hazardous to the environment and human health. Betel leaf (Piper betle L.) is natural plant that potentially used as phytofungicide. Essential oils on betel leaf extract is reported can decrease the growth of pathogenic fungi. The objectives of the research were to identify Colletotrichum spp. in strawberry fruit that showed anthracnose symptoms, to test the potency of betel leaf extract as phytofungicide, and to evaluate the effect of betel leaf extract in inhibiting infection and disease severity of Colletotrichum in strawberry. Samples were taken from strawberry nursery in Magelang, Indonesia. The disease symptoms were isolated on Potato Dextrose Agar, followed by identification of fungal colony and morphology by semi permanent slide preparation. Betel leaves were extracted with water to get a concentration of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%, respectively. An in vitro experiment was done to evaluate the inhibition rate of betel leaf extract to the growth of Colletotrichum spp. colony. An in vivo experiment was done by submersion of strawberry to betel leaf extract before (preventive method) and after antrachnose attack (curative method), then disease infection and disease severity were measured after 7 days. The result of the research showed that anthracnose disease in strawberry was caused by C. gloeosporioides (Penz.). Twenty percent of betel leaf extract in an in vitro test had potential as phytofungicide and concentration of 100% betel leaf extract was the best concentration to inhibit the growth of C. gloeosporioides (Penz.) colony by 70.26±0,61%. In an in vivo experiment, submersion of strawberry before pathogen infection (preventive) with 100% betel leaf extract decreased disease infection by 40% and disease severity by 16%, respectively. While treatment of submersion of strawberry after pathogen infection (curative) decreased disease infection by 33,4% and disease severity by 17%. Keywords: strawberry, anthrachnose, disease, betel leaf


Ester-exchange reactions during melt extrusion of polyarylate, polycarbonate, and polyethylene terephthalate ternary blends result in a decrease of the melting point and the heat of fusion of the poly(ethylene terephthalate). When an organophosphite is used to suppress the ester-exchange reactions, it was found that whenever the phosphite is converted into a phosphonate, there is little change in both the melting point and the heat of fusion of the polyethylene terephthalate during prolonged exposure to high temperature in the blends. 31P nuclear magnetic resonance is employed to investigate the chemical changes and differential scanning calorimetry to evaluate the thermal stability of the blends. The organophosphite appears to be transformed through side-chain hydrolysis into other phosphorous species, such as diphosphonate in order to be an effective suppressant of the ester-exchange reactions.


Learning the structure of continuous-time Bayesian networks directly from data has traditionally been performed using score-based structure learning algorithms. Only recently has a constraint-based method been proposed, proving to be more suitable under specific settings, as in modelling systems with variables having more than two states. As a result, studying diverse structure learning algorithms is essential to learn the most appropriate models according to data characteristics and task-related priorities, such as learning speed or accuracy. This article proposes several alternatives of such algorithms for learning multidimensional continuous-time Bayesian network classifiers, introducing for the first time constraint-based and hybrid algorithms for these models. Nevertheless, these contributions also apply to the simpler one-dimensional classification problem for which only score-based solutions exist in the literature. More specifically, the aforementioned constraint-based structure learning algorithm is first adapted to the supervised classification setting. Then, a novel algorithm of this kind, specifically tailored for the multidimensional classification problem, is presented to improve the learning times for the induction of multidimensional classifiers. Finally, a hybrid algorithm is introduced, attempting to combine the strengths of the score- and constraint-based approaches. Experiments with synthetic data are performed not only to validate the capabilities of the proposed algorithms but also to conduct a comparative study of the available structure learning algorithms.


Copper (II) ions adsorption from aqueous solution unto Nsu clay was studied. The aim of the experiment was to utilize the clay as a cheap alternative adsorbent compared to more expensive and relatively less effective techniques for the removal of copper (II) ions from solution. The experiment was performed using batch adsorption technique. Optimum adsorption was achieved at a pH of 5.0 and equilibrium was established within 60 minutes of the process. The equilibrium adsorption data was analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Redlich-Peterson and Scatchard isotherm models. The values of the regression coefficient (R) of the isotherms gave the best fit (0.9842) with the Redlich-Peterson isotherm. However, all the isotherms applied were appropriate in their own merit in the description of adsorption data. The Langmuir constant values RL and Freundlich constant n showed a favourable adsorption between Nsu clay and copper (II) ions in solution. The energy of adsorption, E (15.8 KJ/mol) obtained from the DubininRadushkevich isotherm suggested a chemical ion exchange mechanism. The deviation of the Scatchard plot from linearity, R (0.6634) indicated the presence of more than one type of binding sites on the clay surface. The results obtained depicts the usefulness of Nsu clay as a low-cost adsorbent for copper (II) ions.


Current distributed key-value stores generally provide greater scalability at the expense of weaker consistency and isolation. However, additional isolation support is becoming increasingly important in the environments in which these stores are deployed, where different kinds of applications with different needs are executed, from transactional workloads to data analytics. While fully-fledged ACID support may not be feasible, it is still possible to take advantage of the design of these data stores, which often include the notion of multiversion concurrency control, to enable them with additional features at a much lower performance cost and maintaining its scalability and availability. In this paper we explore the effects that additional consistency guarantees and isolation capabilities may have on a state of the art key-value store: Apache Cassandra. We propose and implement a new multiversioned isolation level that provides stronger guarantees without compromising Cassandra's scalability and availability. As shown in our experiments, our version of Cassandra allows Snapshot Isolation-like transactions, preserving the overall performance and scalability of the system.


The Pierre Auger Observatory uses fluorescence telescopes in conjunction with ground level particle detectors to measure high-energy cosmic rays and reconstruct, with greater precision, their arrival direction, their energy and the depth of shower maximum. The depth of shower maximum is important to infer cosmic ray mass composition. The fluorescence detector is capable of directly measuring the longitudinal shower development, which is used to reconstruct the cosmic ray energy and the atmospheric depth of shower maximum. However, given the limited field of view of the fluorescence detector, the shower profile is not always fully contained within the detector observation volume. Therefore, considerations need to be taken in order to reconstruct some events. In this contribution we will describe the method that the Pierre Auger Collaboration uses to reconstruct the longitudinal profiles of showers and present the details of its performance, namely its resolution and systematic uncertainties.


The purpose of this study was to examine the main and interactive effects of motivational climate and won-lost percentage upon young athletes' evaluations of their coaches, enjoyment of their team experience, and perceived parental liking for the coach. A total of 268 male and female youth basketball players, aged 10 to 15 years, completed the Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sports (Smith, Cumming, & Smoll, in press) and selected attitudinal scales relating to their sport enjoyment and their evaluations of their coach. Regular season won-lost percentages were calculated for each of the 50 teams. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to predict player evaluations of the coach. Attitudes toward the coach were positively associated with perceptions of a mastery-involved climate and negatively associated with perceptions of an ego-involved climate. Won-lost percentages positively predicted players' evaluations of their coach's knowledge and teaching ability, but accounted for far less attitudinal variance than did the motivational climate measures. Consistent with earlier findings, young athletes' sport enjoyment, and evaluations of their coach were more strongly related to coaching behaviors than to their team's won-lost record. No significant interactions involving winning and motivational climate were found.


Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the leading cause of cervical cancer and genital lesions in women and men, representing an important global health problem. There are still few data about the prevalence and HPV co-infection in Brazilian patients. Objective: This study aims to describe type specific distribution and co-infection of HPV in patients of a private health clinic using HPV DNA testing. Material and Methods: From April 2010 to October 2011, 15,307 consecutive patients of a private health institution in Sao Paulo, Brazil, were tested using a DNA-array assay, which detects simultaneously 24 HPV types - 19 high risk (HR) and 5 low risk (LR) types (PapilloCheck®). Results: HPV infection was detected in 39% of 13,770 female and 65% of 1,537 male samples. The most common HR-HPV types in women were HPV16, 51, 53, 68, 56 (7.3; 7.2; 7.1; 7.1 and 6.7%) followed by types 39, 66, 52, 31 and 58 (4.7 to 3.9%), which accounted for approximately 56.2% of all detected HPV types. LR-HPV 42 (8.5%) and 44/45 (8.2%) were the most frequent LR types. In males, HR-HPV 16, 51, 56, 68, 53, 39 and 66 (7.8; 7.3; 5.3; 4.6; 4.4 and 4.2%) accounted for 38,7% of all types; HPV 6 (12,8%) and 42 (8%) were the most frequent LR types. HPV 18 accounted for only 1,8% and 2,3% of HPV DNA-positive women and men. Co-infection was observed in 16.3% of female and 36.4% of male samples. 7.1% of women and 22.8% of men showed co-infection with three or more types of HPV. Overall, 59.8% of women and 44% of men had only HR type-infections. 17,6% of women and 23,7% of men had only LR-HPV infections. Co-infection with HR and LR-HPV was observed in 22,6% of female and 32,3% of male samples. Conclusion: Our findings show a high HPV infection prevalence and a high proportion of co-infections in our population. These data can be useful to plan in a more efficient way screening programs and application of prophylactic HPV vaccines in Brazil. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5506. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5506


We have developed an intelligent tutoring system coupled with a virtual laboratory, which constitute a semi-open learning environment. This environment provides the student with the opportunity to learn through exploration within a virtual laboratory, while achieving the expected learning objectives. The key element of this environment is a novel representation for the student model based on probabilistic relational models. This student model has several advantages: flexibility, user adaptability, high modularity and facilities for model construction for different scenarios. The model keeps track of the students' knowledge at different levels of granularity, combining the performance and exploration behavior in several experiments, to decide the best way to guide the student in following experiments, and to re-categorize the students based on the results. We have implemented a tutor for a virtual robotics laboratory, and evaluated the system with an initial group of 20 students. The results show that students who explore the virtual environment with the help of the tutor have a better academic skills, and also that the predictions of the student model are generally accurate.


Raven's Progressive Matrices are a benchmark originally designed to test the cognitive abilities of humans. It has recently been adapted to test relational reasoning in machine learning systems. For this purpose the so-called Procedurally Generated Matrices dataset was set up, which is so far one of the most difficult relational reasoning benchmarks. Here we show that deep neural networks are capable of solving this benchmark, reaching an accuracy of 98.0 percent over the previous state-of-the-art of 62.6 percent by combining Wild Relation Networks with Multi-Layer Relation Networks and introducing Magnitude Encoding, an encoding scheme designed for late fusion architectures.


The main goal of this special focus issue is to introduce the main parameters that affect the potential ecotoxicity of nanoparticles and to describe the state of the art with a few selected examples of interaction of different nanoparticles


Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is an inherited disorder characterized by abnormalities in the retinal vasculature. The FZD4 gene is associated with FEVR, but the prevalence and impact of FZD4 copy number variation (CNV) on FEVR patients are unknown. The aim of this study was to better understand the genetic features and clinical manifestations of patients with FZD4 CNVs. A total of 651 FEVR families were recruited. Families negative for mutations in FEVR-associated genes were selected for CNV analysis using SeqCNV. Semiquantitative multiplex polymerase chain reaction and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification were conducted to verify the CNVs. Four probands were found to carry whole-gene deletions of FZD4, accounting for 5% (4/80) of probands with FZD4 mutations and 0.6% (4/651) of all FEVR probands. The four probands exhibited similar phenotypes of unilateral retinal folds. FEVR in probands with CNVs was not more severe than in probands with FZD4 missense mutations (p = 1.000). Although this is the first report of FZD4 CNVs and the associated phenotypes, the interpretation of FZD4 CNVs should be emphasized when analyzing the next-generation sequencing data of FEVR patients because of their high prevalence.


This paper applies Census microdata from 1980 and 1990 to assess the determinants of housing tenure choice among racial and ethnic groups in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Like previous research, our results indicate that endowment differences (income, education, andimmigrant status) largely explain the homeownership gap between Latinos and whites. Incontrast to previous work, we find that Asians are as likely to choose homeownership as are whites, and that status as an immigrant did not portend lower homeownership rates among Asians. However, the endowment-adjusted homeownership choice differential between whites and blacks remains sizable; further, that gap more than doubled between 1980 and 1990, to a full 11 percentage points.


Studies sponsored by the US Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) have resulted in the development of an effective, integrated size reduction and decontamination system for transuranically contaminated components. Using this system, a reduction of more than 95% in the volume of transuranic waste requiring interim storage and eventual geologic disposal has been achieved for typical plutonium contaminated glove boxes. This paper describes the separate preparation, size reduction, decontamination and waste treatment operations and facilities that have been developed and demonstrated as part of this work.


This paper describes how the "Mechanical Engineering Design & Professional Skills" module, offered at the First Year of Mechanical Engineering course at Taylor's University College, was used as a centrepiece to integrate the entire curricula. This is achieved through the introduction of a carefully selected design project that ensured students use the knowledge developed in other modules to complete. The design project described herewith is the design, construction and testing of a circulating water channel similar to that's used by Prandtl. The "Mechanical Engineering Design & Professional Skills" proved a very useful platform to integrate the curricula. Students' involvement and enthusiasm was obvious throughout the semester.


Abstract There is a growing phenomenon of grassroots innovation, that is, that triggered by individual users or communities (physical or virtual) seeking a solution to a personal or societal problem. This has great potential as a new source of sustainable transport innovations, but has received little attention to date. This study conducted 16 in-depth interviews and a workshop with grassroots innovators in transport. A detailed thematic analysis of the interview data identified: catalysts for the idea and the motivation behind its pursuit; the barriers experienced (those that were overcome and those that were not); and the enablers that permitted the innovations to continue and to flourish. The paper concludes by identifying the conditions that need to exist for such innovations to be created, developed and exploited in order that their potential for increasing the sustainability of the transport system can be fulfilled.


AIMS
This paper describes the investments made, approaches taken and lessons learnt by three rural Australian academic health departments engaged in the delivery of the Health Career Academy Program (HCAP). The program seeks to address the under-representation of rural, remote and Aboriginal populations within Australia's health workforce.

CONTEXT
Significant resources are directed towards rural practice exposure for metropolitan health students to address workforce shortages. Fewer resources are directed towards health career strategies that focus on the earlier engagement of rural, remote and Aboriginal secondary school students, those in Years 7-10. Best practice career development principles highlight the importance of earlier engagement in the promotion of health career aspirations and in influencing secondary school student career intentions and uptake of health professions.

APPROACH
This paper describes: delivery contexts; the theory and evidence that has informed the HCAP; program design, adaptability and scalability; program focus on priming the rural health career pipeline; program alignment to best practice career development principles; enablers and barriers confronted in program delivery, and lessons learnt to inform rural health workforce policy and resourcing.

CONCLUSION
There is a need to invest in programs that seek to attract rural, remote and Aboriginal secondary school students to health professions if Australia is to develop a sustainable rural health workforce. A failure to invest earlier undermines opportunities to engage diverse and aspiring youth in Australia's health workforce. Program contributions, approaches and lessons learnt can inform the work of other agencies seeking to include these populations in health career initiatives.


Palm oil based nonionic surfactants were synthesized by reacting glycerol monooleate with ethylene oxide at 80 oC in the prescence of an alkaline catalyst. Purification of the products was conducted by use of acetic acid and black carbon which gave ethoxylated products (EGMO) with a higher level of viscocity and greater solubility in water. Physical and chemical properties of the product such as surface activity, cloud point, acid value, ester value, hydroxyl value, and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance was also determined and results varied depending on the reagent molar ratio. The synthesized EGMO were soluble in water and therefore show potential use as surface active agents in personal care and cosmetic products. Keywords :   nonionic surfactant, ethoxylation, glycerol monooleate, palm oil


We evaluated the Advanced Placement (AP) program from the point of view of intellectually precocious youth and their subsequent educational-vocational outcomes, analyzing normative and idiographic longitudinal data collected across 30 years from 3,937 participants. Most took AP courses in high school, and those who did frequently nominated an AP course as their favorite. Students who took AP courses, compared with their intellectual peers who did not, appeared more satisfied with the intellectual caliber of their high school experience and, ultimately, achieved more. Overall, this special population placed a premium on intellectual challenge in high school and found the lack of such challenge distressing. These findings can inform contemporary educational policy debates regarding the AP program; they also have general implications for designing and evaluating educational interventions for students with special needs.


Understanding the distribution and propagation of train delay is crucial for railway management. This paper combines the interpretability of logistic regression models with the robustness and accuracy of Random Forest models to create a combined model which was applied to predict punctuality. The data consists of relative timetable deviation of train movement for all stations, as well as punctuality observations at destination stations. The data was recorded for both passenger and freight trains in Sweden between year 2017 and 2018.The data consists of many policy and categorical variables such as train operator which are known to indirectly effect delay risk, but are labeled as insignificant in classical regression making their coefficients unstable and difficult to interpret. For this reason, the study has applied logistic regression model with the variables of interest such as train type as well as first registered delay (relative deviation compared with timetable) along with "bagging" of Random Forest capturing indirect or/and sensitive predictors. This semi-parametric logistic regression model was trained using 2017 data and was accurate and robust when tested using the 2018 data. It has shown to be capable of handling the delays caused by unforeseen disruptions such as abnormal weather in the test year. In this paper we show that the semi-parametric model has significantly better prediction performance than linear models, Weibull distributions, Binomial logistic regression and Random Forest alone. Furthermore, the semiparametric model maintains its interpretability whilst producing accurate predictions with new data.


We have investigated the behavior of 1-palmitoyl-2-[[2-[4- (6-phenyl-trans-1,3,5-hexatrienyl)phenyl]ethyl]carbonyl]-3-sn -phosphatidylcholine (DPHpPC) in synthetic, multilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles. This fluorescent phospholipid has photophysical properties similar to its parent fluorophore, diphenylhexatriene (DPH). DPHpPC preferentially partitioned into fluid phase lipid (Kf/s = 3.3) and reported a lower phase transition temperature as detected by fluorescence anisotropy than that observed by differential scanning calorimetry. Calorimetric measurements of the bilayer phase transition in samples having different phospholipid to probe ratios demonstrated very slight changes in membrane phase transition temperature (0.1-0.2 degree C) and showed no measurable change in transition width. Nonetheless, measurements of probe fluorescence properties suggested that DPHpPC disrupts its local environment in the membrane and may even induce perturbed probe-rich local domains below the phospholipid phase transition. Temperature profiles of steady-state fluorescence anisotropy, limiting anisotropy, differential tangent, and rotational rate were similar to those of DPH below the main lipid phase transition but indicated more restricted rotational motion above the lipid phase transition temperature. As for DPH, the fluorescence decay of DPHpPC could be described by either a single or double exponential both above and below the DPPC phase transition. The choice seemed dependent on the treatment of the sample. The intensity-weighted average lifetime of DPHpPC was roughly 1.5 ns shorter than that of DPH. In summary, the measured properties of DPHpPC and its lipid-like structure make it a powerful probe of membrane structure and dynamics.


In health care law, as in other regulatory spheres, many rules are meant to promote trustworthiness. Market-oriented scholars have long urged that parties be permitted to contract out of such rules. They have argued, on efficiency grounds, for contractual enjoining of clinical decisionmaking authority; relationships among providers and health care payers; and physicians' conflicting obligations to patients, payers, and other third parties. To a large degree, courts and regulators accommodated, clearing a path in the 1980s and 1990s for the rise of managed care. But a growing body of research on the psychology of trust, altruism, and health risk raises doubts about contractual departure from rules meant to reinforce trustworthiness. Rising consumer hostility to managed care cost control methods has lent urgency to these doubts. While some contractarian scholars dismiss these doubts, others, most notably Mark Hall, take them seriously. Drawing upon some of the same empirical studies that have led others to question contractarian prescriptions, Hall argues that consumer trust is robust, indeed often present in excess, and that regulation on trust-related grounds is mostly unnecessary, even counterproductive. I contend in this essay that contractarian prescriptions for health law pose large risks for our health system's trustworthiness. Hall's case to the contrary misreads both the psychological evidence and the import and irony of Americans' backlash against managed care. Because people are uncomfortable, to the point of denial, with health care's cost-benefit tradeoffs, the medical marketplace delivers evasion and euphemism about how these tradeoffs are made. But there is also a thriving market for the exposure of evasion. Regulatory and legal deference to contractual arrangements that ration covertly thus engenders consumer anger and distrust. Rather than tolerating such arrangements, the law should demand contractual honesty as the price for deference to contractual freedom.


This paper is devoted to the development of a theoretical base for the retrieval of optical constants of large strongly absorbing particles dispersed in a non-absorbing host medium. Both single and multiple scattering regimes are studied. Particles can have a spherical shape or be non-spherical, but convex and randomly oriented. Analytical formulae relating Fresnel reflectivities for surfaces of particles to the intensity of the diffused reflected light are proposed. They are based on the single and quasi-single approximations of the radiative transfer theory. The geometrical optics approximation is used to find local optical characteristics (for example the phase function and the extinction coefficient) of turbid media under consideration.


Abstract Fossil fuel depletion has led to an increasing number of research studies and applications focusing on renewable energy, such as different types of biomass. Lignocellulosic biomass represents an abundant source of biomass suitable for energy production in various forms. The present research investigates the application possibility of pedunculate oak bark (Quercus petrea (Matt.) Liebl.) for the production of biogas via anaerobic digestion. This research has significant novelty, as only a few examples on the utilization of tree bark wastes for the production of biogas can be found in the scientific literature. One of the key factors of increasing biogas yield is the efficient hydrolysis of the basic material, which is achieved by different pretreatment methods. In this study, oak bark was pretreated by microwave energy, by extraction, and by the combination of these two methods. The semi-continuous thermophylic anaerobic digestion of untreated oak bark resulted a 76.3 ml/g volatile solid specific methane yield over a 50-day period, which was not significantly lower than methane yield gained from pretreated basic material. Results indicated that oak bark is suitable for the production of biogas even without the application of the investigated pretreatment techniques. As extraction of oak bark does not impair biogas production, the complex biorefinery utilization of oak bark in the form of extraction bark polyphenols and the subsequent anaerobic fermentation of lignocellulosic residue can be accomplished in the future.


The utilization of antibodies directed toward modified nucleosides in evaluating changes in the levels of certain modified nucleosides in transfer RNA is reported. Antibodies directed toward the N6-(delta 2-isopentenyl)adenosine modification were used in this model system with a mutant strain of Escherichia coli designated ipaA. The procedure is rapid, sensitive, and specific. In addition, it does not depend on the existence of an in vitro remodification system or any radiochemical labeling of the tRNA. By varying the extraction technique, the method could be applied to procaryotic or eukaryotic cell lines. The existence of antibodies specific for other nucleoside modifications makes this a system that is potentially applicable to a variety of deficiencies in the modification of both tRNA and rRNA.


The Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope (SLAM) operating at a frequency of 100 MHz is used to characterize solid inclusions in silicon nitride. Ten, seven millimeter thick discs, with 100 and 400 micron implanted inclusions are analyzed. We find that the images of a solid inclusion are characterized by a bright high transmission central zone, a well defined dark boundary and a characteristic diffraction ring pattern. These image features differentiate solid inclusions from pores and voids which may also be encountered in the samples. The images of the implanted flaws were generally found to be larger than anticipated. This can be understood in terms of the divergence of the sound due to diffraction and due to lens action of the curved boundary of the flaw. Our initial observations suggest that accurate estimates of defect size may be obtaiRable from a more complete analysis of SLAM micrographs.


The primary goal of this paper is to propose a new factor graph (FG) technique for the direction-of-arrival (DOA)-based three-dimensional (3D) multi-target geolocation. The proposed FG detector uses only the mean and the variance of the DOA measurement including both the azimuth and the elevation, assuming that they are suffering from errors following a Gaussian probability density function (PDF). Therefore, both the up-link (UL) transmission load and the detection complexity can be significantly reduced. The Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB) of the proposed DOA-based 3D geolocation system is mathematically derived. According to the root mean square error (RMSE) results obtained by simulations, the proposed FG algorithm is found to outperform the conventional linear least square (LS) approach, which achieves a very close performance to the derived CRLB. Moreover, we propose a sensor separation algorithm to solve the target-DOAs matching problem such that the DOAs, measured by each sensor, can be matched to their corresponding targets. With this technique, additional target identification is not needed, and the multi-target geolocation can be decomposed into multiple independent single-target detections.


PURPOSE
To study the clinical and hemodynamic aspects of a group of patient presenting non-obstructive coronary lesions.

METHODS
We reviewed 963 coronary angiographies performed at a same institution. The 52 patients presenting only stenosis < or = 50% after semi-quantitative measurement composed group I, which was compared with two other groups consisted of 52 patients each: one, with patients presenting univascular lesion > 50% (group II) and the other with normal coronary arteriographies (group III).

RESULTS
Mean age was similar in groups I and II (49.4 +/- 6.89 and 51.3 +/- 7.86, p > 0.05) and significantly higher than that of group III (44.8 +/- 6.81, p < 0.05). Risk factors did not discriminate group I (GI) from groups II (GII) and III (GIII). During a follow-up period of 63 months, the number of hospital admissions due to cardiac events and repetitions of coronary arteriography were similar in GI and GII, being significantly less frequent in GIII (p < 0.00001 and 0.001; p < 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). By the end of the follow-up period, though angina and heart failure functional classes had been similar in the three groups, patients in groups I and II were using more medications than those in group III (p < 0.0001 and 0.00001). Mean ejection fractions (%) were lower in GI and GII (67.04 +/- 10.13 and 68.90 +/- 11.32) than in GIII (74.69 +/- 6.40, p < 0.01). Lesions were predominantly proximal in GI when compared with GII (p < 0.05). Length, simmetry, ulceration, thrombus and proximal shoulder showed no difference between GI and GII.

CONCLUSION
Patients with non-obstructive coronary lesions were similar to those with univascular lesion > 50% regarding several aspects and were considerably different from those with normal coronary arteries.


. - The Sudetes as a geomorphological region are distinguished by complicated spatial pattern of high- and low-altitude terrains and variable mean slope gradients across the range. Several conceptual models have been proposed to account for this variability, emphasizing the significance of planation surfaces, intramontane basins, climate-controlled landform generations, or differential uplift and subsidence. An analysis of a digital elevation model and maps derived from the model have allowed for re-assessment of some of those hypotheses and concepts. It confirms that differential tectonics explains best the morphological layout of the Sudetes, but its effects are superimposed on a variety of rock - landform relationships. Neither the model emphasizing the occurrence of tiered levels of relict planation surfaces, nor one assuming the widespread existence of distinctive landforms of tropical morphogenesis find support in the light of region-wide DEM analysis. The general landform pattern of the western part of the Sudetes differs from the one in the eastern part, the difference being the abundance of intramontane basins in the former.


Abstract: During a parasitological survey of naked gobies (Gobiosoma bosc) in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, U.S.A., 2 myxozoan parasites were found infecting the gall bladders of 84 of 90 fish. Parasite plasmodia of each were morphologically distinct; plasmodia bearing Ellipsomyxa-like spores were elongate and fusiform (1,126 by 403 μm), and those bearing Sphaeromyxa-like spores were large and discoid (1,400 μm diameter). Neither parasite conformed to any described species of myxozoan, and both are described here. Sphaeromyxa kenti n. sp. bears boomerang-shaped spores ranging 17.5–19.8 μm long by 3.8–5.2 μm wide. Two unequal sized polar capsules contain ribbon-like polar filaments characteristic of this genus. Ellipsomyxa adlardi n. sp. bears ovoid spores 11.3–14.4 by 7.1–8.8 μm, with 2 rounded polar capsules oriented in opposite directions relative to the longitudinal plane of the spore. Phylogenetically both species cluster with sequenced members of their respective genera. Plasmodia of E. adlardi n. sp. were encountered in 72.2% of gobies examined, and S. kenti n. sp. in 25.6%. Overall, 6.7% of animals were uninfected, and only 4.4% of the 90 fish examined were infected with both species. The observed co-occurrence was lower than expected by chance, strongly suggestive of an interaction between these species.


An emerging new literature brings unique ideas from corporate finance to the study of international trade and investment. Insights about differences in the development of financial institutions across countries, the role of financial constraints, and the use of internal capital markets are proving central in understanding international economics. The ability to access financial capital to pay fixed and variable costs affects choices firms make regarding export entry and operations and, as a consequence, influences aggregate trade patterns. Financial frictions and the use of internal capital markets shape decisions that multinationals make regarding production locations, integration, and corporate governance. This article surveys this recent research with the goal of highlighting the main themes it explores, the key results it establishes, and the leading open questions it raises.


Objective: Regionalization has been proposed as a method to improve outcomes for patients with critical illness. We sought to determine intensivist physician attitudes and potential barriers to the regionalization of adult critical care. Design: Mail survey. Setting: United States. Subjects: Actively practicing physicians specializing in adult critical care, emergency medicine, or internal medicine listed in the 2008 American Medical Association Physician Masterfile (n = 1200). Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: There were 569 eligible respondents (effective response rate = 53.0%). Respondents were similar to nonrespondents. Fifty-nine percent of respondents thought their hospital would mainly receive patients under a regionalized system, and 30% thought their hospital would mainly send patients. Opinions were split about whether regionalization would improve overall patient survival (52% agreed) and healthcare efficiency (66% agreed). Specialists in anesthesiology and surgery-critical care, academic physicians, and physicians who perceived that they would mainly receive patients were more likely to believe that regionalization would improve outcomes and efficiency (p < 0.001). The most commonly endorsed barriers to regionalization were personal strain on patient's families (66% agreed), current lack of a strong central authority (64% agreed), and the potential to overwhelm capacity at large hospitals (55% agreed). Commonly endorsed strategies to implement regionalization included using objective criteria to determine eligibility for transfer (87% agreed), developing common information technology platforms across hospitals (86% agreed), and demonstrating in a clinical trial that regionalization is beneficial (81% agreed). Conclusions: Intensivist physicians have mixed opinions about regionalization, with little consensus about whether regionalization will improve outcomes. Most felt that regionalization will improve patient outcomes, but many expressed concerns about unintended adverse consequences. Respondents identified several barriers and potential implementation strategies that can help policymakers design a regionalized system of critical care in the United States.


In our society in which communication is so wide-ranging and rapid we are witnessing a significant increase in the pace at which knowledge is produced and disseminated. Bodies of knowledge intersect as they cross borders between disciplines in the human and social sciences, and in the natural sciences, life sciences, and technological sciences. How do concepts, theories, and methods circulate, and how are they exchanged, borrowed, transferred, and transformed, when they cross from one discipline to another? In what ways does this interdisciplinary practice constitute a creative gain in the production of new knowledge, enabling us to understand prob- lems that are impossible to solve from the perspective of a single discipline? The present article addresses these issues by defending the idea that, like other modi operandi, interdisciplinarity is promoted by the circulation of concepts, theories, and methods, and by analogy or transfer across and beyond disciplinary borders that appear closed. The article is also an appeal for ar- bitrary borders between communities of subject specialists to be transcended, for creative but rigorous thinking in all subject areas, and for researchers to adopt an interdisciplinary outlook.


Soils suppressive to soil-borne diseases have attracted the attention of farmers and researchers for decades and many suppressive soils have been described. Microorganisms and soil microbial communities involved in suppressiveness have been studied intensively, but the underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. Suppressiveness to soil- as well as air-borne diseases has been shown to be highly site-specific. We will review how suppressiveness can be influenced by agricultural practices. Suppressiveness destroyed e.g. by steam sterilisation of soils could only be partially restored on the short-term by re-inoculation of soils, and the success of re-inoculation depended on the soil matrix as well as on the inoculum used. Long-term management (e.g. conventional or organic management), tillage regime, and short- or long-term fertility inputs have the potential to alter soil suppressiveness, yet the effect of a particular practice is still difficult to predict. Application of biocontrol organisms such as Pseudomonads or Bacillussp. can have a beneficial effect against particular diseases on the short-term, but they can rarely persist after introduction in natural soils. Application of suitable composts can often help to sanitize fields contaminated with soil-borne pathogens more efficiently than individual biocontrol organisms. An ongoing study tries to identify key microbial consortia responsible for the beneficial effect of composts to allow a targeted application.


Compositionality is a pivotal property of symbolic reasoning. However, how well recent neural models capture compositionality remains underexplored in the symbolic reasoning tasks. This study empirically addresses this question by systematically examining recently published pre-trained seq2seq models with a carefully controlled dataset of multi-hop arithmetic symbolic reasoning. We introduce a skill tree on compositionality in arithmetic symbolic reasoning that defines the hierarchical levels of complexity along with three compositionality dimensions: systematicity, productivity, and substitutivity. Our experiments revealed that among the three types of composition, the models struggled most with systematicity, performing poorly even with relatively simple compositions. That difficulty was not resolved even after training the models with intermediate reasoning steps.


Dynamic disorder in the high-temperature solid phases of the Zintl compounds CsPb and NaSn is characterized by fast orientational motions of the polyanions and coupled motions of the cations. Melting is characterized by slow translational motions of the centres of mass of the polyanions. The dynamic behaviour of the ions is associated with dramatic increases in electrical conductivity characteristic of the behaviour expected of a mixed conductor.


Abstract In stark contrast to the abstraction and radical disembodiment of hi-tech virtual war, the mediascape of contemporary counter-insurgency is increasingly dominated by material that is lo-fi, intimate, multi-sensory and decisively linked to the embodied experiences and risks of soldiering. In this article, I explore the visual grammar and affective logics of two recent prominent public mediations of the war in Afghanistan, both dominated by the use of video footage recorded from camcorders mounted on soldiers' helmets. Epitomized in this helmetcam footage, I suggest that it is through an emerging aesthetic regime of 'somatic war' – that foregrounds sensory immersion and real feeling, vital living and bodily vulnerability – that the endless war in Afghanistan is currently being made perceptible and palpable.


The problem of characterizing the geometric structure of an object buried in an inhomogeneous halfspace of unknown composition is considered. The authors develop a nonlinear inverse scattering algorithm based on a low-dimensional parameterization of the unknown object and the background. In particular, they use a low-order polynomial expansion to represent the spatial variations in the real and imaginary parts of the object and background complex permittivities. The boundary separating the target from the unknown background is described using a periodic, quadratic B-spline curve whose control points can be individually manipulated. They determine the unknown control point locations and contrast expansion coefficients using a greedy-type approach to minimize a regularized least-squares cost function. The regularizer used here is designed to constrain the geometric structure of the boundary of the object and is closely related to snake methods employed in the image processing community. They demonstrate the performance of their approach via extensive numerical simulation involving two-dimensional (2D), TM/sub z/ scattering geometries. Their results indicate a strong ability to localize and estimate the shape of the object even in the presence of an unknown and inhomogeneous background.


A number of small-sample corrections have been proposed for the conditional maximum-likelihood estimator of the odds ratio for matched pairs with a dichotomous exposure. I here contrast the rationale and performance of several corrections, specifically those that generalize easily to multiple conditional logistic regression. These corrections or Bayesian analyses with informative priors may serve as diagnostics for small-sample problems. Points are illustrated with a small exact performance comparison and with an example from a study of electrical wiring and childhood leukemia. The former comparison suggests that small-sample bias may be more prevalent than commonly realized.


The growing list of high-strength wastewaters across North Carolina (NC) are well suited for treatment and energy recovery using anaerobic digestion (AD). These include livestock wastes, food wastes, and wastewater-derived sludges that if left untreated, pose risks to NC's water resources and public health. AD, however, is largely underutilized to treat these wastes. This can be attributed to both economic and technology performance barriers. With respect to performance, one limitation is the operational instability that can arise when syntrophic relationships between key groups of microorganisms in the digester are disrupted; another is the incomplete conversion of organics to methane gas (CH4). To overcome these limitations, we proposed augmenting digesters with electrically conductive microscale particles. These particles have proven effective as conduits for syntrophic microbe-to-microbe direct electron transfer, resulting in improved CH4 generation and waste degradation rates using pure microbial strains in the lab. We hypothesized that supplementing digesters with these materials would result in a similar effect and could provide operators a means to stabilize and improve performance. Our objectives were to experimentally determine the impact of 1) material properties (type, conductivity, size) and 2) particle loading on AD performance. We assessed performance as CH4 generation rates, CH4 recoveries, and organic matter destruction [measured as chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal]. To fulfill our objectives, we supplemented lab-scale, serum bottlebased digesters with different conductive particle types (graphite, biochar, activated carbon) or non-conductive glass (a surface area control) and compared all particle amended bottles with controls lacking particles. We used swine wastewater collected from the NC State Swine Educational Unit as a representative high-strength wastewater. Our results indicate that across all particle types tested, graphite was the most consistent in improving digester performance. Both CH4 production rates and recoveries strongly correlated with the graphite loading rate, reaching a maximum production rate of 30 ± 2.5 mL-CH4/(gVSseed day), which was 34 ± 11% higher than the no-particle control. The other material types did not show clear trends with loadings, and in most cases led to reduced performance relative to the no-particle control. Material electrical conductivity was not found to be a decisive factor for predicting CH4 generation rates. This result was contrary to our expectations. A primary reason was that biochar, and more significantly, activated carbon, strongly adsorbed organic matter from the wastewater. Adsorption was found to have a negative impact on performance. Graphite exhibited little to no adsorptive behavior, resulting in a larger conversion of the initial COD into CH4 gas. Under our conditions tested (single batch cycle; 19 day retention time), the additional CH4 generated with graphite would not recuperate the cost of graphite. Our recommendations moving forward are threefold. First, fundamental investigations of microbial community structure and mechanisms in the presence of conductive versus non-conductive material are needed to determine if the improvements are associated with direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). Second, alternative means of providing electrically conductive surfaces, such as graphitic brushes or cloths, should be explored, so as to avoid the costs associated with continuous particle amendments. Finally, a broader suite of high-strength wastewaters need to be studied to determine if similar responses as reported here are observed.


The literature on social media marketing (SMM) elucidates how SMM can improve consumer behavior within the tourism industry. However, the lack of empirical examination of the mediating role of behavior attitude is still evident in leisure literature. This study investigated the relative impact of fan page following of beaches on the intention to recommend and revisit by considering the mediation role of positive attitude in these relationships. A convenience sample method was employed to collect data from young customers (18–24 years old). The data was collected from 363 respondents, and structural equation modeling was conducted to test the conceptual model hypotheses. The results reveal that fan page following positively predict positive attitudes and intention to recommend and revisit. Moreover, the results also confirm that a positive attitude mediates the relationships between Instagram fan page following and the intention to recommend and revisit. This research developed a theoretical model to understand how Instagram fan page following might enhance intention to recommend and revisit in the beach context by invoking positive attitudes as a mediator variable in the relationship fan page following and behavior intention.


In internal medicine, thoracic and lung ultrasound is used to diagnose pleural masses/fluid collections, for staging lung cancer, for excluding pneumothorax and pulmonary edema, and for diagnosing pulmonary embolisms (1,2). The value of lung ultrasound in emergency and intensive care medicine also has been estimated increasingly over the last years (3,4). Although there are well-known limitations caused by the air-containing lung, this method can successfully visualize solid nodules and lung consolidations that are just below the pleura as long as no pneumothorax is present. Chest ultrasound also has a high accuracy and is superior to the chest X-ray for the diagnosis of pleural effusion, pneumothorax, and lung consolidation (5).


For more than 50 years, coffee has been the dominant commodity in Uganda's economy and the main cash crop for farmers. This sector employs more than 2.5 million smallholders. However coffee wilt disease (CWD) has become the major setback to coffee production. It has destroyed around 50% of Robusta coffee trees and almost 90% of Ugandan farms are affected. Today, waiting for resistant coffee materials, farmers don't have any means of controlling the disease. This research aimed to determine the role of trees in farmers' strategies to maintain their incomes in the face of the CWD crisis. This survey was carried out in 2008, in Mukono District, the first coffee area of the country. Fifty semi-structured interviews of farmers, discussion with farmer groups, local experts, and key informants involved with the coffee sector were conducted. Coffee always grows under shade trees and is intercropped mostly with banana plants and other food crops. Agroforestry has been part of the farming system for at least three generations of respondents in Uganda. The various trees are important to farmers for their services, products and functions. Some, such as Ficus, Albizzia and fruit trees, are voluntarily planted by farmers to get shade, fuelwood and fruit. Others, such as as Markhamia lutea and Meopsis eminiis grow naturally in their gardens. In response to CWD, farmers have diversified their crops, and they still maintain their shade trees in the hope to replant new coffee trees. Currently, no other crop's revenue can compare with coffee. Thus, farmers are replanting coffee seedlings even if these trees are vulnerable to CWD. Farmers maintain trees within their farm even if they are not considered to be a valuable source of cash. This study showed a close link between trees and coffee; agroforestry systems give resilience during a crisis period. (Texte integral)


A CRDI diesel engine used to commercial vehicle was fueled with diesel fuel and 20% biodiesel blended fuel (BDF 20%) and tested at the Seoul-10 mode for 150 hours. Engine dynamometer testing was completed at regularly scheduled intervals to monitor the engine performance and exhaust emissions. To check the engine parts (valve, injector), the engine was inspected after 150 hours running test. It was concluded that there was no unusual deterioration of the engine, or the changes in engine power (below 1.9%), smoke (below 4.1%), NOx (below 3.7%) and durability characteristics in spite of operation of 150 hours run with BDF 20%. The difference of kinetic viscosity for engine oil (before and after durability testing) was below 0.19% at .


Early fatigue damage is an important factor affecting the service safety of 316L stainless steel parts formed by selective laser melting (SLM) technology. Nonlinear ultrasonic testing for early fatigue damage in SLM 316L stainless steel specimens was carried out. A new method for evaluation of early fatigue damage based on nonlinear ultrasonic testing was proposed. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) was applied to the unsteady ultrasonic testing signal, and the signal was decomposed into multiple intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) that meet certain conditions; then, the specific IMF (ESI) containing the effective fatigue damage information was extracted. Lastly, fast Fourier transform (FFT) was applied to the specific IMF signal to obtain the required information to evaluate the damage in the measured part caused by fatigue. The results of nonlinear ultrasonic testing agreed well with transmission electron microscope experimental analysis and theoretical model of acoustic nonlinearity caused by dislocations. The change in nonlinear ultrasonic testing results reflected the generation and evolution of dislocation structure during the low-cycle fatigue regime of the SLM 316L stainless steel specimen and revealed the early fatigue damage mechanism of this metal part. Compared with the classical FFT method, the EMD-ESI-FFT method is more sensitive in identifying the early damage in SLM 316L stainless parts induced by fatigue loading, which is equivalent to improving the early fatigue damage identification and diagnosis ability and can better ensure the service safety of important metal parts.


OBJECTIVE
To summarize evidence on the relationship between early treatment (definition based on symptom/disease duration or radiographic damage) and treatment clinical response in patients with SpA.

METHODS
A systematic literature review was conducted in studies on SpA patients treated with NSAIDs or b/tsDMARDs addressing the impact of symptom/disease duration or presence of radiographic damage on treatment response assessed by any disease activity outcome. For categorical outcomes, relative risk, relative risk ratio (RRR) and number needed to treat were calculated, and for continuous outcomes, differences in differences, to compare groups stratified based on symptom/disease duration or the presence of radiographic damage.

RESULTS
From the 8769 articles retrieved, 25 were included and 1 added by hand-search, all in axSpA, most of them with low risk of bias. Twenty-one studies compared groups based on symptom duration (n = 6) or disease duration (n = 15) and 7 studies based on absence/presence of radiographic damage (2 studies used two comparisons). When early axSpA was defined by symptom duration (<5 years) in RCTs, early treatment was associated with better outcomes in patients with nr-axSpA (n = 2, ASAS40 RRR 5.24 (95%CI 1.12-24.41) and 1.52 (0.60-3.87)) but not in r-axSpA (n = 1) [ASAS20 0.96 (0.53-1.73)]. When early axSpA was defined based on disease duration or radiographic damage, no differences were found between groups.

CONCLUSION
Evidence towards better outcomes in early axSpA is very limited and restricted to nr-axSpA and <5 years symptom duration. When early axSpA is defined based on disease duration or radiographic damage, no differences in response to treatment are found.


Dungine is an open source Argumentation Engine and API implemented in the Java programming language. Dungine uses argument games to evaluate the acceptability of an argument given a constellation of arguments under grounded (sceptical) and preferred credulous semantics. Existing argumentation engines all rely on a companion logic programming language. These companion languages represent a barrier to integrating an engine into existing software as developers must translate their system into the companion logic programming language. Dungine is liberal in its notion of an Argument and this flexible approach overcomes this barrier, and makes integrating argumentation based reasoning into existing software comparatively easy. To demonstrate the usefulness of this approach, and its ease of application, we describe an integration of Dungine with Araucaria-an open source argument mapping tool.


The relationship between nicotine and stress is complex and paradoxical. Although people claim they smoke because it relaxes them, nicotine can trigger some of the effects observed with stress, including the release and synthesis of the catecholamines and their biosynthetic enzymes. This study examined one aspect of this confusing relationship between nicotine and stress. Multiple injections of nicotine bitartrate (5 mg/kg) elevated mRNA levels for the catecholamine biosynthetic enzymes, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH), and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase, and of preproneuropeptide Y in rat adrenal medulla more than did 1 mg/kg of nicotine bitartrate. In the locus ceruleus, substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area both doses equally induced TH mRNA levels. Nicotine infusion (15 mg/kg/day) did not affect adrenal mRNA levels for any of the genes of interest and did not increase plasma corticosterone levels. However, in rats pre-exposed to nicotinic infusions, the response to a single immobilization (IMO) stress was markedly attenuated with respect to changes in adrenomedullary TH, DBH, and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase mRNA levels and in c-Fos protein levels. In the central nervous system, the chronic infusion of nicotine prevented the induction of TH mRNA by repeated IMO stress in the ventral tegmental area (but not in substantia nigra) and of DBH mRNA by single IMO in the locus ceruleus. These findings may explain some of the complex interactions between stress and exposure to nicotine.


More than 600 different CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) gene mutations have been identified so far that are considered to cause the fatal genetic disorder cystic fibrosis (CF). We have investigated 15 Arab children from 12 families, who were diagnosed as having CF, for mutations in the coding region and in the flanking intron sequences of the CFTR gene. Six different CFTR mutations were identified including two novel mutations, 1548delG in exon 10 and 406-2A-->G in intron 3. Prominent mutations were the splice mutation 3120 + 1G-->A (intron 16) followed by N1303K (exon 21) and 1548delG (exon 10). Most CF children were homozygotes who presented with a severe form of the disease including failure to thrive, recurrent chest infections, particularly with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and frequent hospital admissions. Identification of the CFTR mutations facilitates molecular investigation of the disease and better understanding of its pathophysiology in Arab children, among whom CF is probably an underdiagnosed disease.


OBJECTIVE Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in the cerebellopontine angle cistern (CPAC) are specific lesions that can cause neurovascular compression syndromes as well as intracranial hemorrhage. Although case reports describing the CPAC AVMs, especially those presenting with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), have been accumulating by degrees, the pathophysiology of CPAC AVMs remains obscure. The authors' purpose in the present study was to evaluate the clinical and radiographic features of CPAC AVMs as well as the treatment options. METHODS This study defined a CPAC AVM as a small AVM predominantly located in the CPAC with minimal extension into the pial surface of the brainstem and closely associated with cranial nerves. All patients with CPAC AVMs treated in the authors' affiliated hospitals over a 16-year period were retrospectively identified. Clinical charts, imaging studies, and treatment options were evaluated. RESULTS Ten patients (6 men and 4 women), ranging in age from 56 to 77 years (mean 65.6 years), were diagnosed with CPAC AVMs according to the authors' definition. Six patients presented with hemorrhage, 3 with TN, and the remaining patient developed a hemorrhage subsequent to TN. Seven AVMs were associated with the trigeminal nerve (Group V), and 3 with the facial-vestibulocochlear nerve complex (Group VII-VIII). All patients in Group VII-VIII presented with the hemorrhage instead of hemifacial spasm. Regarding angioarchitecture, the intrinsic pontine arteries provided the blood supply for all CPAC AVMs in Group V. In addition, 5 of 7 AVMs with hemorrhagic episodes accompanied flow-related aneurysms, although no aneurysm was detected in patients with TN alone. With respect to treatment, all patients with hemorrhagic presentation underwent Gamma Knife surgery (GKS), resulting in favorable outcomes except for 1 patient who experienced rebleeding after GKS, which was caused by the repeated rupture of a feeder aneurysm. The AVMs causing TN were managed with surgery, GKS, or a combination, according to the nidus-nerve relationship. All patients eventually obtained pain relief. CONCLUSIONS Clinical symptoms caused by CPAC AVMs occur at an older age compared with AVMs in other locations; CPAC AVMs also have distinctive angioarchitectures according to their location in the CPAC. Although GKS is likely to be an effective treatment option for the CPAC AVMs with hemorrhagic presentations, it seems ideal to obliterate the flow-related aneurysms before performing GKS, although this is frequently challenging. For CPAC AVMs with TN, it is important to evaluate the nidus-nerve relationship before treatment, and GKS is especially useful for patients who do not require urgent pain relief.


We tackle the problem of entity linking for large collections of online pages; Our system, ZenCrowd, identifies entities from natural language text using state of the art techniques and automatically connects them to the Linked Open Data cloud. We show how one can take advantage of human intelligence to improve the quality of the links by dynamically generating micro-tasks on an online crowdsourcing platform. We develop a probabilistic framework to make sensible decisions about candidate links and to identify unreliable human workers. We evaluate ZenCrowd in a real deployment and show how a combination of both probabilistic reasoning and crowdsourcing techniques can significantly improve the quality of the links, while limiting the amount of work performed by the crowd.


A new method, based upon a selective extraction and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis, was developed to monitor the effect of combined haemoperfusion-haemodialysis treatment in a case of propericiazine poisoning. The method relies on the selected ion monitoring of the acetate derivatives of propericiazine and its internal standard fluphenazine, after their extraction from 1 ml of alkalinized plasma with n-hexane:isopropanol (8:2, v/v), back-extraction into an acidified water phase, realkalinization and extraction with n-hexane: isopropanol, derivatization with acetic anhydride and gas chromatography on a short (12 m) OV-101 fused silica capillary column. The described procedure is specific and provides between-assay variability of 4.8% CV at 5 micrograms 1(-1) plasma concentration. The method enables quantification down to 1 microgram 1(-1) and hence demonstrates sufficient sensitivity to permit pharmacokinetic or drug monitoring studies.


The increasing use of agrochemicals, including fertilizers and herbicides, has led to worrying metal contamination of soils and waters and raises serious questions about the effects of their transfer to different levels of the trophic web. Accumulation and biomagnification of essential (K, Na, Mg, Zn, Ca), nonessential (Sr, Hg, Rb, Ba, Se, Cd, Cr, Pb, As), and rare earth elements (REEs) were investigated in newly emerged adults of Tenebrio molitor exposed to field-admitted concentrations of a metribuzin-based herbicide and an NPK blend fertilizer. Chemical analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) supported by unsupervised pattern recognition techniques. Physiological parameters such as cuticle melanization, cellular (circulating hemocytes), and humoral (phenoloxidase enzyme activity) immune responses and mass loss were tested as exposure markers in both sexes. The results showed that NPK fertilizer application is the main cause of REE accumulation in beetles over time, besides toxic elements (Sr, Hg, Cr, Rb, Ba, Ni, Al, V, U) also present in the herbicide-treated beetles. The biomagnification of Cu and Zn suggested a high potential for food web transfer in agroecosystems. Gender differences in element concentrations suggested that males and females differ in element uptake and excretion. Differences in phenotypic traits show that exposure affects metabolic pathways involving sequestration and detoxification during the transition phase from immature-to-mature beetles, triggering a redistribution of resources between sexual maturation and immune responses. Our findings highlight the importance of setting limits for metals and REEs in herbicides and fertilizers to avoid adverse effects on species that provide ecosystem services and contribute to soil health in agroecosystems.


In physiological conditions, endothelial cells produce superoxide anions (O2•-) and nitric oxide (NO). O2•- are precursors, among others, of hydrogen peroxide, involved in signaling processes leading to the regulation of gene expression. At higher concentrations, hydrogen peroxide promotes the formation of the cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals. NO, in turn, exerts well-recognized beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system by inducing in particular the relaxation of smooth muscle cells. But when the NO concentration becomes too high, it competes with superoxide dismutases and reacts with O2•- to form peroxynitrite. The latter is a highly reactive molecule, attacking fatty acids, nucleic acids and proteins (with the formation of, for instance, 3-nitrotyrosine) and involved in endothelial dysfunction, a phenomenon at the basis of cardiovascular diseases. Reactive oxygen or nitrogen species can therefore, depending on the conditions, act as second messengers at low concentrations or as toxic molecules inducing oxidative stress at higher concentrations. Under normal conditions, the production of peroxynitrite is low and the damage that it could cause is limited by various defense systems, such as the Nrf2 (nuclear transcription factor erythroid 2p45 - related factor) and the UPR pathways (Unfolded Protein Response). Nrf2 is a transcription factor that responds to oxidative stress and regulates the expression of genes encoding detoxifying or antioxidant proteins such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) or NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). The UPR is an intracellular signaling pathway activated by the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum leading to the activation of various proteins such as the PERK kinase and the ATF6 transcription factor. The UPR aims to increase the synthesis of chaperonnes including BiP and GRP94, and thus increase the cellular capacity to fold or eliminate misfolded proteins. However, if the stress is too intense or too long, the UPR can induce cell death by apoptosis in particular via the activation of the transcription factor CHOP (CAAT/ enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) homologous protein). The objective of this thesis was to better understand the effects of peroxynitrite on endothelial cells, by discriminating, on one hand, its role as second messenger triggering defense responses to stress and, on the other hand, its toxicity leading to apoptosis. To achieve this goal, we chose an experimental system for peroxynitrite formation, SIN-1 (3-morpholinosydnonimine). We also tried to develop "more physiological" systems of peroxynitrite generation in vitro. Among the systems described to generate peroxynitrite, we chose homocysteine, hypoxia/reoxygenation, oxidized LDL and angiotensin-II. In this study, we developped an experimental model of endothelial cell exposure to peroxynitrite by incubating human endothelial cells in culture (the EAhy926 cell line and the primary culture, HUVEC) in the presence of SIN-1. Firstly, we tested the cytotoxicity of SIN-1 and we characterized the peroxynitrite formation induced by SIN-1 in these cellular models by following the oxidation of the hydroxyphenyl fluorescein probe and the formation of 3-nitrotyrosine by Western blot with anti-3-NT antibodies. Secondly, we demonstrated the activation of the Nrf2 and UPR pathways by SIN-1. We also showed that SIN-1 was able to exert a protective effect in serum-starved EAhy926 cells. By investigating some of the molecular mechanisms involved in the cytoprotective effect of SIN-1, we found that, via Nrf2 and HO-1 proteins, SIN-1 induced a decrease in DNA fragmentation and increased LC3-II formation in serum-starved endothelial cells. We also evaluated the effects of more physiological conditions (homocysteine, hypoxia/reoxygenation, oxidized LDL and angiotensin-II) on the peroxynitrite formation. It seems that the latter is generated in the presence of oxidized LDL and angiotensin-II combined with a NO donor. However, more investigations are necessary to further optimize some of these "more physiological" conditions on the peroxynitrite formation and to confirm the cytoprotective effect of peroxynitrite observed in serum-starved endothelial cells exposed to SIN-1. Altogether, our results indicate that in a narrow range of concentration, peroxynitrite formed after SIN-1 stimulation, activates the Nrf2 and UPR pathways, leading to a cytoprotective effect in serum-starved endothelial cells. This protective effect is achieved by stimulating the endothelial cells either after or before a period of serum starvation. The latter is in agreement with so called conditioning experiments in vivo. This work provides some new insights in the balance between survival signals or cell death triggered by peroxynitrite and highlights under which conditions this balance leads to endothelial cell death, in the context of endothelial dysfunction, involved in the early stages of atherosclerosis. It also suggests that a drastic anti-oxidant therapy targetting cardiovascular diseases could have drawbacks, as it abolishes the positive effects of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species.


Molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed for two amorphous polymers with extremely different mechanical properties, atactic polystyrene (PS) and bisphenol A polycarbonate (PC), in the isotropic state and under load. The glass transition temperatures, Young moduli, yield stresses and strain-hardening moduli are calculated and compared to the experimental data. Both chemistry-specific and mode-coupling aspects of the segmental mobility in the isotropic case and under the uniaxial deformation have been identified. The mobility of the PS segments in the deformation direction is increased drastically beyond the yield point. A weaker increase is observed for PC.


SIBERMAS program was implementation in three village, that are Sambirejo,
Sidomulyo and Manisharjo village, sub district of Ngrambe, Ngawi regency. In the
implementation, besides entangling instructor staff pass by quickly science discipline
according to needed membership, this activity also entangle technical team and student on
duty / field. Specificly activity of SIBERMAS aims are to 1) Improve income of Society
Sambirejo, Sidomulyo and Manisharjo village 2) Improve PAD Ngawi regency 3) Improve
knowledge, ability and skilled of society 4) Improve involvement of student in enableness
of society and develop enterpreneurship 5) Improve and change positive behavior and
attitude from society in the effort of self-supporting society.
This SIBERMAS program implementation is started with exploratory research, and
then conducted by Focus Group Discussion ( FGD), in internal and external target society.
SIBERMAS Program in second year is aimed at activity: first, area potency data collecting,
second compiling regional profile of target area. Third compile priority for the year of II
and III with local government Ngawi regency which is in this case coordinated by Bappeda
Ngawi regency and local society. Fourth implementation priority program in years II.


With age, physical functions decline, which influences respiratory performance. One of the physical changes associated with aging is sarcopenia, a reduction in muscle strength and power. Sarcopenia has been extensively studied in the elderly with regard to limb function but less with regard to respiratory function. Elderly individuals experience reduced muscle mass and strength in respiratory musculature, which may hinder the ability to generate adequate expiratory driving force for both ventilatory and nonventilatory activities. Increasing expiratory muscle strength may enhance an elderly individual's ability to generate and maintain the expiratory driving force critical to cough, speak, and swallow. Previous studies demonstrate that expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) improves ventilatory and nonventilatory functions. This paper discusses the potential impact that EMST can have on the rehabilitation of respiratory muscle decline, particularly in the elderly. This tutorial reviews an EMST paradigm, its physiological underpinnings, and its potential outcomes.


The article presents the comparative characteristic  of gels for remineralization therapy on the basis of calcium and phosphorus. Effect of the drugs studied by experimental and clinical evaluation of the effectiveness of remineralization therapy. Significant difference between the effectiveness of the studied funds were not found. Gels have a regulating influence on the process of remineralization in the oral cavity, increase the resistance of the surface layer of the tooth enamel to cariogenic factors and normalizes the saturation of the oral fluid microelements.


The article is dedicated to the important date – 125 years since the birth of I.D. Papanin. Many people know Papanin as a famous polar researcher, scientist and organizer of expeditions, a public figure, the head of the Borok biostation. But, of course, the key event of his life is a drift under his leadership the world's first scientific station «North Pole» in the Arctic Ocean in 1937–1938. This is an unprecedented event of world significance and scale, as well as a feat of courage, endurance and determination of all four participants in the drift, who were called «Papanintsi».


One of the most controversial issues in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis has been the appropriate response of monetary policy to a sharp decline in the value of some currencies. In this paper, we empirically examine the effects on Asian exchange rates of sharply higher interest rates during the Asian financial crisis. Taking account of the currency contagion effect, our results indicate that sharply higher interest rates helped to support the exchange rates of South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. For Malaysia, no significant causal relation is found from the rate of interest to exchange rates, as the authorities in Malaysia did not actively adopt a high interest rate policy to defend the currency.


Importance Evidence that breastfeeding reduces child obesity risk and lowers blood pressure (BP) is based on potentially confounded observational studies. Objective To investigate the effects of a breastfeeding promotion intervention on adiposity and BP at age 16 years and on longitudinal growth trajectories from birth. Design, Setting, and Participants Cluster-randomized Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial. Belarusian maternity hospitals and affiliated polyclinics (the clusters) were allocated into intervention (n = 16) or control arms (n = 15) in 1996 and 1997. The trial participants were 17 046 breastfeeding mother-infant pairs; of these, 13 557 children (79.5%) were followed up at 16 years of age between September 2012 and July 2015. Interventions Breastfeeding promotion, modeled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Main Outcomes and Measures Body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); fat and fat-free mass indices and percentage of body fat from bioimpedance; waist circumference; overweight and obesity; height; BP; and longitudinal growth trajectories. The primary analysis was modified intention-to-treat (without imputation for losses to follow-up) accounting for within-clinic clustering. Results We examined 13 557 children at a median age of 16.2 years (48.5% were girls). The intervention substantially increased breastfeeding duration and exclusivity compared with the control arm (exclusively breastfed: 45% vs 6% at 3 months, respectively). Mean differences at 16 years between intervention and control groups were 0.21 (95% CI, 0.06-0.36) for BMI; 0.21 kg/m2 (95% CI, −0.03 to 0.44) for fat mass index; 0.00 kg/m2 (95% CI, −0.21 to 0.22) for fat-free mass index; 0.71% (95% CI, −0.32 to 1.74) for percentage body fat; −0.73 cm (−2.48 to 1.02) for waist circumference; 0.05 cm (95% CI, −0.85 to 0.94) for height; −0.54 mm Hg (95% CI, −2.40 to 1.31) for systolic BP; and 0.71 mm Hg (95% CI, −0.68 to 2.10) for diastolic BP. The odds ratio for overweight/obesity (BMI ≥85th percentile vs <85th percentile) was 1.14 (95% CI, 1.02-1.28) and the odds ratio for obesity (BMI ≥95th percentile vs <95th percentile) was 1.09 (95% CI, 0.92-1.29). The intervention resulted in a more rapid rate of gain in postinfancy height (1 to 2.8 years), weight (2.8 to 14.5 years), and BMI (2.8 to 8.5 years) compared with the control arm. The intervention had little effect on BMI z score changes after 8.5 years. Conclusions and Relevance A randomized intervention that increased the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding was not associated with lowered adolescent obesity risk or BP. On the contrary, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in the intervention arm. All mothers initiated breastfeeding, so findings may not apply to comparisons of the effects of breastfeeding vs formula feeding. Trial Registration isrctn.org: ISRCTN37687716; and clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01561612.


We detail an experimental strategy for tracking the generation and time-development of electronic coherence within the singly excited manifold of an energy-transfer dimer. The technique requires that the two monomers have nonparallel electronic transition-dipole moments and that these possess fixed orientations in space. It makes use of two-dimensional wave-packet interferometry (WPI or whoopee) measurements in which the A, B, C, and D pulses have respective polarizations e, e, e, and e'. In the case of energy-transfer coupling that is weak or strong compared to electronic-nuclear interactions, it is convenient to follow the evolution of intersite or interexciton coherence, respectively. Under weak coupling, e could be perpendicular to the acceptor chromophore's transition dipole moment and the unit vector e' would be perpendicular to the donor's transition dipole. Under strong coupling, e could be perpendicular to the ground-to-excited transition dipole to the lower exciton level and e' would be perpendicular to the ground-to-excited transition dipole to the upper exciton level. If the required spatial orientation can be realized for an entire ensemble, experiments of the kind proposed could be performed by either conventional four-wave-mixing or fluorescence-detected WPI methods. Alternatively, fluorescence-detected whoopee experiments of this kind could be carried out on a single energy-transfer dimer of fixed orientation. We exhibit detailed theoretical expressions for the desired WPI signal, explain the physical origin of electronic coherence detection, and show calculated observed-coherence signals for model dimers with one, two, or three internal vibrational modes per monomer and both weak and strong energy-transfer coupling.


Optimizing the search engines in mobile phones is still an important research issue in the field of knowledge and data engineering, even though various approaches are available, performance and time complexity issues are the primary factors while implementation of the search engines. We are proposing an efficient personalized mobile search engine with efficient features of Mining, Ranking and Cache implementation over the service web services.


An efficient operating system-based power management scheme for DRAM in the multiprogramming/time-sharing environment is presented. Formulas for evaluating the condition of positive energy gain are developed and a finite state machine (FSM) for selecting the best power mode for a given idle time is designed. In the proposed scheme, the scheduler selectively assigns the most efficient power mode to each idle memory bank at context switching time based on the FSM. For computing the idle time, two efficient and practical prediction methods are developed and tested for performance. The proposed scheme achieves further energy saving by starting the resynchronisation of idle memory banks as early as possible. In the aspects of the prediction method and the early resynchronisation method, multiple versions of the proposed scheme are developed and tested for performance. The proposed scheme utilises events occurring at context switching time in the multiprogramming/time-sharing environment and the scheduling ensures the maximum energy gain without significantly degrading the performance. The proposed scheme is tested with a simulated system, and the experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the scheme. In the experiment, the energy gain by using the proposed scheme ranges from 17.84% to 52.21% depending on the time quantum sizes tested.


Seasonal variations in the occurrence of menarche in 1226 Japanese girls are not uniform, when they were divided into two groups by their season of births. Summer trough (May-July) was inapparent in girls born in summer (May-October), and winter trough (February-March) was less deep in girls born in winter (November-April). No differences were found in fall trough (September-November) between both groups. Girls born in summer (or winter) seem to be resistant to some summer (or winter) factors, which inhibit the occurence of menarche.


Friction stir processing (FSP) was used to incorporate TiO2 particles into the matrix of A356 alloy to form composite material. The mechanical properties of the composite material are strongly dependant Aluminium A356 on the microstructural parameters of the system matrix-reinforcement, a judicious selection of a certain number of variables has to be achieved to optimize the properties of the composite. Different tool rotation speed of 1500 r/min and 2000 r/min and constant travel speed of 30 mm/min were used in this study. The results indicated that the uniform distribution of TiO2 particles in A356 matrix by FSP process can improve the mechanical properties of specimens.


BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
The time for dental professionals to educate themselves to respond to, and assist with, a catastrophic medical disaster is here. California dental healthcare workers must understand the various duties they may be asked to perform if a large-scale disaster were to occur. This article explores the various duties, which may need to be performed in the event of a medical disaster, and the duties a dentist, or dental auxiliary, may be able to complete, with minimal additional training.

CONCLUSION
California dentists must be educated, at minimum, to recognize the symptoms of exposure to biological agents or naturally occurring diseases, such as avian flu and SARs, in their patients. Dentists must be further educated to correctly counsel their patients who exhibit such symptoms. Finally, dentists must alert the appropriate public health authorities of such exposure. California should consider amending the California Dental Practice Act to provide for the expansion of the definition of the practice of dentistry in the event of a declared healthcare emergency. The new definition should, at minimum, allow dentists to administer vaccines and dispense medications at a mass prophylactic distribution site. The definition could be further expanded to allow dentists to perform more complicated or invasive duties in the event of a disaster with large numbers of bodily injuries. In either event, California will also need to provide limited liability to dentists who do participate in emergency situations, similar to the Good Samaritan laws, which currently apply to physicians and surgeons.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
Dentists and their dental auxiliaries can augment the existing medical professionals, in responding to a declared medical emergency. In order to be ready to respond, dentists and their dental auxiliaries must receive additional training through continuing education courses developed specifically to train them in recognizing symptoms of exposure to biological agents.


In the 5G vision, access to information and sharing of data are possible anywhere and anytime to anyone and anything. 5G expands the usage of human-centric communications to include both human-centric and machine-centric communications. Mobile and wireless communication will increasingly become the primary way for humans and machines to access information and services. This will lead to socio-economic changes not yet imaginable, including improvements in productivity, sustainability, entertainment and well-being. To make this vision a reality, the capabilities of 5G systems must extend far beyond those of previous generations. 5G systems must exhibit greater flexibility than previous generations, and involve farther-reaching integration including not only the traditional radio access networks, but also core network, transport and application layers. Altogether, this requires a new way of thinking in 5G wireless access, network architecture and applications. In this chapter, first, the needs of the end users are described in terms of use cases and requirements, and then an overview of the 5G system concept meeting these user needs is given. Use cases and requirements This section provides the vision based on the expected societal development toward the year 2020 and beyond from the end-user perspective described in Chapter 1. Concrete use cases that have specific goals and challenges are provided. To achieve the goals and to overcome the challenges, there are certain specific requirements for 5G systems to meet. A collection of diverse use cases gives a set of challenging requirements that have to be fulfilled by 5G systems. The material below is largely based on [1]–[8]. The technical solutions to address these requirements are then discussed in the later chapters of this book. Use cases In this section, the most relevant 5G use cases are presented. Further, the challenges and requirements for each of these are named. As mentioned in Chapter 1, 5G will become a cornerstone in many of the economic sectors. Table 2.1 shows as an example how the addressed use cases map onto the major economic sectors. It should be noted that the list of use cases is far from being exhaustive. Only the most relevant ones from technical and business perspective are given. Finally, some of the use cases can be considered as a set of use cases (e.g. smart city or public safety).


Objectives To determine the rates of muscle strain injury recurrence over time after return to play in Australian football and to quantify risk factors. Methods We analysed Australian Football League player data from 1992 to 2014 for rates of the four major muscle strain injury types (hamstring, quadriceps, calf and groin) diagnosed by team health professionals. Covariates for analysis were: recent history (≤8 weeks) of each of the four muscle strains; non-recent history (>8 weeks) of each; history of hip, knee anterior cruciate ligament, knee cartilage, ankle sprain, concussion or lumbar injury; age; indigenous race; match level and whether a substitute rule was in place. Results 3647 (1932 hamstring, 418 quadriceps, 458 calf and 839 groin) muscle strain injuries occurred in 272 759 player matches. For all muscle strains combined, the risk of injury recurrence gradually reduced, with recurrence risks of 9% (hamstring), 5% (quadriceps), 2% (calf) and 6% (groin) in the first match back and remaining elevated for 15 weeks after return to play. The strongest risk factor for each muscle injury type was a recent history of the same injury (hamstring: adjusted OR 13.1, 95% CI 11.5 to 14.9; calf OR 13.3, 95% CI 9.6 to 18.4; quadriceps: OR 25.2, 95% CI 18.8 to 33.8; groin OR 20.6, 95% CI 17.0 to 25.0), followed by non-recent history of the same injury (hamstring: adjusted OR 3.5, 95% CI 3.2 to 3.9; calf OR 4.4, 95% CI 3.6 to 5.4; quadriceps OR 5.2, 95% CI 4.2 to 6.4; groin OR 3.5, 95% CI 3.0 to 4.0). Age was an independent risk factor for calf muscle strains (adjusted OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3 to 2.0). Recent hamstring injury increased the risk of subsequent quadriceps (adjusted OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.7) and calf strains (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.6). During the 'substitute rule' era (2011–2014), hamstring (adjusted OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.86), groin (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.93) and quadriceps (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.92) strains were less likely than outside of that era but calf (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.9) strains were more likely than before the substitute rule era. Conclusion Recent injury is the greatest risk factor for the four major muscle strains, with increased risk persisting for 15 weeks after return to play.


Wear debris found in gear lubricating oil provides extremely valuable information on the nature and severity of gear faults as well as remaining gear life. The conventional off-line process of taking samples of oil for testing of wear debris is a hindrance because it is laborious, expensive, delays information collection, and is expert oriented. In view of these limitations, the development of automating wear debris particle analysis using various approaches has been ongoing for years. However, existing online technology does not encourage widespread use of wear debris analysis (WDA) in the industry. High costs coupled with expert and labour requirements have led users to use other types of condition-based maintenance, such as vibration. There is a need to develop a WDA technique that is relatively cheap, online, requires little expertise to handle, and provides more information for maintenance decision-making. This PhD thesis proposes a WDA technique which uses image processing and three-dimensional image reconstruction to diagnose the health of machinery. Its emphasis is on using the thickness and volume of the particles generated over time to predict the onset of gearbox failure, so that maintenance action can be taken before gears reach catastrophic failure.