Currently there are large amounts of data available, to obtain useful information, multiple methods have been created to fulfill specific tasks, however, identifying the most appropriate method is often a difficult task. Meta-Learning is presented as an option that can recommend for new data the most appropriate method to perform a particular task based on experience, in which the features of the data and the performance of methods are related, this relationship is known as Meta-Data. Given the continuous increase of patients with breast cancer cases and availability of datasets, the images of slides of breast tissue biopsy to identify Ductal Carcinoma were selected as the object of study. The aim of this work is construction of Meta-Data that allows application of Meta-Learning for selection of the best Ductal Carcinoma identification method in the type of images under study. The proposed methodology presents a performance of the 99.6% accuracy, 99.9% AUC and 99.7% F-measure for Meta-Data Validation.


It is commonly held between scholars that in the Stalin years no specific mass literature existed in the Soviet Union; what do we do, then, with Lev Ovalov's Major Pronin or with Lev Sheinin's stories, which began to appear since the mid-Thirties? What about Nikolai Shpanov's post-war million-sellers?
 The Soviet authorities did not like to admit that they published low-quality literature aimed at the uncultured masses; they valued, however, its propaganda potential, hence this contradictory situation. Spy narratives, moreover, connected as they are with conspiracy theories, were of course welcomed in the atmosphere of the great purges. These works are no continuation of the "Red Pinkerton" tradition of the Twenties: the genre had to be invented anew along different lines, with a new seriousness and documentary pretensions.
 The building of a new kind of spy-thriller also required a new enemy: "espionage creates identity", a scholar of the (western) genre wrote. Identities, in the post-revolutionary Soviet Union, were under construction as well, and in the history of the spy-thriller from the late Thirties to the early Fifties a shifting from the obsession with class to that with nationality can be easily observed.
 The same identity discourse accomplished a 180° turn in the post-Stalin years, when the Soviet agent underground in the enemy camp became a metaphor for the Soviet Man's double life. Conspiracy theories, at the same time, were at the core of the thrillers from the Stalinist camp, a tradition continued in the post-Soviet years in the work of Aleksandr Prokhanov.


The traditional strategy for producing prophylactic vaccines from live-attenuated or inactivated microorganisms, and more recently from a subset of the pathogen's proteins, is unsuitable in certain cases, due to safety issues and/or unproductive or even detrimental immune responses. An alternative strategy is to focus the immune response towards only the minimal peptide epitopes that are the target of the protective response. In parallel, therapeutic peptide vaccines are being developed for conditions such as cancer, allergy and autoimmune diseases. Although no peptide vaccine has yet been approved for human therapy, considerable progress has been made in understanding the rules of design for such a vaccine.


The rehabilitation of the coronary artery bypass patient should be a continuation of the contact which exists during the hospitalisation phase, with specific reference to the pre-discharge phase. As a member of the health team, the nurse makes the most input during this phase because she is the one who is in constant contact with the patient and his family. The purpose of this study is to determine, by means of set criteria and within a nursing perspective, the contributions that are made by various support groups to the rehabilitation of persons who have undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. The study is based on a contextual, descriptive method. The inputs and importance of available support groups in the community have been determined by means of a survey method. Results of pre-discharge preparation programmes showed that no structured programme is followed by health institutions and that existing support groups are not fully utilised. Nursing staff also contribute very little towards such a programme.


Traumatic neuroma is a well-recognized complication of lower extremity amputation, yet has also been noted to occur elsewhere. We report a clinical case and English-language literature review of traumatic rectal neuroma, a well-known pathologic entity not previously reported in this anatomic location.


The dynamics of the interacting electronic pair is examined in this work by the single band t-U-V-J model, which is hoped to provide an insight into the interaction mechanism of ferromagnetic metals. Although the Hubbard model (which is the t-U Hamiltonian) was originally proposed as a simply model to describe the physics of ferromagnetic metals, the various studies in the literature show, however, that the model usually favours antiferromagnetism. Three natural routes to go beyond the original Hubbard model are to enhance the kinetic part, include other interaction matrix elements within the single band model or include band degeneracy that allows intra-atomic exchange. We have taken the second route in this work by investigating in all three dimensions, lattices with periodic boundary conditions. The mathematical method is the simplified correlated variational approach (CVA) recently developed by us. The results obtained provide an insight into the behaviour of ferromagnetic metals in the t-U-V-J model. In particular, the parameter space for the occurrence of a transition from an antiferromagnetic phase to a ferromagnetic phase is discussed. Nigerian Journal of Physics Vol. 16(2) 2004: 125-130


The understanding of locomotor patterns, activity schemes, and biological variations has been enhanced by the study of the geometrical properties and cortical bone thickness of the long bones measured using CT scan cross-sections. With the development of scanning procedures, the internal architecture of the long bones can be explored along the entire diaphysis. Recently, several methods that map cortical thickness along the whole femoral diaphysis have been developed. Precise homology is vital for statistical examination of the data; however, the repeatability of these methods is unknown and some do not account for the curvature of the bones. We have designed a semiautomatic workflow that improves the morphometric analysis of cortical thickness, including robust data acquisition with minimal user interaction and considering the bone curvature. The proposed algorithm also performs automatic landmark refinement and rigid registration on the extracted morphometric maps of the cortical thickness. Because our algorithm automatically reslices the diaphysis into 100 cross-sections along the medial axis and uses an adaptive thresholding method, it is usable on CT scans that contain soft tissues as well as on bones that have not been oriented specifically prior to scanning. Our approach exhibits considerable robustness to error in user-supplied landmarks, suppresses distortion caused by the curvature of the bones, and calculates the curvature of the medial axis.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate changes in mismatch negativity (MMN) and P300 response in vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) patients before and after treatment, and their value for prediction of prognosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Event-related potentials (ERPs), performed on 11 patients classified as VS (n = 6) or MCS (n = 5), and five healthy participants (i.e., control group). We performed a six months telephone follow-up to monitor changes in consciousness recovery.

RESULTS
Comparison of the three groups showed significantly higher MMN latency elicited by salient stimuli and P300 elicited by the subject's own name for the VS group, as well as significant difference in amplitudes of MMN elicited by frequent stimuli and P300 elicited by other first names for this group. The source of MMN and P300 responses was the frontal lobe for the control group, and temporal lobe for the VS and MCS groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The sudden increase in MMN amplitude and latency shortening may indicate an improvement in the state of consciousness. Neurophysiological evaluations suggest that patients with vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) may preserve patterns of higher-order cerebral processing similar to those observed in conscious patients.


Background
Medical students and residents rely increasingly on web-based education. Online videos provide unique opportunities to share knowledge. The objective of this study was to investigate the accuracy and quality of instructional videos on the physical examination of the elbow and identify factors influencing educational usefulness.

Methods
On October 7, 2018, a search on YouTube, VuMedi, Orthobullets, and G9MD was performed. Videos were rated for accuracy and quality by two independent authors using a modified version of a validated scoring system for the nervous and cardiopulmonary system. Inter-rater reliability was analysed.

Results
The 126 included videos were uploaded between June 2007 and February 2018. Twenty-three videos were indicated as useful for educational purposes. Accuracy, quality and overall scores were significantly higher for videos from specialized platforms (VuMedi, Orthobullets, G6MD) compared to YouTube. Video accuracy and quality varied widely and were not correlated. Number of days online, views, and likes showed no or weak correlation with accuracy and quality. For the overall score, our assessment tool showed excellent inter-rater reliability.

Conclusion
There is considerable variation in accuracy and quality of currently available online videos on the physical examination of the elbow. We identified 23 educationally useful videos and provided an assessment method for the quality of educational videos. In educational settings, this method may help students to assess video reliability and aid educators in the development of high-quality instructional online content.


A transport network for 5G envisions integrating the fronthaul and backhaul segments (namely 5G-Crosshaul) into a single transport network. This requires a fully integrated and unified management of fronthaul and backhaul resources in a sharable, scalable and flexible way. The integrated and unified management of the transport network resources follows the Software Defined Networking (SDN) principles of centralization, decoupling between control and data plane and application ecosystem. Innovation to enable context-aware resource management and to provide system-wide optimization of QoS, as well as energy related objectives, lies on defining key applications as logical decision entities to program the underlying network and packet forwarding behaviour. This paper presents a set of 5G-Crosshaul SDN applications with the scope of (i) managing the 5G-Crosshaul resources, including not only network but also computing and storage resources, and (ii) offering efficient media distribution and traffic offloading solutions. In order to develop these applications in a real system, we identify the interactions between the applications and the control plane. Based on these interactions, we propose a two-layer application plane and specify the requirements of the applications on the Northbound Interface (NBI) of the control plane. Keywords—Fronthaul; Backhaul; Resource Managment; SDN/NFV; Optimization; Northbound Interface (NBI)


—The principle of biometric fusion, which entails combining multiple biometric matchers, is often used to (a) improve recognition accuracy and (b) increase the security of biometric systems. However, fusion can expose information generated by individual biometric matchers that an adversary can exploit. This paper explores the possibility of performing score-level and decision-level fusion by utilizing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for enhanced security and privacy. In the context of decision-level and score-level fusion, we appropriate a comparison algorithm that can operate on fully homomorphically encrypted inputs. Furthermore, for score-level fusion, we perform score normalization in the encrypted domain, thereby enhancing the privacy and security of the score data. Experiments on the NIST BSSR1 dataset suggest that FHE can provide a viable solution for securing biometric scores and decision data while retaining their utility in fusion. The contributions of this paper are as follows: (a) leveraging and implementing FHE-compatible operations in a biometric identification framework; and (b) evaluating the performance of such a framework on a real-world dataset.


An integrated multichannel optical wavelength monitoring circuit for wavelength division multiplexing communication systems is presented. Full wavelength coverage of the working range without any blind spot is realised by a centre-offset phased-array waveguide grating design. The monitor exhibits a wavelength resolution of 0.02 nm/dB (200 GHz channel spacing).


Nurses provide patients and their families will equal respect, care, and advocacy. However, there are moments with special patients that sink right into our hearts and keep us going. You know the ones! Those little moments you reflect on when the work feels overwhelming or when you don't think you can possibly make it through another crazy 12-hour hospital shift. Maybe a patient made your day and thanked you for going the extra mile. Or maybe they gave you a coloring book page they colored especially for you. Maybe the moment was so brief that no onlooker or passerby would realize it could ever mean something to you, but it did.
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A study was undertaken in 2010 to identify Important Plant Areas (Key Biodiversity Areas for Plants) in the south and east Mediterranean region, in order to prioritise the best sites for plant conservation action. It follows a first work of identification of Important Plant Areas (IPAs) initiated for Algeria and relates exclusively to the flora of northern Algeria. These IPAs were delineated in northern Algeria for those sites harbouring a number of "IPA selection species" (threatened species and locally endemic or restricted range). Recent taxonomic revisions estimate the number of national endemics for the north of Algeria (excluding the Sahara) to be over 300 taxa. In the present study, data were extracted from the global list of 22 IPAs identified for the north of Algeria. The species considered are i) threatened species as defined by the 1997 IUCN global red list of plants, ii) locally endemic species, iii) nationally threatened species. Trigger species, identified by combining the criteria of endemism and rarity, are mainly Algerian national endemics but also include some Algerian-Moroccan and Algerian-Tunisian endemics. One hundred and fifty two (152) trigger species were identified and these species, which have high ecological value, can be used to characterize the particular floristic interest of a site and can therefore be a useful tool for conservation purposes. Important gaps in knowledge have been highlighted, in particular those relating to taxonomy and the lack of up-to-date field data. It is therefore essential to undertake in situ research in order to better understand the distribution and status of these species. A flexible approach to identifying and recognising priority sites for plants using surrogate criteria, supplemented by expert opinion, alongside existing globally standardised criteria, is therefore essential if the most important sites for plant diversity are to receive the conservation attention they deserve.


Cancer cells in the inner region of avascularized solid tumours experience metabolical stress by hypoxic and glucose depletion (OGD) and are prone to die by necrosis to form a necrotic core, a common feature of solid tumours. Unlike in apoptosis, where the cellular contents remain packed in the apoptotic bodies that are removed by macrophages, necrosis is characterized by cell membrane rupture, and the release of many cellular proteins including tumour promoting cytokine high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) into the extra-cellular space. Although ROS produced by metabolic stress are known to cause membrane damage leading to the plasma membrane rupture, its molecular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we show that some cellular proteins including pro-apoptotic molecules p53, caspase-3, and caspase-9 and a pro-autophagic molecule beclin 1 are not released into the extracellular space but rather aggregated in the cytosol during GD-induced necrosis and that the protein aggregation occurs in a ROS-dependent manner. We also found that Snail, the transcription factor that is induced by GD, was not translocated to the nucleus and aggregated in the cytosol. In addition, Snail interference appeared to block metabolic stress-induced protein aggregation, indicating a critical role(s) of Snail in the protein aggregation. These results demonstrate that in metabolically stressed cancer cells, ROS induce a specific set of cellular proteins to form insoluble aggregates that are highly toxic to cells and trigger the necrosis-associated membrane rupture and HMGB1 release to promote tumour progression.


In many developing countries such as Ethiopia, most people show little regard for the environment resulting people to reuse the non biodegradable plastic water bottles and bags. Poor mechanism cause environment worse and encircled living organisms at risk. Reusing plastic materials with poor cleaning system result leaching of chemical pollutants, such as bisphenol A, phthalates and antimony that causes serious toxicolog humans and reduce the aesthetic values of the environment. Annually, over 23 million plastic water bottles and bags are consumed in Tigray. Most plastic materials are reused and end up in the solid waste stream. Now, plastic materials const challenge to solid waste management in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray and home to more than 215 thousand people. Poor handling, reusing and disposal of plastic waste, which are major causes of environmental pollution, becomes grounds for pathogenic organisms, the spread of infectious diseases and loss of environmental aesthetics. This study examines the adverse impacts of reusing plastic water bottles and bags on people and the environment; and initiates the municipalities at a regional and national level plastic materials in line with their sustainable waste management's. Creating awareness through education among communities coupled with improving acc waste management will help to achieve sound public and environmental health in Mekelle, Tigray.


economy of stage representation had its double in legal and cultural entailments of prostitution—itself an instrumental tie to medicine. Under the emerging dictates of th-century French health policy, prostitutes had to be registered as public women, putatively to track venereal disease. Yet those, like some ballerinas who practiced among "refined circles," would be classed as "private" under the same law. Yet as dancer, "she earns her living by giving herself bodily to many people" (). McCarren deftly braids the practices of medicine and dance to reveal, in otherwise repressive protocols, the very resources through which an expressive self-command of the body is achieved. She draws a suggestive link between Loie Fuller's movement, which is at once plastic and poetic so as to scramble the body, and its semiosis. By using the physician's instruments of hypnosis and electricity, Fuller de-anatomizes femininity precisely at a moment when the clinician Jean-Martin Charcot shifts from a structurally based uterine theory of hysteria to one rooted in notions of neurophysiology. The observable truth of the body is thereby rendered symptomatic. Charcot's student, Freud, offers a talking cure, which overtakes a moving cure once perceptible in dance. This end to silence also presents an intriguing issue for Dance Pathologies. McCarren's last chapter is on the nefarious transit of race and biology in the modern ballets of Louis-Ferdinand Céline. In this she fruitfully revises his associations with formalist innocence. Céline looks backwards to the th-century hygienist as inspiration for his reaction. Looking ahead to the end of the th century when dancers so effectively use and give voice to and in their works, and against very deliberate efforts to deny them this vocal standpoint, can silence be incorporated as once it had been? This is a question for other histories.


In studying on the components of surface radiation balance and heat balance over inhomogeneous landscape, the utilization of satellite remote sensing is indispensable. In this paper, a parameterization method based on the data of Landsat-7 ETM+ and 22 weather stations is proposed for deriving the regional distributions of the components of radiation and heat balance on surface over the South Ningxia area. The South Ningxia area is classified into five surface types, regional distributions of components for both balance are calculated for each type. Further more, distribution maps and frequency distribution of the parameters and components is given out. The results indicate: All regional distributions are obvious and regular and characterized by their terrain nature. The figures of the mountains and rivers are very clear for flourish vegetation growing there. It can be seen that the derived regional distributions of surface radiation balance and surface heat balance components for the whole mesoscale area are in good accordance with the land surface status.


Abstract Purpose: To compare ultrasonography (US) with three-phase bone scintigraphy (BS) for detection of plantar fasciitis (PF). Materials and methods: Forty-three consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of PF were prospectively studied with US and BS. There were 58 symptomatic feet and 28 asymptomatic feet. US positive findings for PF were thickness of the proximal plantar fascia> 3.9 mm (T) and hypoechoic fascia (H). Focal uptake at the medial calcaneus tuberosity in the early and delayed images were used as BS positive findings for PF. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) methodology was used to analyze the results. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy in diagnosis of plantar fasciitis were calculated for both modalities. Results: The mean area under the ROC curve, indicating successful diagnosis of PF, was 81.6% for BS, 76.5% for T and 81.8% for H ( P > 0.25). The sensitivities were 77.6%, 74.1% and 70.7%, respectively for BS, T, and H ( P >0.39). The specificity of BS (85.7%) did not differ significantly from the specificity of H (92.9%, p=0.20). Plantar fascia thickness specificity (71.4%) was significantly lower than BS ( P =0.038) and H ( P =0.0000). There were no statistically significant differences between positive and negative predictive values. Also, in 10 patients (23%), other causes of foot pain were found by BS. Conclusion: US and BS demonstrate no statistically significant difference in ability to demonstrate plantar fasciitis in patients with heel pain.


The tourism cluster is certainly a key sector study for any mainland or island economy. The paper reviews the extent and emerging perspectives on and approaches to tourism cluster and island economy. We adopted a systematic literature review using a bibliometric approach, focusing on the creation of maps and networks of visualization of intellectual structure in the period of 30 years (1987-2017), through the Web of Science database. The authors identify and classify the various theoretical lenses in the domain of cluster tourism and insular economy and suggest the future research agenda. The paper contributes by conceptually categorizing and mapping the extant research into five groups of clusters or approaches to the tourism cluster and insular economy: i) impacts; ii) islands; iii) satisfaction; iv) insularity, and v) tourism. The authors argue that tourism is undoubtedly the sector linked to island regions and that is an engine of the economy of an island.


We describe a method for performance analysis of large software systems that combines a fast instruction-set simulator with off-line detailed analysis of segments of the execution. The combination is faster than straight cycle-accurate simulation, simpler and more flexible than techniques relying on hardware monitoring, and accurate. Specifically, the instruction-set simulator running at a slowdown of around 50, maintains enough target state throughout the execution that an arbitrarily collected segment of the instruction trace is sufficient input for a post-processing, cycle-accurate model of the processor and memory hierarchy. We present a case study to support our contention that a reduced state is sufficient as input to a cycle-accurate simulator. We use a commercial M88110-based prototype system as a reference point, and show that for three trace segments, the cycle-accurate post-processing gives reliable data to do system optimization.


The importance of a sports psychologist as an integral member of the coaching and health care teams is widely recognized. Sport psychology is an interdisciplinary science that draws on knowledge from the fields of Kinesiology and Psychology. It involves the study of how psychological factors affect performance and how participation in sport and exercise affect psychological and physical factors. In addition to instruction and training of psychological skills for performance improvement, applied sport psychology may include work with athletes, coaches, and parents regarding injury, rehabilitation, communication, team building, and career transitions.


This article describes the new initiative on broadband wireless access (BWA) that has formed Working Group 802.16 in the IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee. The aim is to provide the reader with highlights of the IEEE 802 activities in order to enable better dissemination of these standards into marketable products as well as seek new ideas to be brought into the IEEE 802 arena. BWA systems, utilizing base stations to provide broadband data to business or homes, offer an alternative to wired "last-mile" access links using fiber, cable, or telephone lines. As illustrated, the base stations may be either terrestrial, in orbit, or mounted on airplanes or dirigibles in the stratosphere. The customer terminals can carry two-way communications for Internet access, digital video, telephony, and other services.


Merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy (MD-CMD) is the most common and severe form of congenital muscular dystrophy and is characterized by progressive severe hypotonia due to the absence of the merosin chain around muscle fibers. The main anesthetic concerns include a possible association with malignant hyperthermia, the risk of anesthesia-induced rhabdomyolysis, a difficult airway and postoperative respiratory failure. We report the case of an uneventful general anesthesia (GA) in a two-year-old boy with MD-CMD for the placement of an implantable venous access system. The goal of our anesthetic management was to reduce the risk of respiratory depression. We considered the possibility of loss of spontaneous ventilation against the known, but rare, risk of rhabdomyolysis and we choose for a balanced GA with sevoflurane, short acting opioids and a pressure support ventilation mode instead of a trigger-free anesthesia. Our anesthetic management and the perioperative concerns for this particular syndrome are described.


I appreciate Dr Hubbeling for her interest in my commentary on the utility of gut feeling as a teaching tool in modern medicine (Biswas 2015). She quotes a recent descriptive analysis of three different types of intuitions – holistic intuitions, inferential intuitions and affective intuitions (Pretz et al. 2014) and classifies my experience as being of the holistic variety. I would like to differ with her assessment and feel that this current experience would better be classified as a form of inferential intuition rather than a holistic intuition. Being trained as an internist and currently as an intensivist, I am taught to identify patterns of behavior that are unusual/ worrisome. In this case, a frail 80-year-old gentleman with previously bearable pain who all of a sudden requires higher dose of pain medications would worry me. Although unsure of the significance of this change, I chose to be cautious. Based on my gut-feeling, I had immediately examined the patient and subsequently ordered an abdominal imaging which revealed a perforation. By definition, holistic intuitions are based on non-analytical processes and thus my experience would not best be described under that category. This situation, however, does seem to exemplify the use of inferential intuition as it begins with an analytic component followed by an reflexive action – in this case a physical examination and an imaging test. Identifying the three different types of intuitive processes is an area of active research. Further research to determine tools to classify them better and application of the Types of Intuition Scale (TIntS) on subjects involved in delivery of healthcare may give us a better idea of its applicability on a universal field. The potential use of such a tool appears to be wide.


Background Recent advancements in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) using immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) against PD1 or CTLA-4 receptors have improved survival rates in patients. However, more than half of RCC patients does not respond to anti-PD-1/-CTLA-4 combination immunotherapy. Thus, we decided to investigate mechanisms underpinning the resistance to ICI at the cellular and molecular levels. Methods We utilized multicolour flow cytometry and Luminex assays to investigate patient peripheral blood and used syngeneic mouse models to determine the efficacy of oligonucleotide based targeting of STAT3 Results First, we characterized immunosuppressive myeloid cell populations, T cell subsets and immune biomarkers in blood samples from RCC patients with advanced stage IV disease, undergoing anti-PD-1/-CTLA-4 (nivolumab/ipilimumab) combination therapy. Results of our multicolor flow cytometry and plasma analysis suggested that ICI therapy is associated with a significant almost 15-fold increase of polymorphonuclear MDSCs (PMN-MDSCs) in the peripheral blood of RCC patients over the course of 3 therapeutic cycles. Notably, we found that PMN-MDSCs showed high levels of activated Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (pSTAT3) and a significant increase its downstream target Arginase-I between cycle 1 and cycle 8 of treatment (P=0.0008). The pSTAT3/ARG-1 signaling is known for promoting tumor immune evasion, thus strongly suggesting that immature PMN-MDSCs are potentially involved in limiting outcome of ICI therapy in RCC patients similar as shown before in other genitourinary cancers such as prostate and bladder cancers. We recently developed a strategy to target STAT3 selectively in tumor-associated myeloid cells using using STAT3 antisense oligonucleotide (STAT3ASO) conjugated to immunostimulatory CpG oligodeoxynucleotides acting as targeting moiety. In our initial efficacy studies, we assessed activity of three versions of CpG-STAT3ASO conjugates with various chemical modifications, such as 2'-O'methyl- or locked nucleic acid, in a syngeneic bladder tumor model (MB49). MB49 cancer cells were subcutaneously injected into two flanks of male C57BL/6 mice and treated every second day with 5 mg/kg of various CpG-STAT3ASO injected intratumorally into one of the tumor sites. All CpG-STAT3ASOs inhibited tumor cell growth in both treated and distant tumors in comparison to controls. The immunohistochemical analysis indicated an increase in the percentage of CD8+ T cell with reduction of regulatory T cells within CpG-STAT3ASO treated tumors in comparison to controls, suggesting activation of CD8 T cell-mediated antitumor immunity. Conclusions Overall, our preliminary results suggest that immune suppressive pSTAT3+/ARG-1+ PMN-MDSCs accumulate in patients with RCC undergoing ICI combination therapy, which may potentially contribute to resistance to ICIs. Targeting STAT3 signaling in the RCC-associated myeloid cells using CpG-STAT3ASO may provide a potential novel strategy for augmenting immune checkpoint therapies.


Most of the crass-fault deformation data measured at fixed stations and mobile sites in China are collected, the obvious anomaly variations of it such as stepping, pulse, tendency change and anniversary rule change are searched, and the comparison analysis between the anomalies and earthquakes with M_S≥6.0 in the same area is made to find their distribution regulation both in time and space. The results show:(1)Both of the anomalies and strong earthquakes migrate to and fro from Southwest to North China in the last active cycle of strong seismicity.(2)There is a corresponding relation between the peak of abnormal deformation at stations and the active period of strong earthquakes.(3)Since 1987, both the deformation anomalies and activities of strong earthquake not migrate obviously from Southwest to North China yet, but the migrate feature is also existent in North-South seismic belt of China.(4)In the next period, the probability of occurring earthquake with M_S≥(6.0) in North China is low, but we are not sure about it for North-South seismic belt of China.


Reductive soil disinfestation (RSD) and soil solarization (SS) were evaluated based on environmental factors, microbiome, and suppression of Fusarium oxysporum in a tomato field soil. Soil environmental factors (moisture content, electric conductivity, pH, and redox potential (RP)) were measured during soil disinfestations. All factors were more strongly influenced by RSD than SS. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of RSD- and SS-treated soils was performed. The bacterial communities were taxonomically and functionally distinct depending on treatment methods and periods and significantly correlated with pH and RP. Fifty-four pathways predicted by PICRUSt2 (third level in MetaCyc hierarchy) were significantly different between RSD and SS. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that both treatments equally suppressed F. oxysporum. The growth and yield of tomato cultivated after treatments were similar between RSD and SS. RSD and SS shaped different soil bacterial communities, although the effects on pathogen suppression and tomato plant growth were comparable between treatments. The existence of pathogen-suppressive microbes, other than Clostridia previously reported to have an effect, was suggested. Comparison between RSD and SS provides new aspects of unknown disinfestation patterns and the usefulness of SS as an alternative to RSD.


The Huancavelica cinnabar-mercury occurrence is the most well-known, but not the only, cinnabar-mercury occurrence in Peru. Therefore, a compilation of the approximately 20 other cinnabar-mercury occurrences is important in assessing the regional availability of this important mineral and its industrial uses in pre-contact Peru. These include: 1) cinnabar use as an ancient red pigment and, 2) more importantly, retorting cinnabar was an important source of mercury that was used for pre-contact alluvial gold amalgamation and, later Colonial silver amalgamation. Geochemical sampling of the lesser-known Chonta occurrence also indicates Ag, Pb-Zn, or Au exploration targets. Retorting cinnabar has been widely documented and dates to 8000 years ago in ancient Turkey; during Roman time; in ancient Mexico; medieval Europe; the western US; and Indonesia. Using only cinnabar, clay for the ceramic retorts, and charcoal, coal, or other fuels, this artisanal process provided the mercury that was essential to the small-scale gold mining technology that produced tons of gold from alluvial sources before the arrival of the Spanish explorers in ancient South America. In present-day Peru, mercury is used to produce tons of gold from small-scale mines, and by analogy, the tons of gold produced in pre-contact Peru are hard evidence that is consistent with small-scale gold mining and mercury amalgamation in the past.


Although direct generation of high-value complex molecules and feedstock by coupling of ubiquitous small molecules such as CO2 and N2 holds great appeal as a potential alternative to current fossil-fuel technologies, suitable scalable and efficient catalysts to this end are not currently available as yet to be designed and developed. To this end, here we prepare and characterize SbxBi1-xOy clusters for direct urea synthesis from CO2 and N2 via C-N coupling. The introduction of Sb in the amorphous BiOx clusters changes the adsorption geometry of CO2 on the catalyst from O-connected to C-connected, creating the possibility for the formation of complex products such as urea. The modulated Bi(II) sites can effectively inject electrons into N2, promoting C-N coupling by advantageous modification of the symmetry for the frontier orbitals of CO2 and N2 involved in the rate-determining catalytic step. Compared with BiOx, SbxBi1-xOy clusters result in a lower reaction potential of only -0.3 V vs. RHE, an increased production yield of 307.97 μg h-1 mg-1cat, and a higher Faraday efficiency (10.9%), pointing to the present system as one of the best catalysts for urea synthesis in aqueous systems among those reported so far. Beyond the urea synthesis, the present results introduce and demonstrate unique strategies to modulate the electronic states of main group p-metals toward their use as effective catalysts for multistep electroreduction reactions requiring C-N coupling.


The number of demented old people in residential homes is increasing. The majority of the staff of these homes is not or insufficiently trained in dealing with demented people which may cause problems in daily practice. Staff behaviour and determinants of that behaviour associated with the management of demented old people, were examined with a questionnaire. The research took place in Maastricht and its surrounding area in July 1990 in eight residential homes with a total number of 136 responding attendants. The results give insight into changes that are necessary in order to align the staff's behaviour with recommendations for dealing with demented people. The behaviour of the respondents fits rather well with recommendations to activate demented people, to communicate with them and not to change anything around them. Respondents' behaviour that is not in agreement with the recommendations is correcting and testing of the demented elderly. Moreover, there is more correcting and testing when knowledge about the effects is less and when there is less support from colleagues on the inappropriateness of correcting or testing. Training the attending staff in dealing with dementia has a positive influence on knowledge about dementia and increases the provision of recommended care. A specific training in dealing with demented old people is recommended during and after the professional training of the staff.


One of the most important issues in large-scale Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is how to balance the energy consumption of sensor nodes. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for load balance using compressive sensing. Our approach offers accurate recovery of sampled data from a small number compressed data. Its performance is evaluated in TinyOS. Simulation results show that it achieves a good performance in terms of energy balancing among all nodes in a network. It outperforms the tree collection protocol stack.


A new series of azole derivatives containing silicon were synthesized and evaluated for fungicidal activity against rice sheath blight by submerged application. Among them, 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-3-trimethylsilylpr opan-2-ol (9a) exhibited satisfactory efficacy at 12.5 grams per 10 ares.


We measured and analyzed damping oscillation of a permanent magnet above a YBa2Cu3Ox superconductor. A mechanical model composed of a mass, a spring, and a dashpot was used to analyze the damping oscillation of the magnet. By introducing the dragged spring model for the pinning effect, we obtained good agreement between the analytical and experimental results.


Using an environmentally extended social accounting matrix as well as a computable general equilibrium model, this study gauges the economic and environmental impact of Australian carbon tax, with an emphasis on the tourism industry. The results of the simulation show that a carbon tax of US$23 per tonne is very effective in achieving emissions reduction but also causes a mild economic contraction. Although the nominal value of tourism expenditure registers an insignificantly positive growth as a consequence of the carbon tax, the real expenditure value shows a significant decline in both inbound and domestic tourism demand. The household compensation package stimulates domestic tourism considerably but discourages inbound tourism further by contributing to a significant appreciation of the Australian dollar.


In this paper we shall study the limit sets of groups acting on the boundary of the visibility manifolds. As an application, we study the developing maps of compact spherical CR manifolds.


The purpose of this study was to explore and understand how leadership is affected when an organization was undergoing a change to an agile business. The background to the survey is based on the traditional view of leadership as the manager led and distributed work. During the 1950s, changed the perception of management and labor in which employees became more involved in the work process. Starting from this, our research focused on the effects of leadership that occurs when an organization goes from "command and control" to "empowerment". Hence, we will address the following questions: How has the control (across teams) changed for the line manager in the transition from Classic Waterfall to Agile, How has the change affected the line manager's information retrieval to implement IPM-dialogues and How does the change in style of leadership impact the organization when entering an agile organization. We have used a qualitative method in which eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with line managers from two departments to collect the empirical material. The results have indicated that the physical location affects both the control and management style of line managers. Leadership style is also influenced largely by the employees' level of maturity and that the organization is in process of a change.


Supervised deep learning models depend on massive labeled data. Unfortunately, it is time-consuming and labor-intensive to collect and annotate bitemporal samples containing desired changes. Transfer learning from pretrained models is effective to alleviate label insufficiency in remote sensing (RS) change detection (CD). We explore the use of semantic information during pretraining. Different from traditional supervised pretraining that learns the mapping from image to label, we incorporate semantic supervision into the self-supervised learning (SSL) framework. Typically, multiple objects of interest (e.g., buildings) are distributed in various locations in an uncurated RS image. Instead of manipulating image-level representations via global pooling, we introduce point-level supervision on per-pixel embeddings to learn spatially sensitive features, thus benefiting downstream dense CD. To achieve this, we obtain multiple points via class-balanced sampling on the overlapped area between views using the semantic mask. We learn an embedding space where background and foreground points are pushed apart, and spatially aligned points across views are pulled together. Our intuition is the resulting semantically discriminative representations invariant to irrelevant changes (illumination and unconcerned land covers) may help change recognition. We collect large-scale image-mask pairs freely available in the RS community for pretraining. Extensive experiments on three CD datasets verify the effectiveness of our method. Ours significantly outperforms ImageNet pretraining, in-domain supervision, and several SSL methods. Empirical results indicate our pretraining improves the generalization and data efficiency of the CD model. Notably, we achieve competitive results using 20% training data than baseline (random initialization) using 100% data. Our code is available at https://github.com/justchenhao/SaDL_CD.


This paper presents an experimental study of non-contact temperature measurements for the shadow mask in a cathode-ray tube (CRT) by use of a radiation thermometer. As the demand for large and flat CRTs and high resolution increases, it becomes more important to design the shadow mask assembly precisely, even for the Invar shadow mask CRT that brings about a shift of the landing site of the order of a few micrometres. To do this, first of all knowledge about the temperature distribution of the shadow mask is needed. However, up to now most researchers could not measure the temperature distribution of a shadow mask. We studied a method for measuring the temperature distribution of a shadow mask for a 17 CRT. Considering the energy and the wavelength passing through the face plate, we equipped the radiation thermometer with an indium antimonide (InSb) photo-sensor. Experiments using the thermocouple were performed to validate the results of non-contact measurement. The results agree well with those of a non-contact method using an InSb sensor.


The practice of dermatology has changed greatly over the past 2 decades. This change has been partly characterized by an increased emphasis on the surgical approach to the diagnosis and treatment of skin disease. This new emphasis within the practice of dermatology necessarily alters the basic equipment and instrumentation needed to begin and maintain a dermatology practice in the 1990s. The following article is intended to provide the interested reader with a sound and rational basis for selection of surgical instruments to incorporate into his or her particular level of surgical practice.


ABSTRACT PG9 and PG16 are two quaternary-structure-specific broadly neutralizing antibodies with unique HCDR3 subdomains. Previously, we showed that glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored HCDR3 subdomains (GPI-HCDR3) can be targeted to lipid rafts of the plasma membrane, bind to the epitope recognized by HCDR3 of PG16, and neutralize diverse HIV-1 isolates. In this study, we further developed trimeric GPI-HCDR3s and demonstrated that trimeric GPI-HCDR3 (PG16) dramatically improves anti-HIV-1 neutralization, suggesting that a stoichiometry of recognition of 3 or 2 HCDR3 molecules (PG16) to 1 viral spike is possible.


We consider the problem of small-gain analysis of asymptotic behavior in interconnected nonlinear dynamic systems. Mathematical models of these systems are allowed to be uncertain and time-varying. In contrast to standard small-gain theorems that require global asymptotic stability of each interacting component in the absence of inputs, we consider interconnections of systems that can be critically stable and have infinite input-output L¿ gains. For this class of systems we derive small-gain conditions specifying state boundedness of the interconnection. The estimates of the domain in which the system¿s state remains are also provided. Conditions that follow from the main results of our paper are non-uniform in space. That is they hold generally only for a set of initial conditions in the system¿s state space. We show that under some mild continuity restrictions this set has a non-zero volume, hence such bounded yet potentially globally unstable motions are realizable with a non-zero probability. Proposed results can be used for the design and analysis of intermittent, itinerant and meta-stable dynamics which is the case in the domains of control of chemical kinetics, biological and complex physical systems, and non-linear optimization.


Abstract : Recently there has been increasing interest in the development and distribution of low-cost modular electroencephalography (EEG) systems that can be assembled and used by scientists, physicians, and even novices for widespread application, including real-world neuroimaging, in-home medical monitoring, and gaming/entertainment, across a diverse user community (e.g., OpenBCI). Accordingly, the purpose of this pilot project was to design and test the applicability of such a prototype EEG headset consisting of a set of Velcro straps with designated locations for integrating various potential types of EEG sensors. We provided the participants with written instructions for assembling the straps and asked them to apply both the prototype system and a standard commercial system on 2 identical head models on 3 different days. We digitized the locations of the sensor locations and analyzed electrode distances relative to standard reference locations on the head models. Results indicated that the participants were able to consistently apply the system with acceptable differences in accuracy and precision (1-cm error) for most of the tested electrode locations, which was comparable to those achieved using a standardized electrode cap with fixed electrode locations, although significant differences were observed for some locations between prototype and standard systems. In this report we also discuss implications and needs for future research.


This research investigates how object-oriented inheritance is actually used in practice. The aim is to close the gap between inheritance guidance and inheritance practice. It is based on detailed analyses of 2440 inheritance hierarchies drawn from 14 open-source systems. The original contributions made by this paper concern pragmatic assessment of inheritance hierarchy design quality. The findings show that inheritance is very widely used but that most of the usage patterns that occur in practice are simple in structure. They are so simple that they may not require much inheritance-specific design consideration. On the other hand, the majority of classes defined using inheritance actually appear within a relatively small number of large, complex hierarchies. While some of these large hierarchies appear to have a consistent structure, often based on a problem domain model or a design pattern, others do not. Another contribution is that the quality of hierarchies, especially the large problematic ones, may be assessed in practice based on size, shape, and the definition and invocation of novel methods – all properties that can be detected automatically.


Background and Purpose: Participation in regular exercise is low among young adults and is contributing to a rapid increase in obesity and chronic health conditions. Enhancing motivation is a key element in exercise initiation and maintenance. The current investigation considers factors relevant to the transtheoretical model (TTM), self-determination theory (SDT), self-efficacy (SE), and body image anxiety (BIA) in relation to college students' motivation to exercise. Design and Main Outcome Measures: In this cross sectional study, lower division college students (N=614, 64% female, 36% male) completed an online survey of exercise behavior, motivation, SE and BIA. Results: BIA was related to both controlled extrinsic (external and introjected regulations) and autonomous extrinsic (integrated regulation) SDT motivational variables, as well as intrinsic motivation. Exercise maintenance was most strongly associated with integrated regulation, a "selfdetermined" motivational state, and SE. Conclusion: The current study provides support for the central tenet of SDT indicating that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are not mutually exclusive constructs. Helping individuals with BIA develop a more intrinsic approach to exercise is integral for fostering long-term exercise maintenance. Thus, future research should focus on developing interventions that enhance integrated regulation and SE in order to promote exercise maintenance and reduce associated BIA. © 2014 Californian Journal of Health Promotion. All rights reserved.


POPULATION: Blood samples were collected from a total of 84 healthy and unrelated Halakki (44) and Kunabhi (40) populations, with their informed written consent. The geographic location of the sampled area is shown in Fig. 1 . Both the populations are endogamous, and they belong to Dravidian linguistic family. Halakki is a tribal group having a population size of approximately 3383. They claim that they originally belong to Gujarat and Rajasthan, and migrated through Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka. Kunabhi is also a tribal population, who are approximately 35,214 in number. The male Kunabhi can be identified by their tattoo marks. A necklace is the symbol of married women. They were hunters and gatherers, but at present they practice agriculture.


The study addresses three behavioral or psychological factors (i.e. individual's learning attitude, self-learning ability and the mutual trust) that relate to the knowledge transfer between actors, and examines their effects on the knowledge transfer speed and further the knowledge stock within the organization. A cellular automata based model is proposed to simulate the actors' behavior by using the knowledge exchange rules, of which more attention has been paid to the effect of the knowledge recipients' knowledge absorption capacity on the performance of knowledge transfer in terms of their learning attitudes, self-learning abilities and the degree of mutual trust. The simulation results show that the greater proportion of initial active recipients, the more active ones over time which implies a self-organization mechanism involved in knowledge transfer, Meanwhile, the knowledge stock of the organization is considerably related to the recipients' learning initiatives, abilities and the actors' mutual trust.


Aims. We study vortex dynamics in the solar atmosphere by employing and deriving the analytical evolution equations of two vortex identification criteria.
Methods. The two criteria used are vorticity and the swirling strength. Vorticity can be biased in the presence of shear flows, but its dynamical equation is well known; the swirling strength is a more precise criterion for the identification of vortical flows, but its evolution equation is not known yet. Therefore, we explore the possibility of deriving a dynamical equation for the swirling strength. We then apply the two equations to analyze radiative magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of the solar atmosphere produced with the CO5BOLD code.
Results. We present a detailed review of the swirling strength criterion and the mathematical derivation of its evolution equation. This equation did not exist in the literature before and it constitutes a novel tool that is suitable for the analysis of a wide range of problems in (magneto-)hydrodynamics. By applying this equation to numerical models, we find that hydrodynamical and magnetic baroclinicities are the driving physical processes responsible for vortex generation in the convection zone and the photosphere. Higher up in the chromosphere, the magnetic terms alone dominate. Moreover, we find that the swirling strength is produced at small scales in a chaotic fashion, especially inside magnetic flux concentrations.
Conclusions. The swirling strength represents an appropriate criterion for the identification of vortices in turbulent flows, such as those in the solar atmosphere. Moreover, its evolution equation, which is derived in this paper, is pivotal for obtaining precise information about the dynamics of these vortices and the physical mechanisms responsible for their production and evolution. Since this equation is available, the swirling strength is now the ideal quantity to study the dynamics of vortices in (magneto-)hydrodynamics.


Objective. The effectiveness of an individualized and everyday approach to cognitive rehabilitation for schizophrenia was examined in a case study. Method. After cognitive and functional assessment, concrete objectives were targeted for the person's everyday complaints. Strategies were constructed based on an analysis of the cognitive profile, daily life functioning, and processes involved in activities. They included a memory strategy for reading, a diary to compensate memory difficulties, and working memory exercises to improve immediate processing of information when reading and following conversations. Efficacy was assessed with outcome measures. Results. The program had beneficial effects on the person's cognitive and everyday functioning, which persisted at a 3-year follow-up. Conclusion. Findings provide suggestive evidence that an individualized and everyday approach may be a useful alternative in order to obtain a meaningfully lasting transfer of training to daily life, compared to the nomothetic ones which dominate the field.


Abstract A parameterization method developed by Sorbjan is used to derive expressions for various statistical moments of vertical velocity, potential temperature, and humidity (or passive scalar concentration) in the convective boundary layer. The method is based on decomposing statistical moments into nonpenetrative and residual components, and their local (height-dependent) scaling. The resulting expressions are compared with atmospheric and laboratory data, and also with the results of large-eddy simulation models. An agreement between the similarity functions and the experimental data is obtained.


Screech owls appeared to select meadow voles {Microtus pennsylvanicus) as a primary food source, although deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were apparently equally abundant and vulnerable. This feeding behavior resulted in a larger energy reward. A mean ingestion rate of 0.37 kcal/g live wt/day was derived from average values of 29-3 g live wt/ day for Microtus as prey and only 11.3 g live wt/day for Peromyscus. Assimilation energy (ingestion-pellets-feces) was 0.28 kcal/g live wt/day; the mean assimilation efficiency (ingested energy-pellet energy-fecal energy/ingested energy x 100) was 76%. These findings support the hypothesis that a large energy reward is a prime factor in prey selection. OHIO J. SCI. 82(1): 55, 1982


In a mobile ad hoc network (MANET), virtual infrastructures are helpful to network operations. There are two popular virtual infrastructures for MANETs, square-based and hexagon-based. The square-based infrastructure divides the network area into squares of the same kind, and forwarding is done from one square to four neighboring squares. The hexagon-based divides the area into hexagons and forwarding is six-directional. These two virtual infrastructures can be used to aid routing and to save energy. However, no performance analysis or comparison has been made between them. This paper compares energy efficiency of these two virtual infrastructures analytically and numerically. Theoretical analysis shows, with the same transmission range, the six-direction forwarding covers 40% more area than the four-direction forwarding does in a single hop, and in 95% of the cases, the six-direction forwarding has a shorter path, therefore less energy consumption. The simulation results support the analysis.


A new quantitative method extracts a landscape heterogeneity map (LaHMa) from hyper-temporal remote-sensing data. The feature extraction method is data-driven, unbiased, and builds on the commonly used data reduction technique of Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis (ISODATA) clustering with the support of divergence separability indices. First, the relevant spatial–temporal variation in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is classified through ISODATA clustering. Second, a series of prepared cluster maps are overlaid to examine and detect the frequency with which boundaries between clusters occur at the same location. This step identifies the boundary strength between clusters and detects spatial heterogeneity within them. Results of the method are explored for the typical agriculture-defined landscape of the Mekong delta, Vietnam, using NDVI-imagery time-series from SPOT-Vegetation and MODIS-Terra. The method extracts useful landscape heterogeneity features and can support land-cover mapping requiring information on fragmentation and land-cover gradients.


Importance
The EVEREST II trial showed that for patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), intravitreal ranibizumab in combination with verteporfin photodynamic therapy improves visual acuity relative to ranibizumab monotherapy. However, whether combination therapy is incrementally cost-effective relative to monotherapy during a lifetime is unclear.

Objective
To assess the incremental cost-effectiveness of combination therapy compared with ranibizumab monotherapy in patients with PCV.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This model-based, economic evaluation used 2018 unit cost data from a tertiary eye hospital in Singapore, first- and second-year outcomes and resource use data from a multicenter trial across various Asian countries (EVEREST II) to model a hypothetical cohort of patients with symptomatic PCV. Scenario analyses and deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to examine uncertainty. Data were collected from October 2018 through April 2019 and analyzed from March through October 2019.

Interventions
This model used data from the EVEREST II trial, in which all participants were given 0.5 mg of intravitreal ranibizumab once every 4 weeks for the first 3 months. Subsequent administration occurred as needed. For participants receiving combination therapy, standard fluence (50 J/cm3) photodynamic therapy with 6-mg/m2 verteporfin was administered once during the first 3 months and thereafter as needed.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained for combination therapy relative to monotherapy for patients with PCV.

Results
In this model based on a cohort of 1000 patients aged 68 years, a patient with PCV incurred a total cost in Singapore dollars (SGD) of 92 327 (US $67 399) with combination therapy and SGD 92 371 (US $67 431) with monotherapy during a lifetime horizon, generating a modest cost savings of SGD 44 (US $32) per patient undergoing combination therapy. Lifetime QALYs were estimated to be 7.87 for combination therapy and 7.85 for monotherapy, for an incremental gain of 0.02 QALYs. Combination therapy remained cost-saving or cost-effective in all lifetime scenarios modeled, but during shorter time horizons and at lower monotherapy costs, it may not be cost-effective.

Conclusions and Relevance
This study found combination therapy to be a dominant (more effective and less costly) strategy, being similar in costs and slightly more effective than ranibizumab monotherapy during a lifetime horizon. However, decreasing the time horizon to less than 10 years and/or reductions in the cost of monotherapy may result in combination therapy no longer being cost-effective.


An interesting class of two- and three-dimensional space structures can be derived from projections of higher-dimensional structures. Regular polygons and regular-faced polyhedra provide the geometry of families of n-stars from which two- and three-dimensional projections of n-dimensional grids can be derived. These projections are rhombic space grids composed of all-space filling rhombi and rhombohedra with edges parallel to n directions. An infinite class of single-, double- and multi-layered grids can be derived-from n-sided polygons and prisms, and a finite class of multi-directional grids from the polyhedral symmetry groups. The grids can be periodic, centrally symmetric or non-periodic, and act as skeletons to generate corresponding classes of space-filling, packings and labyrinths.


Foreword. Part One: What Vision Is and Why It Matters. 1. Vision: The Key to Leadership. 2. Where Tomorrow Begins: Finding the Right Vision. Part Two: Developing the Vision. 3. Taking Stock: The Vision Audit. 4. Testing Reality: The Vision Scope. 5. Considering the Possibilities: The Vision Context. 6. Finding Your Way: The Vision Choice. Part Three: Implementing the Vision. 7. Making It Happen: Translating Vision into Reality. 8. Running a Race with No End: The Re-Visioning Process. 9. Developing Visionary Leadership: Securing the Future. Appendix: Visionary Leadership for the Public Sector.


A new variable grid-size and time-step finite-difference (FD) method is developed and applied to three different geophysical problems: simulation of tube waves in boreholes, three-dimensional (3-D) ground-motion simulation in sedimentary basin models, and reverse-time migration of multicomponent data. Unlike the conventional FD method, which uses a fixed grid-size and time-step for the entire model region, spatially variable grid-sizes and time-steps are used to achieve the optimal computational efficiency. For tube wave simulations, a fine grid-spacing is used for simulation inside the borehole region, while a coarse grid is used in the exterior region. While the stability condition requires a very fine time step for the fine grid, a variable time-step method provides coarse time steps for simulation in the coarse grid. Variable grid-size and time-step changes are used to achieve both accuracy and efficiency in the simulations. Numerical tests are performed for the Bayou Choctaw salt-flank model with different borehole models. The results show the important borehole effects on the seismic wavefield for a realistic source bandwidth. The combination of variable grid-size and time-step methods reduces computational costs by several orders of magnitude for the borehole models. Viscoelastic 3-D simulations are performed for a three-layer Salt Lake basin model. The near-surface unconsolidated layer is modeled with a fine grid, and the deep part of the model is modeled by a coarse grid. Simulation results show that the 3-D basin features and the shallow layer significantly affect the amplitude and duration time of the ground motion. In the elastic case, the approximation by 2-D modeling is insufficient to simulate the 3-D ground motion response. A basin model without a shallow low-velocity layer underestimates the ground motion duration and cumulative kinetic energy by 50% or more. The simulation of a Bingham Mine blast suggests that a lower S-velocity should be used to get a good match between numerical results and observed field data. For ocean-bottom or land survey data associated with a low shear-velocity unconsolidated layer near the geophone locations, the variable grid FD method can be used to extrapolate wavefields using a fine grid for the shallow part and a coarse grid for the deep part. It is found that a staggered-grid reverse-time migration scheme can image both primary and multiple energy to their correct reflection positions by using both pressure and particle-velocity data. This is a new result in that migration can now be used to simultaneously image both primary and receiver-side pegleg reflections. The new variable time-step method can be used for the staggered-grid FD scheme and provides optimal computational savings. The combination of variable grid-size and time-step methods speeds up the reverse-time migration by more than ten times for the multicomponent data set in this thesis, compared to a standard reverse-time migration method.


Title: To commit or not commit: An examination of employee commitment towards organizational CSR initiatives

Course: BUSN39 Business Administration: Global Marketing

Authors: Luis Ibbeken & Oliver Akerman

Key Words: Employee´s CSR commitment; employee´s CSR communication; organizational culture; internal CSR; internal communication; training & education; leadership; IKEA; home furnishing retailer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how sales employees who are working in an organization that defines CSR as part of their corporate strategy commit towards CSR and how they communicate CSR messages in the customer interaction on the sales floor. Furthermore, this study intends to explore which particular drivers and barriers affect employee´s CSR commitment and their communication with the customers.

Methodology: This study incorporated a social constructionist epistemology and a relativist ontology that allowed a more subjective and interpretative approach, which was needed to gain deeper understanding how and why employees are committed towards CSR and how they communicate CSR on the sales floor. Moreover, this study followed an iterative research approach and a qualitative research strategy as this study is based upon words and understanding rather than numbers and measurements. Finally, the study used a single case study design to answer the research questions.

Theoretical perspective: In order to answer the purpose and research question this study takes into consideration essential theoretical concepts dealing with employee commitment and CSR. More precisely, this study focuses on reviewing literature dealing with internal marketing and particular drivers of employee CSR commitment.

Empirical Data: As this study is based upon a single case study design and follows a subjectivist ontology and interpretative epistemology, semi structured qualitative interviews with 19 sales employees and two managers were used to explore employee´s CSR commitment among sales employees and how they communicate CSR in the customer interaction on the sales floor.

Conclusion: The analysis of the empirical data has shown that the chosen drivers have different impact on employee´s CSR commitment and how employees incorporate CSR actively in their daily work. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance to separate employee´s CSR commitment from employees CSR communication on the sales floor. More precisely, this means that a great level of CSR identification and internalization, which indicates a great level of CSR commitment, not automatically implicates that employees communicate CSR to the customer on the sales floor. The research also identified the recruitment process as a potential additional driver of employee´s CSR commitment.


In this thesis we investigate a "knowledge-level" approach to the problem of modelling an agent's incomplete knowledge, for the purpose of planning or high-level agent control. We investigate two formal accounts of knowledge, action, and sensing in the situation calculus: the Scherl and Levesque ( SL) approach that is based on "possible worlds," and the Demolombe and Pozos Parra (DP) approach that utilizes a set of "knowledge fluents." While the SL approach is expressive, reasoning is computationally more expensive; the DP account treats knowledge change as ordinary fluent change, but restricts its representation to primitive knowledge-level assertions. To relate these two accounts we construct "combined action theories," and prove that a set of primitive knowledge assertions remains identical in both accounts after any sequence of actions. We also extend this equivalence to more complex formulae. These results allow us to compile an expressive class of SL theories into equivalent DP theories that avoid the computational drawbacks of possible world reasoning. Moreover, this correspondence gives us a correctness result for the DP treatment of knowledge and action, in terms of possible worlds.
We also describe a new conditional planner called PKS (Planning with Knowledge and Sensing), that works directly at the knowledge level to construct plans with incomplete information and sensing actions. PKS represents it knowledge by using a collection of databases, each of which models a particular type of knowledge. The contents of each database have a fixed, formal translation to a modal logic of knowledge that defines the planner's knowledge state. Actions are modelled as updates to the databases (i.e., the knowledge state), rather than the world state, which differs from other planners. This representation supports features, like functions, that world-level planners often have difficulty working with. We also describe a preliminary procedure for automatically converting DP actions into PKS actions. Together with our SL equivalence results, this transformation provides an important first step towards the goal of compiling world-level actions into equivalent knowledge-level actions usable by PKS. Finally, we demonstrate PKS's expressiveness and efficiency with a series of planning problems that also illustrate the potential of the knowledge-based approach.


Since the beginning of the expansion project, the Panama Canal is expected to handle more than double the canal's current annual tonnage capacity upon completion of the expansion. Agreed by most, if not all, industry experts, the Panama Canal expansion is expected to have significant impacts on the existing international seaborne trades, especially on the Asia - US routes. Not only would the existing trading routes be affected but also the ports and the modes of transportation.

Among different shipping sectors, the fast growing container trade is most likely to be hit with the biggest impacts. With the canal's expansion that enables larger container ships to transit through the canal, container ships of up to 13,000 TEUs would be able to call the US East Coast directly. As a consequence, it is a possibility that a tremendous trade volume can be shifted from the congested US West Coast to the US East Coast.

Would the ports on the US East Coast be able to handle the volume that shifted from the US West Cost? The challenge is not only the infrastructure and equipments of the ports but also the timing and cooperation among the ports on the US East Coast. Many decision makers of these ports are already prepared and ready for the expected change once the canal expansion is complete. Based on the forecasts and data, strategic plans and guidance have been adopted to deal with the uncertainties.

This paper provides analysis on the impacts of the Panama Canal Expansion on the US East Coast ports versus the impacts on the US West Coast ports as well as the effects on the US intermodal system. To include perspectives from as many industry participants as possible, the paper presents several analyses based on interviews with industry analysts, US ports, Consultants and Liner companies. It shall as well provide short-cut cost comparison analyses between the water leg and the land based intermodal system from which the preference of the Liner companies is expected to emerge when choosing between the two transports modes. Using the results from this analysis, we will develop integrated scenarios from the supply side and the demand side, assessing the impacts due to the Panama Canal Expansion. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis and recommendation shall be provided for each scenario.

This paper also compares the two alternatives (water way via Panama Canal to USEC and water way to the USWC plus shipment across the U.S) there are some tradeoffs when determining the best shipping route from Asia to US East Coast. Although the route via Panama Canal might be the cheaper choice it is also a slow opinion. Since cost is shipper's main concern, the route via Panama Canal might be the preferred choice. However, certain cargo may require a faster shipping alternative that the shipper is willing to pay a higher cost. Furthermore, the best alternative appears to be the water route to the U.S. West Coast plus intermodal system by rail to the East Coast.

The results show that the current trade volume split between US East Cost and US West Coast is most likely not to be disturbed within short period of time post to Panama Canal expansion. The current costs of ships that use intermodal system via US West Coast ports is still more attractive when compared to direct transport via Panama Canal to US East Coast. However, all this could change subject to canal the canal transit fee which might give it the incentive.


One of the most frequent surgical operations in the globe is the repair of inguinal hernia, with over 20 million individuals undergoing it each year. A small percentage of individuals are asymptomatic; nonetheless with imminent surgery in 70% of the cases in this group even with a watchful surgery. In the vast majority of instances, surgical therapy is highly effective. Laparoscopic inguinal repair, which was initially reported in the 1990s, still faces opposition from surgeons today due to several disadvantages and challenges. However, there is current evidence that laparoscopic repairs have substantial benefits, including fewer problems, especially in recurring instances, quicker recovery, and reduced postoperative chronic pain, as well as recurrence rates that are at least comparable to traditional repairs. To review the published literature that discussed laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair and its different aspects. The keys used in the mesh of the PubMed database for journal selection were: (("laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair"[Mesh]) AND ("TEP"[Mesh]) OR ("TAPP"[Mesh])). Laparoscopy appears to produce less pain and numbness to last longer. It also takes less time to resume normal daily activities. Laparoscopy hernia repairs have a steep learning curve and need more expensive infrastructure; therefore, a substantial percentage of hernia repairs are still done openly. Despite certain challenges, laparoscopic surgery is becoming the favored method for bilateral and recurrent hernia repair.


The importance of the brain noradrenergic sympathetic nervous system in blood pressure control during anesthesia with halothane and enflurane was investigated in normotensive and hypertensive rats. Central noradrenergic neurons were destroyed by instillation of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the cerebral ventricle of both normotensive Wistar rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). One week later, arterial and venous lines were placed in the rats under anesthesia; the rats were allowed to recover; and blood pressure and plasma renin activity were measured while the rats were awake. Anesthesia then was induced with 1.3 vol% halothane (Wistar n = 8, Wistar 6-OHDA n = 10, SHR n = 8, SHR 6-OHDA n = 6) or 2.2 vol% enflurane (Wistar n = 6, Wistar 6-OHDA n = 10, SHR n = 8, SHR 6-OHDA n = 6). A control group (Wistar n = 10, Wistar 6-OHDA n = 6, SHR n = 8, SHR 6-OHDA n = 6) was treated identically, but remained unanesthetized throughout the experiment. The untreated normotensive and hypertensive rats received no intraventricular injections. After 1 hr of stable anesthesia, plasma renin activity was measured again, and saralasin, a competitive inhibitor of angiotensin II, was infused to determine the importance of the renin-angiotensin system in blood pressure control. Treatment with 6-OHDA resulted in a 60–90% depletion of norepinephrine in the medulla and hypothalamus. Normotensive Wistar rats treated with 6-OHDA responded to halothane and enflurane anesthesia in a manner similar to untreated normotensive rats. In contrast, hypertensive animals treated with 6-OHDA and then anesthetized with halothane had a significantly greater decrease in blood pressure than untreated hypertensive rats (100 ± 4 mm Hg vs 125 ± 4 mm Hg, respectively). Both treated and untreated hypertensive rats responded similarly to enflurane anesthesia. Significant decreases in blood pressure were seen in all animals with saralasin infusion except untreated hypertensive rats during enflurane anesthesia. The data suggest that although both halothane and enflurane result in a major depressant effect on the circulation, the role of central noradrenergic mechanisms for regulation of blood pressure is more important in hypertensive rats anesthetized with halothane than in hypertensive rats anesthetized with enflurane.


Is low greenhouse gas emission (GHG) agriculture possible? Is it, in fact, desirable? In seeking answers to these two basic but extremely relevant questions, this study examines current farming practices, and incorporates scientific databases from longterm field experiments as case studies for low GHG agriculture. Further, the study examines the changes that will be needed for low greenhouse gas agriculture systems to become a reality. It also elucidates the adaptive capacity of agro-ecological farming system approaches, using organic system case studies from the scientific literature.

Each year, agriculture emits 10 to 12 percent of the total estimated GHG emissions, some 5.1 to 6.1 Gt CO2 equivalents per year. Smith, et al. (2007) and Bellarby, et al. (2008) have proposed mitigation options for GHG emissions, finding that both farmers and policymakers will face challenges from the GHG-related changes needed in agriculture. Areas for improvement include increased use of no-till cropping, agro-forestry, and integrated crop and animal farming, and decreased use of external inputs in food and agriculture. The techniques offered by organic agriculture are valuable for consideration in these efforts.


Octahedral tungsten iodide clusters equipped with apical ligands (L) are synthesized to implement substantial photophysical properties. The [W6I8(CF3COO)6]2- cluster reported herein is the first example of a family of ligand substituted [W6I8L6]2- clusters. Such compounds are expected to exhibit a rich photochemistry in which the apical ligands play a crucial role. The versatile solid state and solution phase photophysical properties of (TBA)2[W6I8(CF3COO)6] described herein parallel characteristics obtained in some photophysically active organic compounds, including a broad absorption in the UV/VIS region. Upon irradiation of this compound, a broad red emission is observed in the VIS/NIR region resulting from excited triplet states, and singlet oxygen (a1Δg) is generated in the presence of O2.


Duplication 7q11.23 syndrome is the reciprocal of Williams–Beuren deletion syndrome. Studies have reported a recognizable phenotype, including autism, intellectual disability, speech, and language delay, social anxiety, and behavioral difficulties in these individuals. Previous studies revealed a variety of craniofacial abnormalities, brain malformations, and cardiac abnormalities, including aortic dilation. This patient series evaluates five family members aged 2 months to 35 years, all with confirmed 7q11.23 duplication syndrome. All had characteristic craniofacial findings and joint hyperextensibility, and three experienced broken bones/fractures with minimal trauma. Other features included frequent headaches, sleep problems, hydrocephalus, and in two of the children, mildly dilated aortic root, and ascending aorta. Psychological test results reveal borderline to low average nonverbal cognitive abilities and speech and language delays. All five family members with 7q11.23 syndrome meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Adaptive functioning is impaired for all four children, but higher for the children's father. The infant shows developmental delays in language and motor skills, but some improvements in reciprocal social behaviors over time. Two children exhibit hyperactivity and inattention, and the father and second youngest child exhibit anxiety. This family clinical series contributes to the growing literature on the phenotype of 7q11.23 microduplication syndrome across the age range. Physicians are encouraged to urge focused medical surveillance and intensive early intervention targeting speech‐language and social reciprocity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Heated water was probed as a post harvest quarantine treatment to control third instar larvae of the West Indian fruit fly, Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart), in mango, Mangifera indica L., variety Keitt. Fewer larvae infesting 600 to 650 g fruits survived when mangoes were submerged in water heated to 46.1° to 46.7° C for 20 to 60 minutes. Probit analysis of the data showed that submersion time required to achieve 99.9968% mortality was 59.5 minutes for mature larvae in fruits.


Care workers in residential care settings for older adults often experience job burnout, resulting in a high turnover rate. Previous studies offered contradictory findings on technology use in the workplace and its relationship with burnout. This study aimed to explore the moderator role technology acceptance plays in the relationship between burnout and intention to leave among care workers in residential care settings in Hong Kong. The study was based on a multicenter, cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The acceptance of general, and three specific, technologies (i.e., tablets, social robots and video gaming) was measured based on the scale of the Technology Acceptance Model. Two dimensions of burnout (exhaustion and disengagement) were measured using the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory scale. Intention to leave was measured using a self-reported item. Data collection took place from July to December 2018. We analysed data from 370 care workers from seven non-private residential care homes for older people in Hong Kong. A hierarchical multiple regression approach was used for moderator analysis. The results revealed that two measures of burnout (exhaustion and disengagement) were significantly and positively associated with intention to leave. The four measures of technology acceptance were negatively associated with intention to leave. The interaction of video-gaming acceptance and exhaustion was predictive of intention to leave (standardized beta = -0.20, p = .011). Acceptance of video gaming changed the strength of the relationship between exhaustion and intention to leave among participants. No significant moderating effects were observed in the relationship between disengagement and intention to leave. We highlight the importance of integrating technology variables, especially subjective appraisal of technology, in the issues of burnout and intention to leave. These findings shed new light on policies and practices that consider implement technology in routine care in residential care settings without unanticipated negative impacts for care staff.


Electrohydrodynamic jet printing (EHDP) technique is widely used for the direct writing. However, in the existing EHDP method, the printing characteristics are affected by the printing substrate used, and the printed line width is determined by the geometry of the nozzle. We propose an EHDP method which is capable of (1) removing the effect from the substrate, and (2) controlling the line width through the ON/OFF control of the each nozzle in the nozzle array. Printing characteristics of our EHDP system were examined and successful ON/OFF control of the nozzle array were demonstrated. By using the proposed EHDP, it is expected that stable meniscus regardless of the effect from substrate and different line widths even using the same nozzle can be achieved.


Disk brake squeal noise is mainly due to unstable friction-induced vibration. A typical disk brake system includes two pads, a rotor, a caliper and a piston. In order to predict if a disk brake system will generate squeal, the finite element method (FEM) is used to simulate the system. At the contact interfaces between the pads and the rotor, the normal displacement is continuous and Coulomb's friction law is applied. Thus, the resulting FEM matrices of the dynamic system become unsymmetric, which will yield complex eigenvalues. Any complex eigenvalue with a positive real part indicates an unstable mode, which may result in squeal. In real-world applications, the FEM model of a disk brake system usually contains tens of thousands of degrees of freedom (d.o.f.s). Therefore any direct eigenvalue solver based on the dense matrix data structure cannot efficiently perform the analysis, mainly due to its huge memory requirement and long computation time. It is well known that the FEM matrices are generally sparse and hence only the non-zeros of the matrices need to be stored for eigenvalue analysis. A recently developed iterative method named ABLE is used in this paper to search for any unstable modes within a certain user-specified frequency range. The complex eigenvalue solver ABLE is based on an adaptive block Lanczos method for sparse unsymmetric matrices. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the formulation and the eigenvalues are compared to the results from the component modal synthesis (CMS). r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Ultrafast detection of microplastic particles is becoming a vital problem, as these particles are found in water sources worldwide. Ideally, a live analysis in flow is desirable to directly monitor the water quality for contaminations. Therefore, coherent Raman spectroscopy techniques require fast and broadband tunable lasers to address all relevant spectral regions of the investigated samples. In our work, we combine a high power non-collinear optical parametric oscillator with a real-time stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy setup. The light source is continously tunable from 700 nm to 1030 nm in less than 10 ms, delivering an average output power of more than 500 mW with sub-ps pulses. We show the immediate observation of mixing processes and the detection of microplastic particles in water solution with a spectral window of more than 2000 cm-1.


The Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) on SMM has detected more than 130 flares with emission approx 300 keV. More than 10 of these flares were detected at photon energies 10 MeV. Although the majority of the emission at 10 MeV must be from electron bremsstrahlung, at least two of the flares have spectral properties 40 MeV that require gamma rays from the decay of neutral pions. It is found that pion production can occur early in the impulsive phase as defined by hard X-rays near 100 keV. It is also found in one of these flares that a significant portion of this high-energy emission is produced well after the impulsive phase. This extended production phase, most clearly observed at high energies, may be a signature of the acceleration process which produces solar energetic particles (SEP's) in space.


BACKGROUND
High levels of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is an independent risk factor for premature coronary heart disease (PCHD). It is also considered a residual risk for controlled low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Dietary control, exercise, and drugs have limited effects on the levels of Lp(a). Recently, mental health was found to be associated with lipid levels and increased risk of PCHD. However, the relationship between mental health and Lp(a) is still unknown. This study explored the association between mental health and Lp(a) levels in men with PCHD.

METHODS
A retrospective, observational study was conducted. A total of 226 male patients with PCHD, aged 49.65±3.68 years, was included in this study. The control group consisted of 230 age-matched healthy male volunteers. Serum Lp(a) levels ≥30 mg/dL, as measured by the immunoturbidimetry method, were considered high. All participants received health related quality of life (HRQoL) scores using the self-assessed 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The HRQoL includes both a physical component summary (PCS) and a mental component summary (MCS).

RESULTS
Patients with PCHD were found to have higher levels of Lp(a) (51.61±33.39 vs. 26.42±21.93, P<0.001), and lower MCS (35.83±4.21 vs. 39.85±4.12) and PCS scores (38.02±3.73 vs. 39.63±3.21) compared to healthy volunteers. The MCS score was negatively correlated with Lp(a) levels in the PCHD group (R=-0.295, P<0.001), but no correlation was detected in the control group. There was no relationship between the PCS score and Lp(a) levels in neither the PCHD group nor the healthy control group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the MCS and PCS scores were negatively correlated with the risk of PCHD.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggested that poor mental health may be associated with high levels of Lp(a) and increased risk of PCHD in men. Therefore, improving the mental state in men with PCHD may be crucial.


Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA), an extract from Carthamus tinctorius L. Dry flowers (Compositae). HSYA has been shown to have neuroprotective effects in several AD models. However, the exact mechanisms of HSYA regulate neuroinflammation have still not been clarified. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which HSYA regulates microglia activation and neuroinflammation via TREM2, and further clarified its underlying molecular mechanism. We silenced TREM2 in BV-2 cells and evaluated the expression of inflammatory markers (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-13). The results showed that HSYA could up-regulate cell activity and improve the morphology of BV-2 cells injured by Aβ1−42. HSYA up-regulated expression of M1 markers (iNOS, IL-1β, IL-6) and down-regulated expression of M2 markers (Arg-1, IL-4, IL-10, IL-13) by TREM2, and changed microglia from M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype to M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype. HSYA inhibited the activation of TLR4/ NF-κB transduction pathway induced by Aβ1−42 by up-regulating TREM2, and regulated the transcription of inflammatory cytokines by downstream transcription factors NF-κB p65 and IκB-α. In conclusion, HSYA regulated microglial inflammatory phenotype by regulating microglial (M1/M2) polarization in Aβ1−42-induced BV-2 cells which may be mediated through TREM2/TLR4/NF-κB pathway.


R is a popular dynamic language designed for statistical computing. Despite R's huge user base, the inefficiency in R's language implementation becomes a major pain-point in everyday use as well as an obstacle to apply R to solve large scale analytics problems. The two most common approaches to improve the performance of dynamic languages are: implementing more efficient interpretation strategies and extending the interpreter with Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler. However, both approaches require significant changes to the interpreter, and complicate the adoption by development teams as a result. This paper presents a new approach to improve execution efficiency of R programs by vectorizing the widely used Apply class of operations. Apply accepts two parameters: a function and a collection of input data elements. The standard implementation of Apply iteratively invokes the input function with each element in the data collection. Our approach combines data transformation and function vectorization to convert the looping-over-data execution of the standard Apply into a single invocation of a vectorized function that contains a sequence of vector operations over the input data. This conversion can significantly speed-up the execution of Apply operations in R by reducing the number of interpretation steps. We implemented the vectorization transformation as an R package. To enable the optimization, all that is needed is to invoke the package, and the user can use a normal R interpreter without any changes. The evaluation shows that the proposed method delivers significant performance improvements for a collection of data analysis algorithm benchmarks. This is achieved without any native code generation and using only a single-thread of execution.


The cow's milk production characteristics are a significant economic indicator in the livestock industry. Serum cytokines such as interleukin-17 (IL-17) may be potential indicators for bovine mastitis concerning the milk somatic cell count (SCC) and somatic cell score (SCS). The current study aims to find previously undiscovered single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bovine (IL-17A) gene and further investigates their associations with milk production traits in Chinese Holstein cows. Twenty Chinese Holstein cows were randomly chosen from six farms in Jiangsu Province, China. The DNA was extracted from selected samples of bloods for PCR amplification Sequence analyses were used to find SNPs in the bovine (IL-17A) gene. The discovered five SNPs are g-1578A>G, g-1835G>A, and g-398T>A in the 5′UTR; g3164T>C and g3409G>C in the exon region. The genotyping of Holstein cows (n = 992) was performed based on Sequenom Mass ARRAY and SNP data. The connection between SNPs, milk production variables, and the somatic cell score was investigated using the least-squares method. Based on the results, SNP g-398T>A had a significant linkage disequilibrium with g3164T>C. SNPs were found to have significant (p < 0.05) correlations with the test-day milk yield. In conclusion, IL-17A affects cow's milk production traits significantly.


The linear muffin-tin orbital method in the tight-binding representation is adopted to study the electronic structures of the native defects in beta -SiC with the Green function approach. The original potential parameters are obtained by the standard band calculation of bulk beta -SiC and the change in the potential parameters is obtained self-consistently. It is found that the silicon vacancy acts as an acceptor and the carbon vacancy acts as a donor with the split-off states at 0.45 and 1.67 eV above the valence band maximum. For the antisite defects, there is no split-off state in the band gap.


A short biographical note on the life and works of K. Ramachandra, one of the leading mathematicians in the field of analytic number theory in the second half of the twentieth century.


The concept of prebiotics was established more than 30 years ago. While the prebiotic concept has now expanded thus includes non-carbohydrate substances and diverse categories other than foods, fructooligosaccharides (FOS) have still predominantly been used as pebiotics, because the effects of FOS exclusively act through the enrichment of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus spp., which have been classified as beneficial intestinal commensals so far. Now the commercially available FOS products are synthetic mixture of several kinds of FOS components including 1-kestose (GF2), nystose (GF3) and GF4. In our previous studies, superiority of 1-kestose to the longer-chain FOS components such as nystose with regard to bifidogenic activity was clearly demonstrated. Recently, a broader range of beneficial bacteria including butyrate-producing indigenous bacteria have been recognized and expected to be new probiotic strains. Among them, resident Faecalibacterium prausnitzii is a butyrate producer with a significant anti-inflammatory effect thus expected to be useful as a next-generation probiotic. However, this bacterium is extremely oxygen-sensitive thus can be difficult to grow industrially. On the other hand, we have clearly demonstrated a significant prebiotic effect of 1-kestose, which is the smallest component of FOS, on F. prausnitzii in the gut of humans. These findings suggest that 1-kestose has impressive potential as a new prebiotic targeting F. prausnitzii, a next-generation probiotic strain, as well as bifidobacteria.