The stationary parameterization of diffeomorphisms is be- ing increasingly used in computational anatomy. In certain applications it provides similar results to the non-stationary parameterization alle- viating the computational charge. With this characterization for diffeo- morphisms, two different registration algorithms have been recently pro- posed: stationary LDDMM and diffeomorphic Demons. To our knowl- edge, their theoretical and practical differences have not been analyzed yet. In this article we provide a comparison between both algorithms in a common framework. To this end, we have studied the differences in the elements of both registration scenarios. We have analyzed the sen- sitivity of the regularization parameters in the smoothness of the final transformations and compared the performance of the registration re- sults. Moreover, we have studied the potential of both algorithms for the computation of essential operations for further statistical analysis. We have found that both methods have comparable performance in terms of image matching although the transformations are qualitatively different in some cases. Diffeomorphic Demons shows a slight advantage in terms of computational time. However, it does not provide as stationary LD- DMM the vector field in the tangent space needed to compute statistics or exact inverse transformations.


Green open spaces (GOS) are an integral part of the green network in any urban areas which serve the benefits of cities and people's well-being in a various form including physical, emotional and social health. Embrace the fact that the green open space is one of the key indicators to sustainable city planning; yet, many countries including Malaysia are facing underutilised parks issues due to various factors including the quality aspect of the parks. Before this, evidence suggests that sustainability and quality of city's dwellers are measured by the quality and quantity aspects of parks and open spaces. Hence, this paper sought to explore further on the determinant factors of quality green open space (QGOS) assessment in Malaysia as part of an effort to overcome this shortcoming. This study adopts quantitative method through questionnaire survey to identify the most relevant factors which influence the quality of green open spaces in Malaysia. 1500 questionnaire survey was distributed within fifteen (15) Neighborhood Parks. The results generated from Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) had revealed eight most relevant factors of social sustainability, use pattern, place attachment, facilities, safety and security, nature preferences, activities and accessibility to achieve the quality of open spaces in Malaysia. Hence, it is hoped that the findings from this review would contribute to the improvement of Malaysian neighbourhood parks and plan as part of the support for the 11th Malaysian Plan (2016-2020).


Summary Pneumonia is frequently associated with changes in coagulation and fibrinolysis in the bronchoalveolar space. To determine the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the hemostatic balance in the human lung, six healthy subjects inhaled nebulized LPS or saline in a randomized cross-over study and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained six hours thereafter. LPS induced soluble tissue factor and thrombin-antithrombin complexes and inhibited plasminogen activator activity in BALF. Additionally plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 production was upregulated after LPS inhalation. LPS also elicited local activation of neutrophils (release of elastase, myeloperoxidase and bactericidal/permeability increasing protein) and secretion of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. Inhalation of LPS by healthy humans reproduces major features of the procoagulant response to inflammatory and infectious lung diseases and may be used as a novel model to evaluate pathogenetic mechanisms and new interventions.


The search for an optimal configuration for a distribution network can be viewed by three different approaches based on the implicit enumeration of solutions. The approach called branch exchange seems to avoid the disadvantages of the two others. This approach has allowed the authors to imagine and develop, initially, two descent search strategies. Thereafter, to improve these strategies, they have been transformed to include the principles of an optimization method, called TABU. All strategies have finally been tested in the case of a real network to find a feasible configuration with minimal losses


correspondence: Lisa chow 420 Delaware St. Se, MMc 101, Minneapolis, Mn 55455, USA Tel +1 612 625 8934 Fax +1 612 626 3133 email firstname.lastname@example.com Background: Despite the increasing popularity of marathons, little research has examined the training habits of nonelite marathon runners. Given that nonelite runners, particularly those with a competitive motive, have a higher risk for injury than experienced elite runners, it is important for physicians to understand the training program and features that might distinguish running performance and injury rates in this population. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that nonelite runners who qualify for the Boston Marathon ("qualifiers") would have higher running volumes, more running sessions per week, lower injury rates, and lower body mass index (BMI) than nonqualifying runners. Study design: A cross-sectional Web-based survey of runners (convenience sample) at 1 month (n = 50) and 6 months (n = 41) after participation in the 2008 Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) that acquired data on anthropometric measures, demographic data, finishing time, premarathon/ current training program, and self-reported injury. Results: Thirteen of 50 initial survey respondents were classified as a "qualifier" based on their finishing time. Mean BMI was significantly lower in the qualifiers at 1 month (22.0 versus 23.9 kg/m, P = 0.0267) but not 6 months postmarathon. There were no significant differences in training volume (running frequency, run length, or cross-training volume) or injury rates between qualifiers and nonqualifiers. Prior to the 2008 TCM, 54% of runners included crosstraining in their exercise program, which increased significantly to 74% 1 month postmarathon (P = 0.0039) and 71% 6 months postmarathon (P = 0.0325). There was no association between cross-training and injury rates. Conclusions: Nonelite marathon runners had a high degree of cross-training in their training program. Qualifiers for the Boston Marathon did not significantly differ in running frequency, run length, or cross-training volume compared with nonqualifiers. Whether changes in the training program at an individual level might facilitate a change in qualifying status remains to be determined.


The word "negligence" is always damaging to the reputation of doctors, related to some damage to the patient and a challenge before the judges. In recent years, sudden spurt in the cases of "Criminal negligence" and decision of the Supreme Court raises a fresh debate. This paper deals with current scenario of "Criminal Negligence", applicability of Section 304 & 304-A IPC in cases of death of patient during treatment, remedial measures available to a doctor facing the charge of 'Criminal Negligence' and a brief discussion of important cases related to the issue, including recent case. Negligence is a term of art, but has distinct meanings in different jurisdictions. In 'Tort', damage is an essential ingredient but that element is not necessary in the law of master and servant. In criminal law, there are series of offences based on negligence in which loss or injury is not material; it is enough if the act is likely to cause injury or endanger life. Operation of patient without consent is an example of negligence (Statutory Damage) even without actual apparent damage. Dictionary meaning of term 'Negligence' is 'Lack of Proper Care'. As defined by Baron Alderson negligence means: "Omission to do something which a reasonable man guided by those consideration which regulate conduct of human affairs would do, or doing something which a reasonable man would not do". Same definition is quoted in many decisions of the court. 'Criminal Negligence' is an offence against the State while 'Civil Negligence' is an offence against the individual act, which leads to injury i.e. physical injury, hurt- Section 319, grievous hurt- Section 320 Indian Penal Code (IPC). Loss of property (financial loss) due to some negligent act is always a civil negligence. The decision of the Supreme Court delivered on last years raises a fresh debate on the issue of 'Criminal Negligence by the Doctors'. In this case the Supreme Court relied on various decisions of the House of Lords.


Many function of railway signalling system which is in charge of most core function in a railway system are being operated by the software according to the development of computer technology. Accordingly, the source code testing to verify the safety of the railway signalling system software becomes to be more important, and related international standards highly recommend verifications on the source code also. For this reason, several related studies on vital source code verification were executed from several years ago in Korea. This paper performed tests through the application to railway signalling system being applied to the existing actual domestic railway sites through automated testing tools for coding rules of signalling system software and another signaling system software under development in Korea recently, and analyzed their results.


For as long as they have been on the scene, transnational corporations ('TNCs') have been a persistent problem for legal scholars at both the theoretical and practical level. In practical terms, the underdevelopment of legal rules applicable to the TNC in a jurisdiction in which it operates, legal inaction or complicity in wrongful acts on the part of state authorities, and the rise of dispersed corporate governance models, have allowed the TNC a great measure of freedom and consequent irresponsibility in choosing legal and judicial regimes which avoid the imposition of protective legal rules and help maximise profit by condoning mass cost externalizations. Theoretically, this situation has generated a great deal of uncertainty as to the place of the Corporation as an actor at the international or transnational level, or as to its relationship with local populations in the places in which it does business. A plethora of concepts exists, which is often invoked to justify particular approaches towards regulation of TNCs or transnational trade and investment generally; of this, justice and party autonomy stand apart as two of the most controversial and misunderstood, used by both sides on the debate to defend often diametrically opposing positions. This paper presents, in very brief outline, some of the main features of the existing legal landscape in respect of TNC - third-party legal relations.


Numerical simulations are important when assessing the many characteristics of field emission related phenomena. In this work, we analyze the fractional change of the apexField Enhancement Factor (FEF), $\delta$, from a single emitter, with apex-FEF $\gamma _{1}$, and a pair, with apex-FEF $\gamma _{2}$. We show, based on finite element technique, that the functional dependence $\delta$ (c) (c corresponding to the distance between the axis of the emitters) obeys a recently proposed power law decay [1], at sufficient large distances in the limit of infinite domain size, which is not observed by using a long time established exponential decay [2] or a more sophisticated fitting formula proposed recently by Harris et al. [3]. This inverse-third power law functional dependence is respected for various systems like infinity arrays and small clusters of emitters with different shapes. Thus, %$\delta \sim c^{-m}$, with m =3, is suggested to be a universal signature of the chargeblunting (CB) effect in small clusters or arrays, at sufficient large distances between emitters with any shape. These results improve the physical understanding of the field electron emission theory to accurately characterize emitters in small clusters or arrays.


et al did not develop anginal chest pain when the ejection fraction decreased during periods of mental stress.' The authors, however, did not comment on this finding. The precise mechanism responsible for the lack of symptoms associated with the ischaemic episode induced by mental stress in the laboratory has not been explained. It has been postulated that an alteration in the pain threshold might account for the silent nature of ischaemic episodes during periods of mental stress. However, there is little support for this hypothesis in published reports. The major drawback of the study by Legault et al was the lack of correlation between ischaemia induced during mental stress in the laboratory and evaluations made by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring performed for 24-48 h in the patient's own environment.' A recent study has provided clinically meaningful information on this aspect. Gottdiener et al evaluated the relation between myocardial ischaemia induced by mental stress and the functional severity of ischaemia during exercise stress testing and triggers of ischaemia during daily life. They showed that in patients with confirmed coronary artery disease, the induction of myocardial ischaemia by mental stress was predictive of an increased risk of myocardial ischaemia during routine daily life. However, most ischaemic episodes during daily life occurred at times of low mental stress. These results suggest that findings observed during psychological stress testing in the laboratory might not correlate well with the magnitude of stress perceived by patients during daily life. Legault et al failed to prove the clinical significance and prognostic importance of their findings. Information about the clinical impact of ischaemia induced during mental stress in the laboratory has been lacking because most studies, including the present one, have not correlated their findings with the risk of ischaemia encountered during daily life or provided longitudinal follow up data on the patients evaluated. Clearly, more work is needed in this area especially to document the significance of findings observed in the laboratory by correlation with evaluations made in the patients' own environments. The dynamic decrease in coronary supply induced by mental stress may have been secondary to an increase in a adrenergic activity produced by mental stress.3 This hypothesis carries important therapeutic implications. Treatment with a adrenergic blocking agents alone or in combination with (B receptor blocking agents might be the most effective regimen. However, if coronary vasoconstriction seems to be playing a dominant role, it is possible that treatment with calcium channel blockers would be appropriate. At present, there is little if any information available to establish the superiority of one anti-ischaemic regimen over another as a treatment for myocardial ischaemia induced by mental stress. SUSHIL K AHLAWAT 9405 58th Avenue, Elmhurst NY 11373, USA


In language processing applications like speech recognition, printed/handwritten character recognition, or statistical machine translation, the language model usually has a major influence on the performance, by introducing context. An increase of context length usually improves perplexity and increases the accuracy of a classifier using such a language model. In this work, the effect of context reduction, i.e. the accuracy difference between a context sensitive, and a context-insensitive classifier is considered. Context reduction is shown to be related to feature omission in the case of single symbol classification. Therefore, the simplest non-trivial case of feature omission will be analyzed by comparing a feature-aware classifier that uses an emission model to a prior-only classifier that statically infers the prior maximizing class only for all observations. Upper and lower tight bounds are presented for the accuracy difference of these model classifiers. The corresponding analytic proofs, though not presented here, were supported by an extensive simulation analysis of the problem, which gave empirical estimates of the accuracy difference bounds. Further, it is shown that the same bounds, though not tightly, also apply to the original case of context reduction. This result is supported by further simulation experiments for symbol string classification.


Current algorithms for estimating the parameters of a symmetric alpha-stable ARMA process are either highly non-linear, or assume small MA orders (q/spl les/3), or invoke the minimum-phase assumption. We use results from the statistics literature to show that the normalized correlation is well-defined; we show that the normalized cumulants are also well-behaved. We propose to use the correlation to estimate the spectrally-equivalent minimum-phase (SEMP) parameters, and then to use the cumulants to resolve the phase of the model. We also show that correlation-based techniques (such as ESPRIT) work well for estimating the parameters of harmonics observed in alpha-stable noise. Correlation-based algorithms are shown to work well despite the infinite variance of the alpha-stable process.


Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the need for graduates with quantitative problem-solving skills, many students enter university having relied heavily on pattern recognition techniques for high school mathematics. While these can often lead students to obtaining correct solutions for problems similar to those which they have practised, they do not lead to a deeper understanding of the material and, critically, may not develop more widely-applicable skills. Even when correct solutions are obtained, students can sometimes not understand or explain why their solution is indeed correct. Here, I present an argument in favour of avoiding predictability in question structures and, in particular, asking questions ``backwards'' to how they might traditionally be asked. Some mathematical topics readily lend themselves to such approaches --- the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus tells us that an integral problem is inherently linked to an antiderivative problem --- whereas other require much more care and subtlety to avoid routine or predictable assessments. I will discuss some preliminary results from a first year probability subject at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) which suggest that student understanding of material can be increased when they feel that prioritising pattern recognition over problem solving is unlikely to be rewarded with high marks. References Khan academy. expected value. URL: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-probability/random-variables-stats-library/random-variables-discrete/e/expected_value . Mark Asiala, Anne Brown, David J. Devries, Ed Dubinsky, David Mathews, and Karen Thomas. A framework for research and curriculum development in undergraduate mathematics education. Maa Notes, pages 37–54, 1997. I. Chubb. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the national interest: a strategic approach. Australian Government, Canberra, 7 2013. URL: http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2013/07/science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-in-the-national-interest-a-strategic-approach/ . Ted Dunning. Accurate methods for the statistics of surprise and coincidence. Computational Linguistics, 19(1):61–74, 1993. Justin Kruger and David Dunning. Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6):1121–1134, 1999. doi:10.1037/0022-35184.108.40.2061 . Fengshan Liu. 14 - teaching inverse problems in undergraduate level mathematics, modelling and applied mathematics courses. In Qi-Xiao Ye, Werner Blum, Ken Houston, and Qi-Yuan Jiang, editors, Mathematical Modelling in Education and Culture, pages 165–172. Woodhead Publishing, 2003. doi:10.1533/9780857099556.4.165 . David S. Moore, George P. McCabe, and Bruce A. Craig. Introduction to the Practice of Statistics. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 6th edition, 2009. Terezinha Nunes, Peter Bryant, Rossana Barros, and Kathy Sylva. The relative importance of two different mathematical abilities to mathematical achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1):136–156, 2012. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.2011.02033.x . L. J. Rylands and C. Coady. Performance of students with weak mathematics in first-year mathematics and science. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40(6):741–753, 2009. doi:10.1080/00207390902914130 . R. R. Sokal and F. J. Rohlf. Biometry: The Principles and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 2nd edition, 1981. Arathi Sriprakash, Helen Proctor, and Betty Hu. Visible pedagogic work: parenting, private tutoring and educational advantage in australia. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37(3):426–441, 2016. doi:10.1080/01596306.2015.1061976 . Jon R. Star. On the relationship between knowing and doing in procedural learning. In B. Fishman and S. O'Connor-Divelbiss, editors, Proceedings of fourth international conference of the Learning Sciences, pages 80–86. Erlbaum, 2000. S. Woodcock and S. Bush. Slipping between the cracks? maximising the effectiveness of prerequisite paths in uts mathematics degrees. In Mark Nelson, Tara Hamilton, Michael Jennings, and Judith Bunder, editors, Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Engineering Mathematics and Applications Conference, EMAC-2013, volume 55 of ANZIAM J., pages C297–C314, 8 2014. URL: http://journal.austms.org.au/ojs/index.php/ANZIAMJ/article/view/7943 . Stephen Woodcock. Development of enquiry-oriented learning in the mathematical sciences. In Mark Nelson, Dann Mallet, Brandon Pincombe, and Judith Bunder, editors, Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Engineering Mathematics and Applications Conference, EMAC-2015, volume 57 of ANZIAM J., pages C1–C13, 5 2016. URL: http://journal.austms.org.au/ojs/index.php/ANZIAMJ/article/view/10439 . F. P. Yee. Open-ended problems for higher-order thinking in mathematics. Teaching and Learning, 20(2):49–57, 2000. URL: https://repository.nie.edu.sg/handle/10497/365 .


The primary focus is on studying the under pricing phenomenon in Indian IPO markets. The paper examines the link between the reputation of underwriters to an IPO issue & the level of under pricing of that issue. The underwriters of high reputation have a pricing behavior which is distinct from underwriters in other markets. The investment banks are compared on the basis of the number of issues managed; deal value, syndicate size etc & the top banks were found to under price less as compared to their lower ranked counterparts. The post listing returns are directly related to the number of times the IPO issue is oversubscribed. The study is based on Indian IPO offerings.


Human liver microsomes catalyze the oxidation of sulfinpyrazone sulfide (SPZS) to a variable mixture of sulfinpyrazone (SPZ) enantiomers and two minor phenolic metabolites. In one, the thiophenyl ring is hydroxylated, whereas in the second an N-phenyl ring is hydroxylated. SPZ is further oxidized to sulfinpyrazone sulfone (SPZO) and a minor polar metabolite that also has an N-phenyl ring hydroxylated. Determination of the metabolism of SPZ and SPZS under modified incubation conditions of prior heat treatment, higher pH, and the presence of detergent indicated that the formation of SPZ was cytochrome P450 (P450)- but not flavin monooxygenase-dependent. Specific P450 inhibitors (sulfaphenazole, quinidine sulfate, coumarin, diethyldithiocarbamic acid, troleandomycin, and furafylline) and specific cDNA-expressed P450s were used to identify the major isoforms responsible for the oxidation of SPZS to SPZ and SPZ to SPZO. Both P450 2C9 and P450 3A4 were responsible for the oxidation of SPZS to SPZ, whereas P450 3A4 alone catalyzed the further oxidation of SPZ to SPZO. SPZS was found to be metabolized by P450 2C9 to SPZ with a high degree of enantiomeric selectivity (9:1) and a K(m) comparable with its previously determined K(i) for inhibition of the P450 2C9-dependent 7-hydroxylation of (S)-warfarin (WARF). In contrast, the P450 3A4-catalyzed oxidation of SPZS to SPZ proceeded with the same enantioselectivity but to a much lesser degree (58:42). These results provide evidence that the metabolism of both (S)-WARF and SPZS is mediated by a common enzyme, P450 2C9, which is central to understanding the WARF-SPZ interaction and SPZS-mediated drug interactions in general.


The 1840 essay of Edgar Allen Poe "The Philosophy of Furniture" remains one of the most provocative essays written on interior decoration, and it has variously been read as ironic, ambivalent, and in some cases simply polemical; an essay wherein Poe vents his spleen on the jejune and tasteless productions of the contemporary American interior decoration.1 The tone of the writing is swingeing, taking the view that American taste is a play ground for the parvenu rivalry of the 'aristocracy of dollars' and inevitably confuses display with affect. The sole test of merit, in such a scheme, of any decorative item, or an ensemble decoration of a room, is its cost.seem to fascinate many architects and designers. They are amongst the most essential pieces of furniture, and directly correspond to the human body. In addition, chairs are also objects with a long and interesting tradition. A great number of architects and designers have explored the material, tectonic or sculptural possibilities of these pieces of furniture.


A recent experiment by Grangier, Roger and Aspect is discussed. It is shown that, contrary to the too general claim by the authors, the results are compatible with classical wave models of light, where the transmissivity itself is a stochastic variable. A statistical analysis of the data reported proves that a repetition of the experiment with slightly better statistics will be enough to test quantum optics against a class of stochastic wave theories of light.


Currently, Illumina sequencers are the globally leading sequencing platform in the next-generation sequencing market. Recently, MGI Tech launched a series of new sequencers, including the MGISEQ-2000, which promise to deliver high-quality sequencing data faster and at lower prices than Illumina's sequencers. In this study, we compared the performance of two major sequencers (MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000) to test whether the MGISEQ-2000 sequencer delivers high-quality sequence data as suggested. We performed RNA sequencing of four human colon cancer samples with the two platforms, and compared the sequencing quality and expression values. The data produced from the MGISEQ-2000 and HiSeq 4000 showed high concordance, with Pearson correlation coefficients ranging from 0.98 to 0.99. Various quality control (QC) analyses showed that the MGISEQ-2000 data fulfilled the required QC measures. Our study suggests that the performance of the MGISEQ-2000 is comparable to that of the HiSeq 4000 and that the MGISEQ-2000 can be a useful platform for sequencing.


Objectives This study aims to report inflammatory reactions of Pharmacopuncture lubricants (CF and JsD) when administered on GB21, GB20, and TE23 in clinical trials. Methods Follow-up studies were made on each patient`s clinical observation and specific managemen. Results 1. Inflammation induced by pharmacopuncture lubricants were limited to local area of administration. 2. Intensity of inflammation was depended on the patient`s condition. 3. Inflammation caused pain, skin flare, and discomfort on the patient. Inflammation subsided when dissipating technique was rendered with the conventional acupuncture needle. Conclusions It appears that prolonged usage of pharmacopuncture lubricant on the specific point can induce inflammation, thus using alternative pharmacopuncture is recommended.


Introduction The vascular pathways of the cat's orbit have been previously described, 1-3 but detailed information regarding the vasculature of the eye itself is scanty and mostly limited to the retina. Since the cat is used as an experimental animal for investigation of intraocular pressure, the vascular beds and their connections should be known before data can be accurately assessed for interpretation. It is the purpose of this communication to provide such information through studies of casts obtained by neoprene * injection of cat eyes. Method and Materials Studies were made on casts of 25 eyes. The adult cats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of pentobarbital sodium (35 mg/kg); subsequently, 2 ml of heparin was administered intravenously (1,000 units/ml). The animals were killed with an overdose of pentobarbital. The eyes and adjacent tissues were excised with the optic nerve severed near the optic foramen. The preparations were immediately placed in a


The data for the public working draft of the human genome contains roughly 400,000 initial sequence contigs in approximately 30,000 large insert clones. Many of these initial sequence contigs overlap. A program, GigAssembler, was built to merge them and to order and orient the resulting larger sequence contigs based on mRNA, paired plasmid ends, EST, BAC end pairs, and other information. This program produced the first publicly available assembly of the human genome, a working draft containing roughly 2.7 billion base pairs and covering an estimated 88% of the genome that has been used for several recent studies of the genome. Here we describe the algorithm used by GigAssembler.


Ylide-based organometallic compounds have become an active research topic in several academic and industrial institutions. After a short literature account this article reflects the recent progress made in the author's laboratory, the main attention being focussed on the chemistry of phosphorus ylides with bulky substituents, of unstrained or strained cyclic ylides, and of polyfunctional ylidic systems. Ylide complexes of a series of main group and transition metals have been obtained and characterized by spectroscopic and x-ray techniques. The examples of representative molecules range from volatile magnesium and mercury phosphoniummethylides via titanium(III) and −(IV) metallocycles to gold(I) macrocycles. In combination with the formally related diphosphinomethanide ligand, ylides formvery stable mono- and binuclear products with symmetrical structures. The phosphametallocycles of these species are related to allyl-metal as well as to metallocyclobutane systems.


—The growing penetration of variable renewable en- ergy sources (VRES) requires additional flexibility reserve to cope with the uncertainty in power system operation. Current industrial practice typically assumes a certain fraction of the VRES production forecast power as flexibility reserve, even though the VRES variability and uncertainty is a function of weather conditions. Therefore, this paper focuses on weather- driven flexibility reserve sizing and allocation for large-scale wind power installations. First, we propose a method, which generates statistically credible wind power forecast errors based on forecasts of various weather features, thus stressing a given wind power forecast. Then, these errors are mapped into a risk-based reserve requirement, which is then compared with the current extent-based and probability-based requirements. Additionally, the risk-, extent-, and probability-based reserve requirements are allocated to compare their cost and deliverability performance. Throughout the paper, we use real-world data to compute weather-driven flexibility reserve requirements and evaluate their performance using numerical experiments on a 1819-bus NYISO system model with both on- and off-shore wind power installations.


This paper presents a model that determines the optimal budget allocation strategy for the development of new technologies, for safety-critical systems, over multiple decision periods. The case of the development of a hypersonic passenger airplane is used as an illustration. The model takes into account both the probability of technology development success as a function of the allocated budget and the probability of operational performance of the final system. It assumes that the strategy is to consider (and possibly fund) several approaches to the development of each technology to maximize the probability of development success. The model, thus, decomposes the system's development process into multiple technology development modules (one for each technology needed), each involving a number of alternative projects. There is a tradeoff between development speed and operational reliability when the budget must be allocated among alternative technology projects with different probabilities of development success and operational reliability (e.g., an easily and quickly developed technology may have little robustness). The probabilities of development and operational failures are balanced by a risk analysis approach, which allows the decision maker to optimize the budget allocation among different projects in the development program, at the beginning of each budget period. The model indicates that by considering reliability in the R&D management process, the decision maker can make better decisions, optimizing the balance between development time, cost, and robustness of safety-critical systems.


Many internal and external factors influence consumer decision-making when it comes to the purchase and use of various products and services. The attributes of the product itself, the brand, and the container in which it is encased is the most important and critical external variables. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey involving hotels, beauty parlours, electronics dealers, boutiques as well as entertainment outlets. The researcher targeted 305 business premises operating in 30 shopping malls from which a sample of 62 premises and 310 customers were sampled using stratification, Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and convenient sampling. The data was collected through the use of questionnaires. Descriptive statistics was employed and results were presented in tables and charts with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis purposes. The influence of consumer purchasing power on the preference of shopping malls was tested using regression, correlation and Chi-square methods at 5% levels of effect. From the study findings, the researcher establish that purchasing power, personal preference has been found to play an important role in influencing consumer's preferences and bias towards shopping malls. An overwhelming number of the consumers recognized the importance of group influence on their choice of the shopping mall. This helped the researcher draw a conclusion and formulate recommendations informing policies and marketing strategies that are essential to marketers in the shopping malls and other related business facilities in line with consumer purchasing power.


A steam control valve is used to control the flow from the steam generator to the steam turbine in thermal and nuclear power plants. During startup and shutdown of the plant, the steam control valve is operated under a partial flow conditions. In such conditions, the valve opening is small and the pressure deference across the valve is large. As a result, the flow downstream of the valve is composed of separated unsteady transonic jets. Such flow patterns often cause undesirable large unsteady fluid force on the valve head and downstream pipe system. In the present study, various flow patterns are investigated in order to understand the characteristics of the unsteady flow around the valve. Experiments are carried out with simplified two-dimensional valve models. Two-dimensional unsteady flow simulations are conducted in order to understand the experimental results in detail. Scale effects on the flow characteristics are also examined. Results show three types of oscillating flow pattern and three types of static flow patterns.


Introduction – The local fruit biodiversity can represent a good opportunity to maintain the agriculture and to develop economies in "marginal" territory such as those in the mountain rural areas. The genetic diversity of the Morus spp. is little known in the Western Pamir mountains, so that the objective of the present study was to improve the knowledge of the polymorphism of the species in the different poorly explored Tajik valleys by investigating the main quantitative and qualitative traits. Materials and methods – Six selected sites of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region were investigated through field measurement on morphological traits of mulberry trees (both from wild and cultivated habitats). The qualitative analysis on fresh and dried fruits were carried out on four cultivars of the white mulberry (Morus alba L.) and one cultivar of the black mulberry (Morus nigra L.) collected in the Pamir Biological Institute, the highest botanical garden of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Results and discussion – Our study revealed high variability for all the measured parameters confirmed by a wide polymorphism. The highest rate of variability and the most promising genotypes in terms of fruit morphological traits were observed in the Vanch and the Rushan valleys. Due to the highest ascorbic acid content for the black cv. Shatut and the white cv. Marvori and a better taste, confirmed by the highest reducing and total sugar contents during the early and the full ripening (cv. Bedonia), mulberry fruits can be suggested for the fresh consumption. The cv. Shatut is the only one suggested for sun-drying, following specific local recipes for traditional consumption. Conclusion – The high morphogenetic variability of the mulberry trees in a marginal mountain area as the Gorno Badakhshan in the Western Pamir offers opportunities to make value of fruits with high nutritional and sensory profile and to develop the agricultural resources of any vulnerable territory.


To determine the effect of aging on the suppression of GH secretion by insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, we studied 11 healthy young adults (6 men, 5 women, mean +/- SD: 25.2 +/- 4.6 yr old; body mass index 23.7 +/- 1.8 kg/m2) and 11 older adults (6 men, 5 women, 69.5 +/- 5.8 yr old; body mass index 24.2 +/- 2.5 kg/m2). Saline (control) or recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I) (2 h baseline then, in sequence, 2.5 h each of 1, 3, and 10 micrograms/kg.h) was infused iv during the last 9.5 h of a 40.5-h fast; serum glucose was clamped within 15% of baseline. Baseline serum GH concentrations (mean +/- SE: 3.3 +/- 0.7 vs. 1.9 +/- 0.5 micrograms/L, P = 0.02) and total IGF-I concentrations (219 +/- 15 vs. 103 +/- 19 micrograms/L, P < 0.01) were higher in the younger subjects. In both age groups, GH concentrations were significantly decreased by 3 and 10 micrograms/kg.h, but not by 1 microgram/kg.h rhIGF-I. The absolute decrease in GH concentrations was greater in young than in older subjects during the 3 and 10 micrograms/kg.h rhIGF-I infusion periods, but both young and older subjects suppressed to a similar GH level during the last hour of the rhIGF-I infusion (0.78 +/- 0.24 microgram/L and 0.61 +/- 0.16 microgram/L, respectively). The older subjects had a greater increase above baseline in serum concentrations of both total (306 +/- 24 vs. 244 +/- 14 micrograms/L, P = 0.04) and free IGF-I (8.5 +/- 1.4 vs. 4.2 +/- 0.6 micrograms/L, P = 0.01) than the young subjects during rhIGF-I infusion, and their GH suppression expressed in relation to increases in both total and free serum IGF-I concentrations was significantly less than in the young subjects. We conclude that the ability of exogenous rhIGF-I to suppress serum GH concentrations declines with increasing age. This suggests that increased sensitivity to endogenous IGF-I negative feedback is not a cause of the decline in GH secretion that occurs with aging.


This critical edition of charters from the great Hospitaller cartulary of 1442 provides a wealth of evidence for the study of both the Hospitallers and Templars in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. By publishing the 230 Essex entries of the prima camera, this volume complements Professor Gervers' edition of the secunda camera (published as RSEH New Series VI), which was enthusiastically received as essential reading for all medieval economic and social historians and hailed as 'a tribute to the editor's scholarship and application'. The editor's Introduction demonstrates how the documents reveal major differences between the wealthy Templar Order and the far more modest establishment of the Hospitallers, and his thorough examination of the manuscript includes an innovative methodology for the dating of undated charters. This much awaited edition will provide a valuable source of data for many years to come.


Increasing research on social networks stresses the urgency for producing effective means of ensuring user privacy. Represented ubiquitously as graphs, social networks have a myriad of recently developed techniques to prevent identity disclosure, but the equally important attribute disclosure attacks have been neglected. To address this gap, we introduce an approach to anonymize social networks that have labeled nodes, $\alpha$-proximity, which requires that the label distribution in every neighbourhood of the graph be close to that throughout the entire network. We present an effective greedy algorithm to achieve $\alpha$-proximity and experimentally validate the quality of the solutions it derives.


The emotional significance of sensory events may influence attention in a reflexive manner, but these effects vary across paradigms and participants. Recent research indicates that specific circuits in the brain may serve to amplify neural responses to emotional stimuli, a modulation similar to attentional effects usually driven by endogenous goals. However, this modulation involves distinct sources in emotional systems such as the amygdala, and may thus operate partly independent of top-down control by attentional systems in frontoparietal cortices. It remains to be clarified to what degree these emotional effects are influenced by specific perceptual and emotional dimensions, automaticity and attentional resources, task goals or expectations, and individual personality traits.


Background/Aims: It is well known that laparoscopic surgery requires the demonstration of a different set of technical skills when compared to open surgery. Laparoscopic training using simulators has been shown to accelerate learning in an efficient and standardized manner. Significant research has been conducted for skills acquisition in abdominal surgery, but in the field of gynecologic laparoscopy the relevant studies are limited. The aim of this study was to compare the training efficacy of virtual reality (VR) simulators and boxtrainers (BTs) for skills acquisition in gynecologic surgery, and also to study the transferability of these skills in the performance of more advanced gynecologic operations. Methods: Twenty residents in obstetrics-gynecology with minimal laparoscopic experience were randomized into two equal groups to be trained on either a VR simulator (Group-A) or a BT (Group-B). Group-A was trained on basic tasks (clipping, peg transfer, and cutting), whereas Group-B was trained on ovarian cystectomy and salpingotomy using custom training models. After training, the two groups were assessed on the performance of two laparoscopic gynecologic procedures on a VR simulator (salpingotomy and salpingectomy). Performance metrics included time, instrument pathlength, and various task-specific errors. Results: Both groups demonstrated significant performance improvement in all training tasks, for all but one of the metrics (p < 0.05). After training, both groups had improved performance in the laparoscopic operations using the VR simulator, but this trend was not statistically significant in any metric considered (p > 0.05). Similarly, the post-training performance between the two groups was not statistically different (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Basic skills training on either a VR simulator or BT results in equivalent but not statistically significant performance improvement with more advanced gynecologic laparoscopic tasks on a VR simulator.


Although most surgeons prefer primary closure of gastroschisis, staged closure is most commonly needed because of marked visceroabdominal disproportion. We have modified the usual primary fascial closure by introducing postoperative muscle paralysis through the use of a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent. The result was a higher percentage of patients amenable to primary closure. Twenty-nine patients with gastroschisis were treated by us during a 5 1/2-year period. Primary fascial closure was possible in 20 cases (69%). In 17 of the 20 patients, postoperative paralysis was induced for two to three days to avoid the complications associated with increased intraabdominal pressure. Postoperative complications were few.


Evidence is limited of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) impact on effectiveness and efficiency of controlled drugs' (CDs) governance processes. We carried out a mixed-methods study of an ADC in an intensive care unit. We found ADC improved effectiveness and efficiency of governance of CDs through secure storage, alerts and automated recording of transactions. Limitations were associated with ADC design and 'fit' between ADC and some types of CDs.


The writer wishes to comment on some aspects of the geology, petrology and geochemistry of the paper by Van Tonder and Mouri (2010) that are deemed to be problematic. In their paper the authors have chosen to subdivide the Johannesburg Dome (JD) granitoids into three main suites, namely:

1. a Tonalite Gneiss suite (TG) around the southern boundary of the dome;

2. a Granodiorite to Adamellite Gneiss suite (GAG) across the northern part of the dome; and

3. a Granodiorite/Adamellite to Granodiorite suite (GG) occurring between the TG and GAG suites.

This subdivision differs from earlier explanations of the geology of the granitic rocks on the dome (Anhaeusser, 1971; 1973). Under normal circumstances, when presenting new interpretations of previously studied geological environments, it is customary to provide new data and argument in support of any suggested changes to the geological status quo. In their study, the authors state that previous geochemical work recorded on the JD is very limited, with only one dataset of major, some trace element, and some rare earth element analyses of isolated areas. The authors then state that in their work an attempt is made, using a complete set of petrographic, mineral chemistry, major-, trace- and REE data, to identify the subcomponents of the Archaean granitoid rocks of the JD, to classify them within the current framework of understanding of the TTG suites and to propose processes involved in the petrogenesis of these granitoids.

The writer takes issue with the claim by the authors that they have provided a more complete dataset than the information made available earlier by Anhaeusser (1971; 1973 1999). It is accepted that a copious supply of major-, trace- and REE data was not supplied previously (due to analytical cost considerations), but what was provided were very selective analyses of the best preserved, …


The heart is the first organ to be functional in the fetus. Heart formation is a complex morphogenetic process regulated by both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are the most prominent congenital diseases. Genetics is not sufficient to explain these diseases or the impact of them on patients. Epigenetics is more and more emerging as a basis for cardiac malformations. This review brings the essential knowledge on cardiac biology of development. It further provides a broad background on epigenetics with a focus on three-dimensional conformation of chromatin. Then, we summarize the current knowledge of the impact of epigenetics on cardiac cell fate decision. We further provide an update on the epigenetic anomalies in the genesis of CHD.


Processing high-volume, high-velocity data streams is an important big data problem in many sciences, engineering, and technology domains. There are many open-source distributed stream processing and cloud platforms that offer low-latency stream processing at scale, but the visualization and user-interaction components of these systems are limited to visualizing the outcome of stream processing results. Visual analysis represents a new form of analysis where the user has more control and interactive capabilities either to dynamically change the visualization, analytics or data management processes. VAStream provides an environment for big data stream processing along with interactive visualization capabilities. The system environment consists of hardware and software modules to optimize streaming data workflow (that includes data ingest, pre-processing, analytics, visualization, and collaboration components). The system environment is evaluated for two real-time streaming applications. The real-time event detection using social media streams uses text data arriving from sources such as Twitter to detect emerging events of interest. The real-time river sensor network analysis project uses unsupervised classification methods to classify sensor network streams arriving from the US river network to detect water quality problems. We discuss implementation details and provide performance comparison results of various individual stream processing operations for both stream processing applications.


The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) is an administrative fact for many counsellors. This psychiatric approach to formulating client concerns runs counter to those used by counsellors of many approaches (e.g., systemic, feminist). Using an online survey of counsellors ( N = 116), invited contributions to a website blog, and in-depth interviews of 10 counsellors, we sought to better understand how the DSM-IV-TR infuenced counsellors' practice, and their responses to its expected use. From our situational analyses, we relate our findings to tensions experienced by counsellors when practicing from non-psychiatric approaches to practice.


A Lewis acid surfactant combined catalyst (LASC) was tentatively used in a cationic polymerization in miniemulsion of p-methoxystyrene (pMOS). In a first part, the initiating potential of trisdodecyl sulfate ytterbium (Yb(DS)3, 0.25H2O) was evidenced in the solution polymerization of pMOS initiated by the corresponding chlorinated adduct pMOS−HCl. Miniemulsion polymerizations of pMOS performed using the same initiating system gave rise to oligomers, but experimental conditions chosen could not evidence the expected LASC-mediated cationic polymerization process. Further studies showed that LASC is located at the interface and acts only as a surfactant together with SDS. The polymerization occurred due to the hydrolysis of pMOS−HCl. The resulting acidification of the water phase leads to the transformation of SDS into its sulfuric acid form acting as an inisurf according to an interfacial cationic polymerization process. Latex particles of pMOS incorporating narrowly distributed low molar mass chains were o...


Precise modelling of detectors in simulations is the key to the understanding of their performance, which, in turn, is a prerequisite for the proper design choice and, later, for the achievement of valid physics results. In this report, we describe the implementation of the Silicon Tracking System (STS), the main tracking device of the CBM experiment, in the CBM software environment. The STS makes uses of double-sided silicon micro-strip sensors with double metal layers. We present a description of transport and detector response simulation, including all relevant physical effects like charge creation and drift, charge collection, cross-talk and digitization. Of particular importance and novelty is the description of the time behaviour of the detector, since its readout will not be externally triggered but continuous. We also cover some aspects of local reconstruction, which in the CBM case has to be performed in real-time and thus requires high-speed algorithms.


TNF-alpha has been shown to be associated with macrophage cell membranes in such a way as to retain cytolytic activity despite fixation of the macrophage effector cells with paraformaldehyde. In this paper we report that, similar to cytotoxic macrophages, natural cytotoxic (NC) cells also use cell-associated TNF to lyse sensitive target cells. However, in contrast to fixed cytotoxic macrophages, NC cells do not retain cytolytic activity after fixation with paraformaldehyde. Additionally, the cytolytic activity of paraformaldehyde-fixed NC cells is not increased by incubation with LPS or by incubation with rTNF before fixation. Western blot analysis indicates that, unlike macrophages, NC cells use a smaller (17 kDa) constitutively active form of TNF. These results indicate that, although both macrophages and NC cells use effector cell-associated TNF to mediate lysis of sensitive targets, the way in which TNF is associated with these two types of effector cells must be different.


Background Tapering trials confirmed the feasibility of TNF inhibitors (TNFi) tapering for a relevant proportion of patients in remission and/or low disease activity. However, there are no consensual predictors of a good response to therapeutic spacing among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in remission. Objectives To determine the most predictive tool and threshold of a successful TNFi tapering. Methods Population: The Spacing of TNF-blocker injections in Rheumatoid Arthritis Study (STRASS) trial included 137 RA patients fulfilled the ACR 1987 criteria with sustained (at least 6 months) DAS28 <2.6. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the two following strategies: in the Maintain arm, patients continued to receive TNFi at the standard full regimen and in the Spacing arm, the strategy applied progressive spacing of ADA or ETN subcutaneous injections up to discontinuation at the forth step in the spacing arm. We used the data of the Spacing arm. Analysis: The performances of several variables (DAS28, SDAI, CDAI, CRP, ACPA status, HAQ, patient/physician global assessment, and booleen remission criteria) were assessed for the prediction of successful TNFi tapering, defined as reaching at least 25% tapering of the full regimen during at least 6 months, using sensitivity and specificity for dichotomous variables, or the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval for continuous variables. A predictive score of successful tapering was constructed using LASSO regression modeling technique to avoid overfitting (R software version 3.2.1). Results The main characteristic of the 64 patients of the Spacing arm were the following (mean ± SD): age 54.3±10.7 years, disease duration 8.3±5.4 years, and DAS 28 1.9±0.6. The baseline variables were similar between patients who failed or succeeded at TNFi spacing, except for the HAQ score (0.30 in the group success and 0.89 in the failure group, p=0.01) and the CRP (2.35 mg/l versus 3.48 mg/l, respectively, p=0.02). Baseline variables performance in predicting successful TNFi spacing: None of the tested variables was able to predict successful TNFi spacing, except the HAQ score and the CRP. A HAQ threshold ≥1.125 had a specificity (Spe) of 93% and an AUC: 0.713 (CI95%: 0.540–0.886). A CRP threshold ≥6.8 mg/l had a Spe of 0.97 and an AUC: 0.689 (CI95%: 0.547–0.831). Composite criteria: A composite criteria able to predict successful TNFi spacing has been elaborated, including ACPA status, Boolean criteria, SDAI, CRP and HAQ. A composite score lower than 0.502 was able to predict a successful TNFi spacing: Spe: 100%; Se: 54%; AUC: 0.829 (CI95%: 0.671 - 0.986). Conclusions The remission maintenance in rheumatoid arthritis after TNFi spacing is possible. Our results showed that in a population of RA patients in remission with TNFi, baseline HAQ and CRP are independent predictor factors of successful tapering. We have developed a composite index able to predict successful TNFi spacing, with an AUC of 0.829 and a specificity of 100%. A validation study will be needed to confirm its ability to select patients for treatment decrease. Disclosure of Interest None declared


This paper is an exploration of the state of 'clinical unease' experienced by clinicians in contexts where professional judgement—grounded in clinical knowledge, critical reflection and a sound grasp of the law—indicates that there is more than one ethically defensible way to proceed. The question posed is whether the courts can be viewed as an appropriate vehicle to settle clinical unease by providing a ruling that clarifies the legal and ethical issues arising in the case, even in situations where there is no dispute between the patient (or her proxies) and the healthcare team. The concept of 'clinical unease' is framed with reference to the broader experience of clinical decision-making, and distinguished from other widely discussed phenomena in the healthcare literature like moral distress and conscientious objection. A number of reported cases are briefly examined where the courts were invited to rule in circumstances of apparent 'unease'. The respective responsibilities of clinicians and courts are discussed: in particular, their capability and readiness to respond to matters of ethical concern. Four imagined clinical scenarios are outlined where a clinical team might welcome a court adjudication, under current rules. Consideration is given to the likelihood of such cases being heard, and to whether there may be better remedies than the courts. There are final reflections on what clinicians may actually wish for in seeking court involvement, and on whether a willingness to engage with the experience of clinical unease may lead to greater sensitivity towards the value perspectives of others.


Device modeling has been carried out to investigate the effects of defect states on the performance of ideal CuInGaSe2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells theoretically. The varieties of defect states (location in the band gap and densities) in absorption layer CIGS and in buffer layer CdS were examined. The performance parameters: open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, fill factor, and photoelectric conversion efficiency for different defect states were quantitatively analyzed. We found that defect states always harm the performance of CIGS solar cells, but when defect state density is less than 1014 cm−3 in CIGS or less than 1018 cm−3 in CdS, defect states have little effect on the performances. When defect states are located in the middle of the band gap, they are more harmful. The effects of temperature and thickness are also considered. We found that CIGS solar cells have optimal performance at about 170 K and 2 μm of CIGS is enough for solar light absorption.


We pose an active perception problem where an autonomous agent actively interacts with a second agent with potentially adversarial behaviors. Given the uncertainty in the intent of the other agent, the objective is to collect further evidence to help discriminate potential threats. The main technical challenges are the partial observability of the agent intent, the adversary modeling, and the corresponding uncertainty modeling. Note that an adversary agent may act to mislead the autonomous agent by using a deceptive strategy that is learned from past experiences. We propose an approach that combines belief space planning, generative adversary modeling, and maximum entropy reinforcement learning to obtain a stochastic belief space policy. By accounting for various adversarial behaviors in the simulation framework and minimizing the predictability of the autonomous agent's action, the resulting policy is more robust to unmodeled adversarial strategies. This improved robustness is empirically shown against an adversary that adapts to and exploits the autonomous agent's policy when compared with a standard Chance-Constraint Partially Observable Markov Decision Process robust approach.


New deep-learning architectures are created every year, achieving state-of-the-art results in image recognition and leading to the belief that, in a few years, complex tasks such as sign language translation will be considerably easier, serving as a communication tool for the hearing-impaired community. On the other hand, these algorithms still need a lot of data to be trained and the dataset creation process is expensive, time-consuming, and slow. Thereby, this work aims to investigate techniques of digital image processing and machine learning that can be used to create a sign language dataset effectively. We argue about data acquisition, such as the frames per second rate to capture or subsample the videos, the background type, preprocessing, and data augmentation, using convolutional neural networks and object detection to create an image classifier and comparing the results based on statistical tests. Different datasets were created to test the hypotheses, containing 14 words used daily and recorded by different smartphones in the RGB color system. We achieved an accuracy of 96.38% on the test set and 81.36% on the validation set containing more challenging conditions, showing that 30 FPS is the best frame rate subsample to train the classifier, geometric transformations work better than intensity transformations, and artificial background creation is not effective to model generalization. These trade-offs should be considered in future work as a cost-benefit guideline between computational cost and accuracy gain when creating a dataset and training a sign recognition model.


" (McCarthy 2015: 31-32; orig. emphasis) It seems that what could be called the algorithmic performativity of organizing, which is enabled by network infrastructure, is what drives the Project and what provokes the experiences of opacity and not-knowing (Beyes/Pias 2014). Moreover, this kind of performativity leads the ethnographer to deeper suspicions about the nature and possibility of a Great Report. As U, the good reader of Lévi-Strauss, very well knows (McCarthy 2015: 104), the problem might not be that the Great Report is an unwritable fantasy and thus a quixotic quest in the first place. Rather, the report has already been written or it is continuously being written, albeit not by field researchers, anthropologists or sociologists, but by software. U experiences a kind of epiphany: "Write Everything Down, said Malinowski. But the thing is, now, it is all written down. There's hardly an instant of our lives that isn't documented. Walk down any stretch of street and you're being filmed by three cameras at once – and even if you aren't, the phone you carry in your pocket pinpoints and logs your location at each given moment. Each website that you visit, every click-through, every keystroke is archived: even if you've hit delete, wipe, empty trash, it's still logged somewhere, in some fold or enclave, some occluded avenue of circuitry. [...] And as for the structures of kinship, the networks of exchange within whose web we're held, cradled, created [...]: well, those networks are being mapped, that task performed, by the software that tabulates and cross-indexes what we buy with who we know, and what they buy, or like, and with the other objects that are bought or liked by others who we don't know but with whom we cohabit a shared buyingor liking-pattern." (ibid.: 107; orig. emphasis) 4 McCarthy-the-satirist has U fantasizing about the possibilities of resistance and resistance movements against the 'automatic writing' in general – which would reduce us to "no more than actions and commands within its key-chains" (2015: 108) – and the Project in particular. It is worth quoting, even if reflecting upon the limits and potential of resistance is beyond the scope of this chapter: "And then my cohorts, that semi-occluded network of covert anthropologist I'd dreamt into being already: they could join me in the cause. Together, we could turn Present-Tense AnthropologyTM


Objective: To investigate the influence of the GP's attire on the confidence that patients have in their GP as a medical expert and on the patient's comfort level (defined as 'feel at ease'). Design: A cross-section study without control group. Methods: Participants (n=1506 ) completed a survey on the internet or in paper after seeing images of six models of three different age categories, each in five different clothing styles (leisure clothing, casual, semiformal, formal and professional). The following questions were asked for each model: "In which doctor do you have the most confidence as a medical expert?" and "With which doctor do you feel most at ease?". Results: Patients trusted a female doctor and the older male doctor most when wearing professional clothing (white coat). The young and middle aged GP's were preferred to wear semiformal attire. Patients were most at ease with a female GP wearing leisure clothing. They preferred the young and middle aged male GP to wear semiformal attire, while patients were most at ease with the older male GP wearing casual clothing. Conclusion: The GP's attire has an influence on the patient's confidence and comfort level. In general patients still mainly prefer a doctor in a professional outfit.


Abstract Camel dairy products have long been recognised as important in pastoralist livelihoods in northern Kenya, but only in recent years has camel milk been marketed commercially in the urban centres of the region. This article charts the commodification of camel milk in Isiolo, considering the evolution from simple urban hawking, led by female vendors, to commercial retail sales and international exports involving investment of higher levels of capital. Gender labour dynamics, and capital investment, emerge as critical themes in this story of camel milk's commodification. The formalisation and regularisation of camel milk sales has inevitably led to a requirement for greater professionalisation and firmer control of production, moving away from the itinerant women who initially pioneered the commodification and towards camel owners who have greater levels of education and who are better able to capitalise the trade.


Abstract Although high dose n-3 PUFA supplementation reduces exercise- and hyperpnoea-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB/HIB), there are concurrent issues with cost, compliance and gastrointestinal discomfort. It is thus pertinent to establish the efficacy of lower n-3 PUFA doses. Eight male adults with asthma and HIB and eight controls without asthma were randomly supplemented with two n-3 PUFA doses (6·2 g/d (3·7 g EPA and 2·5 g DHA) and 3·1 g/d (1·8 g EPA and 1·3 g DHA)) and a placebo, each for 21 d followed by 14 d washout. A eucapnic voluntary hyperpnoea (EVH) challenge was performed before and after treatments. Outcome measures remained unchanged in the control group. In the HIB group, the peak fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) after EVH at day 0 (−1005 (sd 520) ml, −30 (sd 18) %) was unchanged after placebo. The peak fall in FEV1 was similarly reduced from day 0 to day 21 of 6·2 g/d n-3 PUFA (−1000 (sd 460) ml, −29 (sd 17) % v. −690 (sd 460) ml, −20 (sd 15) %) and 3·1 g/d n-3 PUFA (−970 (sd 480) ml, −28 (sd 18) % v. −700 (sd 420) ml, −21 (sd 15) %) (P<0·001). Baseline fraction of exhaled nitric oxide was reduced by 24 % (P=0·020) and 31 % (P=0·018) after 6·2 and 3·1 g/d n-3 PUFA, respectively. Peak increases in 9α, 11β PGF2 after EVH were reduced by 65 % (P=0·009) and 56 % (P=0·041) after 6·2 and 3·1 g/d n-3 PUFA, respectively. In conclusion, 3·1 g/d n-3 PUFA supplementation attenuated HIB and markers of airway inflammation to a similar extent as a higher dose. Lower doses of n-3 PUFA thus represent a potentially beneficial adjunct treatment for adults with asthma and EIB.


The present study aims to analyse the survival of 94 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. They were 86 men and 8 women with a mean age of 61. Seventy four percent were smokers and 70% consumed alcohol regularly. Eighty three percent had unhealthy teeth. A great majority of patients (76) were in the advanced stages (III-IV) and 61% showed neck nodules. The overall survival at 5 years was the following: 70% for patients in stage I, 85% in stage II, 58% stage III and only 17% for the patients in stage IV. The most significant prognostic factor that affected the survival was the N stage. For the patients in N0 and N1 we only found significant differences when the lymph nodes were histologically affected by the tumor.


We describe our approach and mechanisms to support the engineering of organizational processes throughout their life cycle, and our current understanding of what activities are included in the process life cycle. We then go on to discuss our approach, computational mechanisms, and experiences in supporting many of these life cycle activities, as well as compare it to other related efforts. Along the way, we present examples drawn from a recent study that uses the approach and the mechanisms of our knowledge-based process engineering environment to support the (re)engineering of corporate financial operations in a mid-size consumer products organization.© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Standard treatment for early-stage cervical cancer (Ib2-IIa and IIb with parametrial invasion) is concurrent chemoradiotherapy and/or radical hysterectomy. The efficacy of intra-arterial delivery of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (IANAC) for this cancer remains unclear. We present three cases treated by IANAC for Ib-II stage cervical cancer, with results suggesting that IANAC is an effective treatment. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2017;6(2):37-40 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcgo435w


A modified set of Jackson diagrams together with a classification scheme is proposed as a means for unifying the study of data structures. The diagrams have proven to be very useful for presenting complex concepts and relationships.


The prevalence of anxiety disorders is known to be increasing among children and adolescents and often co-exist with another psychiatric disorder. There is some evidence that anxiety disorders in nonwestern countries have the same comorbidity patterns as in other world regions and may have similar predictors including age and gender. However, more evidence from different countries is needed. The major goal of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety disorders in a clinical setting and to describe the comorbidity patterns and predictors. We conducted a retrospective study on the admitted patients in the Clinic of Pediatric Psychiatry from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, between January 2017 and December 2017. A clinical sample of 2471 patients aged between 3 and 18 years with psychiatric disorders, assessed and/or treated in the clinic, was included into the study. About 9.88% patients (N = 244) of the clinical sample were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder as a primary diagnosis. About 79.5% of the selected sample had a comorbid disorder and 34.4% had an anxiety or mood comorbidity. Preference in treatment was nonpharmachological and, according to the degree of severity, SSRI medication. Our results underline the significant prevalence of anxiety disorders and the high rate of comorbidities.


In an attempt to decolonize Trauma Studies, a dominant mental health discourse, and to expand our understanding of trauma and post-traumatic growth, this project investigates J.M.G. Le Clézio's The African (L'africain 2004) and Ahmadou Kourouma's: Allah is Not Obliged 2011) (Allah n'est pas obligé 2000) and the untranslated and unfinished Quand on refuse on dit non (2004). The term "decolonizing Trauma Studies" refers to a remapping of this particular field of Cultural Theory by studying these non-Western "trauma novels". The first critical suggestion advanced is that these authors explore the traumatic consequences of lies that are ontological and phenomenological in nature and maintained through language (logos). This research then examines Le Clézio's and Kourouma's models of healing, which centre on the body, language, and an empathetic re-encounter with the traumatized self through narratives. Another major finding is that these texts experiment with literature, manipulating it into new forms, thus expanding our understanding of the relationship between the literary arts and post-traumatic growth theories and treatments.


Five year post-transplant survival rate is an important indicator on quality of care delivered by kidney transplant centers in the United States. To provide a fair assessment of each transplant center, an effect that represents the center-specific care quality, along with patient level risk factors, is often included in the risk adjustment model. In the past, the center effects have been modeled as either fixed effects or Gaussian random effects, with various merits and demerits. We propose two new methods that allow flexible random effects distributions. The first one is a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) with normal mixture random effects. By allowing random effects to be non homogeneous, the shrinkage effects is reduced and the predicted random effects are much closer to the truth. In addition, modeling random effects as normal mixture will essentially clustering it into different groups, which provides a natural way of evaluating the performance in the transplant center case. To decide the number of components, we do a sequential hypothesis tests. In the second method, we propose a subgroup analysis on the random effects under the framework of GLMM. Each level of the random effect is allowed to be a cluster by itself, but clusters that are close to each other will be merged into big ones. This method provides more precise and stable estimation than fixed effects model while it has a much more flexible distributions for random effects than a GLMM with Gaussian assumption. In addition, the other effects in the model will be selected via lasso type penalty.


A study of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity (DC) was carried out in 50 chronic hemodialysis patients divided into 3 groups according to their serological response to the HB virus (HBV): 31 chronic carriers of Ag HBs (13 HBe positive and 18 HBe negative and 19 having eliminated Ag HBs, antiHbs positive). The results of DCH testing were compared in relation to the 3 patient groups. The number and sum of indurations were reduced, this being more marked in the women, in all the uraemic patients tested. Male hemodialysis patients who were carriers of Ag HBe had the weakest responses, significantly more depressed than those of the HBe positive HBe negative or anti-HBs carrier patients. The presence of Ag HBe was correlated with persistently raised transaminases. In chronic carriers of Ag HBe, hepatic cytolysis was always absent when DCH reactions were negative, and was seen only in the presence of a cellular immune reaction. These results suggest the interaction, in the hemodialysis patient, of virological factors related to Ag HBe and cell mediated immunological factors in the pathogenesis of hepatic lesions related to HBV.


This paper examines the concept of multiple causation. Causation is one of the important elements of tortious liability. Under this concept, the plaintiff must prove a causal link between the defendant's harmful act and the damage suffered by him. If the plaintiff cannot prove this connection, he cannot succeed and his claim will fail. Sometimes, the alleged damage may be the result of a single cause. In this kind of situation, the "but for" test is applied. In some other cases, the damage may result from more than one cause, and all the causes together contribute to the final result (damage). This is referred to as multiple causation. In this latter situation, the causes may occur concurrently (at same time) or successively (one after the other), but all of them combine to create a single injury. So the main question that arises in such a situation is, which one of the causes can be held responsible for the injury. In answering this question, various legal systems have different solutions. The Malaysian tort law, for example, places emphasis on the "substantial factor" as the basic solution in multiple causation cases. In Iranian tort law, on the other hand, the emphasis is on what a reasonable person would in the ordinary course of things consider to be the cause of the injury (the "reasonable factor" test). The determination of this reasonable factor is usually done by the judge. Once this reasonable factor is determined, all the other causes will not be considered to be substantial factors. But in concurrent causation cases, all the causes will each be fully liable for the resulting damage. In the case of causes occurring successively, each cause will be liable for the damage caused by it. Based on the existing literature, this kind of research has never been undertaken and, is therefore, novel. The article is divided into five parts namely:


The treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with three beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonists, (+/-)-(R*, R*)-(4-[2-([2-(3-chlorophenyl)-2-hydroxyethyl]amino)propyl]phenoxy)ac etic acid (BRL37344), 4-[3-[(1, 1-dimethylethyl)amino]-2-hydroxypropoxy]-1, 3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-one (CGP12177) and [(7S)7-¿(2R)2-(3-chlorophenyl)-2-hydroxyethyl-amino¿-5,6,7, 8-tetrahydronapht-2-yl]ethyl oxyacetate, hydrochloride (SR58611) induces phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2). The phosphorylations were not affected by pretreatment of the adipocytes with pertussis toxin, whereas the same treatment completely abolished lisophosphatidic acid-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, suggesting the role of pertussis toxin-insensitive G protein in the ERK1/2 phosphorylation by stimulation with the beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonists. The phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was mimicked by treating the adipocytes with cholera toxin, a direct activator of stimulatory G (G(s)) protein. In addition, the ERK1/2 phosphorylations by the beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonists were completely diminished by long-term treatment of the adipocytes with cholera toxin (100 ng/ml, 24 h), whereas that obtained with lisophosphatidic acid stimulation was not. Our findings strongly suggest that the three beta(3)-adrenoceptor agonists induce ERK1/2 phosphorylation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes through a G(s) protein-dependent cascade.


The following essay is a work of Recombinant Theory. To write this essay, I have performed an elaborate cut-up and montage of Steve McCaffery's poetic and critical writing, producing over 4,000 recombinant aphorisms that extend from McCaffery's own poetics, while also refracting his theoretical concepts. Of these 4,000+ aphorisms, I have compiled several in the linear sequence that follows. This essay is an original work of narrative and theory, and it is also fully indebted to McCaffery's own work. Recombinant Theory is constraint theory, producing critical writing by means of poetic technique. This strategy resonates with the first mandate of the Toronto Research Group Manifesto (written by McCaffery and bpNichol), which states that "all theory is transient & after the fact of writing." In Recombinant Theory, the essay's ideas minimally precede the writing process; the cut-up and montage techniques are predetermined, but the process itself determines what recombinant aphorisms will emerge, and what theoretical arc will be produced through the sequencing of these aphorisms. Recombinant Theory chooses not to assess a text at arm's length, not to summarize any part of a text, not to paraphrase, not to speak on a text's behalf. Instead, Recombinant Theory speaks with the text, geomantically realigning its energy patterns, infecting the text's energy while also being infected by it, foregrounding the direct physical impact of material language, waging an attack on the categories of author and reader.


Development of an evolutionary computing tool for requirements analysis and optimization of component-based systems is described. The tool assesses scenarios that represent potential designs and their operational behavior, as well as how the designs perform in a range of environmental conditions. Designs are optimized for three objective functions: 1) reliability; 2) performance time; and 3) costs. Use of the tool is illustrated in a systems engineering case study to derive optimal design for a naval command and control system that includes human operator roles as well as technology components.


A discussion is presented of EXACT (expert system acquisition tool), a model-based knowledge acquisition tool. EXACT supports knowledge engineers in structuring and maintaining the domain knowledge needed to execute a particular selection task. The following principles have guided the development of EXACT: knowledge acquisition tools are useful for knowledge engineers rather than domain experts; the dialogue between such a tool and the user should be one of mixed initiative; the output of the tool should be an implementation-independent knowledge document; it should be easy to add more functionality to the tool gradually. In order to be able to develop EXACT, a model of the selection task has been made. EXACT has been implemented in the object-oriented language Smalltalk/V.<<ETX>>


If f : X → Spec(K) is a smooth, geometrically connected variety defined over a field of characteristic 0, K ⊃ k is a field extension, and x ∈ X(K) is a rational point, one considers three Tannaka categories C(X/K), C(X/k), C(K/k) of flat connections with compatible fiber functors. The objects of C(X/K) are bundles (i.e., locally free coherent modules of finite type) with relative flat connections ((V,∇/K),∇/K : V → ΩX/K ⊗OX V), the ones of C(X/k) are bundles with flat absolute connections ((V,∇), ∇ : V → ΩX/k ⊗OX V), and the ones of C(K/k) are K-vector spaces with flat connections ((V,∇), ∇ : V → ΩK/k⊗KV). The morphisms are the flat morphisms and the fiber functor has values in the category of finite dimensional vector spaces VecK over K, defined by the restriction of V to x for C(X/K), C(X/k) and by V for C(K/k). Then C(X/K) is a neutral Tannaka category, and Tannaka duality [2,Theorem 2.11] yields the existence of a proalgebraic group schemeG(X/K) overK, so that C(X/K) becomes equivalent to the representation category Repf(G(X/K)) on finite dimensional K-vector spaces. The two other Tannaka categories C(X/k), C(K/k) are not necessarily neutral. We assume that they are defined over k, which is to say that k is the endomorphism ring EndC(K/k)((K, dK/k)) of the unit object, which in this case is the same as the subfield of K of flat sections. Equivalently, this is saying that k is algebraically closed in K. Then Tannaka duality [3, théorème 1.12] yields the existence of groupoid schemes G(X/k), G(K/k) over k acting on Spec(K) ×k Spec(K), so that, in the groupoid sense, C(X/k) (resp., C(K/k)) becomes equivalent to the representation category Repf(K :


Ice-contact volcanism, and specifi cally subglacial volcanism, can provide information about paleo-environments such as the extent and thickness of former glaciers and ice sheets. In southwest Iceland, approximately 30 km southeast of Reykjavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the regions of Northern Bláfjöll, Vífi lsfell, and Arnarþúfur contain structures associated with Pleistocene ice-contact volcanism. This study combines remote sensing classifi cation of multispectral satellite imagery, fi eld observations, and geochemical analysis to determine the relationship between these features. Remote sensing classifi cation of SPOT 5 imagery using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) generates 22 discrete spectral signatures of which 15 are signifi cant (cumulative proportion 94.67%). Determination of signifi cant clusters and their spatial distribution facilitates subsequent fi eld investigations. Ground-truthing of Northern Bláfjöll reveals a fl at-topped volcano with steep sides that consist of basal pillow lavas, pillow-breccia, altered hyaloclastite (palagonite), fl ow-foot breccia, welded scoria, and superincumbent subaerial lava fl ows. Vífi lsfell directly overlies Northern Bláfjöll and encompasses a conical mound of palagonite with isolated welded scoria, volcanic bombs, dykes with pillowed surfaces, and peripheral slump deposits. Arnarþúfur comprises a series of linearly oriented discrete mounds with rhythmically layered fi ne-grained palagonite and clast supported beds that include varying proportions of armoured lapilli. Beds typically contain fl ow indicators such as climbing ripples, cross-beds, and fl utes. Electron microprobe analysis of major element concentrations in volcanic glass reveals that Northern Bláfjöll, Vífi lsfell, and Arnarþúfur have indistinguishable olivine normative tholeiite compositions. Northern Bláfjöll is a tuya that emerged from a deep englacial melt-water lake with a surrounding icethickness exceeding 400 m, according to the passage zone elevation above the surrounding plain. Vífi lsfell is a subglacial mound that formed beneath thin-ice conditions with episodic melt-water drainage during its emplacement. Arnarþúfur is an ice-confi ned hyaloclastite fl ow deposit that combines characteristics of pyroclastic density currents, turbidites, and eskers. Stratigraphic relationships suggest that Arnarþúfur formed in association with the Vífi lsfell eruption as a result of gravity-controlled mobilization of unconsolidated volcaniclastic material into an ice-confi ned melt-water drainage system. The chemical homogeneity of Northern Bláfjöll, Vífi lsfell, and Arnarþúfur suggest a common magma source and rapid emplacement of the volcanic edifi ce relative to the evolution of the melt.


The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite changed its altitude from 350 to 402.5 km in August 2001. As a result, the level-1 algorithm for the new orbit of the Precipitation Radar (PR) onboard the TRMM has to correct the "beam mismatch" resulting from the altitude change. Since the PR uses fixed transmission-reception timing, an altitude change of 50 km corresponds to a delay of return signals of 1 pulse repetition interval (PRI). This is not a serious problem if the angle bin of the next pulse is the same as the angle bin of the current pulse. Otherwise, return signals arrive at the PR when the antenna direction shifts to the next angle bin. This is called a "beam mismatch." It affects one pulse sample out of 32 averaged pulse samples. In other words, one "beam mismatch" pulse sample and 31 normal pulse samples are averaged at the onboard processor of the PR. A new algorithm was added to the PR's level-1 algorithm, 1B21, to eliminate this mismatch sample at the 402.5-km altitude. In this paper, the effect of beam mismatch is estimated for both rain echo and surface echo in terms of the received power and the incident angle dependency. The basic function of the beam mismatch correction algorithm is to estimate the received power of the mismatched pulse. Theoretically, the effective round-trip antenna pattern of a mismatched pulse has a peak right in the middle of the transmission and reception directions with a gain reduction of 6 dB. The new 1B21 algorithm uses the average of the received power of successive angle bins with a 6-dB gain reduction as the power from the mismatched pulse. The effectiveness of the correction algorithm was evaluated using high angular resolution data obtained during external calibration observations and the statistics of the normalized radar cross section of the earth's surface (/spl sigma//sup 0/), which is thought to be unchanged. The estimated error was less than 0.2 dB for the rain echo, and a large error of up to 0.5 dB was found at the boundary of the surface based on the error estimation using high angular resolution data. The difference in /spl sigma//sup 0/ and its angle dependency is explained using a simple surface model. The model results indicate the correction error reaches up to 0.8 dB at the skirts of the surface echo.


Abstract A set of experiments tested whether honeybees can remember two different landmark constellations within the same room, or whether the two constellations are mixed together in a single composite memory. Bees were trained to find a reward location with two different landmark arrays. For example, when the blue landmark was north of the yellow one, the reward was to the east; when the yellow landmark was north of the blue one, the reward was to the west. On occasional unrewarded tests, either one of the training arrays was presented (control tests), or else a training array rotated by 90° (rotated tests). A rotated array consisted of part of one training array added to a part of the other training array. Should honeybees form a single composite memory by combining the two training arrays, they should search as much at the target location on rotated tests as on control tests. Results refute this and suggest that they had two separate memories.


We have succeeded in measuring a substantial portion of the two-point space-time velocity correlation in hot, highspeed turbulent jets. This measurement, crucial in aeroacoustic theory and the prediction of jet noise, has been sought for a long time, but has not been made due to the limitations of anemometry. Particle Image Velocimetry has reached a stage of maturity where sufficient measurement density in both time and space allow the computation of space-time correlations. This paper documents these measurements along with lower-order statistics to document the adherence of the jet rig and instrumentation to conventional measures of the turbulence of jets. These measures have been made for a simple round convergent nozzle at acoustic Mach numbers of 0.5, 0.9, both cold and at a static temperature ratio of 2.7, allowing some estimation of the changes in turbulence that take place with changes in jet temperature. Since the dataset described in this paper is very extensive, attention will be focused on validation of the rig and of the measurement systems, and on some of the interesting observations made from studying the statistics, especially as they relate to jet noise. Of note is the effort to study the acoustically relevant part of the space-time correlation by addressing that part of the turbulence kinetic energy that has sonic phase speed.


Within the limits of an epidemiological longitudinal field survey on prevalence and course of psychogenic disorders a high-risk-population suffering from medical psychogenic impairment was investigated. The study was conducted in order to verify an etiological multi-level-model of psychogenic disorders in relation to the socialempiric variables "critical life events" and "social support" as well as the depth psychological oriented construct "personality". Besides other instruments a self rating scale based on Vallant's hierarchical model of defense, i.e. the german adaptation of the DSQ (Defense Style Questionnaire) of Bond and coworkers, was used for the accurate measurement of relevant personality parameters. Although defense processes predominantly work unconscious, manifestations of defense mechanisms could be measured indirectly by means of the rating scale. Its essential dimensions separated clinical patients from a group of healthy controls. Furthermore an immature organisation of defense was found to be related to psychogenic impairment. Concerning self- and expert-rating a significant correlation between "immature defense" and the defense mechanisms "schizoid phantasy", "projection" and "acting out" was proved.


A scheme for controlled quantum state swapping is presented using maximally entangled five-qubit state, i.e., Alice wants to transmit an entangled state of particle a to Bob and at the same time Bob wants to transmit an entangled state of particle b to Alice via the control of the supervisor Charlie. The operations used in this swapping process including C-not operation and a series of single-qubit measurements performed by Alice, Bob, and Charlie.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus and the leading cause of blindness in young adults. Prior to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents, the treatment of DR was based on control of systemic factors and laser photocoagulation. Over the past decade, the use of anti-VEGF agents has revolutionized the treatment of DR, including diabetic macular edema (DME). Areas covered: Ranibizumab has been proven to be effective for the treatment of DME in large clinical trials, while patients in these studies have been assessed in terms of DR severity change. In this review, evidence from randomized trials regarding the use of ranibizumab for DR treatment is presented. Expert opinion: A comprehensive presentation of randomized clinical trials evaluating ranibizumab for DR indicates that it is effective and safe, offering improvement of DR severity in both non-proliferative and proliferative forms. However, there is no general consensus regarding the exact treatment regimen in patients with DR, while the effect of ranibizumab on the progression of retinal ischemia remains unclear.


Physicians in every field of practice can expect to be called upon to care for patients whose lives have been affected by interpersonal violence. Although the medical profession has begun to acknowledge the appropriate role of physicians in screening, diagnosis, and treatment of interpersonal violence, these areas have not been fully addressed in the curricula of most medical schools. Competencies in the understanding of violence and its treatment are proposed for medical students, residents, and practicing physicians. By the time of graduation, all medical students should be able to demonstrate appropriate attitudes, core knowledge, and basic skills in assessment and intervention of patients at risk from or experiencing violence. During postgraduate training, residents should amass specialized knowledge and skill concerning the spectrum of injuries and illnesses they may encounter in clinical practice. Faculty development efforts should address the advancement of faculty who are well trained in a scholarly approach to teaching and research in this field. This paper describes methods by which educational efforts in interpersonal violence can be introduced into medical education. Proposed goals and objectives for curriculum development in schools of medicine, along with an implementation plan, are offered.


The main purpose of this paper is to bring out a distinct strategy to promote and predict the dispersion behaviors of epidemic diseases before they actually happen. With innumerable cases of epidemic outbreaks being recorded in various parts of the world, techniques such as those discussed in this paper, if widely used, under supervision can help to circumvent such occurrences even before they actually happen with accurate predictions. This would also ensure a better coping mechanism is provided to study the spread of such infections and adequate control mechanisms are put in place to prevent loss of human life. Through the course of the paper, the hope is to develop a well-defined prediction methodology that can predict the likeliness of an individual being affected by a particular epidemic through assessing of early symptoms and also predicting future instances in their infancy.


The publication substantiates the economic advantages of using in the starting loads of inherently safe fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle of enriched uranium instead of uranium-plutonium regenerate obtained by reprocessing of thermal reactors spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The justifications are given taking into account both the preliminary technical and economic assessments carried out by the basic enterprises of TVEL JSC and SHK JSC, and the neutron-physical and system-economic studies performed at the Private Institution of the ITCP Proryv (Breakthrough). It is shown that the starting-up of a fast reactor on enriched uranium instead of uranium-plutonium fuel, taking into account the costs of preliminary reprocessing of thermal reactors spent fuel, allows achieving a significant economic gain at the stage of construction and commissioning of nuclear power plants. It is also shown that even at moderately high values of the discount coefficient, the uranium start of a fast reactor with a closed fuel cycle is economically preferable in comparison with the option of starting on uranium-plutonium fuel from the positions of the break-even tariff.


Recent studies suggest that human rhinovirus species A, B and C (HRV-ABCs) may be associated with both the common cold and severe acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) such as bronchiolitis, wheezy bronchiolitis and pneumonia. However, the state and molecular epidemiology of these viruses in Japan is not fully understood. This study detected the genomes of HRV-ABCs from Japanese patients (92 cases, 0-36 years old, mean±sd 3.5±5.0 years) with various ARIs including upper respiratory infection, bronchiolitis, wheezy bronchiolitis, croup and pneumonia between January and December 2010. HRV-ABCs were provisionally type assigned from the pairwise distances among the strains. On phylogenetic trees based on the nucleotide sequences of the VP4/VP2 coding region, HRV-A, -B and -C were provisionally assigned to 14, 2 and 12 types, respectively. The present HRV-A and -C strains had a wide genetic diversity (>30 % divergence). The interspecies distances were 0.230±0.063 (mean±sd, HRV-A), 0.218±0.048 (HRV-B) and 0.281±0.105 (HRV-C), based on nucleotide sequences, and 0.075±0.036 (HRV-A), 0.049±0.022 (HRV-B) and 0.141±0.064 (HRV-C) at the deduced amino acid level. Furthermore, HRV-A and -C were the predominant species and were detected throughout the seasons. The results suggested that HRV-A and -C strains have a wide genetic divergence and are associated with various ARIs in Japan.