The paper
proposes a study for the delineation of protection zones in the main discharge
area of the Gran Sasso aquifer (Central Italy). At this aim, starting from a
detailed geological and hydrogeological reconstruction, the study was divided
into the following phases: 1) development of a conceptual model of water flow
in the study area; 2) creation of a 3D numerical model in order to simulate the
groundwater flow in saturated conditions, both at the basin and at fine-scale; 3)
flow path analysis through deterministic and stochastic approaches; 4)
assessment of the aquifer vulnerability based on a geomorphological analysis of
the catchment area. Conceptual and numerical models were then used to delineate
protection zones for wells and springs with chronological criterion and
geomorphological-structural criterion (based on the EPIK method). The results
show that with a chronological approach protection zones are located along the
main flow directions, corresponding to the areas surrounding wells and springs
with high hydraulic conductivity values (faults and thrusts) within the satured
zone. On the contrary, the geomorphological method has found some important
protection zones also quite far from wells and springs, in areas characterized
by quick infiltration processes. The protection zones delineated with the
stochastic method were finally intersected by the vulnerability map obtained
with the EPIK method, to take into account both filtration and infiltration
processes. The results show the local vulnerability of the groundwater to the
pollution, with protection zones extending 1 to 5 km towards northeast from
springs and wells.


Many Researchers are researching in the field of Wireless Networks around the world. The results of these researches are the annual production of several new protocols and standards. Since the field is divided into several sub- categories so, each new protocol is presented must place in this sub-categories based on its own structure. Many researchers proposed new ideas in the field of protocol classifications that they seem appropriate categories in the last few years. According to the expand area of wireless network research and studies on intelligent methods right now and classifications are inefficient and need to be designed a new classification. One of the most fundamental problems in this area is the lack of a comprehensive structure classification to accommodate the new intelligent protocol. In this paper, we are going to compare different protocols and available classifications, presenting a new classification by modeling from Mendeleev table where protocols can be classified in one of the branches of the tree, and allocate a unique code in the world.


High-speed particle-laden flows are studied through a combination of high-order Eulerian Lagrangian (EL) method development, multi-scale modeling and the analysis of normal, shear and wake instabilities. The EL code is based on a Weighted Essentially Non-Oscillatory (WENO) discretization, which captures discontinuities sharply while ensuring higher-order resolution in smoother areas. The favorable characteristics of WENO methods are extended to the EL framework with an Essentially Non-Oscillatory (ENO) scheme to interpolate the carrier phase from the Eulerian grid to the particle location. A high fidelity multi-scale method is introduced that couples full- resolution micro-scale statistics with the macro-scale. Using a Taylor expansion of the drag correction factor and Reynolds averaging of the particle transport equation, the Subgrid Particle Reynolds Stress Equivalent (SPARSE) model is derived. A mantle is constructed to provide closure for the particle drag and subgrid particle dynamics models. The efficacy of several metamodeling techniques in building a mantle with a target uncertainty using the least number of support points is compared. Grid aligned shocks at high mach numbers create normal instabilities that bleed into the particle phase. These so-called carbuncles'' have a predominantly numerical nature and can be mitigated by adjusting the nonlinear WENO power parameters. Instabilities that are induced by the accelerated flow behind a moving shock in the wake of a cloud of particles are analyzed. The initial shape, orientation and dimensionality of the particle cloud with respect to an oncoming normal shock determines the particle dispersion at later times. Dispersion characteristics are matched with results reported in literature. Streamlined cloud shapes exhibit a lower dispersion as compared to clouds with an initially blunt shape. Lower particle number density areas away from the heavily populated cloud core accelerate more. Growth rates of shear instabilities computed with the EL code are compared with the results of a linear stability analysis of particle-laden shear layers. The growth rate of shear layers with non-uniformly laden low Stokes number particles is greater than an unladen shear layer whereas a shear layer with high Stokes number particles dampens the growth


Virtual enterprise is the potential mode of future enterprise under global economic environment and the risk management for it is a popular research area recently. Risk identification is the key phrase of risk management. Considering the risk identification problem in the virtual enterprise, a new identification method based on the BP network is provided in this paper. Using this method and the data related to the problem, the possible to take place of the risks could be obtained by training the neural network, so that risks can be investigated in time and managed effectively. The simulation results prove its validity.


We describe an evaluation framework that provides a quantitative measure on the performance of a neural network color constancy model. In this framework, the responses of three models of color constancy to a set of color edges under varying illuminating conditions are computed. We study a model based on double opponent cells, as well as two variants of the Retinex model. Evaluation metrics on the modelspsila capabilities to discriminate among different color edges and resist illuminant induced changes are measured using this framework, we confirm the advantage of incorporating spectral opponency into the color constancy model.


Merbau (Intsia bijuga) is one of high economic value timbers. Establishment of seed source of merbau is essential tosupply qualified seeds for plantation. Center for Forest Biotechnology and Tree Improvement has established provenance test of merbau at Sumberwringin Research Forest in Bondowoso, East Java. The objectives of this study are to know survival and genetic variation of growth traits in provenance test plot of merbau. This provenance test was designed as Randomized Complete Block Design with single factor of provenance consisted of Halmahera Timur, Waigo, Oransbari, Wasior, Nabire and Seram. Each provenance comprises 3 blocks as replication and 60 treeplots of each block. The result showed high survival rate of all provenances (above 90 %). Moreover, genetic variation of height and stem diameter among provenances was also high. The best provenance for survival, and height for all observation years was Wasior. The best provenance for diameter for all observation years was Halmahera Timur. Meanwhile, provenance having the best value of survival, height and diameter for all observation years was Halmahera Timur. The  provenance having the worst value of height and diameter for all observation years was Seram. Whereas, the worst provenance of survival at 1, 2 and 3 years old were Waigo, Halmahera Timur dan Seram, respectively.


Nowadays, the research and innovation of smart buildings has been gaining increasingly attentions in building construction and management society. Among a variety of emerging technologies, demand driven HVAC (i.e., heating, ventilation and air conditioning) operation is promising to significantly reduce the building operation cost, and ultimately to achieve sustainable smart buildings. The "Internet of Things (IoT)" is about physical items talking each other, machine to machine communications and person to computer communications will extended to "things". The Key technologies that drive future IoT related to Smart sensor technologies including Nanotechnology, WSN and Miniaturization .The integrated network architecture and the interconnecting mechanisms for reliable measurements of parameters by smart sensors and transmission of data via internet. In most cases these building HVAC systems run on fixed schedules and do not employ any fine grained control based on detailed occupancy information. In this paper we present the design and implementation of a presence sensor platform that can be used for accurate occupancy detection at the level of individual homes. Our presence sensor is low-cost, wireless, and incrementally deployable within existing buildings. The goal of this analysis is to help designers to select the most relevant parameters to control the energy consumption of buildings according to their context, selecting them as input data of the management system. Following this approach, we select a reference smart buildings with different contexts, and where our automation platform for energy monitoring is deployed.


The creep resistance of Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu Pb-free solder alloy is compared to that of the baseline eutectic Sn37Pb solder at comparable homologous temperatures. Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu is significantly more creep-resistant than Sn37Pb solder. The isothermal cyclic mechanical durability of Sn3.5Ag and Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu Pb-free solder alloys are presented and compared to that of the baseline eutectic Sn37Pb solder at comparable homologous temperature. Cyclic mechanical tests are performed at high temperature at various strain-rates and load levels, using a thermo-mechanical-microstructural (TMM) test system developed by the authors. The data is analyzed using standard power-law durability models based on 50% load drop, using cyclic work and cyclic inelastic strain range. The durability curve of Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu Pb-free solder is found to have the largest slope, followed by the Sn3.5Ag solder and finally the baseline Sn37Pb eutectic solder, under the test conditions investigated. At a homologous temperature of 0.75, Sn3.9Ag0.6Cu shows the best durability, while Sn3.5Ag and Sn37Pb have very similar durability performance according to damage relations based on either work or inelastic strain range. The damage propagation rate is also estimated for all three solders, based on the load drop rate, and plotted vs. cyclic work and cyclic inelastic strain range.© 2003 ASME


In the present work, experimental and numerical studies were performed in order to investigate the cooling performance of a single-phase flow in micro-channel/slot-jet system. A three-dimensional numerical model of jet cooling was developed and implemented using commercial software ANSYS Fluent. The 3D conjugate conduction/convection heat transfer in the micro-channel simulations were used to complement experiments and to obtain detailed flow patterns of the jet, temperature, and heat flux distribution on the heater area, and fluid temperature distribution. The model has been verified in a preliminary study where its time-step and grid independency was established and validated vs. experiments.


The present study is conducted to characterize the spatial variability of some soil physio-chemical properties (sand, silt, clay, pH ,ECe ,CEC ,Esp ,O.M and CaCO3) for selected soil series from Mid-Mesopotamian plain. Five soil series were recognized(MM5,MP5.Dw45,DF97,and DP45).Descriptive statistics were used including(Min., Max., Mean, Standard deviation , coefficient of variation, Skewness and kurtosis) .The results showed that, soils was differing significantly (ρ≤ 0.05) in all studied physiochemical properties except for and CaCO3.In addition, soils exhibited moderate to high spatial variability in the horizontal scale (cv=21.528-78.327%) in sand and OM respectively except in pH and O.M was of low spatial variability(CV=2.840-8.402%) respectively .Also, soils showed moderate to high vertical spatial variability in their physio-chemical properties ( cv=16.949-88.337%) in sand and clay particles in MP5 and DW45 soil series respectively .On the other hand they showed low and high vertical spatial variability (CV=1.223102.415%) in pH and O.M of DP45 and MP5 soil series respectively .Accordingly we see that, soil spatial variability must be studied thoroughly for precise soil management and accurate soil sampling system for taking effective management decisions that leads to sustainable agricultural production.


In this paper, we first establish an approximated sampling theorem for an arbitrary continuous signal which is essential for wavelet analysis. The differences and similarities between quadrature mirror filter decomposition and wavelet decomposition are contrasted. We then propose an efficient way to recover a source signal buried in white noise by using wavelet denoising. The method is capable of reducing the mean square error bound from O(log/sup 2/(n)) to O(log(n)), where n is the number of samples. It is also shown that the new estimator is asymptotically unbiased if the source signal is a piece-wise polynomial.


This paper studies the program to estimate simultaneously the proper size and the number of lecture rooms by sizes in university when the curriculum has been fixed and the number of students present at a lecture class can be predicted. Proposed gradual forms can be applied according to several variables like basis size of lecture rooms, structural modules of the building and ratio of occupation of lecture rooms etc. The validity of proposed method is verified through the application of real case.


Background and purpose: Health financing aspects of the public health centres (PHC) may influence the achievement of PHC's programs and its minimum service standards (SPM). The District Health Account (DHA) is a model used to describe and evaluate health financing at the PHC level. The purpose of this study was to analyze health financing mechanism from both the government and national health insurance in the Karangasem District using the DHA Model.Methods: This study was an evaluation research with a case study approach using the DHA Model. Evaluations were carried out at two PHC, Manggis II PHC and Abang I PHC, between March and April 2018. Data were collected from the Karangasem District Health Office and the PHCs. These include PHC realization data, report on program achievements and SPM. The research instrument used for the data collection and analysis was the DHA extraction form and pivot table which includes information on cost sources, financing managers, service providers, functions, programs, types of activities, budget lines, levels of activities and beneficiaries.Results: We found the source of budget in both PHC was dominated by the district budget (APBD) and the national budget (APBN). The institutions which manage the budget and provide service were predominantly the Health Office and PHC. The most frequent financing functions was for governance and administration, while the largest types of activities covered was the indirect activities. Budget spending for operational costs was higher than for maintenance and investment. Realization of the activity for community program efforts (UKM) and prevention program (UKP) was lower than for the capacity building program.Conclusion: The DHA model was able to identify patterns of health budget allocation by health agencies. The use of the DHA model to analyze health financing should be adopted routinely in order to provide evaluation reports for health agencies at the district level.


Several combinatorial problems of (quasi-)crystallography are reviewed with special emphasis on a unified approach, valid for both crystals and quasicrystals. In particular, we consider planar sublattices, similarity sublattices, coincidence sublattices, their module counterparts, and central and averaged shelling. The corresponding counting functions are encapsulated in Dirichlet series generating functions, with explicit results for the triangular lattice and the twelvefold symmetric shield tiling. Other combinatorial properties are briefly summarised.


Properties of solutions of the RPA equation is reanalyzed mathematically, which is defined as a generalized eigenvalue problem of the stability matrix $\mathsf{S}$ with the norm matrix $\mathsf{N}=\mathrm{diag.}(1,-1)$. As well as physical solutions, unphysical solutions are examined in detail, with taking the possibility of Jordan blocks of the matrix $\mathsf{N\,S}$ into consideration. Two types of duality of eigenvectors and basis vectors of the Jordan blocks are pointed out and explored, which disclose many basic properties of the RPA solutions.


In this paper, we present novel methods for exploiting passive and active radially folding mechanisms for reactive and dynamic structures. These enable the application of radially folding structures in domains including fluidics, medical stents, and auxetic materials. A compact form of elastic deployment utilizing linkage strain energy is proposed using beam theory analysis. Elastic strain energy is also shown to produce bistable folding behavior, with two low energy states at full contraction and full expansion, and a bistable switching point at some intermediate position. Polymeric smart materials are investigated for driving active folding. These materials can be readily exploited through the features of the folding structure including its ability to resolve 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D actuation strains into a more effective single degree-of-freedom linear, areal, volumetric or rotational output. The elastic and solid-state nature of many polymeric smart materials means they can implement elastic deployment and bistability. A thermally-activated shape memory polymer is shown to fold a 4-segment structure from expanded to contracted states. Experimental testing of an 8-segment dielectric elastomer actuator prototype demonstrates that radially folding structures can resolve large biaxial planar strains generated by dielectric elastomers into a single linear or rotational output stroke.


Objective: To explore the relationship between coronary tortuosity and coronary microvascular disease (CMVD). Methods: Patients with typical angina symptoms and without serious coronary artery stenosis by coronary angiography were enrolled from June 2014 to December 2016, and CMVD was diagnosed by single photon emission tomography (SPECT). According to the SPECT results, patients were divided to the CMVD group and non-CMVD group. The baseline clinical characteristics, results of coronary angiography were compared between the two groups. The logistic analysis was used to analyze the relationship between coronary tortuosity and CMVD. Result: A total of 117 cases were enrolled, with 69 cases in the CMVD group and 48 cases in the non-CMVD group. No differences were found in gender distribution, age, hypertension, lipid abnormality, hyperuricemia and uses of statins between the two groups (all P>0.05). Incidence of diabetes (78.26%(54/69) vs. 35.42% (17/48) , P<0.05), hs-CRP ((4.29±2.15)mmol/L vs. (2.63±1.20)mmol/L, P<0.001), LDL-C ((2.98±0.96)mmol/L vs. (2.52±0.83)mmol/L, P=0.008) and homocysteine ((13.7±5.61)mmol/L vs. (11.5±4.38)mmol/L, P=0.025) levels were higher in the CMVD group than in the non-CMVD group. The data derived from echocardiographic examination were similar between the two groups. The Corrected TIMI frame counts were higher in the CMVD group than in non-CMVD group (LAD: 31.56±4.92 vs. 27.31±3.75, LCX: 29.47±4.18 vs. 26.62±3.19, RCA: 29.09±5.05 vs. 26.24±3.28, all P<0.001). The incidences of coronary atherosclerosis (76.81% (53/69) vs. 27.08% (13/48) , P<0.001) and coronary tortuosity ( (60.87% (42/69) vs. 33.33% (16/48) , P=0.035) were also higher in the CMVD group than in non-CMVD group. Logistic analysis found that coronary tortuosity (OR=6.111, 95%CI 2.707-13.794, P<0.001), diabetes (OR=6.565, 95%CI 2.883-14.948, P<0.001) and coronary atherosclerosis (OR=8.918, 95%CI 3.822-20.808, P<0.001) were independent risk factors of CMVD. Conclusion: Coronary tortuosity, diabetes and coronary atherosclerosis are related to CMVD in this patient cohort.


This study investigates the state of the art of the concept and practice of Mobile Learning (ML) and the integration of Mobile Device Technologies (MDTs) in educational processes. Using a combination of techniques from Requirement Engineering (RE) and Agent Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE), the domain is explored and analysed for ongoing effectiveness and sustainability. Impressive advances in MDTs have made them pervasive and entrenched in many cultures, systems and in everyday living. In the last decade, the emergent of mobile / handheld devices, and subsequently, wireless technology standards have given rise to the concept of ML.
Although MDT was seen by many early on as part of the solutions for learning transformation, quantifying benefits and placement in teaching and learning, either to achieve learning objectives or enhance the process remain problematic. In spite of efforts in the last decade by researchers and educators, expected potentials for learning mobility and adaptability resulting from their use are largely unfulfilled. Rapid changes in development and manufacture also continue to present additional challenges.
Most research studies typically employ the approach of evidencing benefits through usage implementations and experimentation. In the review of this thesis, application of techniques provided in domain neutral RE and AOSE disciplines for specifying goals and requirements for complex systems is proposed. Alignment with teaching and learning strategies as well as institutional goals and strategies is considered essential for successful integration in any learning institution. Consequently, this review advocate strategies for alignment through elicitation and modelling techniques of RE and AOSE disciplines.
Requirement elicitation is carried out using a mixed methods of inquiry comprising of four phases in sequential & parallel investigations. Phase I involves literature / citation report analysis / systematic review and quantitative survey. Secondary quantitative data is also sought during this phase. Phase II includes further in-depth quantitative and qualitative study. Questions used during this phase are designed from issues arising in Phase I. Phase III comprises of targeted studies among stakeholders in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), allowing for comparison of underpinning policies, cultures and practices; gaining an understanding of the concept and influential factors. Data gathering techniques include surveys, observations, interviews and focus group sessions.
Using both sequential and parallel mixed method of enquiry afford opportunities to establish a frame of reference and analyse opinions within the domain among relevant stakeholders: students, academics / educators, those in the role of learning support and governance and IT support personnel. The survey is analysed using descriptive statistical analysis techniques, also involving comparison of responses from all participating groups. Qualitative data is analysed using thematic methods
The review of this thesis contributes to the body of knowledge on ML as a concept and practice, evaluating definitions, frameworks and practices as relating to HEIs for the most part. Approaches to integration by selected HEIs are explored and analysed for effectiveness. A series of models is created illustrating the use of RE and AOSE techniques to align ML system requirements with organisational goals and strategies. Outcomes from the review will make it possible to advance research and knowledge forward for the practice of ML and integration of MDTs in educational processes.


This work presents an approach to achieve self-healing on Transparent optical packet switching (TOPS) networks, such approach relies on a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. The idea behind this RL algorithm is that nodes can learn a policy to deal with changes due to failures or attacks. In this way a bottom-up self-healing behaviour emerges to overcome those changes.


OBJECTIVE
use of ATC/DDD (Anatomic Therapeutic Classification/Daily Defined Dose) methodology promoted by World Health Organization for calculating and analysis of systemic antimicrobial agents' annual rates of usage among the adult patients hospitalized in Bucharest municipality.

METHODS
descriptive retrospective study conducted in the main university clinic for medical emergencies from Bucharest municipality. Consumption of systemic antimicrobial agents, taken from the clinic pharmacy's records, regarding the 2008 year, has been transformed in defined daily doses and aggregated by ATC subgroups. The number of patient days from 2008 was obtained from clinic administrative service. Antimicrobial agents' usage was expressed as consumption density rate by dividing the defined daily doses counts to the correspondent number of patient days. Analysis of consumption rates has been performed both by whole clinic and also stratified by departments of medical specialties: surgery, internal medicine and intensive care.

RESULTS
In the year 2008, the patients carried in the clinic totalized 255,600 days of hospitalization; during the respective time in clinic there were used 36 of individual antibacterial agents that made up 184,857 defined daily doses. At the level of entire clinic the consumption rate of all systemic antimicrobial agents was 72.6 defined daily doses per 100 de patient days (DDD/PD); by medical specialties the indicator's values were 61.2 DDD/100 PD in the department of internal medicine specialties, 62.8 DDD/100 PD in the departament of surgical specialties and 126 DDD/100 PD in the medical/surgical intensive care unit, respectively. Almost 70% of the defined daily doses' total included five antimicrobial agents: co-amoxiclav, cefuroxim, cefoperazone + sulbactam, ciprofloxacine si metronidazol. By ATC subgroups, the top three consumption rates included penicillin plus beta-lactamase inhibitors, 2nd generation cefalosporines and fluorochinolons, respectively. Comparing the own rate with the distributions of NNIS (National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance) system form USA, demonstrated that the usage was into the expected limits for the majority of antimicrobial agents groups considered, excess usage being detected only in the case of 2nd generation cefalosporins (in non-intensive care sector) and in the case of carbapenems in the intensive care units, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
At the whole clinic level, the study detected a rate of systemic antimicrobial agents' usage similar with the correspondent values recently reported even from the South European states or form USA. Excessive usage (against the NNIS standard) might be mitigated through augmentation of the compliance with guidelines for prudent utilization of antimicrobial agents.


Universities, schools, and training centers are seeking to improve their computer-based [3] and distance learning classes through the addition of short training videos, often referred to as podcasts [4]. As distance learning and computer based training become more popular, it is of great interest to measure if students are attentive to recorded lessons and short training videos. The proposed research presents a novel approach to this issue. Signal processing of electroencephalogram (EEG) has proven useful in measuring attentiveness in a variety of applications such as vehicle operation and listening to sonar [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]. Additionally, studies have shown that EEG data can be correlated to the ability of participants to remember television commercials days after they have seen them [16]. Electrical engineering presents a possible solution with recent advances in the use of biometric signal analysis for the detection of affective (emotional) response [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]. Despite the wealth of literature on the use of EEG to determine attentiveness in a variety of applications, the use of EEG for the detection of attentiveness towards short training videos has not been studied, nor is there a great deal of consistency with regard to specific methods that would imply a single method for this new application. Indeed, there is great variety in EEG signal processing and machine learning methods described in the literature cited above and in other literature [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34]. This paper presents a novel method which uses EEG as an input to an automated system that measures a participant's attentiveness while watching a short training video. This paper provides the results of a pilot study, including a structured comparison of signal processing and machine learning methods to find optimal solutions which can be extended to other applications. Keywords—Electroencephalogram; EEG; Signal Analysis; Machine Learning; Attentiveness; Training; Videos


Dear all we are glad to welcome you to the workshop in research sciences applied in medicinal chemistry 2016, organized by researches from Department of Chemistry, Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Produtos Naturais e Sinteticos Bioativos (PgPNSB - Postgraduate Program in Natural Products and Synthetic Bioactive) and Hospital Universitario of Universidade Federal da Paraiba (UFPB). This is workshop also is associated to MOL2NET-2 International Conference on Multidisciplinar Sciences.
Consequently, the present page of the conference will serve as both: (1) publication media for communications, posters, or plenary conferences (videos) and also (2) online discussion media to post comments, questions, and answers about the workshops, respectively. Participants on both events, online discussions at the end of the year and workshop along the year, are entitled to receive attendance certificates from both the WRSAMC workshop and the MOL2NET conference.


The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), a subgroup of the TGF-beta gene super-family, are dimeric molecules involved in the growth, differentiation and repair of a wide variety of tissues. Based on the observation that several of the BMPs co-purify when isolated from bovine bone and that a pattern of co-localization exists during mouse embryogenesis, we co-expressed various combinations of BMPs in Chinese hamster ovary cells to test for possible heterodimer formation and activity. Transient co-expression of BMP-2 with either BMP-5, BMP-6 or BMP-7, or BMP-4 transiently co-expressed with BMP-7, resulted in more BMP activity than expression of any single BMP. Stable cell lines were then made in order to purify and characterize co-expressed BMPs in more detail. Co-expression of BMP-2 with BMP-7 yielded heterodimeric BMP-2/7 with a specific activity about 20-fold higher than BMP homodimers in an in vitro alkaline phosphatase induction assay. These heterodimers were also 5- to 10-fold more potent than BMP-2 in inducing cartilage and bone in an in vivo assay. Similar results were obtained with BMP-2/6 heterodimer. These experiments demonstrate the increased potency of several BMP heterodimers relative to BMP homodimers and support the hypothesis that such heterodimeric forms are likely to have natural biological functions.


Food Supply Chain Risk Management:
The modern day supply chain operates under increasing amounts of risk and operational uncertainty driven by strategies achieving lead-time compression, globalization, inventory management and outsourcing (Sheffi & Rice, 2005). Whilst in many ways highly efficient, we know that when these fragile food supply chains are exposed to 'shocks', these can trigger longer term disruption that can have profound effects on a country's political stability, economic growth and population health prospects.

Traditional supply chain risk management (SCRM) has received extensive consideration by academic and practitioners, however, despite the vast body of knowledge on the areas of risk and resilience, holistic supply chains still struggle to construct robust and risk-aware operations that meet the purported aspirations of SCRM (Sodhi & Tang, 2012). Furthermore, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cite significant strands of SCRM as fundamental to engaging with Criminality, Disease, Technological (i.e. Cyber) and Terrorist threats, the academic world has arguably only helped foster a culture of aggregate historical event measurement - without affording businesses or governments concepts to enable the true measurement of cause-effect relationships (Bacon, 2014; Christopher & Lee, 2004; Punter, 2013).
Consequently, the authors contend that this reliance on aggregate level data compromises the ability of achieving food supply chain resilience which, when coupled to increasing demand for food stuffs and ever squeezed margins, means that complex globalized food supply chains are exposed to the 'perfect storm' of opportunistic behaviors from insider participants and external adversaries. Therefore, it is incumbent on business and governments to gain an appreciation of signal behaviours connected to food criminality and terrorism in order to detect, treat and prevent threat emergence.

Design/Methodology/Approach:
To achieve a cross-functional appreciation of thematic areas pertaining to food supply chain resilience, a systematic literature review (SLR) was employed. The review utilised the key words 'food supply chain criminality' and 'food supply chain terrorism' and, due to the under-researched nature of the topic, all return outputs from all sources were analysed. The search was then narrowed to include only Chartered Association of Business Schools journals in order to build an appreciation of the research within the business academic sphere.

The outputs of both systematic literature searches were then compared against the RIIA / Chatham House report 'UK food supply in the 21st Century: The new dynamic' and the 'Elliott Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks – Final Report' (Elliott, 2014), chosen because of their acceptance in the Government policy environment on food supply chain resilience. The outputs of the SLR and comparison of Government best practice in food supply chain resilience delivered a gap analysis of current business literature, from which the authors established a theoretical framework for achieving food supply chain resilience in the context of food criminality and food terrorism.

Findings:
The results are still being analysed, however initial findings indicate a gap between academic business research and the accepted requirements for what food supply chain resilience would look like. As a specific example, whilst there are 12 databases pertaining to food criminality across Europe, the UK Serious Fraud Office only has access to four of them. In addition, business continues to have little or no visibility into relevant intelligence for early warning and, to date, no academic literature exists that suggests how government intelligence could connect with a procurement strategy to build greater food chain resilience.

Practical application:
The research outputs can be leveraged by academia, business and governmental organisations to better appreciate an intelligence-led approach to connected food supply chain resilience.


The central focus of this study has been assessing the perception of private and government journalists towards development journalism. It inquires how they understood and explain the ideology. And it has attempted to investigate   the visible and invisible gaps and the resultant perception effect between development journalism theoretical framework by journalists and the actual application of it? To do so, individual in-depth interview, Focus Group Discussion and document analysis were used to generate data to the study. Major literatures have been consulted and the following key points are included; surfacing of development journalism, conceptual components, and Key components of development journalism, Contextual origins,  Theoretical bases of development journalism, Development journalism and its watch dog role, School of thought of DJ, Purpose of development reporting , Objectives of development journalism, Principles of development journalism, Development journalism defined, Development news defined, Implementing development journalism, and The concept of DJ in Africa.The finding shows that there is a closer outlook between the state and private media journalists concerning the concept of development, their responses vis a vis with the multilateral view of scholars show that there still is a limitation in understanding the notion fully and meaningfully. Majority of the research participants tended to capitalize the economic interpretation of the concept and some private journalists the political meaning of it and on a collective view, the social, cultural, traditional……Aspect of the concept is disregarded.  As outlined over and above having a sound meaning of development is imperative in owning the right virtues of DJ. Given the above fact, the views of the journalists are not all encompassing and touching the basic meaning of the concept of development.As for development journalism, the outcome revealed that the understanding the journalists, particularly the private ones, is somehow limited. They defined it in a very narrow angle. Relatively, the government journalists seem to have a better understanding of the concept. However, there definitely is a limitation in their understanding and explanation. As literatures show, the concept of DJ is far more comprehensive and deeper than explained by the journalists.In assessing the Factors contributing to the negative perception of the ideology; fundamentally, the journalists who took part in the discussion, equivocally, agreed that the ideology in its full sense and meaning is not put into practice. In unearthing the factors that tangle the implementation of the ideology, the participants identified the following restraining factors. And they are; Self-Censorship, The Problem of Editorial Independence, Lack of proper awareness about the ideology, Direct and in-direct outside influences, Following up-bottom approach, The tradition of poor research among journalists, Politicizing the ideology, Very poor or sluggish assessment of the impact of the ideology, The ideology is not well institutionalized, and Low self-concept as a professional journalist.As per the theoretical discussions and the findings of the research, recommendations have been forwarded and one of it is. A development journalist should critically examine, evaluate and report the relevance of a development project to national and local needs, the difference between its impacts on people as claimed by the government officials and as it actually is. Thus, the government media journalists should adjust their mind set towards the right meaning and more importantly, the application of the ideology. The private media journalists too should widen their view concerning the ideology since it is a professional obligation to understand professional issues. Keywords: Development, Development journalism


Abstract The Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) tops many lists of species of conservation concern because of severe population declines and habitat loss. Here we present the first robust estimates of annual survival and population growth rates for this species. We used capture—mark—recapture models to estimate survival of adult male Cerulean Warblers in an eastern Ontario population that has been studied since 1994. Adult male survival probability (ϕ) was constant over time in our best-supported model. Our second-best-supported model indicated a negative effect of a 1998 ice storm on survival. The third-best-supported model indicated a significant year effect on survival. On the basis of those results and previously published estimates of annual fecundity, we calculated a population growth rate using a two-stage Leslie matrix. Population growth rate (λ) was 0.73, using the estimate for constant survival. Model elasticities imply that adult mortality had a stronger effect on λ than did seasonal fecundity. Oversummer survival estimates suggest that events during migration or on wintering grounds are responsible for most adult male mortality. It appears that our study population, thought to be one of the healthiest known for this species, may not be currently reproducing at a high enough rate to accommodate adult mortality. However, caution must be used when interpreting those results, given the possibility of underestimating survival and fecundity of this species.


Research on automatic facial expression recognition has benefited from work in psychology, specifically the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). To date, most existing approaches are primarily based on 2D images or videos. With the emergence of real-time 3D dynamic imaging technologies, however, 3D dynamic facial data is now available, thus opening up an alternative to detect facial action units in dynamic 3D space. In this paper, we investigate how to use this new modality to improve action unit (AU) detection. We select a subset of AUs from both the upper and lower parts of a facial area, apply the active appearance model (AAM) method and take the correspondence between textures and range models to track the pre-defined facial features across the 3D model sequences. A Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based classifier is employed to recognize the partial AUs. The experiments show that our 3D dynamic tracking based approach outperforms the compared 2D feature tracking based approach. The results are also comparable with the manually-picked 3D facial features based method. Finally, we extend our approach to validate the experiment for recognizing six prototypic facial expressions.


Solidification starts with nucleation that comes from the clustering of molecules, followed by deposition of molecules upon the nuclei or grain growth. In materials dynamics, these events are modeled at a spatial scale of microns and a temporal scale of micro seconds. On the other hand, the electrodynamic, fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in solidifying metals are observable and thus modeled at a scale of millimeters (or sometimes centimeters) and a fraction of a second. An integrated macro/micro model is developed to represent the evolution of complex electrodynamic and transport phenomena and microstructure formation in solidifying metals with electromagnetic stirring applied to affect the solidification micrstructures. The model development is based on the hybrid boundary/finite element solution of the Maxwell equations and the finite element solution of the momentum and thermal transport equations, in combination with the Monte-Carlo-Cellular-Automaton representation of the evolution of solidification microstructure formation. Parallel computing has been applied to speed up the microstruture formation simulation, which is the most time consuming part of the calculations. The model should be useful to further our fundamental understanding of flow and microstructure formation in electromagnetically-assisted processes such as electromagnetic casting, arc welding, and vacuum refining.


Introduction: Tumor suppressor p53 is a pro-apoptotic molecule frequently inactivated in cancer by gene mutations or defective signaling. Mutated p53 is uncommon in many childhood cancers and hence agents able to free p53 from inhibitory mechanisms may have therapeutic benefit in the pediatric setting. RG7112 is a selective inhibitor of p53-MDM2 binding that frees p53 from negative control, activating the p53 pathway in cancer cells leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. RG7112 is a member of the Nutlin family of MDM2 antagonists that has improved potency and pharmacological properties. Methods: RG7112 and its inactive enantiomer RG7112i were evaluated against the 23 cell lines of the PPTP in vitro panel using 96 hour exposure at concentrations from 1 nM to 10 μM. RG7112 was tested against the PPTP in vivo panel focusing on p53 wild type (WT) xenografts at a dose of 100 mg/kg daily for 14 days followed by 4 weeks observation. MDM2 and p53 expression for the PPTP models tested were available through Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 arrays (Clin Cancer Res 2008:14:4572–83). Results: In vitro, RG7112 produced treated to control (T/C) ratios approaching 0% for most p53 WT cell lines at the highest concentration tested. The median IC50 for RG7112 was ∼0.4 μM on p53 WT cell lines versus > 10 μM on p53 mutant cell lines. RG7112 was well tolerated in vivo, with 44 of 45 xenograft models evaluable for efficacy. RG7112 induced significant differences in EFS (event-free survival) distribution compared to control in 15 of 27 (56%) evaluable p53 WT solid tumor xenografts. RG7112 induced a twofold or greater delay in time to event in 10 of 25 (40%) p53 WT solid tumor xenografts, including: 2/2 rhabdoid tumor, 2/2 Wilms tumor, 2/3 Ewing, 3/6 rhabdomyosarcoma models, but no neuroblastoma (n=5) or osteosarcoma (n=6) models. Objective responses were observed in 5 solid tumor xenografts: maintained complete response (MCR) or complete response (CR) for a medulloblastoma and an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, respectively, and partial responses (PR) for a Wilms tumor, rhabdoid tumor, and Ewing tumor xenograft. For the systemic-disease ALL panel, among 13 xenografts there were 11 CR, 1 MCR and 1 PR. Each of the 7 ALL xenografts with MLL rearrangement was sensitive to RG7112 with 6 CR and 1 MCR. Two additional MLL-rearranged xenografts (MV4;11 and RS4;11) grown subcutaneously were also tested, with the former showing MCR and the latter tumor growth delay. Solid tumor xenografts with mutant p53 (Rh30R and EW5) showed no in vivo response to RG7112 as expected. The osteosarcoma xenografts were p53 WT, but had very low p53 expression and low MDM2 expression, and they failed to respond to RG7112. The ALL xenografts expressed the highest levels of p53 and MDM2 among the PPTP panels and showed the most consistent responses to RG7112. Conclusions: RG7112 induced tumor regressions in one xenograft line from the rhabdomyosarcoma, medulloblastoma, Wilms tumor, Ewing and rhabdoid tumor panels and induced CRs or MCRs for most ALL xenografts. The consistent high level activity of RG7112 against leukemia models with MLL-rearrangement was particularly notable. This high level of activity supports prioritization of RG7112 for further evaluation. Preclinical evaluations of RG7112 with standard agents are planned. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C103.


Accurate and fast localisation of microseismic events is a requirement for a number of applications, e.g. mining, enhanced geothermal systems. New methods for event localisation have been proposed over the last decades. The waveform-based methods are of the most recent developed ones and their main advantage is the ability to locate weak seismic events. Despite this, these methods are demanding in terms of computational time, making real-time seismic event localisation very difficult. In this work, we further develop a waveform-based method, the Multichannel coherency migration method (MCM), to improve the computational time. The computational time for the MCM algorithm has been reported to linearly depend on several parameters, such as the number of stations, the length of the waveform time window, the computer architecture, and the volume of the area we are searching for the hypocentre. To minimise the computational time we need to decrease one or more of the above parameters without compromising the accuracy of the result. We break the localisation procedure into several steps: (1) we locate the event with a relatively large spatial grid interval which will give less potential hypocentral locations and less calculations as a result. (2) Based on the results of step (1) and the locations of maximum coherencies we decrease the grid volume to a quarter of the original volume and the spatial interval to half the original, focusing only around the area identified in step (1). Step (2) is repeated several times for decreased grid volumes and spatial intervals until the hypocentral location does not significantly change any more. We tested this approach on both synthetic and real data. We find that while the accuracy of the hypocentre is not compromised, the computational time is up to  125,000 times shorter.


The interrelationships of 19 genera and 28 species of New Guinean rodents representing 80% of the currently recognised New Guinean genera, were studied using microcomplement fixation of albumin to measure immunological distances among genera. The phylogenetic distinctiveness of Rattus and the closely related Stenomys from all other genera was confirmed. The remaining genera fall into three groups: (i) Lorentzimys; (ii) Anisomys, Coccymys, Chiruromys, Hyomys, Macruromys, Mallomys and Pogonomys; and (iii) Crossomys, Hydromys, Leptomys, Mayermys, Melomys, Neohydromys, Parahydromys, Pseudohydromys and Uromys. Solomys, from the Solomon islands, and Leggadina, Mesembriomys and Xeromys, from Australia, were shown to belong to this latter group. Groups (i) and (ii) are essentially endemic to New Guinea, while the third shares genera and species with Australia.


The administration, effectiveness, action, adverse reactions, and commentary are presented in Table I for a selected number of systemic antifungal agents.


From the past to the present, no doubt bread is one of the oldest and most important basic food for people. Bread is baked in small furnaces that are dug in earth after plastered with clay especially in the countryside although it is not as old as the ones in Eastern and South-Eastern Anatolian Regions. Tandoori was common in many areas including the city centers; however, the use of it decreased with the development of industrial-type ovens when technology developed and with the influence of urban culture in the countryside. However, for some people, the smell, taste and look of the bread baked in tandoori distinguish it from other bread types. It is observed that tangible cultural works that required dexterity and that was difficult to build under harsh geographical conditions are slowly becoming extinct with the modern cultural works which are more easily obtained and do the same job. We also observe that some traditional cultural products resist to modern life conditions and still survive today. One of these cultural assets is the bread baked in Mus, which is called as "Tandoori Bread" since it is baked in tandoori. The bread that is called as Tandoori Bread in Mus is baked in places that are called as 'Tandir Dami', and as 'Tandir Evi' in city center. The existence of Tandoori Bread, which was more common in the past, is decreasing day by day with the influence of technology and modern life. However, with the help of Tandoori Houses, which were opened in recent years, people find the opportunity of purchasing Tandoori Bread, which they long for. Tandoori Bread, which has a special place in Mus, which is baked in Tandoori Houses, becomes stale late, is demanded by people from different areas of Turkey, and is sent to different areas with intercity coaches or through cargo companies. In this study of ours, the Tandoori Houses, which are not put an end by the modern life, will be studied in terms of their historical adventure, status in the society, production and contribution to the economy of the city by interviewing with the business owners and employees. Key words : Mus, bread, Tandoori House, tradition


Despite proliferation of evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments, African American adults still suffer higher rates of tobacco-related diseases than White adults. Although tobacco cessation treatment is efficacious, there is a need to reassess the efficacy of tobacco cessation treatment for African American adults. Previous reviews of tobacco cessation treatment studies conducted through 2007 among African American adults highlight the limited research in this area and inconsistent findings on treatment characteristics impacting efficacy. This systematic review examined the efficacy of combined behavioral and pharmacological tobacco cessation treatment for African American adults. Database searches were used to identify studies examining tobacco cessation treatment for predominantly African American samples (>50%). Eligible studies were completed between 2007 and 2021 and (i) involved randomization comparing active combined treatment to a control comparison group and (ii) reported abstinence outcomes at 6 and/or 12 months. Ten studies met inclusion criteria. Active treatment groups typically consisted of a combination of nicotine replacement therapy and behavioral counseling. Abstinence rates for African American adults ranged from 10.0% to 34% in active treatment groups compared to 0.0%-40% in comparison control groups. Our results support the efficacy of combined treatment for tobacco cessation among African American adults. However, cessation rates for African American adults found in this review are lower than those in the general adult population (15%-88%). Additionally, our findings highlight the limited number of studies examining African American tobacco cessation rates and testing of tailored treatment for this population.


Telephone tapping, a measure generally adopted by a judicial authority for the prevention and prosecution of a crime, is carried out under Article 579 of the Spanish Procedural Criminal Code (PCC). Although the European Court of Human Rights pointed out in Valenzela Contreras and Prado de Bugallo cases that this provision is not clear enough to give citizens an adequate indication of circumstances and conditions on which public authorities can issue this measure, the Spanish legislator has not amended Article 579 because there is a vast case law dealing with the question in Spain. This paper focuses on the European Court of Human rights case law and provides a lege ferenda proposal of Article 579 PCC.


Introduction: Although the population is aging and retaining more teeth, there is a lack of studies that address the longevity of dental restorations placed among older adults. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the survival trajectory of dental restorations placed in an outpatient population of geriatric and adult special needs patients over a 15-y span, with particular interest in the longevity of subsequent restorations in teeth that received multiple restorations over time. Methods: Dental restorations of different types and sizes in patients aged ≥65 y treated between 2000 and 2014 at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry were followed until they incurred an event (i.e., restoration replacement, extraction of the tooth, or endodontic treatment of the tooth). Survival analysis and extended Cox regression models were used to generate hazard ratios for selected predictor variables. Results and Conclusion: A total of 9,184 restorations were followed among 1,551 unique patients. During the follow-up period, 28.7% of these restorations incurred an event, and overall the restorations had a median life span of 6.2 y. In multivariable regression models, after controlling for sex and age, a greater number of restoration surfaces were associated with higher risks of failure, and the initial restoration recorded in the database for each participant tended to have a lower risk of failure than that of restorations that included any of those same surfaces that were placed later. This information could be helpful to older adult patients considering various restorative treatment options during the dental treatment–planning and informed consent process. Knowledge Transfer Statement: Informed decision making with regard to potential treatment options is an important component of health and well-being. The present study could contribute to the improved health of older adult dental patients by providing baseline information that clinicians can use as they discuss different restorative treatment options with these patients and their caregivers during the informed consent process.


We study the correspondence between phase-space localization of quantum (quasi-)energy eigenstates and classical correlation decay, given by Ruelle-Pollicott resonances of the Frobenius-Perron operator. It will be shown that scarred (quasi-)energy eigenstates are correlated: Pairs of eigenstates strongly overlap in phase space (scar in same phase-space regions) if the difference of their eigenenergies is close to the phase of a leading classical resonance. Phase-space localization of quantum states will be measured by L norms of their Husimi functions.


A classical sociologist can be defined as someone whose ""works occupied a central position among the sociological ideas and notions of an era."" Following this criterion, Michaela Pfadenhauer demonstrates the relevance of Peter L. Berger's work to the sociology of knowledge. Pfadenhauer shows that Berger is not only a sociologist of religion, but one whose works are characterised by a sociology-of-knowledge perspective. Berger stands out among his fellow social scientists both quantitatively and qualitatively. He has written numerous books, which have been translated into many languages, and a multitude of essays in scholarly journals and popular magazines. For decades, he has played a role in shaping both public debate and social scientific discourse in America and far beyond. As a sociologist of knowledge, Berger has played three roles: he has been a theoretician of modern life, an analyst of modern religiosity, and an empiricist of global economic culture. In all areas, the focus on processes rather than status quo is characteristic of Berger's thinking. This book provides an in-depth view on the critical thinking of one of the most important sociologists that present times has to offer. It includes four written essays by Berger.


: To reconstruct a radioactive tracer distribution with positron emission tomography (PET), the background attenuation correction is needed to eliminate image artifacts. Recent research shows that time-of-flight (TOF) PET data determine the attenuation sinogram up to a constant, and its gradient can be computed using an analytic algorithm. In this paper, we study a direct estimation of the sinogram only from TOF PET data. First, the gradient of the attenuation sinogram is estimated using the aforementioned algorithm. Then, a relationship is established to link the differential attenuation sinogram and the underlying attenuation background. Finally, an iterative algorithm is designed to determine the attenuation sinogram accurately and stably. A 2D numerical simulation study is conducted to verify the correctness of our proposed approach.


Introduction A vast body of literature has been collected over the past decades attempting to extract blood flow rates from angiography.1 Most of these methods can be categorized as either transit-time2 or indicator-dilution3 techniques. These techniques have not been fully developed for regular clinical use, but the recent growth in endovascular treatment has rekindled interest in the use of angiography-based parametric maps4–6 for flow assessment in aneurysms, AVMs, and stenoses. In this preliminary retrospective study, we calculate mean arterial blood flow rates from angiography using transit-time methods and validate it against flow rates obtained from phase-contrast magnetic resonance (MR). Methods Angiography (˜2 frames per second) and MR scans previously acquired in 6 patients were anonymously collected with IRB approval. Contrast concentration-time curves were recorded at proximal and distal locations on the right and left internal carotid arteries (figure 1). A lagnormal equation was fit to the curves and the transit-time between the two locations was calculated using three different methods (Mean Transit Time, Time to Peak, Cross Correlation). The volume of the arterial segment between the two locations was calculated. Then, arterial mean flow rate (ml/s)=arterial segment volume(ml)/transit-time(s). Mean flow rates in the same vessels obtained from phase-contrast MR (NOVA, VasSol Inc) were noted from patient records. Angiographic and NOVA flow rates were correlated to assess accuracy and statistical significance.Abstract E-062 Figure 1 Results Statistically significant linear correlations were observed between angiographic and NOVA flow rates using the cross correlation (R^2=0.8) and time to peak (R^2=0.7) methods. When compared to MR flow, cross correlation had lower error (−9±23%) than time to peak (−24±30%) but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.25). Conclusions Determination of mean arterial blood flow from low frame rate patient angiography is possible and correlates well with NOVA values. The best method for calculating transit time may be cross correlation but a larger study is necessary to show this as well as to refine the accuracy of the methods. References Lieber BB, et al. Crit Rev Biomed Eng 2005;33(1):1–102. Shpilfoygel SD, et al. Med Phys 2000;27(9):2008–23. Hilal SK. Am J Roentgenol Radium Ther Nucl Med 1966 Apr;896–906. Chien A, Viñuela F. J Neurointerv Surg 2013 Nov;5(Suppl 3):iii43–7. Shakur SF, et al. J Neurointerv Surg 2018 Feb;10(2):156–161. Ionita CN, et al. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng 2014 Mar 13;9038:90380L. Disclosures M. Gross: None. H. Woo: 4; C; Vascular Simulations. 6; C; Cerenovus JnJ. D. Fiorella: 1; C; Penumbra, Microvention, Medtronic. 2; C; Penumbra, Microvention, Medtronic. 4; C; Vascular Simulations. 6; C; Cerenovus JnJ. C. Sadasivan: 4; C; Vascular Simulations.


BACKGROUND
Cesium chloride (CsCl) is sold as a treatment for several types of cancers. The purported mechanism of action is alkalinization of relatively acidic neoplastic cells. The efficacy of CsCl has not been demonstrated in controlled experiments. Oral and intravenous CsCl use has been associated with seizures, cardiotoxicity, syncope, and death. Although intratumoral treatment with various antineoplastic agents is described, no cases of intratumoral cancer treatment with CsCl have been found in the medical literature. The case described here appears to be of the first reported patient with CsCl toxicity secondary to subcutaneous exposure after attempted intratumoral injection.

CASE DETAILS
A 61-year-old woman presented in cardiac arrest 20 hours after injecting 9 mL of an oral CsCl preparation around a mass in her breast. She had been taking the CsCl orally for approximately 1 year to treat her breast mass. The patient had a headache and nausea for several hours after injection and then experienced ventricular tachycardia arrest at home. She received advanced cardiac life support care and multiple antiarrhythmic medications and underwent electrical cardioversion early in the course of the arrest. After stabilization, her electrocardiogram revealed QT interval prolongation to >700 milliseconds. Upon discovery of her CsCl exposure, she was treated with Prussian blue. Her initial whole blood cesium level was 100,000 μg/L (reference range <10 μg/L). Her QT prolongation resolved after several days, but she experienced no meaningful postarrest neurologic recovery and died at home less than a week after exposure.

DISCUSSION
CsCl is sold as an alternative treatment for cancer. There is no demonstrable efficacy, and clear evidence shows life-threatening toxicity. Reported here is a case of fatal CsCl toxicity after attempted intratumoral injection.


Background: The incidence, course and risk factors associated with renal impairment (RI) in patients treated with triple therapy (TT) with pegylated interferon, ribavirin and telaprevir/boceprevir (PR/TVR/BOC) vs. dual therapy (DT) with PR were analyzed in this study. The association between RI and the decline of hemoglobin (Hb) was also examined. Methods: Retrospective analysis included 110 patients with genotype 1b chronic HCV infection, aged 18 – 80 years, who underwent TT (48TVR/14BOC) or DT (48 patients). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum creatinine concentration (SCr) and Hb were measured at baseline, at weeks 4, 12, 24, 48 of treatment, and post-treatment week 24. Results: RI occurred in 9/62 (14.5%) patients who underwent TT, eight of whom were treated with TVR, one with BOC, and none treated with DT. The risk factors associated with RI were the following: TT (p = 0.0078), usage of nephrotoxic drugs (p = 0.0288), and older age (p < 0.0001). RI was reversible. A drop of Hb was associated with RI, older age and TT. Conclusions: RI is not a rare but a reversible complication of TT. It is necessary to monitor SCr and eGFR, especially in patients with a potential risk factor of RI occurrence. The Hb drop is more severe in patients with RI than in those without it.


The ash of rice rind is a pozzolanic material that reacts with the calcium hydroxide (Ca (OH)2) forming bonding composites, when finely worn out and in water presence. Considering this behavior, the objective of the present work was to evaluate the potential use of this residue in the enrichment of the content of pozzolanic materials of a tropical soil stabilized with a commercial hydrated lime. The laboratory testing program incorporated unconfined compression strength tests performed on the soil and on its mixtures with contents of 8% of lime enriched with 5 and 10% of ash of rice rind in relation to the soil dry mass. The results of the testing program supported that the use of the residue was effective in increasing the degree of reactivity of the soil that was also directly related with the increase in the ash content and the period of cure of the mixtures.


Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represent a promising new class of anti‐tumor agents. HDACs are enzymes that catalyze the removal of acetyl groups from the lysine residues of proteins, most notably the core nucleosomal histones. Four classes of HDACs have been identified, and include Class I human HDACs (HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3, and HDAC8). Class II HDACs are subdivided into Class IIa enzymes (HDAC4, HDAC5, HDAC7 and HDAC9) and Class IIb enzymes (HDAC6 and HDAC10). The third class of human HDACs or sirtiuins consists of homologues of yeast Sir2 (SIRT1–7). The catalytic site of this third HDAC class is not similar to the catalytic site of the Class I and Class II enzymes. HDAC11 is the sole member of the fourth HDAC class and shares homology with both the class I and class II HDACs. Defects in the enzymes regulating histone acetylation have been found in a variety of cancers. These defects can cause an imbalance in histone acetylation that may lead to changes in chromatin structure and transcriptional dysregulation of genes involved in the control of cell cycle progression, differentiation, and apoptosis. Histone acetyltransferases have been found to be mutated in a variety of cancer while HDACs have been shown to be overexpressed, aberrantly recruited to oncogenic transcription factors and mutated in cancer. HDACs thus represent potential targets for small molecule inhibitors. The substrates for HDACs HDAC inhibitors are currently undergoing evaluation for the treatment of cancer and can be divided into four classes based on their structure. The classes include the short chain fatty acids (e.g., valproate, phenylbutyrate); hydroxamic acid derivatives (e.g., vorinostat (SAHA), belinostat (PXD‐101), panobinostat (LBH‐589), JNJ‐26481585, PCI‐24781); benzamides (e.g., entinostat (SNDX‐275, MS‐275); mocetinostat (MGCD0103)); and cyclic tetrapeptides (e.g., romidepsin (FK‐228)). The HDAC inhibitors under clinical development for cancer do not inhibit the class III enzymes rather they inhibit, in general, either both class I and II enzymes (hydroxamate derivatives) or selectively inhibit class I enzymes (benzamides). Vorinostat inhibits the enzymatic activity of Class I HDACs, (HDAC1, HDAC2, and HDAC3) and the Class II HDAC, HDAC6, at low nanomolar concentrations (IC50 The molecular mechanisms of vorinostat‐induced growth arrest, differentiation, apoptosis and autophagy have yet to be fully clarified. The acetylation of nucleosomal histones plays an important role in the transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Hypoacetylation of histones is associated with a condensed chromatin structure and repression of gene transcription. Conversely, acetylated histones are associated with a more open chromatin structure and activation of transcription. Vorinostat may exert its antitumor effects through by transcriptional and non‐transcriptional mechanisms. Expression profiling studies have revealed that vorinostat treatment can also lead to both activation and repression of gene expression. The vorinostat‐mediated transcriptional repression may involve both direct and indirect effects resulting from histone acetylation, or alternately, may involve the hyperacetylation of non‐histone proteins. Many nonhistone proteins, (e.g., tubulin, Hsp90 and p53) are known to be reversibly acetylated on lysine residues and undergo hyperacetylation following exposure to vorinostat. Acetylation of these proteins may also contribute to the antitumor activity of vorinostat. A more complete understanding of the spectrum of substrates for the HDAC enzymes and the role of acetylation of these substrates in cancer will aid in our understanding of how to best utilize HDAC inhibitors. Based on the antitumor mechanism of action of vorinostat, studies evaluating the activity of vorinostat with other cancer therapies have been performed. These studies include the evaluation of vorinostat with radiation, kinase inhibitors, cytotoxic agents, and proteasome inhibitors. The studies have demonstrated synergistic or additive activity in a variety of cultured human transformed cell lines. Vorinostat has demonstrated anti‐tumor activity in a variety of in vivo rodent tumor models whether administered by the intraperitoneal, intravenous, or oral route in both carcinogen induced tumor formation and established tumor models. Tumor growth inhibition is observed at doses of vorinostat that do not produce toxic side effects. Vorinostat is under evaluation in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and was the first HDAC inhibitor approved by the US FDA for the treatment of cutaneous manifestations in patients with cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL) who have progressive, persistent or recurrent disease on or following two systemic therapies in 2006. In the initial oral phase I vorinostat clinical trial, accumulation of acetylated histone H3 was observed in patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells at all dose levels and was detected in tumor biopsies following administration of vorinostat. Additionally, in a Phase II trial for recurrent glioblastoma patients, an increase in acetylation of histones was detected in surgical samples post treatment with vorinostat. These studies demonstrate that vorinostat is able to inhibit HDAC activity at tolerable doses in patients. The most common adverse experiences were diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, and anorexia and were mostly mild to moderate in severity. Ongoing biomarker studies are required to further define optimal dose and schedule and aid in identifying responding patient populations. Clinical activity has thus far been observed in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, non‐Hodgkin9s lymphoma, glioblastoma multiforme, and metastatic mesothelioma, as well as breast, laryngeal, nasopharyngeal, papillary thyroid, ovarian, and non‐small cell lung cancer. Further investigation of vorinostat in phase II and III trials for patients with other hematologic malignancies and solid tumors as a single agent and in combination therapy is ongoing. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):PL06-01.


Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated lymphoproliferative disorder (LPD) after immunosuppressive therapy for aplastic anemia (AA) is extremely rare in a nontransplant setting and has not been well described. This report describes a severe AA patient in whom fatal EBV-LPD developed after being treated with rabbit antithymocyte globulins (ATG) and cyclosporine A (CsA). An 81-year-old man was diagnosed as having severe AA. He was started on CsA followed by administration of ATG for five consecutive days. One month after the start of ATG, persistent fever which was not responsive to antibiotics or antifungal agents developed and atypical lymphocytes emerged in peripheral blood. Repeated blood cultures were negative. An extremely high level of EBV virus in his peripheral blood plasma was detected by means of a quantitative real-time PCR assay. Even after the cessation of CsA, the fever persisted and the peripheral atypical lymphocytes proliferated rapidly. The patient suffered from respiratory failure, liver dysfunction, and metabolic acidosis. Rituximab was administered without success and he died.


Background: Currently, there are no universally recognized criteria to choose between segmentectomy and wedge resection. However, compared with segmentectomy, wedge resection is more accessible, less invasive, preserves more pulmonary tissues and presents a faster post-operative recovery process, which in turn, result in a higher quality of life. We hypothesize that wedge resection could be a potential alternative to anatomic segmentectomy for patients with very early non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and we plan to conduct the first randomized trial comparing the effectiveness and safety of wedge resection and segmentectomy to guide the surgical decision.
Methods: We plan to conduct a prospective, multicentre, randomized, open, parallel control and non-inferiority verification adopted study. Patients from 21 sites of China who satisfy all the inclusion criteria and do not fall into any of the exclusion criteria are qualified to be included in this study. They will then be randomly allocated into two groups: lung wedge resection + hilar and mediastinal lymph node resection / sampling (study group) and segmentectomy + hilar and mediastinal lymph node resection/sampling (control group). A recruitment period of no more than two years is anticipated. The primary endpoint of the study is 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) between the two groups. The secondary endpoints are 3-year DFS, 5-year overall survival (OS), 30-day morbidity and mortality rates, and pulmonary function.
Discussion: This is a multi-centre, randomized, open, parallel control, and non-inferiority verification adopted study to evaluate whether lung wedge resection and segmentectomy are equivalent in long-term oncological efficacy in patients with ground glass opacity (GGO)-dominant early stage peripheral non-small cell lung cancer.


Concrete as a construction material is widely used in nuclear vessel and plant for excellent radiation shielding. However the isolation characteristics in concrete may affect adversely in the case of fire and melt-down in nuclear vessel since temperature cooling down is very difficult from outside. This study is for development of high thermal conductive concrete, and its mechanical and thermal properties are evaluated. Magnetite aggregates with volume ratio of 42.3% (maximum) and steel powder of 1.5% are replaced with normal aggregates and thermal properties are evaluated. Thermal conductivity little increases by 30% addition of magnetite but rapidly increases afterwards. Finally thermal conductivity is magnified to 2.5 times in the case of 42.3% addition of magnetite. Steel powder has a positive effect on high thermal conduction to 106∼113%. Several models for thermal conduction like ACI, DEMM, and MEM are compared with test results and they are verified to reasonably predict the thermal conductivity with increasing addition of magnetite aggregates and steel powder.


Doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) is currently the choice for many wind turbines. These generators, when connected to the grid through a converter, is subjected to varied power system conditions like voltage variation, frequency variation, short circuit fault conditions, etc. Further, many countries like Canada, Germany, UK, Scotland, etc. have distinct grid codes relating to wind turbines. Accordingly, following the network faults, wind turbines have to supply a definite reactive current. To satisfy the requirements including reactive current capability, an optimum electrical design becomes a mandate for DFIG to function. This paper intends to optimize the equivalent circuit parameters of an electrical design for satisfactory DFIG performance. Direct search method has been used for optimization of the parameters. The variables selected include electromagnetic core dimensions (diameters and stack length), slot dimensions, radial air gap between stator and rotor and winding copper cross section area. Optimization for 2 MW DFIG has been executed separately for three objective functions - maximum reactive power capability (Case I), maximum efficiency (Case II) and minimum weight (Case III). In the optimization analysis program, voltage variations (10%), power factor- leading and lagging (0.95), speeds for corresponding to slips (-0.3 to +0.3) have been considered. The optimum designs obtained for objective functions were compared. It can be concluded that direct search method of optimization helps in determining an optimum electrical design for each objective function like efficiency or reactive power capability or weight minimization.


Although in most majority the psoriasis presents/displays a clinical cutaneous today fundamentally we know that it can be associated to other diseases extracutaneous, as much you will articular, digestive, metabolic, cardiovascular and even psychic. We reviewed in this article the atiopathogenics bases and the risks that the psoriáasics patients must to suffer these comorbidities.


For a graph $G$, its \emph{cubicity} $cub(G)$ is the minimum dimension $k$ such that $G$ is representable as the intersection graph of (axis--parallel) cubes in $k$--dimensional space. Chandran, Mannino and Oriolo showed that for a $d$--dimensional hypercube $H_d$, $\frac{d-1}{\log d} \le cub(H_d) \le 2d$. In this paper, we show that $cub(H_d) = \Theta(\frac{d}{\log d})$.The parameter \emph{boxicity} generalizes cubicity: the boxicity $box(G)$ of a graph $G$ is defined as the minimum dimension $k$ such that $G$ is representable as the intersection graph of axis parallel boxes in $k$ dimensional space. Since $box(G) \le cub(G)$ for any graph $G$, our result implies that $box(H_d) = O(\frac{d}{\log d})$. The problem of determining a non-trivial lower bound for $box(H_d)$ is left open.


Background: We investigated the influence of 2 common Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) polymorphisms on susceptibility and disease characteristics of Crohn's disease (CD). Methods: Genomic DNA from 204 patients with CD and 199 unrelated controls was analyzed for the presence of 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms in the TLR4 gene, resulting in the amino acid substitutions Asp299Gly and Thr399Ile. In addition, the carrier status for the 3 common CD‐associated CARD15/NOD2 gene mutations, Arg702Trp, Gly908Arg, and 1007fs, was determined. The frequency of the different genotypes was compared, and a detailed genotype‐phenotype correlation was performed. Results: An almost 2‐fold increase in the frequency of the TLR4 Asp299Gly phenotype was observed in patients with CD (14.2%) compared with healthy controls (7.5%, P = 0.038, odds ratio = 2.03). The prevalence of a stricturing phenotype was increased in patients heterozygous for 1 of the TLR4 polymorphisms studied (Asp299Gly, 34.5%; Thr399Ile, 36.7%) compared with patients with wild‐type TLR4 (17.1% and 16.7%; P = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). The presence of the Asp299Gly polymorphism in the absence of CARD15/NOD2 mutations was a particularly strong predictor of the stricturing disease phenotype that was present in 47.4% of the patients with Asp299Gly+/NOD2− compared with 10.1% of the patients with the Asp299Gly−/NOD2+ status (P = 0.0009; P = 0.0004 for Thr399Ile+/NOD2− versus Thr399Ile−/NOD2+). In contrast, there was a trend toward a higher prevalence of the penetrating phenotype in the TLR4−/NOD2+ group (71.6%) compared with the TLR4+/NOD2− group (47.4%, P = 0.059). Conclusions: The TLR4 Asp299Gly polymorphism is a risk factor for CD. TLR4 and CARD15/NOD2 mutations may contribute to distinct disease phenotypes.


The positive effect of earthworms on soil processes and plant growth has been extensively documented. The capacity of earthworms to decompose organic matter has been attributed to the microbial communities that inhabit their digestive track or the structures they build, which in turn contribute to make up the drilosphere, a hotspot for microbial activity. However, how earthworms modify the structure of soil microbial communities and how these changes affect soil microbial processes is still unclear. Do earthworms reduce microbial abundance and activity because they feed on microorganisms or do they select and stimulate specific microbial groups? We hypothesise that "the effect of earthworms on nutrient cycling and plant growth is not only a direct effect but is mainly mediated indirectly, via modifications of the microbial community." The objective of this review is to synthesize the existing literature concerning the influence of earthworms on the structure and function of soil microbial communities, as well as to understand how earthworm-induced changes in the soil microbiota would in turn impact soil processes, particularly those occurring in the rhizosphere and involved in plant growth and health. Recent reports have shown that specific bacterial groups consistently increase in soils where earthworms are present, regardless of the earthworm functional group. The extent of this increase seems to be dependent upon the type of substrate under study. Our synthesis also reveals that endogeic and anecic earthworms regularly induce an increase in soil nutrients, whilst this positive effect is not as evident in the presence of epigeic earthworms. The effect of earthworms on nutrient cycling has been further investigated with microbial functional genes, although existing reports largely focus on nitrogen cycling. Earthworms seem to enhance denitrification, most likely through the increase in organic compounds due to organic matter decomposition. By enhancing soil nutrient availability, earthworms indirectly promote plant growth, which has also been attributed to the induction of signal molecules. However, no experiment to date has been able to prove a direct causal relationship between specific signal molecules, earthworms and plant growth promotion. Finally, we propose a framework for earthworm-microbiota interactions and recommend further research.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to curtail the full version of instrument by 50% (short version) and 25% (ultra-short version) of its original size (22 items) and evaluate the reliability and validity of both versions. Methods: The experts' comments were used to make short and ultra-short versions. The two versions were evaluated by use of indicators related to reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) and diagnostic validity, diagnosis of marginal areas from central areas using ROC curve analysis, among 1600 households. Also, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Pearson correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plot were used in order to assess agreement between full and shortened versions. Results: The short and ultra-short versions were included 10 items and 6 items, respectively. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.83 and 0.65 for short version and ultra-short version respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient and the coefficient of agreement were desirable and acceptable for both versions (p<001). Because of high agreement between shortened versions and full version, the two shortened versions measured the socioeconomic status as good as the full version. Meanwhile, the results were confirmed by means of Bland-Altman plot. Conclusion: Both short version and ultra-short version had suitable validity and reliability. As a result, both questionnaires can be used by researchers.


The literature on the occurrence of hepatoma in animals was reviewed in another communication (1) in which were described two cases of primary carcinoma of the liver of cattle. From information obtained from published reports it is evident that primary carcinoma of the liver is not one of the common tumors of the lower animals. It has been observed in the following species: dogs, horses, cattle, cats, hogs, woodchucks, and chickens. The most comprehensive description of the disease appears to have been contributed by Trotter, who observed 119 cases among 39,704 cattle that were examined at necropsy during one year at a Glasgow, Scotland, abattoir (2).

That the disease is of infrequent occurrence in swine is evident from the figures accompanying Sticker's report (3). Among 1,206 primary carcinomas of domesticated animals only 35 had their origin in the liver and but one of these occurred in a hog.

My collection of neoplasms of swine consists at the present of 110 specimens and only 2 of these are tumors which arose from the parenchymal cells of the liver. One of the tumors, which was obtained several years ago, was situated rather deeply in the left central lobe. The tumor nodule was approximately 4 cm. in diameter and was icteric. Metastasis had not occurred and microscopically there was no convincing evidence of an aggressive malignant type of growth. This tumor was therefore considered a benign hepatoma.

The other liver-cell tumor which was obtained from a hog was of particular interest because of the multiplicity of the hepatic lesions and the occurrence of pulmonary metastasis.


Web services and applications have increased over the past few years. Recently, the web applications are using multi tier design. The front end include web server which can used to process the request and gives that output to back end. An attention of hackers has been focus from attacking the front end and to taint the back-end database system. We present Triple guard system that models the network behaviour of user sessions across both the front-end web server and the back end database and also provides confidential service. By using Triple IDS, we able to ferret out attacks and free from traffic that occur in web application.


This study was conducted to provide basic information to breeders and agronomists working with sesame. Grain filling rate were investigated for eight plant types classified by branching habit, capsules per axil, carpels and loculi of a capsule. Two typical cultivars were chosen for plant type among 527 gene pools. Grain filling rate didn't increase with little difference between lower and middle part capsules, Jut significantly decreased in upper part. Grain filling rate of lower part, main stem and center capsules appeared higher than that of upper part, branch and side capsule for grain filling. Mono-capsule setting and unbranched plant type were higher for grain filling than tricapsule setting and branched type due to inactive ripenness on branched capsule. NMB type showed that best maturity and relatively good grain filling in BTB type despite it's largest sink capacity. NTQ and BTQ type appeared poor ripenness because of immaturity of higher part side capsules; however it was believed that there were still possibilities for improving ripenness in 3 capsule and 4 carpels 8 loculi type by the good maturity of 1 capsule and 4 carpels 8 loculi type.


What sets artificial intelligence (AI) apart from other fields of science and technology is not what it has achieved so far, but rather what it set out to do from the very beginning, namely, to create autonomous self-contained systems that can rival human cognition —machines with 'human-level general intelligence.' To achieve this aim calls for a new kind of system that, among other things, unifies – in a single architecture – the ability to represent causal relations, create and manage knowledge incrementally and autonomously, and generate its own meaning through empirical reasoning and control. We maintain that building such systems requires a shared methodological foundation, and calls for a stronger theoretical basis than simply the one inherited directly from computer science. This, in turn, calls for a greater emphasis on the theory of intelligence and methodological approaches for building such systems. We argue that necessary (but not necessarily sufficient) components for general intelligence must include the unification of causal relations, reasoning, and cognitive development. A constructivist stance, in our view, can serve as a good starting point for this purpose.


INTRODUCTION
The use of vaginal mesh in pelvic surgery has previously demonstrated anatomical advantage combined with surgical complications that have called its effectiveness into question.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of an anchorless implant for the repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women with risk factors for recurrence.

METHODS
Retrospective evaluation of the self-retaining support (SRS) implant in women with a ≥2 degree vaginal anterior and apical prolapse with an increased risk of prolapse recurrence. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and women suspected of recurrence, based on a telephone questionnaire, were re-examined.

RESULTS
Sixty women were evaluated. Four (6.6%) underwent reoperation due to prolapse recurrence of the posterior and vaginal apex. No intra-operative complications were documented; 4 (6.6%) women had surgical field hematoma treated conservatively. No chronic pelvic pain or dyspareunia were documented. Six (10%) women who reported bulging sensation in the telephone questionnaire were examined and found to have prolapse of the posterior compartment and not of the anterior or apical compartment treated by the SRS.

CONCLUSIONS
Use of the SRS demonstrated 93.3% success rate at a mean follow-up of 14 months postoperatively without intra-operative complications and mild post-op complications at follow-up.

DISCUSSION
Short term data on the use of the SRS demonstrate that anchorless mesh technique may preserve the benefits of vaginal mesh while eliminating surgical complications. The SRS is a safe and effective surgical alternative for the repair of anterior and apical vaginal prolapse in women with advanced pelvic organ prolapse and risk factors for relapse.


Objectives The aim of our study was to investigate the use of targeted contrast-enhanced high-frequency ultrasonography for molecular imaging of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) expression on carotid artery in a rabbit atherosclerotic model Methods Microbubbles targeting to VCAM-1 were prepared via electrostatic attraction way. Atherosclerotic lesions were induced by high cholesterol diet in 24 male New Zealand white rabbits. According to hyper-cholesterolaemic diet feeding time, they were randomly assigned to three groups, namely 4-w, 8-w and 12-w group, each group containing eight rabbits. Targeted and non-targeted contrast ultrasound imaging of the left carotid arteries were performed at baseline and at 4, 8 and 12 weeks respectively. The imaging was digitally recorded and evaluated with Contrast quantitative analysis software. Left carotid specimens were harvested for HE staining and real time qPCR respectively. Pathological changes of atherosclerosis were evaluated by HE slice. Levels of VCAM-1 expression were quantified by real time qPCR and compared with the peak signal intensity (SIpeak) of the VCAM-1-targeted ultrasound contrast agent. Results A significantly lower SIpeak was detected in the carotid wall of rabbits from the '4-w' group as compared with rabbits from the '8-w and 12-w ' group (18.2±4.6 vs 36.2±3.8 vs 46.5±4.2 dB, respectively; p<0.001). Such differences were not detected with the non-targeted contrast agent Sonovue. Retention of VCAM-1-targeted microbubbles in carotid wall was significantly higher than retention of non-targeted microbubbles. In addition, the SIpeak of carotid wall enhancement detected with ultrasound after injection of VCAM-1 targeted contrast agent strongly correlated with actual VCAM-1 measured in corresponding carotid segments using real time qPCR (r=0.85). In contrast, retention of the non-targeted contrast agent was not correlated with the level of VCAM-1 expression (r=0.13). Conclusions VCAM-1 targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasonography can detection and quantification of VCAM-1 expression in an experimental early atherosclerotic model. It allowed an early detection of atherosclerosis and showed a significant gradual progression of atherosclerosis over time, supporting its utility as a clinical imaging tool for in vivo detection of early atherosclerosis.


The French Fillon reform of 17 January 2003 unified the schemes of payroll tax reductions for firms that had adopted the 35-hour work week and those th at had not. This reform had very different effects depending on the category of firms concerned: the p ayroll tax reductions was considerably greater for the firms that had remained on 39 hours than for th e others, particularly for wages situated at around 1.3 times the minimum wage). This article examines i detail the nature of the reform and its effects on wages and labour costs, before presenting an evalua tion of its impact on employment, using a balanced panel of firms with more than 5 employees drawn from a matching between several administrative data sources for the period 2002-200 5. In both categories of firm, we find elasticities of employment with respect to labour costs that are significant and of the expected signs: a rise of 1% in average labour costs reduces employment by 0.25%. As the majority of 39-hour firms received gr eater reductions, the Fillon reform allowed them to raise their level of employment. For the 35-hour firms, on the contrary, the reverse situation prevailed: the reform led to a fall in employment. Ultimately, the Fillon reform has had no clear effe ct on aggregate employment, measured either in job num bers or full-time equivalents. It has, however, contributed to a rise in average wages, for both ca tegories of firms.


CSR management and reporting as stated in the German Sustainability Code have currently gained an increasing relevance in the context of business reporting. Focussing on the comparison with the German Corporate Governance Code, this article investigates the conception and major opportunities and risks of the German Sustainability Code. Furthermore we present the first empirical analysis of declarations of conformity voluntarily published by 75 companies. We examine, whether stock companies on the one hand and public enterprises, medium-sized as well as family-owned businesses on the other hand apply the Sustainability Code differently. In view of the main reporting heterogeneity and reporting lags the current European regulation of CSR reporting can be justified.


This equilibrium partitioning sediment benchmark (ESB) document describes procedures to derive concentrations for 32 nonionic organic chemicals in sediment which are protective of the presence of freshwater and marine benthic organisms. The equilibrium partitioning (EqP) approach was chosen because it accounts for the varying biological availability of chemicals in different sediments and allows for the incorporation of the appropriate biological effects concentration. This provides for the derivation of benchmarks that are causally linked to the specific chemical, applicable across sediments, and appropriately protective of benthic organisms. EqP can be used to calculate ESBs for any toxicity endpoint for which there are water-only toxicity data; it is not limited to any single effect endpoint. For the purposes of this document, ESBs for 32 nonionic organic chemicals, including several low molecular weight aliphatic and aromatic compounds, pesticides, and phthalates, were derived using Final Chronic Values (FCV) from Water Quality Criteria (WQC) or Secondary Chronic Values (SCV) derived from existing toxicological data using the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative (GLI) or narcosis theory approaches. These values are intended to be the concentration of each chemical in water that is protective of the presence of aquatic life. For nonionic organic chemicals demonstrating a narcotic mode of action, ESBs derived using the GLI approach specifically for freshwater organisms were assumed to also be protective of marine organisms. This assumption is based on the similar sensitivity of freshwater and marine organisms to narcotic chemicals like some of the nonionic organics in this document. For this reason, SCVs derived using narcosis theory are protective of both freshwater and marine organisms. For chemicals with more specific modes of action, freshwater and marine organisms were not assumed to be similar in sensitivity, and separate freshwater and marine ESBs were derived as the available data allowed. Because of the lack of a comprehensive toxicity data set and other reasons discussed in this document in detail, values derived here are considered Tier 2 ESBs (ESBTier2). The presentation of these ESBs is such that updated values could be calculated as new toxicity data become available.