The growth of big data in domains such as Earth Sciences, Social Networks, Physical Sciences, etc. has lead to an immense need for efficient and scalable linear algebra operations, e.g. Matrix inversion. Existing methods for efficient and distributed matrix inversion using big data platforms rely on LU decomposition based block-recursive algorithms. However, these algorithms are complex and require a lot of side calculations, e.g. matrix multiplication, at various levels of recursion. In this paper, we propose a different scheme based on Strassen's matrix inversion algorithm (mentioned in Strassen's original paper in 1969), which uses far fewer operations at each level of recursion. We implement the proposed algorithm, and through extensive experimentation, show that it is more efficient than the state of the art methods. Furthermore, we provide a detailed theoretical analysis of the proposed algorithm, and derive theoretical running times which match closely with the empirically observed wall clock running times, thus explaining the U-shaped behaviour w.r.t. block-sizes.


Purpose Functions of antimicrobial peptidoglycan recognition proteins (Pglyrp1-4) at the ocular surface are poorly understood. Earlier, we reported an antibacterial role for Pglyrp-1 in Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis. Here we investigated functions of three other related genes Pglyrp-2, -3 and -4 in a mouse model of P. aeruginosa keratitis. Methods Wild type (WT) and each of the Pglyrp-null genotypes were challenged with P. aeruginosa keratitis. The eyes were scored in a blinded manner 24 and 48h post infection. Viable bacterial counts and inflammatory factors (IL-12, TNF-α, IFN-γ, CCL2, IL-6 and IL-10) were measured in whole eye homogenates using cytometric bead arrays. Expressions of Pglyrp-1-4, mouse beta defensins (mBD)-2,-3, cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP) were determined by qRTPCR in total RNA extracts of uninfected and infected eyes of WT and each of the Pglyrp-null mouse types. Results The Pglyrp-2 -/- mice showed reduced disease and lower induction of pro-inflammatory TNF-α (p = 0.02) than WT or the other Pglyrp null mice. Viable bacterial yield was significantly lower in the Pglyrp-2-/- (p = 0.0007) and the Pglyrp-4-/- (p = 0.098) mice. With regards to expression of these antimicrobial genes, Pglyrp-2 expression was induced after infection in WT mice. Pglyrp-3 expression was low before and after infection in WT mice, while Pglyrp-4 expression was slightly elevated after infection in WT, Pglyrp-2 and -3 null mice. Pglyrp-1 expression was slightly elevated after infection in all genotypes without statistical significance. Transcripts for antimicrobial peptides mBD2, mBD3 and CRAMP were elevated in infected Pglyrp-2 -/- males without statistical significance. Conclusions Efficient resolution of keratitis in the Pglyrp-2 -/- mice may be due to a reduced pro-inflammatory microenvironment and synergistic antibacterial activities of defensins, CRAMP and Pglyrp-1. Therefore, in ocular infections the pro-inflammatory functions of Pglyrp-2 must be regulated to benefit the host.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the concept of occupant behavior and its relation with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and building energy consumption. The behavior is referred to any direct or indirect action, which is selected by an occupant to manage the unpleasant indoor environmental conditions. Thermal comfort, indoor air quality, aural comfort and visual comfort are the key factors of IEQ evaluation. Human behavior significantly interacts with energy consumption in buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

Each IEQ parameter was reviewed separately and the overall IEQ acceptance was considered. In addition, this paper reviews the methods that were used to measure and simulate the IEQ factors, energy consumption and human behavior. Finally, the lack of knowledge in this field is based on the review demonstrated.

Findings

Most studies considered one or two IEQ factors to evaluate IEQ acceptance in buildings. Further, weakness of simulating all IEQ factors at the same time is the deficiency of IEQ simulation, based on reviews. In the case of occupant behavior simulation, the uncertainly of human psychological parameter is a drawback to predict behavior.

Originality/value

Energy consumption, occupant health and productivity are related to IEQ. Human behavior affects building energy consumption directly. Simulation software and methods can predict IEQ factors and human behavior. Therefore, reviewing the existing studies is critical to find new methods for measuring and simulating IEQ, energy consumption and human behavior in buildings.


Introduction: Today, organizations face the opportunities and threats that need entrepreneurial solutions for dealing with them. For creating successful environment in organizations entrepre neurship and people entrepreneur is necessary. Aim: The aim of this study was to provide a structural model of personality traits of nurses' entrepreneurship based on the power resources managers and the mediator role of organizational justice in hospitals of Miandoab City in 2017. Material & Method: This was an applied and descriptive corre lational study. The sample based on Morgan's table is 152 people, selected by stratified random sampling from the statistical pop -ulation. Data collecting tools were included Power Resources's Hinkin and Schriesheim (1989) and Entrepreneurship Personal ity Features questionnaire (Centre of Durham) and Organizational Justice's Niehoff and Moorman (1993). Their reliability by Alpha –Cronbach were more than 0.70. For analyzing data Structural Equation Modeling with maximum partial squares method used. Results: The results of the Structural Model show that the power resources of managers with the personality traits of entrepreneur ship nurses (β = 0.259, Sig = 0.004) and their organizational justice perception (β = 0.521, Sig = 0.001) have a positive and significant relationship. Considering the confirmation of the relationship of the administrative staff of organizational justice of nurses with their en trepreneurial personality traits (β = 0.558, Sig = 0.000), the role of the mediator of organizational justice in this study confirmed. Conclusion: According to the findings, managers of different departments can use their power resources and justice in organi zation that would be develop and strengthen the entrepreneurial personality traits among nurses and consequently guarantee their success.


AIM
To investigate the correlation of facet joint osteoarthritis (FJOA) at lumbar levels L4/L5 and L5/S1 and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).

METHODS
The study involved lumbar MRIs of 591 patients with a mean age of 47.3 years. The MRIs of the lumbar spine were performed on a 1.5 Tesla scanner (Magnetom(®) Avanto, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany) using a dedicated receive only spine coil. After initial blinding, each dataset was evaluated by 2 board certified radiologist with more than 5 years experience in musculoskeletal imaging. In total 2364 facet joints were graded. Degenerative changes of the facet joints were evaluated according to the 4-point scale as proposed by Weishaupt et al Functional status was assessed using the ODI. The index is scored from 0 to 100 and interpreted as follows: 0%-20%, minimal disability; 20%-40%, moderate disability; 40%-60%, severe disability; 60%-80%, crippled; 80%-100%, patients are bedbound. Spearman's coefficient of rank correlation was used for statistical analysis, with significance set at P < 0.05.

RESULTS
In total 2364 facet joints at lumbar levels L4/5 and L5/S1 were analysed in 591 individuals. FJOA was present in 97% (L4/L5) and 98% (L5/S1). At level L4/5 (left/right) 17/15 (2.9%/2.5%) were described as grade 0, 146/147 (24.7%/24.9%) as grade 1, 290/302 (49.1%/51.1%) as grade 2 and 138/127 (23.4%/21.5%) as grade 3. At level L5/S1 (left/right) 10/11 (1.7%/1.9%) were described as grade 0, 136/136 (23.0%/23.0%) as grade 1, 318/325 (53.8%/55.0%) as grade 2 and 127/119 (21.5%/20.1%) as grade 3. Regarding the ODI scores, patients' disability had a minimum of 0% and a maximum of 91.11% with an arithmetic mean of 32.77% ± 17.02%. The majority of patients (48.39%) had moderate functional disability (21%-40%). There was no significant correlation between FJOA and ODI on both sides of lumbar level L4/5 and on the left side of lumbar level L5/S1. A weak positive correlation was evaluated between ODI and FJOA on the right side of lumbar level L5/S1.

CONCLUSION
The missing correlation of FJOA and ODI confirms our clinical experience that imaging alone is an insufficient approach explaining low back pain. Clinical correlation is imperative for an adequate diagnostic advance in patients with low back pain.


Multifractal analysis, which mainly consists in estimating scaling exponents, has become a popular tool for empirical data analysis. Although widely used in different applications, the statistical performance and the reliability of the estimation procedures are still poorly known. Notably, little is known about confidence intervals, though they are of first importance in applications. The present work investigates the potential uses of bootstrap for multifractal estimation. Can bootstrap improve current estimation procedures or be used to obtain reliable confidence intervals? Comparing the statistical performance of different estimators, our major result is to show that bootstrap based procedures provide us both with accurate estimates and reliable confidence intervals. We believe that this brings substantial improvements to practical empirical multifractal analyses


Current information service systems are built to serve all users, independent of the special needs of any individual user in different situations. Personalized information service aims at improving the retrieval process by taking into account the particular interests of individual users. However, not all user preferences are relevant in all situations, and they should be understood in context with the user goals and tasks at hand. In this paper, we propose a context-aware personalized information service (CAPIS) approach to adapting information retrieval results according to each user's information needs in different situations for relevant information with little user effort. After the process of CAPIS is analyzed, the service-oriented middleware architecture of CAPIS system is proposed. How to realize personalized semantic matching and personalized information service based on the user context in such an architecture are discussed.


Six women, aged 16 to 27 years old at the beginning of their illness suffered recurrent spontaneous abortion (two to eight episodes) and three of them had arteriolar venous thrombosis. These symptoms led to the finding of an antiprothrombinase type of circulating anticoagulant. In two cases, positive dissociated syphilitic serology was observed and all patients presented other haematological abnormalities: thrombocytopaenia and/or autoimmune haemolysis. The diagnosis of disseminated lupus erythematosis was established after an average period of 11 years (range 1 to 27 years) based on at least 4 of the ARA criteria (five out of six cases) and/or characteristic immunological abnormalities (five out of six cases). Thrombosis is more common in lupus when there are associated haematological abnormalities. It is probably directly related to the presence of circulating anticoagulant which inhibits the production and/or secretion of prostacyclin by the endothelial cells.


The objective of this research is to demonstrate that measures of social structure can be used to enhance participant involvement in system change. The research concerns the application of graph theory based software to the measurement of network aspects of social capital in communities and in non-profit organisations, and with evaluating the short-term outcomes of specific organisational interventions. The epistemological framework being used in this research project is action research. Action research is real world or applied research as opposed to psychological research that might take place in a laboratory or other controlled environment. In general it is regarded as a qualitative rather than a quantitative research method. As a principle the people potentially affected by a social change intervention are directly involved in the action research. Action research does challenge traditional epistemological views of what constitutes legitimate science. In conventional science the expert researcher stays within the boundaries of their own discipline, follows strict scientific method setting up a hypothesis, developing an approved methodology, gathering and analysing data, producing a report and hoping that someone else will act on this expert information. This is not so in action research. In terms of the epistemological validity of action research, the process addresses themes rather than hypotheses and the role of the researcher is intimately involved in the change process. The learning that is developed is about both content and process thought of as an epistemological framework (F), transformed into a methodology (M) to research an area of concern (A), resulting in learning about F, M and A. In the action research process the researcher is more of a facilitator of the learning process than an expert. The use of techniques to identify social structures and the possibility of simulating proposed interventions using data generated by judgements of likely outcomes, raises the possibility of designing minimal interventions (micro-technology) in terms of cost and negative social impact, that may be able to deliver planned development of social capital. Furthermore, if network analysis software had the capacity to identify "unpredictable" adverse consequences of interventions in social systems, the potential might also exist for the development of planning tools and strategies to respond accordingly. The steams of theory and practice drawn upon included: Public health research on the social determinants of health (and other social outcomes) and community cohesion as a feature of these social determinants. The concept of social capital which stresses the importance of networks of connections involving trust and reciprocity between individuals in groups (bonding social capital), and across to other community groups and organisations (bridging social capital), and the way in which individuals and groups access resources and decision-making (linking social capital). Social capital is said to be stored in the networks of reciprocal and trusting interactions. Systems theory in which the access to, consumption and redistribution of resources (energy) is a fundamental process. Secondly, the concepts of dynamic equilibrium and constant disequilibrium are important with respect to "unpredictable" consequences of planned change. Systems theory is also important in terms of the definition of boundaries between groups and how mutual relationships form between groups within the same environment. Social network theory. Social network theory is a consolidation of anthropological, social psychological and sociological theorems concerning the structure of human relationships in large groups and organizations, and quantitative techniques to measure and describe these relationships. Social relationships, boundaries between groups and movement of resources can all be depicted in sociograms (diagrams of social interaction between people) as long as the numbers are small i.e. around 8-10 people. Sociograms are impractical when numbers are larger than this because sheer complexity makes them difficult to interpret. Combinational explosion of possible connections make them difficult to analyse. Thus large sociograms can only be "intuitively" analysed and the time required to produce diagrams by hand makes them cost prohibitive. Given the appropriate formulation of questions and the development of survey methodology, it appeared reasonable to conclude that network software could be used to analyse and graph relationships of trust and reciprocity between individuals within a group (bonding social capital), between groups (bridging social capital) and between individuals and groups in terms of their access to resources and decision making (linking social capital). The research hypothesis was that measures of social structure could be used to enhance participant involvement in system change designed to develop social capital, by enabling the development of innovative interventions directed at minimum disruption and maximum outcome for the organisation or community. The research methodology was action research based on applied case studies where knowledge and experience gained each time was applied in subsequent case studies. Tools and measures were modified as a result in a continuous process of case study, review of processes and results, reflection, and modification of subsequent applications. Case studies varied in size, scope and context each case study testing one or more elements of a general community/organisational change process. While this did not result in a single organisational intervention across the entire process, it did allow for testing the hypothesis in a range of contexts demonstrating that it is possible to develop tools to measure and describe network aspects of social capital and to build social capital in communities, community and other not-for-profit organisations. Theoretical and measurement issues in network aspects of social capital are reviewed and suggestions for further research and developments highlighted, are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and its changes in patients with indirect inguinal hernia and non-hernia diseases.

METHODS
Supine IAP (SIAP), supine Valsava IAP (SVIAP), orthostatic IAP (OIAP) and orthostatic Valsava IAP (OVIAP) were measured by intra-vesicle pressure measurement in 19 indirect inguinal hernia patients and 20 non-hernia patients, respectively. The differences of IAP between orthostatic and supine position in quiescent condition (OSIAPD), before and after taking Valsava maneuver in supine position (SVIAPD) or in orthostatic position (OVIAPD), orthostatic and supine position when taking Valsava maneuver (OSVIAPD) were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
There was no significant differences in SIAP, OIAP, SVIAP, OSIAPD, SVIAPD between the two groups (P > 0.05). While patients with indirect inguinal hernia had higher OVIAP (P < 0.05). Significant differences in OVIAPD and OSVIAPD was found between the two groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The etiology of indirect inguinal hernia were related to orthostatic position, increasing IAP and changes of anatomic structures. The IAP is prone to elevated in patients with indirect inguinal hernia.


Image restoration (IR) has been an indispensable and challenging task in the low-level vision field, which strives to improve the subjective quality of images distorted by various forms of degradation. Recently, the diffusion model has achieved significant advancements in the visual generation of AIGC, thereby raising an intuitive question,"whether diffusion model can boost image restoration". To answer this, some pioneering studies attempt to integrate diffusion models into the image restoration task, resulting in superior performances than previous GAN-based methods. Despite that, a comprehensive and enlightening survey on diffusion model-based image restoration remains scarce. In this paper, we are the first to present a comprehensive review of recent diffusion model-based methods on image restoration, encompassing the learning paradigm, conditional strategy, framework design, modeling strategy, and evaluation. Concretely, we first introduce the background of the diffusion model briefly and then present two prevalent workflows that exploit diffusion models in image restoration. Subsequently, we classify and emphasize the innovative designs using diffusion models for both IR and blind/real-world IR, intending to inspire future development. To evaluate existing methods thoroughly, we summarize the commonly-used dataset, implementation details, and evaluation metrics. Additionally, we present the objective comparison for open-sourced methods across three tasks, including image super-resolution, deblurring, and inpainting. Ultimately, informed by the limitations in existing works, we propose five potential and challenging directions for the future research of diffusion model-based IR, including sampling efficiency, model compression, distortion simulation and estimation, distortion invariant learning, and framework design.


The yeast Candida albicans is the most prevalent opportunistic fungal pathogen in humans. Drug resistance among C. albicans isolates poses a common challenge, and overcoming this resistance represents an unmet need in managing this common pathogen. Here, we investigated CDC8, encoding thymidylate kinase (TMPK), as a potential drug target for the management of C. albicans infections. We found that the region spanning amino acids 106–123, namely the Ca-loop of C. albicans TMPK (CaTMPK), contributes to the hyperactivity of this enzyme compared with the human enzyme (hTMPK) and to the utilization of deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP)/deoxy-5-fluorouridine monophosphate (5-FdUMP) as a substrate. Notably, expression of CaTMPK, but not of hTMPK, produced dUTP/5-FdUTP–mediated DNA toxicity in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). CRISPR-mediated deletion of this Ca-loop in C. albicans revealed that the Ca-loop is critical for fungal growth and susceptibility to 5-fluorouridine (5-FUrd). Of note, pathogenic and drug-resistant C. albicans clones were similarly sensitive to 5-FUrd, and we also found that CaTMPK is essential for the growth of C. albicans. In conclusion, these findings not only identified a target site for the development of CaTMPK-selective drugs, but also revealed that 5-FUrd may have potential utility as drug for managing C. albicans infections.


Despising lawyers has been popular for centuries, and knowing when to take it seriously is often difficult. Since the 1640s in England, vicious attacks on lawyers and the common law have occasionally accompanied reform movements. Are these outbursts evidence of a long-term tradition of radical hostility towards the legal establishment? Or do they point to a tradition of political posturing with little real substance?With respect to early America, some very good historians have come to differing conclusions on these questions. Maxwell Bloomfield suggests that, while radical in tone, the attack on lawyers was rooted in essentially middle-class values and was not seriously connected to an ideology of social leveling or egalitarianism. He nevertheless demonstrates elegantly that the anti-lawyer sentiment of the Jacksonian period was part of a longer-term and culturally pervasive pattern. Richard Ellis's work, in partial contrast, documents radical attacks on the legal establishment during the Jeffersonian years, notably in Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Other legal historians have often stressed that fundamentally different conceptions of law, lawyers, judges, juries, and courts shaped the legal politics of Americans in the post-revolutionary years.Developments in Maryland offer an excellent opportunity to explore such issues further.


With the establishment of undergraduate medical education and the progress of health care in the country heralded by the return of well trained and dedicated physicians and surgeons, it was only natural that the attention will be focused on establishing graduate training for the different medical specialties in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This paper addresses the current status of general surgery training in the country and compares our model with the experience of others from the perspective of a program director. It is not the exception, but it is the rule to have challenges at this stage of development. The problems are multifactorial and need to be addressed by all those concerned with an open mind. I pretend no special farsightedness and my authority rests only on genuine concern about the issues and experience from being both a surgeon and a program director. The aim is of course to produce a future generation of well trained surgeons able to meet the challenge and take the lead in the medical care of this country. Once sound general surgery training is in place, training in specialty surgery such as thoracic and cardiac to name a few will follow suit.


Optical superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) has been widely used in quantum information, biological imaging, and fluorescence microscopy owing to its high quantum efficiency, low dark count, and photon number resolving capability. The temperature sensitivity (αI ) and current sensitivity (βI ) are important parameters for optical TESs, which are generally extracted from the complex impedance. Here we present a method to extract αI and βI based on a two-fluid model and compare the calculated current–voltage curves, pulse response, and theoretical energy resolution with the measured ones. This method shows qualitative agreement that is suitable for further optimization of optical TESs.


The study of national economics of real society can provide a model for the future social blueprint. Philosophy, economy and social theory can be integrated with the analysis of people's living state in real society and the refinement of labor happiness thought. By the research of national economics, we can find that the road to happiness is connected with the real economic movement via labor.


Current drug discovery using combinatorial chemistry involves synthesis followed by screening, but emerging methods involve receptor-assistance to combine these steps. Adding stoichiometric amounts of receptor during library synthesis alters the kinetics or thermodynamics of the synthesis in a way that identifies the best-binding library members. Three main methods have emerged thus far in receptor-assisted combinatorial chemistry: dynamic combinatorial libraries, receptor-accelerated synthesis, and a new method, pseudo-dynamic libraries. Pseudo-dynamic libraries apply both thermodynamics and kinetics to amplify library members to easily observable levels, and attain selectivity heretofore unseen in receptor-assisted systems.


Author(s): Atwill, Edward R.; Phillips, Ralph; Rulofson, Franz | Abstract: Waterborne transmission of the pathogenic protozoa Cryptosporidium parvum has emerged as an important public health concern. To develop focused strategies to minimize the risk of waterborne transmission of this parasite to humans or animals, a standardized methodology is needed for comparing environmental loading rates for different populations of vertebrate hosts for C. parvum. A reasonable approximation for an estimate of the environmental loading rate is to measure the prevalence of infection and the intensity of shedding using cross-sectional surveys of the mammalian population, and then multiplying by an estimate of fecal production. We applied this concept to a variety of livestock and wildlife species found throughout California. In general we found that regardless of age, striped skunks, coyotes, California ground squirrels, and yellow-bellied marmots were substantial sources of C. parvum oocysts. In contrast, only the young stock of beef and dairy cattle were substantial sources of oocysts; adult cattle appear to excrete only limited numbers oocysts relative to either calves or wildlife. Watershed management plans that endeavor to minimize contamination of drinking water with C. parvum need to focus on appropriate management of wildlife reservoirs of C. parvum in addition to the traditional concern of animal agriculture.


This paper reports an investigation on the strength properties, a time dependent property as well as durability characteristics of normal and water reduced high strength concrete (WRHSC), with or without rice husk ash (RHA), designed to produce Grade 60 at 28 days. RHA was 'added' or 'replaced' at/by 5% - 20% of the cement content. A PCE superplasti-cizer was added to all mixes to provide workability in the range of 150 - 200 mm slump. Based on the initial trial mixes, four high strength concrete mixes were selected for further tests on mechanical properties (compressive strength, tensile splitting strength, flexural strength and static modulus of elasticity), drying shrinkage and durability (water absorption, sorptivity, chemical resistance to MgSO4 solution). Incorporation of RHA increases the strength, reduces the drying shrinkage and improves the durability of concrete compared to conventional OPC concrete.


Tuberulation in waste water has long been a concern. Causes are an adverse mixture of water chemistry, construction materials, microbiological attack, and flow rate. Low velocity permits paticulates and corrosion products to form deposits. Accumulated deposition leads to partial or complete blockage of pipelines trapping of pigs, under deposit corrosion, and tuberculation. Tuberculation reduces flow rate. This article discusses tuberculation and presents a case study.


Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) is a member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily that alleviates cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, and vascular injury by regulating oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell survival. However, the roles and underlying mechanisms of GDF11 in diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) remain largely unknown. In this study, we sought to determine whether GDF11 could prevent DCM. After establishing a mouse model of diabetes by administering a high-fat diet and streptozotocin, intramyocardial injection of an adeno-associated virus was used to achieve myocardium-specific GDF11 overexpression. GDF11 remarkably improved cardiac dysfunction and interstitial fibrosis by reducing the levels of reactive oxygen species and protecting against cardiomyocyte loss. Mechanistically, decreased sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) expression and activity were observed in diabetic mice, which was significantly increased after GDF11 overexpression. To further explore how SIRT1 mediates the role of GDF11, the selective inhibitor EX527 was used to block SIRT1 signaling pathway, which abolished the protective effects of GDF11 against DCM. In vitro studies confirmed that GDF11 protected against H9c2 cell injury in high glucose and palmitate by attenuating oxidative injury and apoptosis, and these effects were eliminated by SIRT1 depletion. Our results demonstrate for the first time that GDF11 protects against DCM by regulating SIRT1 signaling pathway.


Recently electronic portal image devices (EPIDs) have been widely used for quality assurance and dose verification. However there are no reports describing EPID dosimetry for Elekta volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). We have investigated EPID dosimetry during VMAT delivery using a commercial software EPIDose with an Elekta Synergy linac. Dose rate dependence and the linac system sag during gantry rotation were measured. Gamma indices were calculated between measured doses using an EPID and calculation made by a treatment planning system for prostate VMAT test plans. The results were also compared to gamma indices using films and a two-dimensional detector array, MapCHECK2. The pass rates of the gamma analysis with a criterion of 3% and 2 mm for the three methods were over 96% with good consistency. Our results have showed that EPID dosimetry is feasible for Elekta VMAT.


Background Management of endometrial carcinoma (EC) still needs improvement of risk assessment. Recently, L1CAM immunohistochemical (IHC) evaluation showed a unique value to predict the outcome of early EC. However IHC results are often conflicting for lack of inter-laboratory standardisation. Methods Here, as a proof of concept and to increase reproducibility we assayed eighty-two EC and 26 normal endometrium samples for L1CAM expression (L1CAMEXP) via qRT-PCR. The IHC evaluation was performed in 50 cancer samples. Moreover, we aimed to substantiate the in-vitro findings of L1CAM regulation through its promoter methylation (L1CAMMET), miR-34a expression and miR-34a promoter methylation. DNA methylation was assessed with MethyLight PCR technique. Results High overall concordant results between IHC and RT-PCR evaluations were found. L1CAMEXP was detected in 11% of cancer specimens. These positive cancers exhibited a worse DFS (p=0.032) and OS (p=0.016) in a multivariate COX-regression model. L1CAMEXP predicted distant failure (p=0.007) and L1CAMMET predicted risk-reduction of lymph-node involvement (p=0.005). Inverse correlations between L1CAMEXP and L1CAMMET (p=0.004) and between L1CAMEXP and miR-34a expression (p=0.002) were found. Conclusions In conclusion qRT-PCR analysis is a reliable approach to evaluate L1CAM status in EC and L1CAMEXP was highly predictive for distant failure and poor outcome, confirming the large IHC-based studies. Interestingly, L1CAMMET was able to assess the risk of pelvic lymph-node involvement. Especially the latter finding has to be confirmed in larger prospective series.


The current research aimed to identify the effect of the cube strategy on the ability of fourth-grade literary students to analyze literary texts among fourth-grade literary students. The research sample consisted of students of the fourth literary grade at Granada Secondary School for Girls, in the city of Kirkuk, for the academic year (2020-2021). It was chosen intentionally, as the total number of its members is (66) students. The sample of the experimental group consisted of (33) female students, who studied according to the cube strategy, and the sample of the control group consisted of (33) female students, who studied in the usual way. To achieve the goal of the research, a test was built to analyze literary texts for the fourth-grade literary students in the Arabic language, and after preparing the teaching plans, the research experiment was carried out by the researcher to teach Arabic in the second course of the academic year (2020-2021) on (4/25/2021). It continued for a full academic course, with two lessons per week, and the post-test was applied on (27/6/2021). The data was statistically treated by t-test for two independent samples. The result was that the members of the experimental group who were taught by the cube strategy outperformed the members of the control group


Elder retirement volunteers, as the major manpower source of various organizations, not only present rich experiences and abundant working hours, maintain traditional rules, and cherish service opportunities, but also enjoy playing altruistic roles. For this reason, understanding elder volunteers' participation motivation and enhancing the job satisfaction to promote the intention of continuous service could avoid the loss of elder volunteers. Aiming at elder volunteers of Fujian Volunteers Association, total 300 copies of questionnaire are distributed for this study and total 226 valid copies are retrieved, with the retrieval rate 75%. The research results reveal significant positive effects of participation motivation on happiness, happiness on intention of continuous participation, and participation motivation on intention of continuous participation. According to the results, suggestions are proposed in this study, expecting to encourage and maintain elder retirees' continuous service by the participation motivation and the enhancement of volunteer happiness to further promote the service efficiency of organizations, under current manpower shortage.


Biodiversity is usually regarded as an asset or resource, the stock of which is partly natural and partly determined by humans. Humans both subtract from and add to this stock and consequently, the change in the stock is heterogeneous. This heterogeneity is not taken account of by some authors who focus only on the loss aspect. Frequently, the conservation of this stock is seen as important for the achievement of sustainable development; sustainable development being defined (but not always acceptably) as a situation on which the welfare of each future generation is no less than that of its preceding generation. Definitions of biodiversity are quite wide but here its focus is restricted to genetic diversity. Humans alter the stock of genetic diversity by eliminating some species or varieties of these and also add to this stock by selective breeding and genetic engineering. Both direct and indirect human impacts on diversity occur. The types of possible changes in the genetic stock are classified in a simple manner. It is pointed out that not all the genetic stock has positive consequences for human welfare because some of the genetic material has negative consequences (e.g. pests) for humankind or for some groups of human beings. This can make its evaluation of the genetic stock difficult. Implications of additions to the genetic stock by human manipulation of it (e.g. by the development of GMOs and selective breeding) are given particular attention. This raises the question of how many future generations should be taken into account in making choices about biodiversity and the manner in which their welfare should be allowed for. For example, should discounting be applied? Also how much precaution is needed to allow for uncertainty, for example, is a safety first rule advisable? These issues are discussed.


Knowledge and learning are among the important factors in organizations and are inevitable for their survival. Organizations are the result of the way of thinking and acting of their members. Therefore, if we want an organization to change, we should give enough time to individuals to change their way of thinking and acting. It is obvious that we cannot achieve such changes by intensifying training courses and/or the method of order and control management. Organizational learning requires introducing new management ideas, methods and tools. By providing opportunities for doing new works, members of the organization will achieve a stable capacity for change. Organizational learning has been paid increasing attention by the organizations which are interested in competitive advantage, innovation, and efficiency. Traditionally, learning has been defined as a process by which individuals will acquire new knowledge and insight as a result of changing their behaviors and actions. Learning organization is an organization which is managed consciously towards learning, and learning is an important component in its values, visions, objectives, evaluations, and daily operations. Learning is a process which includes quadripartite mechanisms which themselves include learning environment, recognition of developmental and learning needs, realization of developmental and learning needs, and utilizing learning in work environment. To focus on learning means to concentrate on making changes in an extensive level of individuals, groups, and organizations. Since environmental change is a constant and continuous action and an open and unpredictable process in nature, learning plays a critical and sensitive role in aligning organizational forces in this unreliable environment and moving towards a glorious, pervasive, and learning organization. Keywords: Learning, learning Organizations, Human Resources


The paradoxical sex difference in which women have lower rates of anatomical coronary artery disease (CAD) but worsening symptoms, ischemia, and outcomes appears to be linked to a sex-specific pathophysiology of coronary reactivity, which includes microvascular dysfunction. For women with obstructive CAD, their risk is elevated compared with men, yet women are less likely to receive guideline-indicated therapies. For women with evidence of ischemia but no obstructive CAD, antianginal and antiischemic therapies can ameliorate symptoms, improve endothelial function and quality of life; however, trials aimed to improve outcomes are needed. Thus, ischemic heart disease (IHD) in women presents a unique and difficult challenge for clinicians due to a greater symptom burden, functional disability, higher healthcare costs, and more adverse outcomes as compared with men, despite a lower prevalence and severity of obstructive CAD, which remains the current focus of therapeutic strategies. Continued research is indicated to devise therapeutic regimens to improve symptom burden and reduce risk in women with IHD.


This paper investigates the effects of the deregulation of shop-opening hours legislation on retail employment in Germany. In 2006, the legislative competence was shifted from the federal to the state level, leading to a gradual deregulation of shop opening restrictions in most of Germany s sixteen federal states. The paper exploits regional variation in the legislation in order to identify the effect of product market deregulation on retail employment. We find robust evidence that the deregulation had negative effects on retail employment, with considerable heterogeneity in terms of the type of employment as well as establishment size. Employment losses are most pronounced for small retail stores and are almost exclusively borne by full-time employees.


[1] In this study, the consistency of trends in radiation and temperature records and their implications for the hydrological cycle and especially the trends in reference evapotranspiration are examined during the period 1950–2001. The new reference evapotranspiration model for complex terrains (REMCT), with monthly time step, is used for estimating trends of reference evapotranspiration in Greece. REMCT is applied after developing a methodology for calibrating its parameter values with Penman-Monteith estimates. The calibrated REMCT estimates are independently validated against available pan evaporation measurements. The evolution of available sunshine duration anomalies measured in Athens during the period 1951–2001 are used for highlighting global dimming or brightening periods in Greece. The sign of trends in the modeled reference evapotranspiration and precipitation are examined according to the dimming or brightening periods 1950–1983 and 1958–1983 (for 16 and 22 stations, respectively) or 1983–2001 (for 16, 22, and 29 stations). The trends of REMCT estimates, precipitation, number of rainy days, and mean, maximum, and minimum air temperature for all sets of stations considered "as a whole" are evaluated during the same periods. The results show that the annual calibrated reference evapotranspiration trend shows a decline from 1950 until the early 1980s, followed by an upward trend until 2001, while the annual precipitation and rainy days indicate a downward trend during the whole period 1950–2001. The trends of mean, maximum, and minimum air temperature are found almost negligible during the dimming period and rather increased during the brightening period.


BACKGROUND
Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has become the therapeutic option of choice for end-stage liver disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes of splenic morphology, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and explore their value in evaluating the therapeutic effects of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) on portal hypertension at 1.5 Tesla MRI.

METHODS
Twenty patients with portal hypertension undergoing OLT were included in this study. Conventional MRI and diffusion-weighted image (DWI) (b value = 600 s/mm(2)) sequences were applied on each patient before and after OLT, and these patients were referred to as the preoperative and postoperative groups. Twenty healthy individuals were selected as the normal group. After image acquisition, the splenic width (W), thickness (T), length (L), the diameter of the portal vein (PD) and splenic vein (SD) were measured and the splenic volume (V) was calculated. The SNR and CNR were measured on T2WI. The ADC maps were calculated using the b600 in DWIs and the ADC values were measured.

RESULTS
Compared with the preoperative group, the splenic V, PD and SD decreased significantly in the postoperative group (P < 0.05). All splenic morphological values were significantly different between preoperative and normal groups (P < 0.05). The splenic L and V were significantly different (P < 0.05) between postoperative and normal groups. The SNR and CNR values were 17.66 ± 4.62 and 13.18 ± 3.12, 11.50 ± 1.64 and 7.44 ± 4.32, 4.24 ± 1.24 and 3.03 ± 2.41 in the preoperative, postoperative and normal groups, respectively. Both SNR and CNR decreased after OLT, but they was still higher than the normal values. The SNR was significantly different between any two groups (P < 0.05). The CNR was significantly different (P < 0.05) between the preoperative and postoperative groups, preoperative and normal groups. The splenic ADC values were (1.339 ± 0.482) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s, (1.120 ± 0.254) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s and (0.997 ± 0.447) × 10(-3) mm(2)/s in the preoperative, postoperative and normal groups, respectively. The difference of ADC values were significant (P < 0.05) between the preoperative and postoperative groups, and the preoperative and normal groups.

CONCLUSIONS
OLT is an effective method of treatment for portal hypertension. In addition to dramatically decreasing the splenic V, it can also decrease the splenic SNR, CNR and ADC values in patients with portal hypertension. The changes of splenic SNR, CNR and ADC after OLT may be helpful in providing noninvasive supplementary information in assessing the therapeutic effect of OLT on portal hypertension.


Focus on the Unconventional: Sound, Symbol, Composition, and Performance in a FourthGrade General Music Class Author(s): Thomas J. Horazak Reviewed work(s): Source: Music Educators Journal, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Oct., 1973), pp. 49-50 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of MENC: The National Association for Music Education Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3394357 . Accessed: 19/02/2012 21:38


Aimed at the internal character of energy's generation, conversion and dissipation of wind power conversion systems, we study robust adaptive control problem of permanent magnet synchronous wind power conversion systems based on energy. Firstly, we establish nonlinear dynamic model in condition of parameter uncertainty and external disturbance, and transform it into Hamiltonian system model. Then, we design the state feedback controller to arrange balance point of the system to the desired operating point, and realize the refactoring of Hamiltonian function and structure matrix. Finally, we design the robust adaptive control strategy based on energy by taking advantage of the internal structural characteristics of the system, it can capture the maximum wind power when there are uncertain parameter and external disturbance. Simulation results prove effectiveness of the control strategy proposed in this paper.


Contributors. Introduction. Section 1 - Promoting Understanding of the Manifestations of Serious Mental Illness. 1. Serious Mental Illness: A View from Within. 2. Inside Caring in Mental Health (Lyn Shore). 3. Social Inclusion (Rachel Perkins and Liz Sayce). 4. Stress Vulnerability Model of Serious Mental Illness (Geoff Brennan). 5. An Introduction to and Rationale for Psychosocial Interventions (Helen Healy, David Reader andKenny Midence). Section 2 - Engaging, Assessing and Formulating Care. 6. Building Relationships: Lessons to be Learnt (Catherine Gamble). 7. Severe Mental Illness: Symptoms, Signs and Diagnosis (Tom KJ Craig). 8. Assessments: a Rationalr for Choosing and Using (Catherine Gamble and Geoff Brennan). 9. Consolidating the Assessment Process (Catherine Gamble, Jayne Fox and Paddy Conroy). 10. Assessing Risk (Nigel Wellman). section 3 - Interventions. 11. Dealing with Voices and Strange Thoughts (Jem Mills). 12. Dealing with Blankness and Deadness (Jem Mills, Sue Kerr and sally Goldspink). 13. Working with Families and Informal Carers (Catherine Gamble and Geoff Brennan). 14. Co-existent Substance Use and Pschiatric Disorders (Jood Gibbins and Cheryl Kipping). 15. Working with People with Serious Metal Illness who are Angry (Paul Rogers and Andrew Vidgen). 16. Working with People with Serious Mental Illness at Risk of Offending (Paul Rogers and Andrew Vidgen). 17. Managing Medication (Jacqueline Sin and Cliff Roberts). 18. Cultural Issues (Avie Luthra and Dinesh Bhugra). Section 4 - Considerations for Effective Practice. 19. Ethical Considerations (Paula Morrison). 20. The Tip of the Iceberg (sharon Dennis). 21. Clinical support (Geoff Brennan and Catherine Gamble). Index.


We investigate theoretically electron spin states in one-dimensional and two-dimensional (2D) hard-wall mesoscopic rings in the presence of both the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI) and the Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction (DSOI) in a perpendicular magnetic field. The Hamiltonian of the RSOI alone is mathematically equivalent to that of the DSOI alone using an SU(2) spin rotation transformation. Our theoretical results show that the interplay between the RSOI and DSOI results in an effective periodic potential, which consequently leads to gaps in the energy spectrum. This periodic potential also weakens and smoothens the oscillations of the persistent charge current and spin current and results in the localization of electrons. For a 2D ring with a finite width, higher radial modes destroy the periodic oscillations of persistent currents.


A method is presented for the stepwise refinement of an abstract architecture into a relatively correct lower-level architecture that is intended to implement it. A refinement step involves the application of a predefined refinement pattern that provides a routine solution to a standard architectural design problem. A pattern contains an abstract architecture schema and a more detailed schema intended to implement it. The two schemas usually contain very different architectural concepts (from different architectural styles). Once a refinement pattern is proven correct, instances of it can be used without proof in developing specific architectures. Individual refinements are compositional, permitting incremental development and local reasoning. A special correctness criterion is defined for the domain of software architecture, as well as an accompanying proof technique. A useful syntactic form of correct composition is defined. The main points are illustrated by means of familiar architectures for a compiler. A prototype implementation of the method has been used successfully in a real application. >


We propose a new method for assembly of 3D microstructures. Hard magnets are arranged in a novel 120deg offset configuration, allowing for in-situ magnetization. The new configuration makes the use of hard magnets feasible in batch fabrication, and hard magnets allow for the use of a uniform external field for application of magnetic torque. A sequential planner was developed to calculate layout and magnet orientations for given assemblies, based on this new magnet configuration. We describe the new magnet configuration, experimentally test the configuration, and present a planner that generates a planar layout and magnet orientations.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) causes loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and, ultimately, adenosine triphosphate depletion and necrosis. Cells deficient in cyclophilin D (CypD), a component of the MPTP, are resistant to MPTP opening, loss of ΔΨm, and necrosis. Alcohol abuse is a major risk factor for pancreatitis and is believed to sensitize the pancreas to stressors, by poorly understood mechanisms. We investigated the effects of ethanol on the pancreatic MPTP, the mechanisms of these effects, and their role in pancreatitis.

METHODS
We measured ΔΨm in mouse pancreatic acinar cells incubated with ethanol alone and in combination with physiologic and pathologic concentrations of cholecystokinin-8 (CCK). To examine the role of MPTP, we used ex vivo and in vivo models of pancreatitis, induced in wild-type and CypD(-/-) mice by a combination of ethanol and CCK.

RESULTS
Ethanol reduced basal ΔΨm and converted a transient depolarization, induced by physiologic concentrations of CCK, into a sustained decrease in ΔΨm, resulting in reduced cellular adenosine triphosphate and increased necrosis. The effects of ethanol and CCK were mediated by MPTP because they were not observed in CypD(-/-) acinar cells. Ethanol and CCK activated MPTP through different mechanisms-ethanol by reducing the ratio of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide to reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, as a result of oxidative metabolism, and CCK by increasing cytosolic Ca(2+). CypD(-/-) mice developed a less-severe form of pancreatitis after administration of ethanol and CCK.

CONCLUSIONS
Oxidative metabolism of ethanol sensitizes pancreatic mitochondria to activate MPTP, leading to mitochondrial failure; this makes the pancreas susceptible to necrotizing pancreatitis.


We study how New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) firms adopted governance committees on their boards of directors. The drive to adopt started as a social movement but was facilitated greatly by the collapse of Enron Corporation and a subsequent mandate by the NYSE that all of its traded firms must have governance committees. Using institutional theory and a sample of NYSE firms, we develop and test hypotheses about the speed of governance committee adoption, the likelihood of committee adoption by the NYSE deadline, and the types of directors that were placed on the inaugural governance committee. Our study adds to theory about how organizations respond to external pressures when responding is contrary to the interests of executives.


Lighthill's division of Artificial Intelligence into three categories—Advanced Automation (A), Bridge Building (B) and Central Nervous System (C)—is of dubious utility, other than to Lighthill himself. As an example, consider rule-based expert systems. Lam and Lighthill would place these firmly in Category A. Thus placed, their indisputable success cannot be used to defend mainstream AI (Category B) against its detractors. Yet production rules have a very mixed ancestry. Their mathematical origins can be traced back to Emil Post's canonical systems, but they have also seen application and embellishment in computer science (e.g. in the analysis of algorithms) and linguistics (e.g. in Chomsky's work on formal grammar). Newell and Simon then used this formalism as a basis for modelling human problem solving, and developed techniques of protocol analysis that contributed to today's knowledge elicitation practices. Undoubtedly this work inspired the subsequent efforts at Stanford that led to DENDRAL and MYCIN. Meanwhile, Forgy's work on RETE pattern matching made rule interpreters run in a finite time, and his OPS architecture provided useful conflict resolution strategies that made programs follow more anthropomorphic lines of reasoning. That is why XCON and XSEL can handle 20-30,000 rules gracefully, not "the accessibility of high-speed computation". The point is that rule-based systems owe substantial intellectual debts to advances in mathematics (A), computer science (A), linguistics (C), and psychology (C). More than that, however, they owe a debt to the despised Bridge Builders (B) who put these ideas together and made them work. If Newell and Simon aren't mainstream AI heroes, then who is? One could repeat this analysis for many other significant developments since 1972, such as neural networks and inductive learning programs. Lam seems determined to misunderstand the synergy of mathematics, computer science, engineering, AI and psychology that gave rise to current work on parallel distributed processing, and it suits his purposes to underestimate its importance. He is also careful to omit any reference to the substantial progress in other areas of machine learning that was made in the 1980s and is now well-documented. Acknowledging any of these achievements would undermine his assertion that AI is always "assisted", and that this assistance constitutes a redefinition of AI. In fact, the goals of AI have changed surprisingly little in the last 20 years, and the distinction between "pure" and "assisted" AI is a red herring, because the line cannot be consistently drawn. How you would distinguish between "pure" and "assisted" human intelligence, given that we all have parents, read books, take courses, accept advice, use machines, etc? Unfortunately, Establishment "experts" are not well placed to understand interdisciplinary developments. Intellectual disciplines are not created, partitioned or destroyed by Research Councils, but formed by patterns of interaction between individual scientists in an international forum of information exchange. Lighthill's attempt to fashion an emerging research area in his own image revealed his own limitations far more than it revealed the limitations of AI.


This study examines the sensitivity of the University of Southern California Repeatable Episodic Memory Test (USC-REMT) to the effects of aging in a sample of 112 men and women from 18 to 93 years old. Two new recognition measures, yes-no and forced-choice, were developed to supplement the original USC-REMT which measured only free-recall. Free-recall, yes-no recognition and forced-choice recognition were sensitive to age effects, with free-recall being the most sensitive. The seven recall and recognition lists can be used interchangeably. The data indicate that the USC-REMT is worthy of consideration when there is a need for a brief, screening tool of various memory functions, particularly when there is interest in memory changes over time and repeated assessments.


The goal of this cross-sectional study was to determine if the caregiver's quality of life was associated with the child receiving appropriate preventive asthma care (2 or more preventive asthma care visits per year) in a sample of inner-city children with moderate to severe persistent asthma. Our findings confirm that children with moderate to severe persistent asthma are not receiving adequate preventive asthma care despite experiencing frequent asthma symptoms. Having a recent emergency department (ED) visit and increased number of school absences due to asthma were the strongest factors associated with these children receiving guideline-based preventive asthma care. However, for a subgroup of children without recent ED care, we found that low caregiver education level, increased school absences, and decreased caregiver's quality of life, albeit a trend, were associated with the child's receiving adequate preventive asthma care. This suggests that in a subgroup of children receiving adequate preventive care, other issues beyond basic asthma management may need to be addressed.


Is gravity parity violating? Given the recent observations of gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries, we develop a strategy to find an answer with current and future detectors. We identify the key signatures of parity violation in gravitational waves: amplitude birefringence in their propagation and a modified chirping rate in their generation. We then determine the optimal binaries to test the existence of parity violation in gravity, and prioritize the research in modeling that will be required to carry out such tests before detectors reach their design sensitivity.


Background Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare autoinflammatory disease in children. First-line treatments used are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). Secondary treatments after NSAIDS in case of refractory CRMO are not standardized and have been few evaluated. Biphosphonates, in particular pamidronate, have been used off label in a limited number of patients1. Objectives A retrospective survey and chart review to evaluate the reasons for use, the efficacy and the tolerability of IV pamidronate in 13 patients with difficult CRMO. Methods Thirteen of the 30 patients followed in the pediatric rheumatology unit at Bicêtre hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. Pamidronate treatment was documented as follows: reasons for its use, administration scheme, clinical efficacy (pain was evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) and tolerability. Radiological changes were evaluated where available. Results Thirteen patients (4M, 9F) were treated by pamidronate from November, 2004. The median age at treatment was 10 years (6-14 years). Pamidronate was administered, on demand, intravenously by cycles of 3 consecutive days (0.5 mg/kg at J1, then 1 mg/kg at J2 and J3), following the protocol for osteogenesis imperfecta. Eleven patients received from a single cycle, 1 patient received 4 cycles and 1 patient 6 cycles. Pain resistant to oral and IV NSAIDS was the main reason for all the patients. VAS was 6/10 before pamidronate, and 0/10 36 hours after pamidronate infusion for 11/13 patients. Pain persisted for 1 patient and disappeared after 3 weeks for another one. The clavicle swelling disappeared in 1/5 patients and clearly decreased in 4/5 patients. The median duration of symptom-free intervals between 2 crises was 10 months (1-21.6). Five patients had a MRI after pamidronate treatment, which showed a decrease of the number of the lesions for 4 of them. The main side effects of pamidronate infusions were mild and transient: fever (n=9) with 5 flu-like symptoms, hypocalcaemia (>2mM, n=6; 2 mM, n=5, and 2 were symptomatic). Conclusions Our observations show that about 1/3 of patients with CRMO may present difficult to treat acute attacks of bone pain. In these cases, pamidronate appears to be the best pain relieving treatment with a rapid time of response and with limited side effects. References Miettunen PM, Wei X, Kaura D, Reslan WA, Aguirre AN, Kellner JD. Dramatic pain relief and resolution of bone inflammation following pamidronate in 9 pediatric patients with persistent chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO). Ped Rheum J. 2009 Jan 12;7:2. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5698


The Problem This paper considers concepts of toxic and bad leadership from a critical, poststructuralist perspective and illustrates how this can be conveyed to management students through the use of film analysis. In response to the paucity of critical approaches within toxic and bad leadership studies, we suggest that film is a useful way of developing in-depth discussion in student and management groups to uncover underlying subtleties and complexity in leadership theory and practice. The Solution We connect to film clips from Batman: the Dark Knight, and explain how this film is used with students and managers to illustrate the ambiguous nature of 'good' and 'bad' leadership and explore the fluid, shifting and relational nature of these two concepts. We conclude that students and managers can recognise this more readily through viewing, discussing and analysing film clips such as the ones discussed herein. Stakeholders – university lecturers and students, executive educators and managers, general HRD professionals


Abstract The vocalizations of animals are very useful in assessing an emotional state and welfare because they involve information about various emotions. Hence, the findings of the acoustic features of vocalization can be used to improve the productivity and welfare of animals. This study was conducted to analyse the vocalizations of dairy calves separated from the dam. At 6 days after birth, 12 dairy calves were moved into an individual calf pen (3.0m×2.0m) bedded with sawdust and straw. One and a half litres of whole milk were fed twice daily and free access to water was allowed. The calves' vocalizations were divided into humming vocalizations (HVs: low continuous calls without tone changed), semi-humming vocalizations (SHVs: low continuous calls with tone changed), and general vocalizations (GVs). These vocalizations were classified, based on the shapes of waveforms and spectrograms. Differences in the duration, fundamental frequency, intensity, and formants among the classified vocalizations were found (P<0.0001). Acoustic parameters except intensity and 3rd formant were not different between HVs and SHVs. These results suggest that vocalization analysis could be a useful tool in assessing the emotions of calves. Acoustic parameters are also useful in classifying vocalizations. Also, intensity and 3rd formant are advantageous in distinguishing HVs and SHVs.


‡The purpose of FMVM was to measure the rate of coalescence of two highly viscous liquid drops and correlate the results with the liquid viscosity and surface tension. The experiment takes advantage of the low gravitational force free floating conditions in space allowing the unconstrained coalescence of two nearly spherical drops. The merging of the drops is accomplished by deploying them from a syringe and suspension on Nomex threads. An astronaut's slow manipulation of one of the drops toward a stationary droplet till there is contact initiates the droplet coalescence. Coalescence and merging occurs due to shape relaxation and reduction of surface energy, being resisted by the viscous drag within the liquid. Experiments were conducted onboard the International Space Station in July of 2004 and subsequently in May of 2005. The coalescence was recorded on video and down-linked near real-time. When the coefficient of surface tension for the liquid is known, the increase in contact radius can be used to determine the coefficient of viscosity for that liquid. The viscosity is determined by fitting the time to achieve contact neck diameter equal to half of the initial droplet diameter. This time is compared with a relaxation time scaling coefficient to arrive at the liquid viscosity. Recent fluid dynamical numerical simulations with COMSOL MultiPhysics of the coalescence process will be presented. The results are important for a better understanding of the coalescence process. The experiment is also relevant to liquid phase sintering, free form in-situ fabrication, and as a potential new method for measuring the viscosity of viscous glass formers at low shear rates.


We study the time delay between successive relativistic images in gravitational lensing as a possible discriminator between various collapse end states and hence as a probe of cosmic censorship. Specifically we consider both black hole and naked singularity spacetimes admitting photon spheres where an infinite number of relativistic Einstein Rings can be formed at almost the same radius and naked singularity spacetimes without a photon sphere where multiple relativistic Einstein Rings can form almost up to the center of the lens. The metrics we have considered to sample these scenarios are the Schwarzschild black hole, Janis-Newman-Winicour (naked singularity with photon sphere), Joshi-Malafarina-Narayan, and Tolman-VI (naked singularities without photon sphere) which are a fair sample of the theoretical possibilities. We show that the differential time delay between the relativistic images for naked singularities without a photon sphere progressively decreases for the models we study as opposed to that for black holes and naked singularities with a photon sphere, where it is known to be roughly constant. This characteristic difference in the time delay between successive images for these two cases can be potentially exploited for a source with known intrinsic variability to discriminate between these scenarios even when the images are not spatially resolved.


An Intracranial dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF), is an abnormal direct connection (fistula) between a meningeal artery and a meningeal vein or dural venous sinus &/ cortical vein 1. When there are multiple fistulas they are termed as dural arteriovenous malformations and comprise 10-15% of all intracranial arteriovenous malformations1.
Here we present a case of52yr old patient who presented to our casualty with history of sudden onset of headache, giddiness, and vomiting, followed by loss of consciousness. Neurological examination revealed impairment of consciousness, no verbal response, with left hemiparesis (E2V1M5). Bilaterally, pupils were 5mm and sluggishly reacting to light. Vitals were stable with B.P. recording of 140/80 mm of hg, and a pulse rate of 80 /min. Pre contrast CT scan showed an intraparenchymal haemorrhage with perilesional oedema in the right frontal region.
CT angiography brainshoweda intracranial dural AVF with varix and adjacent intraparenchymal haemorrhage.
D.S.A. revealed a Borden type III & Cognard type IV –midline dural Arteriovenous fistula in the regionofmid superior sagittal sinus and along the cerebral falx, with a large venous ectasia/varix along the anterior cerebral falx.
Management: Patient underwent afronto parietal rectangular craniotomy Right posterior frontal, parasagittal engorged bunch of focal cortical veins was cauterized. Underlying haematoma was evacuated and the underlying venous ectasia/ varix identified. It was found to be thrombosed. A large draining vein was found which was clipped and any consequent brain swelling was looked for, before finally excising it in toto.
Post –op period was uneventful, with the patient gradually improving in sensorium with residual hemiplegia and aphasia.
Although recent developments in catheter interventionhas made it the preferred option in most of the cases, surgery is still preferred in some select cases.

Keywords:Intracranial dural AV fistula, Superior sagittal si


The photograph was taken at Mabuasahube Pan in southern Botswana. It depicts a Black-Backed Jackal looking for left-over food at dusk. While tricksters are invariably known to have many guises, the Jackal features prominently in the myth and folklore of the Khoisan, southern Africa's hunter-gatherer people, as a common instantiation of this conceptual figure. Like tricksters everywhere in the world, the Khoisan trickster is both "selfish and altruistic, destructive and creative, weak and powerful... ever ready to change who, what, and where [he] is through transformation" (Guenther 1999: 107, 4). Like the trickster, the trance dancer depicted in the photograph opposite is said to embody this state with respect to ritual through transcendence by altered states of consciousness. Both figures dramatically bear out the basic principles of Khoisan religion, as embodiments of flexibility and dynamism. The use of motion blur in both images is a concerted effort to capture, in visual form, this cosmology of transformation.


This study analyzes the spatial distribution of kindergarten facilities in the study area based on the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in order to test an efficiency of GIS technology to redistribute the existing kindergarten and choose the best location in the future and applying the standard criteria for selecting the suitable locations for kindergarten. To achieve this goal, the data and information are collected via interviews and comprehensive statistics on the education facilities in Mukalla districts in YEMEN, which contributed to building a geographic database for the study area. After that, the Kindergarten spatial patterns are analyzed in terms of proximity to each other and used near some other land in the surrounding area such as: streets, highways, factories, etc. Also, measures the concentration, dispersion, clustering and distribution direction for the kindergarten, this study showed the effectiveness of the GIS for spatial data analysis. One of the most important finding, that most of the Kindergarten was established in Mukalla city, did not take into account the criteria that set by the authorities. Furthermore, almost district suffers from a shortage in the number of kindergarten, and pattern of distribution of those kindergartens dominated by spatial dispersed.


Because of the brilliant results that Welch obtained when using normal human blood-serum in hemophilia neonatorum, in December, 1911, I suggested the trial of human blood-serum in a case of unilateral renal hemorrhage. The results in this case were as immediate and extraordinary as in Welch's cases. History. —The patient, a man aged 36, said that he had been suffering from Bright's disease for a period of three or four years. During this time he has had hemorrhages from various places: from a pimple on the chest, which he scratched when asleep; from the trachea; profusely and often from the nose. Three months before I saw him the patient had had an attack of severe pain in the left side of the abdomen. He presented evidence of shock, and was taken to the hospital by his physician. He rapidly became worse. There was distention of the abdomen, which his physician


Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; and, (S.M. in Transportation)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2010.


The article is devoted to the «development» of N.M. Karamzin's political preferences that is associated with the three phases of its gradualwithdrawal from the system of values and goals of the Masonic «Westerners», based on the revolutionary dismantling of Russia as the center of the Slavic-Orthodox civilization in favor of the management model, similar to the ideology «samobytnichestva».


ABSTRACT The multidrug transporter NorA contributes to the resistance ofStaphylococcus aureus to fluoroquinolone antibiotics by promoting their active extrusion from the cell. Previous studies with the alkaloid reserpine, the first identified inhibitor of NorA, indicate that the combination of a chemical NorA inhibitor with a fluoroquinolone could improve the efficacy of this class of antibiotics. Since reserpine is toxic to humans at the concentrations required to inhibit NorA, we sought to identify new inhibitors of NorA that may be used in a clinical setting. Screening of a chemical library yielded a number of structurally diverse inhibitors of NorA that were more potent than reserpine. The new inhibitors act in a synergistic manner with the most widely used fluoroquinolone, ciprofloxacin, by substantially increasing its activity against both NorA-overexpressing and wild-type S. aureus isolates. Furthermore, the inhibitors dramatically suppress the emergence of ciprofloxacin-resistant S. aureus upon in vitro selection with this drug. Some of these new inhibitors, or their derivatives, may prove useful for augmentation of the antibacterial activities of fluoroquinolones in the clinical setting.


Radiation swelling is one of the most urgent problems in radiation materials science. Its successful solution requires an understanding of the features of the mechanisms of pore healing. In this regard, there are various experimental and theoretical works devoted to this topic. At present, due to the increase in the power of computing tools, computer simulation allows for more and more complex studies and is used, among other things, in the field of materials science. In this paper, we present the results of molecular dynamics simulations devoted to the study of the processes of healing of a group of spherical pores in an fcc crystal subjected to shear deformation. As the study showed, for pores located in close proximity to each other, the formation of a common dislocation loop is characteristic, which is formed as a result of the attraction of individual loops having sections with opposite signs of helical orientation. The formation and subsequent development of such a loop contributes to a decrease in the free volume localized in the crystal in the form of pores. In addition, structural transformations that occur when a shock wave is generated in the computational cell, which creates additional stresses, are considered separately. In this case, the formation of the loop described above and the subsequent collapse of individual pores are also observed. Taking into account that the simulation was carried out at temperatures insufficient to activate diffusion processes, and the temperature control procedure was used in model experiments with wave generation, we can conclude that the shock wave is the cause of pore collapse even in the absence of high temperatures, and one of the main mechanisms of this process is the development of the dislocation structure of the ensemble of pores.


We studied emission characteristics of blue fluorescent multi-tandem OLEDs using Al/MoO x as charge generation layer(CGL). Threshold voltage for 2, 3, 4, and 5 units tandem OLEDs was 8, 11, 14 and 18 V, respectively. The threshold voltage in multi-tandem OLEDs was lower than multiple of 4 V for the single OLED. Maximum current efficiency and maximum quantum efficiency of single OLED were 7.6 cd/A and 5.5%. Maximum current efficiency for 2, 3, 4, and 5 units tandem OLEDs was 22.6, 31.4, 41.2, and 46.6 cd/A, respectively. Maximum quantum efficiency for 2, 3, 4, and 5 units tandem OLEDs was 11.8, 15.8, 21.8, and 25.6%, respectively. The maximum current efficiency and maximum quantum efficiency in multi-tandem OLEDs were higher than multiple of those for the single OLED. The intensity for 508 nm peak was changed and the peak wavelength was red shift by increase of tandem unit in electroluminescent emission spectra. These phenomena can be caused by micro-cavity effect with increasing of organic layer thickness.


The apparent "black box" nature of neural networks is a barrier to adoption in applications where explainability is essential. This paper presents TAME (Trainable Attention Mechanism for Explanations)1, a method for generating explanation maps with a multi-branch hierarchical attention mechanism. TAME combines a target model's feature maps from multiple layers using an attention mechanism, transforming them into an explanation map. TAME can easily be applied to any convolutional neural network (CNN) by streamlining the optimization of the attention mechanism's training method and the selection of target model's feature maps. After training, explanation maps can be computed in a single forward pass. We apply TAME to two widely used models, i.e. VGG-16 and ResNet-50, trained on ImageNet and show improvements over previous top-performing methods. We also provide a comprehensive ablation study comparing the performance of different variations of TAME's architecture.


An oscillator-amplifire system consists of a corona-preionized N2-laser operating at intermediate up to atmospheric gas pressure, and a long channel N2 laser operating at low gas pressure was built and studied. When a special design of a low impedance spark gap in a flat-plate Blumlein circuit was utilized, the laser was able to operate at pulse repetition rate of 150 Hz. At this operational condition the average output power of the system was 30 mW which corresponds to 400 kW peak power with the FWHM pulse width of 5 ns. The experimental results showed that long channel N2-lasers will improve the laser output beam, but due to the self-absorption the small signal gain and the laser saturation energy density will be reduced. The technique can be applied to couple and synchronize other self-terminating laser systems, where the use of optical resonators are impractical.


: Attention bias is an important factor in the maintenance of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Attentional vigilance, attentional avoidance, and difficulty in disengagement are the most widely studied and discussed ones. With the deepening of research, some researchers have suggested that the attention mode of SAD individuals is not a single and static mode, and it is more likely to switch between different attentional modes, which is a dynamic process. Based on relevant research results and theoretical assumptions, it is speculated that the attentional bias of SAD individuals will change dynamically with the increased anxiety level and impaired attention control ability, from attentional vigilance to the attention avoidance and difficulty in disengagement. This view needs further research to confirm and specify more targeted interventions based on the results of the study.


Inclusive Education involves restructuring the culture, policies and practices in our academic institutions to meet the diversified needs of all students. Thus inclusive education means that all students, regardless of their ability level, are included in mainstream classroom. The students with disabilities are much more dependent on the library services as compared to the normal students. Thus, it is imperative that the library information resources and ICT gazettes available in the library for them be taken at the door step of them. In order to provide effective and efficient library services to them application of marketing tools in promotion of the library products and services are must. The present article deals with the concept of Inclusive Environment, Inclusive Education, and tools to be used for the promotion of LIS products and services.


Wireless Sensors are devices that monitor and record their surroundings physical and environmental parameters and transmit them continuously to one of the source sensors. A collection of such wireless sensors form a network called Wireless Sensor Networks. This technology is considered to be the best for the study of performance parameters. Routing is a technique which we use to select path to send traffic in the network, also called as Protocol. AODV, DYMO, OLSR and IERP are adhoc routing protocols. In this paper we shall study different performance parameters in a Random Waypoint Mobility Model by varying the number of nodes and also changing the maximum speed of a node, such as Average Throughput, Average End to End Delay, Average Jitter, Average PDR (Packet Delivery Ratio) and Total Packets Received. Analysis and performance study is done using Qualnet 6.1 simulator.


Apart from the context of a derivative action, can a shareholder in a corporation sue individually for wrongful acts committed against the corporation by third parties? The general rule of corporate law states that a shareholder cannot attain standing for such a suit.' This rule is grounded on the theory that all shareholders should incur loss from third party wrongdoing in proportion to the amount of shares he or she holds, and likewise should proportionately benefit when the corporate entity wins an action.2 In addition, courts are fearful that if this rule were not in force, then there would be a multiplicity of individual shareholder suits.' Finally, the rule protects creditors' rights and allows the board of directors to decide how recovered damages should be used by the corporation.' In Adair v. Wozniak, 5 a case of first impression6, the Ohio Supreme Court followed this rule and by a six to one decision held that shareholders do not have an independent cause of action against a third party.


This article challenges the idea that Hobbes presents a negative anthropology and shows, to the contrary, that there is a thick web of social relations in his state of nature and laws of nature. It considers the contradiction between human natural equality claimed by Hobbes, and female subjection that de facto characterizes most of his passages on gender relations. The key to this puzzle is found in comparison of the notions of conquest and consent, and of acquisition and institution, comparisons that establish a similarity between paternal authority and despotic dominion. A step towards the solution is provided by the hypothesis that the divide between "vainglorious" and "moderate" is gendered, with women more disposed to moderation than men. This can be explained by the idea that, "for society's sake," women in the state of nature appreciate more the advantages of long-term cooperation, even at the price of some subordination.


Abstract Disasters experienced by a community place all members at risk for physical and psychological harm. While natural resilience may help many to recover, there may be barriers that hinder the recovery process. This qualitative study was conducted to examine barriers to recovery in a community impacted by both war and the tsunami. A group of 43 ethnically diverse Sri Lankans (F = 63%) participated in six focus groups and provided their perspectives on barriers they perceived to impede their recovery from traumatic events. Grounded-theory-based data analysis revealed culture-general and culture-specific socio-economic, environmental, sociocultural, and individual barriers that participants identified as impeding their recovery. Interventions and health policies targeting these groups could focus on helping communities to overcome these barriers as a means of facilitating recovery in these beleaguered communities.


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was the first comprehensive consumer protection agency in the United States. The FDA's regulatory functions began with the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, a law prohibiting interstate commerce in adulterated or misbranded food and drugs. Since that time, there has been an explosion of scientific progress around drugs, devices, and biologics such as vaccines and, concomitantly, the need for safety assurance and consumer protection has grown. This article covers some of the pertinent history of FDA regulation of medications and devices important to women's health care, discusses some of the challenges to progress, and advances some proposals for improved safety and efficacy of drugs in pregnant women. As a result of the dearth of studies of drugs in pregnant women, advancing research for this population of patients is especially critical.


Among the three main factors of motor impairment that emerge in chronological order following a lesion to central motor pathways, the last two antagonize movement: 1) stretch-sensitive paresis, a reduction of agonist motor unit recruitment upon voluntary command, worsened by antagonist stretch; 2) soft tissue contracture, and 3) muscle overactivity. Types of muscle overactivity include 1) spasticity, an increase in the velocity-dependent response to muscle stretch, measured at rest; 2) spastic dystonia, i.e., chronic tonic muscle activity at rest, sensitive to stretch of the dystonic muscle and 3) spastic co-contraction, an inappropriate degree of antagonistic contraction during voluntary agonist command, sensitive to stretch of the co-contracting muscle. A five-step clinical assessment may closely parallel this phenomenology, in which the first four steps aim at quantifying the antagonistic potential of each muscle group. Step-1 measures passive range of motion, i.e., the angle of arrest upon slow stretch of the muscle group assessed (minimizing spastic dystonia), which provides insight on soft tissue length and extensibility. Step-2 measures the angle of catch or clonus upon fast passive stretch of the muscle group assessed, which provides insight on stretch reflex excitability. Step-3 measures the range of active motion against the muscle group assessed, a net result of agonist recruitment minus the combined resistance from passive soft tissue stiffness and spastic co-contraction in the muscle group assessed. Step-4 measures the maximal frequency of rapid alternating movements along the maximal active range of motion, evaluating Step-3 performance repeatability. Step-5 evaluates active function, using for example a walking test (10 m or 2 min) for lower limb and the Modified Frenchay Scale for upper limb assessment, and perceived function through patient global subjective assessment.


We have made a new survey of emission-line stars in the W5E HII region to investigate the population of PMS stars near the OB stars by using the Wide Field Grism Spectrograph 2 (WFGS2). A total of 139 Hα emission stars were detected and their g'i'-photometry was performed. The spatial distribution of them shows three aggregates, i.e., two aggregates near the bright-rimmed clouds at the edge of W5E HII region (BRC 13 and BRC 14) and one near the exciting O7V star. The age and mass of each Hα star were estimated from the extinction corrected color-magnitude diagram and theoretical evolutionary tracks. We found, for the first time in this region, that the young stars near the exciting star are systematically older (4 Myr) than those near the edge of the HII region (1 Myr). This result supports that the formation of stars proceed sequentially from the center of HII region to the eastern bright rim. We further suggest a possibility that the birth of low mass stars near the exciting star of HII region precede the production of massive OB stars in the pre-existing molecular cloud.


The GI manifestations of AIDS are not well characterized in children. We reviewed 9 children with congenitally acquired HIV. Clinical symptoms began at a mean age of 7.5 months (3wks-22mos); HIV seropositivity was confirmed at a mean of 20 months (3.5 mos - 5.5 yrs). Seropositive status was present at the time of study or death for a mean of 11.8 months.RESULTS: 6 of the 9 children had diarrhea and failure to thrive all within the first 9 mo. of life. Stool cultures contained possible pathogens in 6 (1 Candida; 1 enterovirus and Candida; 2 pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida; 1 pseudomonas and enterovirus; 1 giardia and rotavirus). 3 patients had secretory diarrhea 1 responding to Loperamide. Rectal biopsy showed non-specific colitis in 1; 2 others were normal. 4 patients with diarrhea had small bowel biopsies; 2 were abnormal (1 invasive CMV; 1 non-specific inflammation) Viruslike particles, distinct from CMV, were seen in both by electron microscopy. Five patients had severe failure to thrive and responded to aggressive nutritional therapy, (2 enteral feeds; 3 requiring TPN).CONCLUSIONS: Differences from experiences in adults with HIV infection include: 1) The spectrum of enteric infections; 2) The timing and severity of the diarrhea and growth failure; these may be related to the immaturity of infants' immune function 3) Aggressive nutritional therapy is important in the rehabilitation of these children.


This study focuses on the fabrication of thermal management material for power electronics applications using graphite flake reinforced copper composites. The manufacturing route involved electroless plating of copper in the graphite flake and sintering process are optimized. The microstructures, interface, thermal properties, and relative density of graphite/Cu composites are investigated. The relative density of the composites shows 99.5% after sintering. Thermal conductivities and coefficients of thermal expansion of this composites were 400-480 Wm–1K–1 and 8 to 5 ppm k–1, respectively. Obtained graphite nanoplatelets-reinforced composites exhibit excellent thermo-physical properties to meet the heat dispersion and matching requirements of power electronic devices to the packaging materials.


Purpose
Biomarkers for several eye and brain diseases are reviewed, where retinal oximetry may help confirm diagnosis or measure severity of disease. These include diabetic retinopathy, central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's disease.

Methods
Retinal oximetry is based on spectrophotometric fundus imaging and measures oxygen saturation in retinal arterioles and venules in a noninvasive, quick, safe manner. Retinal oximetry detects changes in oxygen metabolism, including those that result from ischemia or atrophy.

Results
In diabetic retinopathy, venous oxygen saturation increases and arteriovenous difference decreases. Both correlate with diabetic retinopathy severity as conventionally classified on fundus photographs. In CRVO, vein occlusion causes hypoxia, which is measured directly by retinal oximetry to confirm the diagnosis and measure severity. In both diseases, the change in oxygen levels is a consequence of disturbed blood flow with resulting tissue hypoxia and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production. In atrophic diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa and glaucoma, retinal oxygen consumption is reduced and this is detected by retinal oximetry. Retinal oximetry correlates with visual field damage and retinal atrophy. It is an objective metabolic measure of the degree of retinal atrophy. Finally, the retina is part of the central nervous system tissue and reflects central nervous system diseases. In Alzheimer's disease, a change in retinal oxygen metabolism has been discovered.

Conclusions
Retinal oximetry is a novel, noninvasive technology that opens the field of metabolic imaging of the retina. Biomarkers in metabolic, ischemic, and atrophic diseases of the retina and central nervous system have been discovered.


The production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Indonesia keep increase following the amount of wastewater that being produced. Therefore laboratory scale research of processing of palm oil mill effluent of anaerobic fixed bed reactor with electrocoagulation technique was conducted. Electrocoagulation is a process of coagulation using a direct current through an electrochemical events are symptoms of electrolyte decomposition. This research aims to determine the influence of voltage in the adaptor to the performance of this electrocoagulation system and to determine the optimum operating time for the liquid waste treatment. The material that being used is palm oil mill effluent with electrocoagulation equipment devices with the discharge of 1.5 liters/minute, the residence time of wastewater at 1 hour, 5 cm electrode spacing, as well as the strong current of 8, 9, 10, and 11 Ampere. The results obtained by the reduction in COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) at the highest voltage of 9 volts at 120 minutes of operating time 95,76%, the reduction of TS (Total Solid) obtained at the highest voltage of 10 volts at 90 minutes of operating time 24,41%, the reduction of TSS (Total Suspended Solid) the highest obtained at the operating time of 180 minutes and a voltage of 10 volts give the rejection 91,78 %.


Louisiana data for the match entry into Graduate Medical Education, and the renewal of the practicing physician workforce, are essentially parallel to comparable data for the United States as a whole. The State of Louisiana Medical Education Commission offers reports and publications in the Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society compiling yearly and trend data and analysis. The 2003 result of the match follows the trend of successful completion over the last five years. While Louisiana is similar in many comparable categories to the United States, the state is somewhat higher in primary care growth, now stabilized and leveling, as are total GME and total physicians. Relatively small changes may be baseline fluctuations, and not a trend of longer-term change. The GME system is remarkably stable and successful overall, though complex right down to individual variation.


Deep learning based general language models have achieved state-of-the-art results in many popular tasks such as sentiment analysis and QA tasks. Text in domains like social media has its own salient characteristics. Domain knowledge should be helpful in domain relevant tasks. In this work, we devise a simple method to obtain domain knowledge and further propose a method to integrate domain knowledge with general knowledge based on deep language models to improve performance of emotion classification. Experiments on Twitter data show that even though a deep language model fine-tuned by a target domain data has attained comparable results to that of previous state-of-the-art models, this fine-tuned model can still benefit from our extracted domain knowledge to obtain more improvement. This highlights the importance of making use of domain knowledge in domain-specific applications.


Methods currently used for micro-array data classification aim to select a minimum subset of features, namely a predictor, that is necessary to construct a classifier of best accuracy. Although effective, they lack in facing the primary goal of domain experts that are interested in detecting different groups of biologically relevant markers. In this paper, we present and test a framework which aims to provide different subsets of relevant genes. It considers initial gene filtering to define a set of feature spaces each of ones is further refined by taking advantage from a genetic algorithm. Experiments show that the overall process results in a certain number of predictors with high classification accuracy. Compared to state-of-art feature selection algorithms, the proposed framework consistently generates better feature subsets and keeps improving the quality of selected subsets in terms of accuracy and size.


A buried crescent InGaAsP-InP laser with two active layers was fabricated to study the temperature behavior of the double-carrier-confinement structure. An anomalously high characteristic temperature T/sub 0/ was measured, and optical switching behavior was observed. A mode analysis and numerical calculation using a rate equation approach explained qualitatively very well the experimental results. It was revealed that both the Auger recombination in this special double-active-layer configuration and the temperature-dependent leakage current, which leads to uniform carrier distribution in both active regions, are essential to increase T/sub 0/. >


Phosphorylation is one of the most dynamic and widespread post-translational modifications regulating virtually every aspect of eukaryotic cell biology. Here we present a comprehensive phosphoproteomic dataset for budding yeast, comprised of over 30,000 high confidence phosphorylation sites identified by mass spectrometry. This single dataset nearly doubles the size of the known phosphoproteome in budding yeast and defines a set of cell cycle-regulated phosphorylation events. With the goal of enhancing the identification of functional phosphorylation events, we performed computational positioning of phosphorylation sites on available 3D protein structures and systematically identified events predicted to regulate protein complex architecture. Results reveal a large number of phosphorylation sites mapping to or near protein interaction interfaces, many of which result in steric or electrostatic "clashes" predicted to disrupt the interaction. Phosphorylation site mutants experimentally validate our predictions and support a role for phosphorylation in negatively regulating protein-protein interactions. With the advancement of Cryo-EM and the increasing number of available structures, our approach should help drive the functional and spatial exploration of the phosphoproteome.