The present study has provided some novel findings on the structure of the olfactory bulb in the African grasscutter, by basic neuro-anatomical technique and immunhistochemical technique, using antibody specific to brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Brain samples extracted from neonates on postnatal day 3, juveniles on postnatal day 72 and adults on postnatal day 450 were utilised for the study. There was a consistent increase in the relative weight of the olfactory bulb with advancement in age, but a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in the relative length from 20.81 ± 0.37 on postnatal day 3 to 17.75 ± 0.45 on postnatal day 72. The concentric lamina organization of the olfactory bulb was evident on postnatal day 3, but the glomerular layer was completely absent. The layer was evident on postnatal days 72 and 450. The mean diameters of each glomerulus on postnatal days 72 and 450 were 86.82 ± 0.25 µm and 117.14 ± 0.32 µm, respectively. The difference was significant (P < 0.05). The zones of the external plexiform layer were undifferentiated on postnatal day 3. There was a decrease in the number of mitral cell lines, but increase in size of each mitral cell, with advancement in age. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor was moderately immunolocalised in the olfactory nerve layer on postnatal day 3, but negative on postnatal days 72 and 450. Cell bodies of the periglomerular short-axon neurones mildly expressed brain-derived neurotrophic factor on postnatal days 72 and 450. The granule cells did not express brain-derived neurotrophic factor on all postnatal periods. The functional significance of the results was discussed.


Orthosis are external aids designed for different postural problems and represent the most commonly used conservative treatment (Noonan K et al., 1996). In this analysis, a modular exoskeleton named Human Body Posturizer (HBP) has been tested to evaluate parameters related to the gait cycle and thus any positive effects on balance A sample of 20 normal subjects, 10 male and 10 female (age: 24.8±1.83) who had no previous or current diseases of the bones, joints and muscles have been considered. They wore the HBP for thirty days, three times a week for 30 minutes and then performed a motor task final. The Sensorizer C1-S has been used to analyse their motor task before and after the use of HBP. Regularity of the step, the step symmetry and regularity of the double step were the parameters analyzed in this study. In normal subjects, all three parameters analyzed statistically with the t-test showed a significant change after wearing the HBP resulting in a positive effect on the balance. The results of this study suggested a general improvement of the balance during walking. Symmetry and regularity of the step parameters are fundamental and predictive of the risk of falls (Tura et al. 2010). An improvement of these parameters is associated with a better balance, since low values may be associated with postural imbalances and asymmetries in the way. Further studies will be performed in order to demonstrate the efficacy of this device on elder patients.


A field experiment on a sandy loam was conducted to evaluate the effects of non-flooded mulching cultivation on the productivity, nutrient uptake and nutrient balance in rice–wheat (R–W) cropping systems in Chengdu flood plain, southwest China over a 3-year period. Plastic film mulching (PM) resulted in 12% higher average yield of rice while wheat straw mulching (SM) led to 14% lower average yield of rice compared with lowland rice under traditional flooding (TF). Biomass accumulation and nutrient uptake followed similar trends to grain yield. Changes in soil temperature in relation to root growth and nutrient uptake were likely to be the major factor responsible for the changes in rice yields under non-flooded mulching cultivation. Compared with TF, PM of preceding rice did not affect the grain yield of wheat, whereas SM of preceding rice resulted in comparable grain yields of wheat at a lower N rate (60 kg N ha (cid:1) 1 ) in the wheat season. The system productivity (total yield of rice þ wheat) in PM was similar to that of TF and higher than that of SM. The yield decline in rice, however, could be partly compensated by the yield increase in wheat following rice, particularly at lower N rates. Apparent nutrient budgets showed positive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) balances but negative potassium (K) balance in the TF and non-flooded mulching R–W systems. Compared with TF, PM led to lower NPK balance due to more nutrient removal by crops while SM led to greater NPK balance due to more nutrient inputs from straw but less nutrient removal by crops. After 3 years soil organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) were not significantly altered by PM and SM but soil Olsen-P (AP) and exchangeable K (EK) were significantly increased by SM compared with TF. The changes in soil properties under non-flooded mulching cultivation initially reflected the nutrient balances in R–W systems. In conclusion, non-flooded mulching cultivation as PM and SM could be applied to R–W systems in southwest China but nutrient (especially N) management should be optimized in the two systems.


Efficient conversion of solar energy to hydrogen through photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a strategic and promising goal towards clean, green and sustainable fuel production. The most important task in PEC water splitting is the development of an efficient and stable photoanode with effective solar light absorption, generation and separation of free charge carriers, and charge carrier transport to the surface for the oxygen evolution reaction; however, such requirements are challenging to achieve simultaneously. Here we show that this problem can be solved in polycrystalline Ta3N5-nanorods (Ta3N5-NRs) that consist of aggregated single crystalline domains. The fabricated highly-conductive photoanode with large grain domains provides enhanced light harvesting because of the efficient generation and extraction of charge carriers, which leads to a completely saturated photocurrent of 9.95 mA cm−2 at 1.05 V (versus RHE) and delivers a solar energy conversion efficiency of 2.72% for single-photon photoanodes.


Sixty-seven patients who have had surgical synovectomy of the digital joints of the hand for rheumatoid disease have been presented in this clinical study. Three hundred and ninety joints are represented.

The results of synovectomy in these patients were evaluated according to six factors: relief of pain, progression of deformity, progression of roentgenographic changes, recurrence of synovial swelling, increase in range of motion, and gain in strength. When all six categories were considered collectively, 43.2 per cent of our patients had either excellent or good results.

The relationship of the result of surgical synovectomy to the systemic disease state of the individual patients and to the disease state in the operated joint is emphasized.


Two hundred and thirty-three individuals read chest x-ray images (CXR) in the Asian Intensive Reader of Pneumoconiosis (AIR Pneumo) workshop. Their proficiency in reading CXR for pneumoconiosis was calculated using eight indices (X1–X8), as follows: sensitivity (X1) and specificity (X2) for pneumoconiosis; sensitivity (X3) and specificity (X4) for large opacities; sensitivity (X5) and specificity (X6) for pleural plaques; profusion increment consistency (X7); and consistency for shape differentiation (X8). For these eight indices, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe's multiple comparison were conducted on six groups, based on the participants' specialty: radiology, respiratory medicine, industrial medicine, public health, general internal medicine, and miscellaneous physicians. Our analysis revealed that radiologists had a significant difference in the mean scores of X3, X5, and X8, compared with those of all groups, excluding radiologists. In the factor analysis, X1, X3, X5, X7, and X8 constituted Factor 1, and X2, X4, and X6 constituted Factor 2. With regard to the factor scores of the six participant groups, the mean scores of Factor 1 of the radiologists were significantly higher than those of all groups, excluding radiologists. The two factors and the eight indices may be used to appropriately assess specialists' proficiency in reading CXR.


Physically plausible fracture animation is a challenging topic in computer graphics. Most of the existing approaches focus on the fracture of isotropic materials. We proposed a frame‐field method for the design of anisotropic brittle fracture patterns. In this case, the material anisotropy is determined by two parts: anisotropic elastic deformation and anisotropic damage mechanics. For the elastic deformation, we reformulate the constitutive model of hyperelastic materials to achieve anisotropy by adding additional energy density functions in particular directions. For the damage evolution, we propose an improved phase‐field fracture method to simulate the anisotropy by designing a deformation‐aware second‐order structural tensor. These two parts can present elastic anisotropy and fractured anisotropy independently, or they can be well coupled together to exhibit rich crack effects. To ensure the flexibility of simulation, we further introduce a frame‐field concept to assist in setting local anisotropy, similar to the fiber orientation of textiles. For the discretization of the deformable object, we adopt a novel Material Point Method(MPM) according to its fracture‐friendly nature. We also give some design criteria for anisotropic models through comparative analysis. Experiments show that our anisotropic method is able to be well integrated with the MPM scheme for simulating the dynamic fracture behavior of anisotropic materials.


In this paper we address one of the most challenging problems of electromagnetic (EM) geophysical methods: three-dimensional (3D) inversion of EM data over inhomogeneous geological formations. The difficulties in the solution of this problem are two-fold. On the one hand, 3D EM forward modelling is an extremely complicated and time-consuming mathematical problem itself. On the other hand, the inversion is an unstable and ambiguous problem. To overcome these difficulties we suggest using, for forward modelling, the new quasi-analytical (QA) approximation developed recently by Zhdanov et al (Zhdanov M S, Dmitriev V I, Fang S and Hursan G 1999 Geophysics at press). It is based on ideas similar to those developed by Habashy et al (Habashy T M, Groom R W and Spies B R 1993 J. Geophys. Res. 98 1759-75) for a localized nonlinear approximation, and by Zhdanov and Fang (Zhdanov M S and Fang S 1996a Geophysics 61 646-65) for a quasi-linear approximation. We assume that the anomalous electrical field within an inhomogeneous domain is linearly proportional to the background (normal) field through a scalar electrical reflectivity coefficient, which is a function of the background geoelectrical cross-section and the background EM field only. This approach leads to construction of the QA expressions for an anomalous EM field and for the Frechet derivative operator of a forward problem, which simplifies dramatically the forward modelling and inversion. To obtain a stable solution of a 3D inverse problem we apply the regularization method based on using a focusing stabilizing functional introduced by Portniaguine and Zhdanov (Portniaguine O and Zhdanov M S 1999 Geophysics 64 874-87). This stabilizer helps generate a sharp and focused image of anomalous conductivity distribution. The inversion is based on the re-weighted regularized conjugate gradient method.


complex 3) it is our experience that spontaneous healing and cavity-closure are particularly liable to take place, given sufficient time. Strict and prolonged bed rest and supportive treatment can heal or cause to become quiescent other types of disease which cannot be fitted into any of the above groups. Numerous phthisical persons have been regularly followed-up over a period of years and their lung condition observed by serial radiography during the same period. The plea in this letter is not to decry the great benefits now afforded by chemotherapy, of which the value in selected cases is beyond dispute and is often outstanding. Our purpose is to induce others, in recording results of treatment, to weigh in the balance the results obtainable by bed rest alone for a preliminary period of months.


Background: Amplification or overexpression of HER2 has been shown to play an important role in approximately 30% of breast cancers and is strongly associated with increased recurrence and a worse prognosis. The HER2 extracellular domain (ECD) may be cleaved and shed from the surface of breast cancer cells and serum HER2 ECD levels can be detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In this study, we explored the relationship between circulating HER2 ECD and tissue HER2 status, then we also examined its predictive value in a cohort of metastatic breast cancer patients. Methods: Two hundred and seven metastatic breast cancer patients from March 2009 to July 2011 were involved in this prospective study at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. The patients were identified histopathologically as having breast cancer by pathologists and staged mainly based on the pathology, the clinical manifestation, and the imaging findings of CT and MRI according to the classification system of the International Union Against Cancer. Serum HER2 ECD levels were measured by ELISA. Tissue HER2 was determined by IHC and FISH in tumor samples, respectively. Results: The level of serum HER2 ECD was at least more than 15 ng/ml in 31.4% (65/207) metastatic breast cancer patients, 39.1%(43/110) in HER2-positive patients and 23.4%(22/94) in HER2-negative cases, respectively, P = 0.017. We also found that high serum HER2 ECD levels (≥15 ng/ml) were significantly associated with elevated serum CEA (52.1% v 21.5%, OR 3.978, 95%CI 2.138–7.401, P = 0.000), CA125 (48.5% v 23.5%, OR 3.064, 95%CI 1.650–5.691, P = 0.000), CA153 (53.2% v 17.1%, OR 5.48, 95%CI 2.897–10.366, P = 0.000), LDH (53.3% v 23.1%, OR 3.798, 95%CI 2.011–7.173, P = 0.000) and AKP (51.2% v 26.5%, OR 2.911, 95%CI 1.442–5.879, P = 0.002), respectively. For the effect of HER2 ECD on the site of relapse, still there were statistically significant correlation between increased serum HER2 ECD levels and liver involvement (42.7% v 24.0%, OR 2.358, 95%CI 1.294–4.297, P = 0.005), brain metastasis (50.0% v 26.7%, OR 2.744, 95%CI 1.397–5.391, P = 0.003) and visceral involved (37.9% v 14.8%, OR 3.511, 95%CI 1.548–7.961, P = 0.002), respectively. While serum HER2 ECD levels were not related to age, BMI, tumor size, lymph node involvement and hormone receptors status, respectively ( P >0.05). Conclusions: Monitoring the circulating levels of the HER2 ECD in patients with metastatic breast cancer provides a real-time assessment of tumor burden and indicates poor prognosis, and may provide important information for reassessment of HER2 in HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-05-05.


Abstract In this paper, we use the development of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) as an illustrative case to examine how national schooling reforms are assembled in Australia's federal system. Drawing upon an emerging body of research on 'policy assemblage' within the fields of policy sociology, anthropology and critical geography, we focus on interactions between three dominant 'component parts' in the development of the APST: the Australian federal government; New South Wales state government agencies; and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. While policies like the APST claim to be national in form and scope, our analysis suggests 'the national' is much more disjunctive and nebulous, constituted by a heterogeneous and emergent assemblage of policy ideas, practices, actors and organisations, which often reflect transnational traits and impulses. We thus see national reforms such as the APST as having a phantom-like nature, which poses challenges for researchers seeking to understand the making of national policies in federal systems.


The present study delimited to 8 variables such as essential intrinsic aspect of the job salary, promotional avenue and service conditio n, physical facilities, satisfaction with institutional plans and policies, satisfaction with authorities, satisfaction with social status and family welfare, rapport with students and relat ionship with co-workers. The sample for the present study comprises 45 selected senior secondary schools (15 governments, 15 private and 15 C.B.S.E. Senior Secondary Schools). In the present study for collection of data "Teacher Job Satisfaction Scale" was used, whi ch is standardized and designed by Dr. Meera Dixit in 1993 for collecting data at prim ary and secondary school teachers. The job satisfaction level among the groups was compared by t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The statistical analysis of data reve aled that physical education teachers at government, private and C.B.S.E. schools and signif icance difference in relation to job satisfaction.


A platform for fabricating polariton lasers operating at room temperature is introduced: nitride-based distributed Bragg reflectors epitaxially grown on patterned silicon substrates. The patterning allows for an enhanced strain relaxation, thereby enabling to stack a large number of crack-free AlN/AlGaN pairs and achieve cavity quality factors of several thousands with a large spatial homogeneity. GaN and ZnO active regions are epitaxially grown thereon, and the cavities are completed with top dielectric Bragg reflectors. The two structures display strong-coupling and polariton lasing at room temperature and constitute an intermediate step in the way towards integrated polariton devices.


Abstract The soils on the eastern region of the North Island (Wairarapa, Tararua, Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay, East Coast) are mainly of the Brown, Pallic, Recent (Sedimentary) and Pumice orders and are most are farmed with sheep and cattle on hill pastures. Several field trials have been carried out to determine the pasture growth requirements for phosphorus (P), sulphur (S), potassium (K), nitrogen (N), lime and molybdenum (Mo) in this region since the 1960s and the results published in various papers. This review considers the results of these studies collectively and in relation to national datasets. Sedimentary and Pumice soils with Olsen P levels of less than 12 μg/ mL required annual application of P. Significant pasture production responses to S were measured where initial soil sulphate-S levels were less than 6 ppm. Additional K for sheep and beef pastures was required mainly on Pumice and Brown soils with soil QTK levels of 6 or less. Large pasture DM responses to N were measured in most trials, especially on steep slopes and sunny aspects with low legume content. Lime is needed to maintain soil pH once it decreases to 5.4 on hill soils. Molybdenum deficiency in legumes can occur on sedimentary soils and should be monitored by cloverleaf analysis.


Budget-management systems are one of the key components of modern auction markets. Internet advertising platforms typically offer advertisers the possibility to pace the rate at which their budget is depleted, through budget-pacing mechanisms. We focus on multiplicative pacing mechanisms in an online setting in which a bidder is repeatedly confronted with a series of advertising opportunities. After collecting bids, each item is then allocated through a single-item, second-price auction. If there were no budgetary constraints, bidding truthfully would be an optimal choice for the advertiser. However, since their budget is limited, the advertiser may want to shade their bid downwards in order to preserve their budget for future opportunities, and to spread expenditures evenly over time. The literature on online pacing problems mostly focuses on the setting in which the bidder optimizes an additive separable objective, such as the total click-through rate or the revenue of the allocation. In many settings, however, bidders may also care about other objectives which oftentimes are non-separable. We study the frequent case in which the utility of a (proxy) bidder depends on the rewards obtained from items they are allocated, and on the distance of the realized distribution of impressions from a target distribution. We introduce a novel regularizer which can describe those distributional preferences, while keeping the problem tractable. We show that this regularizer can be integrated into an existing online mirror descent scheme with minor modifications, attaining the optimal order of sub-linear regret compared to the optimal allocation in hindsight when inputs are drawn independently, from an unknown distribution. Moreover, we show that our approach can easily be incorporated in standard existing pacing systems that are not usually built for this objective. The effectiveness of our algorithm in internet advertising applications is confirmed by numerical experiments on real-world data.


This study examined the characteristics of couples in whom the male partner was experiencing erectile difficulties and seeking treatment by surgical intervention with the penile prosthesis. The purpose was to examine and describe the psychological characteristics of the individual spouses as well as the nature of their relationship. Additional purposes were to develop an ongoing assessment program and establish normative data on this particular population. Twelve couples in whom the men were considered by their physicians as potential candidates for the penile prosthesis were the subjects. The Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory, the Marital Communication Inventory, and the Multi-Modal Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire were administered to husband and wife. The couples' communication scores were lower than expected from established norms. The scores on the Marital Satisfaction Inventory, however, indicate relatively high levels of satisfaction with the marriage overall. A high positive correlation was found between the measures of communication and marital satisfaction. The MMPI data indicate that there is no one profile configuration that is characteristic of either husbands or wives. As a group, neither the husbands nor the wives evidence any signs of psychopathology. A composite description of the couples is presented along with a description of the individual psychological characteristics of the husbands and wives as a group. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for treatment, and recommendations for further research are indicated.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of NWP06, a novel extended-release (ER) liquid formulation of methylphenidate (MPH), compared with placebo in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children in a laboratory school.

METHODS
A total of 45 subjects ages 6-12 years were enrolled in this dose-optimized, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover laboratory school study. Following open-label dose optimization, subjects received 2 weeks of double-blind treatment (1 week of NWP06 and 1 week of placebo). The treatment sequence (NWP06/placebo or placebo/NWP06) was randomly assigned with the last day of each week-long treatment occurring on the laboratory school test day. Efficacy measures included Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M-Flynn and Pelham (SKAMP) Rating Scale-Combined and Permanent Product Measure of Performance (PERMP) mathematics tests measured at pre-dose and at 0.75, 2, 4, 8, 10, and 12 hours post-dose on each laboratory classroom day. Safety assessments included physical examination, screening electrocardiogram (ECG), vital signs, clinical laboratory tests, adverse event measures, and assessment of suicidality with the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale.

RESULTS
NWP06 resulted in significant (p<0.0001) improvements in the SKAMP-Combined score at 4 hours post-dose (mean=7.12) as compared with placebo (mean=19.58) in the completers (n=39). Significant separation from placebo occurred at each time point tested (0.75, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12 hours), with onset of action of NWP06 at 45 minutes post-dose and duration of efficacy extending to 12 hours post-dose. Adverse events (AEs) and changes in vital signs following NWP06 treatment were generally mild and consistent with the known safety profile of MPH. The most common AEs in the open-label phase were decreased appetite (55.6%), upper abdominal pain (42.2%), affect lability (26.7%), initial insomnia (22.2%), insomnia (17.8%), and headache (17.8%).

CONCLUSIONS
NWP06 treatment effectively reduced symptoms of ADHD in children beginning at 45 minutes and continuing for 12 hours post-dose. NWP06 was well tolerated.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00904670. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00904670 .


Aceh province located at the northwestern tip of Sumatra Island in Indonesia has a coastal environment and a coastline of around 1660 km. Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, and Aceh Barat are among the districts of Aceh Province located on those coastlines. The earthquake and tsunami that struck Aceh in December 2004 caused much of these districts to be submerged by seawater. Thus, the environment of these areas might become more corrosive. This study investigates atmospheric corrosion of structural steels exposed to the environment by the 2004 tsunami. Some typical structural steels, which have five different shapes, were selected for the test. Atmospheric corrosion tests were employed by referring to ASTM G50 standards. Eight locations were selected as the test sites: Peukan Bada, Ulee Lheu, Lingke, Lampulo, Suak Ribee, Suak Pandan, Suak Seuke, and Suak Geudebang. Following a six-month exposure, experimental results show that the atmospheric corrosion rate for Peukan Bada, Ulee Lheu, Lingke, Lampulo, Suak Ribee, Suak Pandan, Suak Seuke, and Suak Geudebang was 0.043– 5.451 mpy, 0.035–3.804 mpy, 0.058–5.332 mpy, 0.045–9.727 mpy, 0.265–3.957 mpy, 0.073–2.970 mpy, 0.090–4.101 mpy, and 0.380–6.379 mpy, respectively. The results show that the relative corrosion resistances for all structural steels exposed in these areas can be categorized as good to outstanding. Hence, it is safe to utilize the selected structural steels regarding their atmospheric corrosion resistance.


The present research attempts to identify the impact of retracted papers on previous or subsequent papers. We consider the 5693 retracted papers from 1975 to 2020 indexed in the Web of Science database based on bibliometric methods. We use HistCite, Excel, and SPSS software as technical means. The findings suggest a significant difference between the average number of retracted and unretracted papers when cited in retracted papers. Furthermore, there is a significant difference between the average number of unretracted and retracted papers citing retracted papers. The reasons for the retraction of an article may not be the previous retracted papers, yet unretracted papers may be retracted later because of referring to (many) retracted papers. It is deduced that proprietors of citation databases should carefully focus on these papers by checking references to each new paper citing previously retracted papers.


The vascular tumors of the retina and choroid comprise a diverse group of congenital and acquired lesions. The major vascular tumors of the retina include retinal capillary hemangioma, cavernous hemangioma of the retina, retinal vasoproliferative tumor, and racemose hemangiomatosis of the retina or Wyburn–Mason syndrome. Choroidal vascular tumors include circumscribed choroidal hemangioma and diffuse choroidal hemangioma. While classified as benign, visual symptoms secondary to exudative retinal detachment and a variety of other mechanisms are common and are a major source of long-term visual disability. While many therapeutic modalities exist, treatment of symptomatic cases can be challenging. Of particular importance, many of the vascular tumors of the retina and choroid have significant associations with systemic disease. As ocular symptoms are often the most common presenting disease manifestation, the ophthalmologist plays an important role in accurate and early diagnosis. The ability to initiate prompt screening and treatment in appropriate cases is critical. In the following article, the key clinical and diagnostic features of the major retinal and choroidal vascular tumors, their systemic associations, and the literature pertaining to the most currently available treatment strategies are reviewed.


The paper contains a comparative analysis of some of the most important indicators of both global and domestic meat market. Namely, the quantitative and structural differences in the production and trade of meat for observed subperiods in the last nineteen years for the world, continents and some countries were analyzed, by using the method of comparative analysis. Leading producers, international trade flows, leading exporters and importers of meat were defined, with special emphasis on the position and importance of Serbia on the world meat market. Pursuant to the above, as well as the importance of the above-mentioned product for the domestic market, ie agroindustry and the economy as a whole, the paper particularly studies balances, structure, dynamics and regional orientation of foreign trade of domestic meat and meat products. In addition, the paper points to the needs, capabilities, measures and directions of further development of domestic production and export of products analyzed.


Healthcare data sources collect and report various kinds of health data related to routine service delivery, patient-based care, resources related to infrastructure, human resources and finance. Typically, in developing countries, multiple sources are used for the provision of healthcare data, and these include national health surveys, census and civil registration systems, and routine reporting systems. In addition, rapid infusion of information technology has increased adoption of management information systems in public health programs. During the last decade, India has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of healthcare data sources as identified in this review. These sources have increased data availability in multiple data deficient areas. However, the careful appraisal indicates data gaps in numerous important areas. These sources also suffer from inherent quality, coverage and standardisation issues. To overcome these challenges, remedial measures include the development of a national healthcare data plan, a survey calendar, designation of a nodal survey agency, adoption of indicator dictionary, adequate capacity building, and increased coordination among stakeholders.


Relations between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and grassroots movements of working children are characterised by tensions. Working children's claim to participate in conceptualising child labour policy is increasingly rejected. Most recently, in November 2017, the Latin American Movement of Working Children and Adolescents (MOLACNATs) lodged a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child over violations of rights enshrined in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article reconstructs the history of working children's movements and their communication with ILO since the 1990s. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and National Children's Bureau


The purpose of the analysis is to identify the causes which lead to the loss of parental care in Romania, the risks faced by the children at risk of losing parental care, the children`s rights which are most often violated and the consequences thereof. Moreover, the research aims at identifying the main trends in Romania with respect to social problems that affect children and their families, to support certain actions which must be undertaken at institutional level for interventions regarding the improvement of the status of Romanian children and the consolidation of the family. For this analysis the stakeholders (representatives of central and local, public and non-governmental, national and international organizations) have been consulted as well as the children (by means of a focus group where the children of SOS Village and children of the community participated).


In this note, we propose a formal framework accounting for the sensitivity of a function of the domain with respect to the addition of a thin ligament. To set ideas, we consider the model setting of elastic structures, and we approximate this question by a thin tubular inhomogeneity problem: we look for the sensitivity of the solution to a partial differential equation posed inside a background medium, and that of a related quantity of interest, with respect to the inclusion of a thin tube filled with a different material. A practical formula for this sensitivity is derived, which lends itself to numerical implementation. Two applications of this idea in structural optimization are presented.


When Justin Thomas began as principal of Shining Star Academy, an elementary school in Alabama, the school had been failing for eight years and was in serious risk of state takeover. One of Thomas's innovations was to implement data-driven instruction, but teachers struggled to change their routines. As hard as everyone was working, progress was minimal after a year. Thomas was heartbroken, and he didn't know what else to try. This case is used at Darden in executive programs for leaders in education and second-year MBA courses on leading change. It would also be suitable in courses covering data-driven instruction, school transformation, leadership, and change processes.
Excerpt
UVA-OB-1269
Dec. 12, 2018
Justin Thomas at Shining Star Academy (A)
Shining Star Academy in Akron, Alabama—which served 310 students in pre-K to third grade—had been a failing school for eight years running. Identified by the superintendent as in a cluster of 10 schools that required transformation, Shining Star was in serious risk of state takeover.
Before Principal Justin Thomas arrived, the school had struggled to promote a positive climate and build student engagement, and it lacked a structured process to train and support teachers. Instruction methods were based on exposure rather than mastery.
Thomas had to start from scratch because the school had been reconstituted, which meant all teachers and staff were terminated. He needed to hire everyone from cafeteria workers to teachers to his leadership team. He was looking for people who had a vision for the school that complemented his own and who shared a sense of urgency about the project of school transformation. Unfortunately, Thomas soon realized that the available teachers had neither strong content expertise nor a notable track record of achieving results.
. . .


18O(200 keV, 2.0*1017 cm-2) has been implanted at 6 K into an 'as implanted' SIMOX wafer (silicon implanted with 16O at 200 keV, 1.8*1018 cm-2 and 500 degrees C). In situ Rutherford backscattering measurements at 6 K, 77 K and room temperature indicate approximately 15% excess oxygen above the stoichiometric value for SiO2 in the buried-oxide layer. Additional room-temperature measurements were carried out off-line by infrared and secondary ion mass spectrometries. A comparison of the original SIMOX material with the sample implanted with 18O at 6 K leads to the conclusion that during warm up the 18O concentration depth profile remains essentially unchanged with the maximum total concentration remaining above the original 16O value. The infrared measurements indicate that all of the oxygen atoms are bound to silicon atoms.


The teaching of basic employability competence from a very early age is of preventive value in the transition of young people in residential care to adulthood. The present research relates employability competence (finding and holding down a job and gaining promotion in the labour market) with positive career outcomes and employment opportunities. In this study, conceptual methods for understanding employability are analysed and some existing international studies of employability skills are reviewed, although all of these are deemed partial approaches to the needs of children and young people in residential care. Our proposal, the IARS (Infancia y Adolescencia en Riesgo Social [Children and Young People at Social Risk]) Employability Competence Framework, developed by means of a collaborative and integrated approach with experts, provides a complete picture of how employability competences are important for preparing young people in residential care not only for active labour insertion but also in terms of their comprehensive development. A selection of a cluster of eight employability competences (self-organisation, decision-making and problem-solving, teamwork, communication, perseverance, professional project development, flexibility and responsibility) and their components are presented, as well as its educational implications within children's homes.


Diabetes Mellitus disease is said to occur when there is not proper generation of insulin in the body which is needed for proper regulation of glucose in the body. This health disorder leads to whole degradation of several organs including the heart, kidneys, eyes, nerves. Hence diabetes
 disease diagnosis by means of accurate prediction is vital. When such disease related data is given as input to several machine learning techniques it becomes an important classification problem. The purpose of the work done in this paper is to compare several classic machine learning algorithms
 including decision tree, logistic regression and ensemble methods to identify the more accurate classification algorithm for better prediction of the diabetes mellitus disease. This in turn would help for better and effective treatment.


The purpose of this clinical and microbiological study was to evaluate longitudinally the changes occurring in the subgingival microbiota in children following the placement of orthodontic bands in the absence of a prophylactic oral hygiene program. A total of 12 children in the age between 10 and 15 years were selected for the study. The experimental group (E) consisted of 6 subjects scheduled for orthodontic treatment including the placement of fixed appliances. They were seen 1 week before and just prior to the placement of orthodontic bands. The control group (C) involved 6 children in the maintenance phase of orthodontic therapy in which removable retainers were used. All subjects were examined at 3-5 week intervals for a period of 4 months. At each examination, microbiological subgingival plaque samples were collected by means of sterile paper points. Plaque and gingival index scores as well as pocket probing depth at the site of sampling were determined. The microbiological samples were processed using continuous anaerobic culturing techniques and were plated on non-selective and selective media. Differential counts and biochemical characterization of isolates were performed according to the methods described by Kornman and Loesche. Following tooth-banding, an increase in pocket probing depth was observed, while the P1I and GI scores remained unaffected. A statistically significant increase from baseline values (p less than 0.05) was found for the %s of black-pigmented bacteroides, the B. intermedius and A. odontolyticus species, concomitantly with a decrease of the anaerobe/facultative bacteria ratio in the experimental, but not the control sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper is reporting on an investigation done to assess land cover dynamics in KRB(Kagera River Basin) (KRB) over a period of 21 years i.e.1990-2011 using Remote Sensing, Hydrology and GIS techniques as a basis for initiating policy interventions for sustainability of Lake Victoria water regime.The extent of land cover changes in the KRB have not been quantified with the view of assessing the extent of exploitation of the natural resources.The assessment is important firstly for identification of causative factors and secondly as a mechanism for formulating necessary policies and remedial measures to that effect.Specifically, Landsat 5, Landsat 7 and ETM+ (2000) satellite images were used.Eight Land Cover classes were identified namely, Forests, Woodland, Bushland, Cultivated Land, Swamps, Grassland, Bareland and Urban areas.Hydrographical data were used to assess changes in quantity of water flowing from the KRB into Lake Victoria and relating it with land cover changes in KRB at in the period of study. Spatial data processing, analysis and interpretation were carried out in ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS software environments; while water quantity data and other non spatial data were processed and analyzed in Microsoft Excel application 2007.

The study revealed a significant decline of vegetation cover and water quantity discharged from Kagera River to Lake Victoria over the study period. This contravenes the global efforts of ecological sustainability, which urge avoidance of depletion of natural resources for maintenance for ecological balance. These results are in early warning to the Management of Lake Victoria for its potential failure towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal on responsible consumption and protection of natural resources in proximity with Lake Victoria. The Management of Lake Victoria in collaboration with other relevant authorities should thus, take remedial measures to control further depletion of vegetation cover in KRB for sustainability of Lake Victoria and its ecosystem.


To clarify the role of primary and second somatosensory cortex (SI and SII) in somatosensory discrimination, we recorded somatosensory evoked magnetic fields during a stimulus strength discrimination task. The temporal pattern of cortical activation was analyzed by dipole source model coregistered with magnetic resonance image. Stimulus intensity was represented in SI as early as 20 ms after the stimulus presentation. The later components of SI response (latency 37.7 and 67.9 ms) were enhanced by rarely presented stimuli (stimulus deviancy) during passive and active attention. This supports an early haptic memory mechanism in human primary sensory cortex. Contra- and ipsilateral SII responses followed the SI responses (latency 124.6 and 138.3 ms, respectively) and were enhanced by attention more prominently than the SI responses. Active attention increased SII but not SI activity. These results are consistent with the concept of ventral somatosensory pathway that SI and SII are hierarchically organized for passive and active detection of discrete stimuli.


The ability to conceptualize time travel is unique to humans (1). It enables foresight, which in the purest form is simply "the action of looking forward" (2). Foresight also describes a set of tools that allows diverse groups of participants to think systematically about the future, without attempting to predict it, in order to inform decision-making in the present (3). "Foresight allows preparation for diverse future challenges with adequate lead time... it anticipates and creates multiple, plausible futures... These futures may be positive or negative, but in their diversity they bring into view issues and perspectives that may not have been initially considered." (4).

Foresight tools have been used extensively by businesses and governments worldwide for many years. Arie de Geus, past corporate planning director for Shell and author of The Living Company, explains that "Ultimately the important discussion is not whether something will happen but what would we do if it did happen." Sir David King, former Chief Scientific Adviser to Her Majesty's Government and Head of the United Kingdom's (UK) Office of Science and Innovation, stated that "[A foresight program] has demonstrated that when scientists speak clearly to a receptive political audience, the result can be highly effective." (5).

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges undertook a foresight project in 2006 addressing the future direction of academic veterinary medical education in North America (4). The results were made available to all the veterinary colleges and implemented, either partially or fully, by many universities. Australia and the UK have both embraced foresight to assist government strategies and planning — in the UK, the Office of Foresight was developed in 2001 as a result of a major foot-and-mouth disease outbreak (5).

In Canada, in light of global political changes since 2001, the Centre for Security Science of National Defense allocated funds to strengthen national security and preparedness through the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI). In 2008, CRTI approved and funded a 3-year foresight project focusing on the Animal Health Emergency Management (AHEM) system in Canada, titled Foresight for Canadian Animal Health (Fore-CAN) (6). Recent costly animal health events, caused by infectious diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, highly pathogenic avian influenza in domestic poultry, and H1N1 in multiple species, are indicators of likely future challenges — highlighting the importance of ensuring that the AHEM system has capabilities to maintain the security, health, and well-being of Canadians.

The AHEM system in Canada draws on the expertise of members from diverse groups and interests, including participants from producer groups, animal health, public health, academia, federal departments and agencies, provincial governments, and international experts and organizations. The Fore-CAN project is led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the provinces of Ontario and Alberta, Canada's veterinary colleges, and the Dairy Farmers of Canada — all key stakeholders in the AHEM system.

Like other foresight initiatives, the Fore-CAN project employs various systematic techniques and exercises (Figure 1) (7). The first Fore-CAN workshop, examining 'Issues and Driving Forces' (6), involved approximately 80 participants and employed brainstorming exercises to determine uncertain, yet highly influential factors that are expected to challenge the AHEM system beyond 2020. Examples included climate change, globalization, and urbanization. Two factors were recognized as the most uncertain and influential: Societal Values and the Nature of Infectious Disease. In the second workshop, 'Scenario Development', participants developed 4 unique and plausible future scenarios shaped by the extremes from these 2 factors. The spectrum for Societal Values ranged from human-centered to a holistic perspective, and for the Nature of Infectious Disease, from low virulence, familiar pathogens, to high virulence, emerging, drug-resistant superbugs. These scenarios provided a framework for discussion about the challenges and requirements for the future animal health system.

Figure 1

Exercises and techniques employed as part of the Fore-CAN project for the Animal Health Emergency Management system.

In the third workshop, 'Systems Mapping' (8), methods were used to describe elements and relationships in the 4 sub-systems of AHEM — Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. These sub-systems represented the chronological stages of emergency management. The following workshop, 'Integration,' requested participants to use their understanding of the current system to provide ideas for a new design that would meet the challenges identified in future scenarios.

Four domains, or themes, necessary for a future system for which action planning was considered essential included: Communication & Collaboration, Education & Training, Research & Development and Technologies, and Regulatory System & Tools. During an 'Output Synthesis' workshop, participants outlined the critical capacities necessary to deal with future scenarios within each of these 4 domains. A stepwise back-casting technique was used to explore potential actions necessary to develop these required capabilities between now and 2020.

Exercises scheduled for 2010 include 'Roadmap Development', and 'Consultation & Validation'. Fore-CAN will host a Spring 2010 Symposium to review the project's accomplishments and explore future critical steps for integration of outputs from the foresight project into strategic planning within and across organizations.

The overall process Fore-CAN follows is logical, transparent, and allows full participation from everyone involved in each exercise. Documentation is thorough and includes recording presentations from speakers, transcribing oral debates, and collecting raw ideas and insights that emerge during foresight activities. All information is digitized and made available online.

The Fore-CAN project is bringing together AHEM participants from a variety of disciplines and jurisdictions, providing an innovative way for them to develop new approaches for the management of animal health emergencies in Canada. The insights and suggestions that emerge from Fore-CAN are intended to help prepare Canada to better manage future animal health emergencies. Initial project feedback demonstrates that these exercises are having a positive impact on participants and stakeholders, allowing for innovative methods for thinking about future challenges. Implementing the insights from Fore-CAN and taking action will require the willingness and leadership of government, academia, industry, and the general public.

For more information on the Fore-CAN project go to: www.forecan-precan.ca


Von Hippel‐Lindau (VHL) syndrome (OMIM 193300) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by deletions or mutations in a tumor suppressor gene mapped to human chromosome 3p25. It is characterized clinically by vascular tumors, including retinal and central nervous system hemangioblastomas (cerebellar, spinal, and brain stem). Hemangioblastomas are benign and do not metastasize. Other features include cysts of the kidneys, liver, and pancreas. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma occurs in up to 70% of patients with VHL and is a frequent cause of death. Pheochromocytomas occur in association with specific alleles of the VHL gene; therefore, a family history of pheochromocytoma in association with VHL is an indication for thorough surveillance for pheochromocytoma in affected family members. Recently, it has been appreciated that patients with VHL may develop endolymphatic sac tumors, which can cause tinnitus or deafness.


Research and development is intended to produce multimedia learning course on Computer and Media Education for students of primary school teaching as a viable learning medium. The research was conducted with the adaptation of the model development research Borg a Gall. These stages are the preliminary study stage include library research and field study. Product development phase include planning, design learning, producing multimedia and expert validation. Pilot phase trial products include a one-one, small group and large group. Subject trial Prodi PGSD fourth semester student. Data were collected through questionnaires and observations, the results were analyzed by quantitative descriptive analysis. The results showed that: (1) multimedia learning has been generated through five stages of development; (2) the feasibility aspects of learning, content, appearance and technical learning multimedia product is included in both categories with a score of 4.08 in a row; 4.32; 4.00; and 4.07; and (3) learning multimedia product can improve the effectiveness of learning computer courses and learning media. These results make it worth the learning multimedia learning courses as a source of Computer and Media Education for Teachers' Training College students Prodi PGSD PGRI Madiun.


We use shuffle and stuffle relations to give a simple proof of a reduction formula for length-two multiple polylogarithms evaluated in complex parameters of absolute value 1 in terms of a finite sum of products of lengthone polylogarithms. This result was originally due to Nakamura and recently reproved by Panzer by different methods. This generalises results of Borwein and Girgensohn for alternating Euler sums and for multiple zeta values twisted by fourth roots of unity by the first author. We also explore implications for other colored multiple zeta values and present some applications to Mahler measure and Feynman diagrams.


Severe stress and depression are common phenomena among mothers of children diagnosed with autism. As a consequence, adequate support becomes necessary in ensuring balanced mental health. Furthermore, religiosity and resilience are key factors influencing psychological well-being development, particularly for mothers, related to self-acceptance, personal development, life goals, understanding of the environment, independence, and positive relationships. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the theoretical model of religiosity's effect on psychological well-being with resilience as a mediator for mothers with autistic children in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. The purposive sampling technique was applied to 184 respondents with a psychological scale. Also, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to assess relevant data, using analysis of moment structure (AMOS v.24). The results were reported to successfully and empirically matched the study objectives. These observations showed mothers in this circumstance were expected to intensely develop resilience by religiosity commitment, and therefore, instigating a very significant psychological well-being.

Received: 19 July 2021 / Accepted: 13 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021


The strongly coupled Jahn-Teller (JT) system is studied in which an ion in an orbital T1 triplet state is coupled to both e and t2 modes of vibrations of its neighbours. Such a system is usually considered to be either a T(X)(e+t2)JT system, in which orthorhombic minima in the five-dimensional Q-space are lowest in energy, or a T(X)d system, which has a trough of lowest energy. However, it is possible also for the tetragonal and trigonal minima, usually associated with the T(X)e and T(X)tJT effects respectively, to coexist with very similar energies to each other (and be of overall lowest energy) when the bilinear term of the vibronic interaction is present. This situation is described in this paper. A set of vibronic ground states is obtained by mixing the symmetry-adapted vibronic T1 ground states of the T1(X)e and T1(X)t2JT systems. This is different to the set of states associated with the orthorhombic minima. Analytical expressions for the first- and second-order JT reduction factors are also derived for the coexisting system. As a consequence of this analysis, an improved version of the theory of second-order reduction factors is obtained. The reduction factors are compared to those of existing numerical calculations for the T1(X)dJT system and it is shown that very good agreement is obtained between the two in the strong-coupling limit.


More than seventy communities constitute the social structure in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir, yet the popular notions about its population relegate the entire 7+ million people into the paired oppositions of Pandit-Muslim, Shi'a-Sunni, Sufi-Salafi etcetera. A sustained engagement with the members of the Kashmiri society compels one to ask what lies beyond the simplistic and popular binaries of religions, sects and denominations that have come to dominate the discourse on Kashmir's social composition? The current paper decentralises such an understanding through scrutinizing the oppositional construction along religious and sectarian identities. It does so by foregrounding the significance of caste identities that govern, to a large extent, access to social, material and cultural resources and make religion and sectarian identities more complex than what appears on the surface. This paper is part of a larger research that approaches the Kashmiri society through the vantage point of a small endogamous community of houseboat owners known as Houseboat-Hanjis. At the same time, it keeps the idea of holism at its core, thus looking at the various communities, organisations and institutions that constitute the society and navigating through them to understand how communities are arranged in a system of graded inequality. Apart from the historical and archival methods that have been utilised through this work, the research for the paper draws from the ethnographic fieldwork conducted intermittently between 2014 and 2018 mostly in Budgam and Srinagar districts of the Indian-Occupied Kashmir.


BACKGROUND
The evaluation of ankle-foot orthoses is primarily focused on biomechanical performance, with comparatively less studies pertaining to users' quality of life and experiential factors.

OBJECTIVES
To investigate how child users regard acquisition and use of ankle-foot orthoses through the perspectives of child users, parents/carers and practitioners.

STUDY DESIGN
Inductive content analysis of secondary data.

METHODS
Child user and parent/carer perspectives, as communicated by them and by practitioners, were collected from online platforms and formal publications. Data and themes were analysed through an inductive approach. Investigator triangulation was used to increase trustworthiness and reduce bias.

RESULTS
We found and analysed 223 data points from 30 informal online platforms and 15 formal publications. These data clustered into five key themes relating to user experience with ankle-foot orthoses, including materials, structure, aesthetics, service and impact. Child users had mixed opinions about ankle-foot orthoses, reporting satisfaction with the functional improvements resulting from ankle-foot orthosis wear, while noting negative feelings from the experience of acquiring and using the device.

CONCLUSION
This research suggests that considering the five themes in ankle-foot orthosis provision could improve the child user experience, inform future ankle-foot orthosis design, and improve clinical outcomes.


In ancient system of medicine, many plants have been reported to cure various health problems and diseases. Withania coagulans (W. coagulans) Dual commonly known as 'Indian cheese maker' or 'vegetable rennet' belongs to family Solanaceae and is one of the important medicinal plants. W. coagulans Dunal is a gray-whitish small shrub distributed in east of the Mediterranean region extending to South Asia. It is a common medicinal plant in many parts of Pakistan and India. In Ayurvedic system of medicine, W. coagulans is widely used in diabetic cases. W. coagulans is also used to treat nervous exhaustion, disability, insomnia, wasting diseases, failure to thrive in children and impotence. The fruits of the plant are reported to be sedative, emetic, alterative and diuretic. Further, they are used for liver complaints, asthma and biliousness. The active compounds, in particular, withanolides isolated from the plant are considered to have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, hepatoprotective, anti-hyperglycemic, cardiovascular, immuno-suppressive, free radical scavenging and central nervous system depressant activities. This review gives a bird's eye view mainly on the biological activities of some of the W. coagulans compounds isolated and phytochemistry as well as pharmacognostic properties of the plant extracts.


The ATLAS ITk Upgrade project, culminating in the installation into the experiment in 2026, enters this year its production period. Cooperating laboratories dealing with the strip part of the project needs to meet various conditions in clean rooms and testing environments to ensure safety for production components during assembly and measurement procedures. One of the ITk laboratories, located in Prague, prepared for modules' production is presented as a model case. For this purpose, dedicated DAQ software called ITSDAQ is used together with the slow control monitoring system based on RS232/GPIB standards, MySQL database entry and Grafana visualization platform. Data are stored in the local database storage, a subset of them and the test results are also sent into the ITk Production Database. Such an integrated tool offers real-time plotting of crucial parameters and the possibility of receiving an immediate notification in case of exceeding any threshold.


The analysis of existing method of verification of pointer engines of direct current with the successive excitation in the repair-technical areas has been conducted, the automated device for the exposure of refusals in the electric engines on the curves of consumption of current in the conditions of repair-technical areas at the periodic examination has been offered.


DNA based approaches have become widespread in recent times to identify the origin of samples when its phenotypic characteristics are not distinguishable. This, in particular, applies to the leather industry wherein with an increase in duplicated embossing of grain patterns; there is a need to detect the animal origin of  commercial leather articles. Thus, the characterization of molecular markers that enables rapid detection of the leather source helps us in precise species identification. The present study aims to generate definite sequences between the four major species in the Bovidae family (Buffalo, Cow, Goat, and Sheep), which are the major players in the manufacture of leather products, especially in India. Based on specific mitochondrial sequences, a specific fragment of the mitochondrial 12SrRNA gene was amplified by PCR as a marker for species-level identification. By the maximum homogeneity, from the NCBI and BOLD database, the BLAST analysis of the sequences of amplicons from unknown sources, distinguish closely related species of the subfamilies Bovinae (buffalo and Cow) and Caprinae (sheep and goat) and this 12SrRNA based PCR-BLAST analysis is a good tool to identify the origin and control the quality of leathers that are being manufactured. The present study has optimized an approach for the extraction and amplification of DNA from the finished leather, which is one of the most significant challenges because of the vigorous processes encountered during their manufacture. The findings of the study have commercial value at large scale.


Self-inflicted burn injuries, although uncommon, are a significant source of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to delineate the characteristics of these burns and to examine their impact on society. Records of 32 adult patients admitted for self-inflicted burns at our regional burn center between January 1996 and August 2001 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean burn size was 34 +/- 29% TBSA, with the majority of burns being the result of self-immolation using a flammable liquid. There was a slight male predominance (59%) and a significant mortality rate (25%). Ninety-one percent of patients had an active psychiatric diagnosis, with 47% having had a previous suicide attempt. Two thirds had a chronic stressor, such as a chronic medical illness and/or long-term disability. Only four patients had private insurance, whereas the remainder relied on underfunded state- and county-sponsored programs or were uninsured. In addition to well-described psychiatric factors, common characteristics predisposing to self-inflicted burns include chronic medical illnesses, long-term disability, and a lack of access to adequate mental health care. Better treatment of mental illness in the underfunded population might ultimately save the high costs of these burn injuries.


An analysis of the influence of nanoscopically stratified dielectric overlayer on the reflection parameters of linearly polarized light from transparent substrates is carried out. The second-order formulas for characteristic Brewster angles are derived and their accuracy is estimated by using exact numerical methods for the solution of the inhomogeneous reflection problem. The possibilities are discussed for determining the parameters of nanometre-scale dielectric layers by means of characteristic reflection angles. A novel scanning angle differential reflectance method in the vicinity of the classical Brewster angle, whose sensitivity is in principle the same as that of ellipsometry, is developed.


Except for the decade 1941-1951, in which Punjab's population declined because of a huge exchange of population between India and Pakistan and a large loss of life, the decade 1971-1981 was the 1st decade since 1911 to experience a deceleration in the growth rate of the rural population of Punjab, India. The deceleration was due to out-migration to urban areas. The scheduled caste population increased 28.37% between 1971 and 1981, while the nonscheduled caste population increased by only 13.32%, which was considerably below the rate of natural increase. Nonscheduled castes had experienced substantial out-migration because of 1) improved transport and communication facilities which enabled them to move to urban centers; 2) mechanization of main farming operations and easy availability of migrant laborers which lessened the need for family labor; 3) the rise of a relatively mobile younger generation with a high literacy rate; 4) rapidly decreasing land holdings which strengthened the push factor in the countryside; and 5) rising aspirations, especially among the younger generation. In 1981, Sikhs constituted 71.3% of the rural population in Punjab, followed by Hindus (26.51%), Christians (1.25%), and Muslims (.89%). From 1971-1981, Muslims experienced the greatest increase (49.29%). Sikhs grew by 20.74% and Hindus by 9.02%. The Sikhs high growth rate was due to 1) a new technique for counting religious affiliation in which all members of a household are considered the same religion as the head of household and 2) conversion of Hindus to Sikhism. Hindus had a low growth rate because 1) the new method of counting religious affiliation and 2) rural-urban migration. The area with the lowest population increase resulted from industrialists and other nonagriculturists buying farmland, causing the agriculturists to move away to less desirable land. Conclusions are 1) the sharp rural-urban division along religious lines should be lessened, 2) Sikhs' lag in urbanization and upward mobility should be decreased, and 3) nonagriculturalists should be prevented from buying farm land from peasants along main roads and around urban centers.


What transpires soon after inhaling Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the respiratory virus causing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? Where does infection begin? What are the features of subsequent virus spread? How might host responses quickly contain infection? Two recently published manuscripts have evaluated infection in primary cultures of well-differentiated cells to address these questions and bring more light on the proviral and antiviral components operating during the initial days after SARS-CoV-2 exposure.


Background: Neurocognitive deficits following pediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) often remain under reported, whereas these sequalae impact several domains of activities and participation. Objective: To screen neurocognitive consequences of pediatric ABI in a hospital-based cohort using both a professional and parent reported screening tool. Methods: Follow-up study including children with a hospital-based diagnosis, aged 4-20 years at onset of ABI, using the Processing Speed and Attention subtests of the Amsterdamse Neuropsychological Tasks (ANT) and the parent reported Brain Injury Alert (BIA). Age, type and severity of injury were used in analysis as associated factors. Results: 103 children, aged 4 up to 20 years (median 13y) at onset of ABI, were assessed 2 years later. 89 (86%) on injuries were classified as mild and 80 (78%) had a traumatic cause (TBI). The study cohort responded more accurate (accuracy 29.4-30.4%, >1 SD) and slow (inhibition speed 25.5-38.2%, >1 SD) on the ANT tasks compared to the norm group without neurocognitive deficits. One or more cognitive problems were reported by 62 (65%) of the parents, 1 or more social emotional problems by 66 (69%) and 1 or more cognitive and social emotional problem by 70 (77%). Type (NTBI) and severity (moderate/severe) of injury were associated with worse neurocognitive outcome in both professional (ANT) and parent reported (BIA) outcome, whereas age (younger age group) was only associated with parent (BIA) outcome. Conclusion: Neurocognitive problems were found in this hospital-based cohort of children with ABI, especially in the older age and NTBI group, with parents reporting strikingly more problems than professionals.


In this article, a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${1.5} \times {1.5}\,\,\text {mm}^{{2}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) array is designed and driven with one cycle of a 5-MHz sinusoid at 10 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text {V}_{\text {pp}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for radial artery motion tracking. The transmit and receive performance figure of merit (FOM) of an individual PMUT over operating frequency is modeled and validated using laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) measurements. Given a fixed cross section, the FOM inversely scales with frequency. The array aperture size is selected to obtain enough pressure and received signal to measure the radial artery wall reflection at a 5-mm depth in tissue. The 2-mm acoustic beamwidth provides enough lateral resolution for radial artery wall motion tracking. Single-line ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements with high time resolution, also called M-mode ultrasound imaging, are demonstrated to reproduce a known target motion profile with a precision of around 0.5 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text {m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. <italic>In vivo</italic> radial artery dynamics are measured by placing the sensor on the wrist of a volunteer. The measured diameter change waveform of the radial artery is consistent with reports in the literature and captures key arterial pulse waveform features, including systolic upstroke, systolic decline, dicrotic notch, and diastolic runoff. The system has sufficient accuracy and precision to measure both the 50 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text {m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> overall diameter change and the 5-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text {m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> diameter change due to the dicrotic notch. A heart rate of 70 beats/min is also derived. This demonstrates the great potential of custom PMUT arrays for continuous cardiovascular system monitoring.


This study investigated the spatial variability of total and phosphate-extractable arsenic (As) concentrations in soil adjacent to a cattle-dip site, employing a linear mixed model-based geostatistical approach. The soil samples in the study area (n = 102 in 8.1 m(2)) were taken at the nodes of a 0.30 × 0.35 m grid. The results showed that total As concentration (0-0.2 m depth) and phosphate-extractable As concentration (at depths of 0-0.2, 0.2-0.4, and 0.4-0.6 m) in soil adjacent to the dip varied greatly. Both total and phosphate-extractable soil As concentrations significantly (p = 0.004-0.048) increased toward the cattle-dip. Using the linear mixed model, we suggest that 5 samples are sufficient to assess a dip site for soil (As) contamination (95% confidence interval of ±475.9 mg kg(-1)), but 15 samples (95% confidence interval of ±212.3 mg kg(-1)) is desirable baseline when the ultimate goal is to evaluate the effects of phytoremediation. Such guidelines on sampling requirements are crucial for the assessment of As contamination levels at other cattle-dip sites, and to determine the effect of phytoremediation on soil As.


The Japanese sword is a weapon peculiar to Japan. The Japanese sword is interesting not only from the viewpoint of traditional crafts of arts, but also from the aspect of modem science and technology because the way of making and its functionality as a weapon are really consistent with science. The present study is concerned with the connection between tohshin (blade) and tsuka (hilt) of the sword. Only one mekugi-take (retaining peg made of bamboo) with about 5mm in diameter holds Nakago (tang) in the hilt. However the slender mekugi might not be broken, even though in the case of violent sword-fighting. This fact has been historically demonstrated in many battles by Japanese swords. In this study, using a Tachi being the typical Japanese sword, it is examined theoretically and experimentally from the viewpoint of impact engineering why a mekugi used in Japanese swords might not be broken. As a result, it is made clear that such a strong force as breaking mekugi-take does not act on it, because of the location of mekugi-ana (a hole for mekugi) in the tang, which has been made by the traditional code of sword-smiths. 2011 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.


The health and welfare of animals is a major consideration throughout Australia's livestock export chain and requires the employment of skilled personnel. LiveCorp commenced in 1998 with animal welfare as part of its mission and immediately began work on delivering a training course for cattle stockmen. This work expanded to include sheep and goat stockmen and stevedores. As the Australian live export industry has grown, so too has the inherent level of risk. After incidents on two high-profile voyages, the live export industry was reviewed and the industry standards rewritten in an effort to prevent further mishaps. The new standards make reference to competent animal handlers and direct the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) to accredit veterinarians who accompany consignments of livestock overseas. An online course for veterinarians delivered by Animal Health Australia ensued. The standards also require exporters for each voyage to the Middle East to prepare a consignment risk management plan utilising the heat stress model. Training in the use of the model and preparation of the plans was provided by LiveCorp. The stockman training courses delivered by LiveCorp have been a success and are in continued demand from both AQIS and the live export industry.


Background: We recently reported frequent use of opioids among elderly with dementia. Discrepancies in clinical practice may in part explain the higher use of opioids in elderly with dementia, which geographical variation may be able to clarify. Objective: To investigate geographical variation in opioid use in elderly with dementia compared to elderly without dementia. Methods: Register-based cross-sectional study in the entire elderly (≥65 years) population of Denmark in 2015. Data included place of residence, prescriptions, and discharge diagnoses from hospital contacts. Prevalence of opioid use among elderly with (n = 36,014) and without dementia (n = 1,011,787) was compared nationwide across the five Danish regions using logistic regression analysis and for the 98 municipalities using age and sex standardization. Results: 32.5% of elderly with dementia and 16.9% without were treated with an opioid in 2015. For home-living elderly with dementia, there was a 4-fold difference in opioid use (9.4 to 36.8%) between municipalities compared to a 1.6-fold (12.7 to 20.2%) difference for elderly without. In nursing home residents there was a 2-fold difference (dementia: 26.5 to 55.2%; no dementia: 31.8 to 60.4%). Differences between the five regions were minor. Conclusion: Opioid use in elderly with dementia was frequent and almost twice as high compared to elderly without dementia, which may challenge patient safety. The pronounced geographical variations at municipality level, particularly among elderly with dementia, indicate differences in the approach to treatment of chronic pain in primary care. Our study suggests that more guidance on treatment of pain in elderly with dementia is needed.


Vessel elements in the putatively primitive leptosporangiate fern families Osmundaceae and Schizaeaceae have scalariform secondary-wall framework alike on end wall and lateral wall. Only by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) can presence or absence of pit membranes be demonstrated, and thus vessels have not hitherto been claimed for these two families. Criteria for designating perforations include pits transitional between lateral wall pits and conventional perforations in which porosities of various sizes occur in pit membranes, indicating partial lysis of the primary wall. Vessels occur in both roots and rhizomes of the examined species. In Schizaeaceae, wide perforations alternating with narrow pits occur in perforation plates of some vessels. Although vessels with specialized end walls occur in a few ferns of ecological sites with strongly marked fluctuations in water availability, less specialized vessels occur in a range of ferns of mesic habitats, as shown by Todea (Osmundaceae), Anemia (Schizaeceae), and Lygodium (Schizaeaceae). The vessel elements of these species of Osmundaceae and Schizaeaceae are compatible with the near-basal position among leptosporangiate ferns commonly accorded these families.


Results from both experimental and numerical studies have already shown the significant package effects on the performance and the reliability of MEMS devices. To enable the theoretical predictions of these packaging effects, a compact joint model of an entire packaged MEMS device is established based on the Cell Library Concept and the Nodal Analysis Method. This modeling methodology greatly simplifies the package-device co-design work compared with the conventional numerical ways, and its precision is guaranteed due to its clarity in the physical nature.


Background: A randomized trial of postmenopausal women over age 65 reported increased risks of cognitive decline with 4 years of combined estrogen and progestin treatment. However, questions remain, including the effect of longer duration or of hormone therapy initiated at younger ages. Methods: The Nurses' Health Study is a prospective cohort begun in 1976, comprising 121,700 female nurses who report health information via biennial mailed questionnaires. This substudy includes 13,807 participants age 70 to 81 who completed two telephone cognitive assessments, 2 years apart, between 1995 and 2003. General cognition, verbal memory, category fluency, and attention were tested. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate adjusted mean declines and logistic regression to estimate adjusted risks of substantial decline in cognition (≥2 SD of baseline performance) across hormone groups. APOE genotype was available in a subset of 3,667 participants. Results: Overall, little difference was found in mean cognitive decline between current hormone users and never users. However, for long-term users of estrogen alone or combined with progestin, increased risk of substantial decline was observed on most cognitive tests (relative risk [RR] = 1.25 to 1.72). Decline was particularly high among women initiating hormones at older ages compared with never users: for example, on our test of general cognition, RR of substantial decline was 1.74 (95% CI 1.08, 2.81) and mean difference in decline was −0.43 (95% CI −0.73, −0.12). No significant interactions between hormone use and APOE ε4 allele were observed. Conclusion: Postmenopausal hormone therapy provides no appreciable cognitive benefits in older women.


We investigated the background levels of total mercury in blood and urine samples from Japanese subjects without occupational exposure to mercury vapor. Blood and urine specimens were decomposed in sealed Teflon containers, and total mercury concentration was measured by reductive vaporization-gold amalgam capture-atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean total mercury concentration in the blood of 56 women aged 34-65 was 18.2 +/- 9.9 ng/ml (range 3.9-56.8 ng/ml). The mean total mercury concentration in the urine of 130 men aged 22-39 was 2.33 +/- 1.50 micrograms/l (range 0.27-10.26 micrograms/l). The mean total mercury concentration in urine adjusted by specific gravity was 2.19 +/- 1.15 micrograms/l (range 0.68-7.68 micrograms/l), and that adjusted by creatinine was 1.51 +/- 0.68 micrograms/g creatinine (range 0.39-4.21 micrograms/g creatinine). These concentrations did not differ greatly from those reported from Europe and Japan. In expressing the total mercury concentration in urine, the creatinine-adjusted range between the minimum and maximum values was smaller than the range adjusted by specific gravity.


We tackle problems related to Web query formulation: given the set of keywords from a search session, 1) we find a maximum promising Web query, and, 2) we construct a family of promising Web queries covering all keywords. A query is promising if it fulfills user-defined constraints on the number of returned hits. We assume a real-world setting where the user is not given direct access to a search engine's index, i.e., querying is possible only through an interface. The goal to be optimized is the overall number of submitted Web queries. For both problems we develop search strategies based on co-occurrence probabilities. The achieved performance gain is substantial: compared to the uninformed baselines without co-occurrence probabilities the expected savings are up to 50% in the number of submitted queries, index accesses, and runtime.


This work examines the effects of conversational interfaces on consumers' brand perceptions and purchase decisions. Evidence from four experiments shows that incorporating such interfaces into the shopping process promotes more intimate consumer-brand relationships and increases consumers' inclination to choose high-priced premium offers compared to traditional interfaces.


This paper utilizes a unique three-wave panel of household data from Nicaragua, which allows a thorough exploration of the relationships between migration, remittances and household consumption. The paper distinguishes between the effects of emigration and the impacts of remittances received. There is a self-selection bias in the decision to send a migrant, as well as in the decision to receive remittances. To adequately correct for these selection biases, we develop a bivariate selection correction procedure. Perhaps surprisingly, the results show that households do not benefit (in terms of higher consumption growth) from receiving remittances, but rather from having migrants abroad. This suggests that not only money are remitted from abroad, but also something more subtle, which could be business ideas, belief systems, aspirations, patterns of social interaction, and other intangibles, which have been dubbed social remittances.


PURPOSE
Newer linear accelerators (linacs) have been equipped to deliver flattening filter free (FFF) beams. When FFF beams are used for step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), the stability of delivery of small numbers of monitor units (MU) is important. The authors developed automatic measurement techniques to evaluate the stability of the dose profile, dose linearity, and consistency. Here, the authors report the performance of the Artiste™ accelerator (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) in delivering low-MU FFF beams.

METHODS
A 6 MV flattened beam (6X) with 300 MU/min dose rate and FFF beams of 7 (7XU) and 11 MV (11XU), each with a 500 MU/min dose rate, were measured at 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, and 20 MU settings. For the 2000 MU/min dose rate, the 7 (7XUH) and 11 MV (11XUH) beams were set at 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 MU because of the limits of the minimum MU settings. Beams with 20 × 20 and 10 × 10 cm(2) field sizes were alternately measured ten times in intensity modulated (IM) mode, with which Siemens linacs regulate beam delivery for step-and-shoot IMRT. The in- and crossplane beam profiles were measured using a Profiler™ Model 1170 (Sun Nuclear Corporation, Melbourne, FL) in multiframe mode. The frames of 20 × 20 cm(2) beams were identified at the off-axis profile. The 6X beam profile was normalized at the central axis. The 7 and 11 MV FFF beam profiles were rescaled to set the dose at the central axis at 145% and 170%, respectively. Point doses were also measured using a Farmer-type ionization chamber and water-equivalent solid phantom to evaluate the linearity and consistency of low-MU beam delivery. The values displayed on the electrometer were recognized with a USB-type camera and read with open-source optical character recognition software.

RESULTS
The symmetry measurements of the 6X, 7XU, and 11XU beam profiles were better than 2% for beams ≥ 2 MU and improved with increasing MU. The variations in flatness of FFF beams ≥ 2 MU were ± 5%. The standard deviation of the symmetry and flatness also decreased with increasing MU. The linearity of the 6X beam was ± 1% and ± 2% for the beams of ≥ 5 and ≥ 3 MU, respectively. The 7XU and 11XU beams of ≥ 2 MU showed linearity with ± 2% except the 7XU beam of 8 MU (+2.9%). The profiles of the FFF beams with 2000 and 500 MU/min dose rate were similar.

CONCLUSIONS
The characteristics of low-MU beams delivered in IM mode were evaluated using an automatic measurement system developed in this study. The authors demonstrated that the profiles of FFF beams of the Artiste™ linac were highly stable, even at low MU. The linearity of dose output was also stable for beams ≥ 2 MU.


&NA; When a comatose man requiring ventilatory support for acute ingestion of phenobarbital was admitted to the University of Utah Hospital, he was managed by a multispecialty team, which included a nephrologist and a clinical pharmacologist. Since the patient could not be moved to the dialysis unit, a mobile dialysis machine was used. A negative‐pressure adapter was used in conjunction with a batch‐type dialysis machine to create a single‐pressure dialysate delivery system. Blood was delivered to the dialyzer and returned to the patient through bilateral femoral catheters that had been placed percutaneously. Pharmacokinetic studies were performed and compared to the disappearance of phenobarbital by conservative measures alone after the patient had awakened and dialysis was discontinued.


Increasing medical costs have made healthcare organizations look at reducing their operating costs while meeting their demands, which made them move towards adopting systems improvement methodologies that have been successful in other business sectors, especially from manufacturing industries. The success of these improvement methodologies is contingent on employees of the organization being ready to adopt and embrace them which necessitates behavior change of employees. This study aimed to develop measures based on the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) to assess employees' attitudes and readiness to adopt improvement methodologies and the effects of employees' demographics like supervisory level, length of service, work group and age on the adoption process. The study was conducted at the Providence VA Medical Center (PVAMC) which is trying to implement improvement methodologies. All employees were surveyed five times over a period of two and half years using TTM measures. Exploratory factor analysis indicated an 8-item single factor structure for self-efficacy and a 2-factor 16 item structure for decisional balance. An additional set of survey questions related to processes of change scale did not produce a reliable factor structure to be used for hypothesis testing. The results indicated that self-efficacy, which is the confidence to adopt improvement methodologies, did predict the stage of change with low confidence in precontemplation compared to maintenance. The study did not find support that decisional balance, which is the perception of pros and cons, influences the stage of change. Employees' length of service, supervisory level and work group influenced the stage of change, and length of service and supervisory level influenced selfefficacy measure while age of employee affected self-efficacy.


The physics of hypervelocity impact into foams are of interest because of application to comet dust capture during flyby encounters. Particles much larger than the foam cells behave as if the foam were a continuum, so that standard equations of fluid mechanics describe the effects of drag and ablation. Calculations based on these arguments accurately reproduce experimental results.


Although the majority of informal care is provided by one person, most elders receive help from other caregivers as well. This paper describes the identity and activities of these secondary caregivers, who are often the spouse and children of the primary caregiver. They provide a wide variety of help, but much less than the primary caregiver. Further, this help is provided in a pattern supplementary rather than complementary to that of the primary caregiver.


In a classical conditioning procedure, honeybees associate an odor with sucrose resulting in the capacity of the odor to evoke an appetitive response, the extension of the proboscis (PER). Here, we study the effects of pairing an odor with injections of octopamine (OA) as a substitute for sucrose into three putative brain sites of odor/sucrose convergence. OA injected into the mushroom body (MB) calyces or the antennal lobe but not the lateral protocerebral lobe produces a lasting, pairing-specific enhancement of PER. During pairings, OA injected into the MB calyces results in an additional pairing-specific effect, because it does not lead to an acquisition but a consolidation after conditioning. These results suggest that the neuromodulator OA has the capacity of inducing associative learning in an insect brain. Moreover, they suggest the antennal lobes and the calyces as at least partially independent sites of associating odors that may contribute differently to learning and memory consolidation.


This study seeks to explore the possibility of implementing eclectic-pragmatic reasoning in the DSN-MUI fatwa on Sharia Banking Products. By applying the Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim study model when exploring the eclectic-pragmatic tradition of Islamic law. This study finally succeeded in introducing a thesis that the DSN-MUI fatwa, especially related to Islamic banking products, is full of eclectic-pragmatic reasoning.  This is also expected to be the novelty of this study. Because previous studies, such as those conducted by Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim did not specifically discuss the eclecticism of Islamic law on the fatwa products of the Indonesian Ulema Council related to Islamic banking products. This can be identified from two things, namely: First, the eclectic-pragmatic reasoning of the DSN MUI Fatwa on Islamic banking products can be traced from the selection of legal arguments that are consistent in primary arguments, but flexible in choosing secondary arguments - the views of cleric. Second, the principle of protection of corporate needs, in this case encouraging the banking industry to respond to market needs, so that fatwas are made in the framework of these interests.


'Pinocchio syndrome': a peculiar form of reflex epilepsy? Reflex epilepsies can be defined as epilepsies in which all or a significant part of the seizures can be regularly provoked by a given triggering factor, most often a sensory stimulus. Sometimes it may be unexpected, such as, reading or decision-making.' We report a very unusual epilepsy in which seizures occurred when the patient lied. A 51 year old patient had recently experienced three attacks with loss of consciousness and generalised convulsions. Afterwards he was confused for a few minutes. These attacks started with sensations the patient had regularly felt several times each day, in clusters of one or two weeks for five years. They consisted of epigastric constriction , a sensation of hot flush rising from his stomach to his head, and then auditory and visual illusions, for instance sensation of hearing in echo or metamorphopsia, with intense anxiety. More than a third of the attacks occurred while the patient was lying, for business reasons. The other episodes occurred without any obvious triggering factor. An EEG showed a right anterior and temporal slowing but no epileptogenic activity. Cerebral MRI showed a menin-gioma, 30 mm in diameter, located on the right cavemous sinus wall and the anterior clinoid process, near the sella turcica (fig). It compressed the medial part of the right temporal lobe with a mass effect. No further attack has been reported since the introduction of carbamazepine therapy and then meningioma ablation. The attacks described fit with the diagnosis of partial vegetative seizures and the type of epilepsy fulfils the criteria of reflex epilepsy. Lying has not previously been described as a triggering factor of seizures but, according to certain authors, in some very rare cases seizures have been regularly provoked by emotion.'2 Emotions are said Figure Tl weighted MRI scan after gadolinium injection, showing the meningioma and its effect on temporal lobe. to be linked to the limbic lobe, whose excitability was probably enhanced by its compression by the meningioma. When the patient was lying he probably felt a particular emotion and this limbic stimulation may have triggered epileptic discharges in the amygdala. As in Collodi's tale, in which lies made Pinocchio's nose grow, our patient's lies became obvious for his interlocutors. As he was an "eurocrat", using lies to evoke the truth in adversarial EEC negotiations, it is thanks to carbamazepine that he has been able to work …


Although many algorithms for the multi-armed bandit problem are well-understood theoretically, empirical confirmation of their effectiveness is generally scarce. This paper presents a thorough empirical study of the most popular multi-armed bandit algorithms. Three important observations can be made from our results. Firstly, simple heuristics such as epsilon-greedy and Boltzmann exploration outperform theoretically sound algorithms on most settings by a significant margin. Secondly, the performance of most algorithms varies dramatically with the parameters of the bandit problem. Our study identifies for each algorithm the settings where it performs well, and the settings where it performs poorly. Thirdly, the algorithms' performance relative each to other is affected only by the number of bandit arms and the variance of the rewards. This finding may guide the design of subsequent empirical evaluations. In the second part of the paper, we turn our attention to an important area of application of bandit algorithms: clinical trials. Although the design of clinical trials has been one of the principal practical problems motivating research on multi-armed bandits, bandit algorithms have never been evaluated as potential treatment allocation strategies. Using data from a real study, we simulate the outcome that a 2001-2002 clinical trial would have had if bandit algorithms had been used to allocate patients to treatments. We find that an adaptive trial would have successfully treated at least 50% more patients, while significantly reducing the number of adverse effects and increasing patient retention. At the end of the trial, the best treatment could have still been identified with a high level of statistical confidence. Our findings demonstrate that bandit algorithms are attractive alternatives to current adaptive treatment allocation strategies.


Because the causes of measles-associated diarrhea are not well known, 0- to 5-year-old children presenting to the hospital with measles-associated diarrhea (cases, n = 77) or acute diarrhea only (controls, n = 77) were compared. Growth and diarrheal morbidity were evaluated for 1 month after acute illness. Campylobacter jejuni was more frequently isolated from cases (31%) than controls (16%; P = .03). Rotavirus was absent in all cases versus 28% of controls (P less than .001). Incidence density for new episodes of diarrhea was significantly greater in cases (6.5 vs. 4.1; odds ratio, 1.6; confidence intervals, 1.09-2.34; P = .01), as was duration of episodes (3 vs. 2 days, P = .02). Both groups showed similar positive cumulative percentage weight gains throughout follow-up. These data support the theory of measles as a risk factor for developing diarrhea. The bacteriologic and virologic findings may reflect the immunologic response of the host to measles infection.


Polarization dependence of resonant anomalous surface X-ray scattering (RASXS) was studied for interfaces buried in electrolytes and in high-pressure gas. We find that RASXS exhibits strong polarization dependence when the surface is only slightly modified by adsorption of light elements such as carbon monoxide on platinum surfaces. σ- and π-polarization RASXS data were simulated with the latest version of ab initio multiple scattering calculations (FEFF8.2). Based on the simulation, we find that Pt layer to C distances in the (2 × 2)-3CO structure are ~ 2.0 A and ~ 1.6 A for atop CO and 3-fold CO, respectively. Some considerations are presented for the origin of the polarization dependence in RASXS.


Dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) is a common cause of cyanotic heart disease in neonates. Current thought is d-TGA is a sporadic occurrence in families with an unclear etiology. We describe a case of brothers with d-TGA. Genetic testing revealed that both are heterozygous for two gene variations that are associated with congenital heart disease.


Peripartum women are exposed to a variety of stressors that have adverse health consequences for the maternal–child dyad (e.g., impaired bonding). To combat these adverse health consequences, heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVBF) may be implemented by holistic nurses to aid peripartum women experiencing a high level of stress. A systematic review was completed using the guidelines established in the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. To be included in the review, studies had to meet the following criteria: (a) published scientific articles, (b) studies published in English, (c) experimental, quasi-experimental, or case reports, (d) use of HRVBF as the main treatment, (e) use of psychological stress as a dependent variable, and (f) studies published until December 2017. The major findings of this review can be described as follows: (a) HRVBF and psychological stress in peripartum women are related concepts, (b) peripartum women who completed HRVBF report a reduction in stress compared with participants who did not receive HRVBF, and (c) there is currently no information on the effectiveness of HRVBF on psychological stress in the first and early second trimester of pregnancy. Overall, this systematic review of the literature provides objective evidence that HRVBF may be a potential beneficial adjuvant treatment for stress management in peripartum women.