Developing high-efficiency electrocatalysts for artificial nitrogen fixation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure is fundamentally important but challenging. Herein, MoFe-PC (PC, phosphorus-doped carbon) microspheres, synthesized by facile one-step pyrolysis–phosphating of bimetallic metal–organic framework (MOF) precursors, were used as a cost-efficient catalyst for the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). With the advantageous characteristics of the multicomponent active sites and porous structure inherited from the MOF precursor, the MoFe-PC catalyst achieves a peak NH3 yield rate of 34.23 μg h−1 mgcat.−1 with a high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 16.83% at −0.5 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in 0.1 M HCl under ambient conditions, exceeding those of most of the previously reported noble metal- or non-noble metal-based NRR electrocatalysts under the same conditions. The changes of the surface composition and structure of the catalyst before and after NRR testing are monitored by ex situ XPS and XANES. The Mo and Fe oxides and PC in the hybrids are both active in the NRR, synergistically enhancing the NRR performance.


In this paper, we investigate the properties of a submicron pMOS with a single layer of metallization. The fabrication process and electrical characterization of the device were simulated using the SILVACO TCAD tools. We have applied constant field scaling on the effective channel length, the density of ion implantation for threshold voltage adjustment, and gate oxide thickness. To suppress short channel effects, we have also applied retrograde well implantation, Shallow Trench Isolation (STI), sidewall spacer deposition, silicide formation, and Lightly Doped Drain implantation in our process simulation. We have validated the electrical performance of the device by plotting and analyzing the ID - Vg relationship


From the group of 66 patients (pts) treated with in-hospital haemodialysis (HD), 30 pts were selected for 48 hrs monitoring of heart rhythm to register arrhythmias using Holter method. Cardiovascular complications were observed in 24 pts (80%) of the studied group; ischemic heart disease in 10 pts (33%), chronic cardiac failure in 8 pts (27%), left ventricular hypertrophy in 16 pts (53%) and hypertension in 24 pts. During 48 hrs of heart rhythm monitoring ventricular heart arrhythmias (VHA) were registered in 23 pts. 8 pts of this group had more then 100 additional ventricular beats for 24 hrs. VHA were registered before HD in 14 pts, during HD in 15 pts and after in 15 pts. The frequency of VHA pt/one hour of monitoring increased during and immediately after HD. There were no statistically significant differences between 23 pts with VHA and 7 pts without VHA with respect to the following parameters measured before HD: blood pressure, urea, calcium, kalium and magnesium blood concentrations. We found statistically significant difference between both groups of pts for creatinine values (p < 0.02); respectively 899.7 mmol/l SD 152 mmol/l versus 767 mmol/l SD 95.3 mmol/l and for interdialytic body weight increase (p < 0.012); respectively 2.65 kg SD 0.8 kg versus 2.04 kg SD 0.46 kg. Our initial results indicate that VHA appears in the majority of hemodialysed pts and that HD intensifies arrhythmogenic influence of irreversible renal failure on heart. It is also possible that non-adequate HD might be responsible for induction of ventricular heart arrhythmias during and after dialysis.


Amlodipine reduces blood pressure; however, its effect in the diabetic kidney irrespective of its blood pressure-lowering effects is unclear. This study examined the effects of amlodipine (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg; DA0, DA5, DA10 and DA20, respectively) for 12 weeks on renal functional and structural changes in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat, a nonhypertensive model of diabetes-associated hyperfiltration. Compared with nondiabetic rats, diabetes (D) was associated with increased urine albumin excretion (UAE, 12.6 ± 3.40 vs. 3.73 ± 1.14 mg/day), glomerular filtration rate (2.17 ± 0.09 vs. 1.64 ± 0.12 ml/min/g kidney weight), glomerulosclerosis (0.21 ± 0.03 vs. 0.05 ± 0.01 AU) and infiltration of inflammatory cells (18.5 ± 2.78 vs. 6.92 ± 0.70 cells/cm2), but did not affect mean arterial pressure (MAP, 110 ± 4.70 vs. 109 ± 5.33 mm Hg). While DA20 abolished glomerular hyperfiltration (1.49 ± 0.05 ml/min/g kidney weight) and inflammatory cell abundance (6.0 ± 0.79 cells/cm2), it exacerbated UAE (43.5 ± 8.49 mg/day) and increased MAP (132 ± 3.76 mm Hg), but had no effect on renal pathology. These data suggest that amlodipine reduces renal inflammation and abolished glomerular hyperfiltration, but increases blood pressure and exacerbates albuminuria in the rat model of normotensive diabetic kidney disease. We conclude that amlodipine may have limited renoprotective effects in the face of hyperfiltration and absence of elevated blood pressure.


: This paper presents a case study of a barley field experiment that was periodically scouted using a drone spectral camera. The camera has 4 bands so barley was scouted using 4 wavelengths of light - Green, Red, Red Edge and Nir Infra Red (NIR). Based on these wavelengths it is possible to calculate different vegetation indexes known in science and practice. In this paper, 15 such indices were used. The research work concerned the observation of correlation between individual wavelengths and corresponding vegetation indexes. This paper seeks to emphasize the importance of particular wavelengths and spectral areas in crop scouting.


Background Accumulating evidence shows that humoral autoimmunity might play an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVD). Some autoantibodies, present in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), may possibly represent emerging CV risk factors. MicroRNAs markedly affect the immune system and seem to have a relevant role in the pathogenesis of both CVD and autoimmune diseases. Yet, no study has analyzed the involvement of miRNAs in atherothrombotic disease induced by autoantibodies in APS and SLE patients. Objectives To evaluate the effect of specific autoantibodies of APS (anti-phospholipid antibodies, APLs) and SLE (anti-ds-DNA) in the regulation of miRNAs related to pro-atherothrombotic proteins in both autoimmune diseases. Methods Monocytes and neutrophils isolated from healthy donors were treated in vitro with anticardiolipin IgG isotype antibodies (ACA-IgG) and anti-dsDNA antibodies purified from SLE and APS patients' serum, respectively, or with IgG from healthy donors (IgG -NHS). Levels of various microRNAs associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and atherosclerosis (miR-124a, -125a, -125b, -146a, -155 and -222) and their target molecules were determined by RT-PCR. Expression of key proteins involved in miRNAs biogenesis process (Drosha, Dicer, Ago-1, Ago-2 and 2, and Xpo-5) were analyzed at gene and protein levels. Transfections were also performed with precursors of miRNAs altered by the treatment with these autoantibodies to identify key target proteins in both pathologies. Results The expression levels of all miRNAs analyzed were significantly reduced in neutrophils treated with ACA-IgG and anti-dsDNA compared to those treated with IgG-NHS. Both autoantibodies also caused a significant decrease in the expression of exportin-5 and DICER in this cell type. In monocytes, treatment with ACA-IgG and anti-dsDNA promoted a significant reduction in the levels of miR-124a and miR-125a, as well as increased expression of miR-146a and miR-155. Monocyte transfections with pre-miR-124a and miR-125a, either separately or simultaneously, caused a reduction in the expression of target molecules related to the atherothrombotic process in APS and SLE (ie MCP-1, IL-6, IL6R, IL-8, ERK, STAT-3, p38 MAPK and peroxides). Conclusions 1) The anti-cardiolipin and anti-dsDNA antibodies modify the expression of microRNAs regulators of proinflammatory and prothrombotic molecules in neutrophils and monocytes, as well as of genes involved in their biogenesis. 2) Transfection with pre-miRNAs 124a and -125a promotes a reduction in the expression of molecules associated with atherothrombosis in SLE and APS. Taken together, the results indicate that autoantibodies could act as direct regulators of atherothrombotic process in APS and SLE, through epigenetic mechanisms such as modulation of microRNAs. Acknowledgements Supported by CTS-7940, PI12/01511, SER. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The aim of the present study was to determine the anticonvulsant effects of xanthotoxin (8-methoxypsoralen) isolated from the fruit of Pastinaca sativa L. This plant is used in European traditional medicine, including Poland. For this purpose, high-performance counter-current chromatography was used. Different solvent systems, mixtures of n-heptane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water were tested in order to calculate partition coefficients. Finally, a mixture with the ratio of 1:1:1:1 (v/v/v/v), giving the K value = 0.92, was chosen as optimal. A rapid scale-up process from analytical to preparative was developed. Evaluation of the anticonvulsant action of xanthotoxin in the mouse maximal electroshock-induced seizure test revealed that it produced a clear-cut anticonvulsant action in mice, and the experimentally-derived median effective doses (ED50 values) ranged between 219 and 252 mg kg−1.


This study analyzes data obtained from the initial year of a K–12 and higher education service-learning program. The University of West Florida partnered with a local high school in a service-learning partnership (SLP) that engaged high school and university students in a conflict resolution and peer mediation mentoring program. The SLP attempted to broaden the views of participants by exposing them to a conflict resolution curriculum grounded in empathy and objectivity. This research focuses on the growth in individual, school development, and civic responsibility that can result from a K–12 and higher education partnership. Utilizing qualitative data gathered from participant reflection papers, growth issues related to developing such a partnership are discussed. The inherent social and educational benefits associated with making such a partnership work are also discussed.


Let R be a commutative Noetherian one-dimensional domain such that each ideal in R can be generated by n elements. A strong n-generator in R is an element r which can be chosen as one of n generators for each ideal in which it is contained. If moreover r is contained in some ideal requiring n generators, then r is said to be a proper strong n-generator. We prove that if R is two-generated, then r is a strong two-generator if and only if r doesn't belong to Mˆ2 for any non-invertible maximal ideal M of R. Let S be an index set such that for each i in S, M(i) is a maximal ideal such that the localization of R at M(i) possesses an ideal requiring n generators. We show that there is a unique biggest M(i)-primary ideal I(i) in R requiring n generators. We prove that r is a strong n-generator if and only if r doesn't belong to I(i)M(i) for any i in S. Let R' be the integral closure of R. Suppose moreover that the conductor C of R' in R is non-zero. We prove that if n > 2, then r is a proper strong n-generator if and only if r belongs to the complement of I(i)M(i) in I(i) for some i in S. And if n = 2, then r is a proper strong two-generator if and only if r belongs to the complement of Mˆ2 in M for some non-invertible maximal ideal M of R or r belongs to some non-principal invertible maximal ideal of R. We prove that if C requires n generators, then R is n-generated and the extension of C to the localization of R at M(i) for some i in S requires n generators. Suppose moreover that R is a Cohen-Macaulay ring, R possesses a superficial element and R' is a local domain. Then (R,M) is a local domain. Let B(M) be the blowing-up ring of R at M. We give an algorithm for determining the conductor J of B(M) in R. We determine the reduction exponent of M for a semigroup ring and give a sufficient condition for J not being a power of M.


A possible superconducting gap, about 35 meV, was observed in silicene on Ag(111) substrate by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The temperature-dependence measurement reveals a superconductor-metal transition and gives a critical temperature of about 35-40K. The possible mechanism of superconductivity in silicene is discussed.


The novel five-coordinate aluminum adduct Me(2)HN. AlL (2) [wherein L = tris(2-oxy-3,5-dimethylbenzyl)amine] containing three six-membered rings has been characterized by spectroscopic and by X-ray means. This adduct of an alumatrane is the first structurally characterized monomeric alumatrane derivative, and unlike its parent alumatrane [Al(OCH(2)CH(2))(3)N](x), 2 is monomeric in the gas, solution, and solid states. The X-ray molecular structure of 2 reveals a tricyclic cage moiety of C(3) symmetry. The aluminum geometry is a slightly distorted trigonal bipyramid in which, quite unexpectedly, the metal atom is located somewhat below the plane formed by three equatorial oxygens and its Al-N(tertiary) bond is shorter than that in Me(3)N.AlH(3).NMe(3) (Heitsch, C. W.; Nordman, C. E.; Parry, R. W. Inorg. Chem. 1963, 2, 508).


Due to the recent replacements of physical documents with electronic medical records (EMR), the importance of information processing in medical fields has been increased. We have been organizing the MedNLP task series in NTCIR-10 and 11. These workshops were the first shared tasks which attempt to evaluate technologies that retrieve important information from medical reports written in Japanese. In this report, we describe the NTCIR12 MedNLPDoc task which is designed for more advanced and practical use for the medical fields. This task is considered as a multi-labeling task to a patient record. This report presents results of the shared task, discusses and illustrates remained issues in the medical natural language processing field.


Littering in a city park is often considered a capricious act of neglect associated with simple carelessness. Using Ostrom's model, Governing the Commons, this research finds that littering is correlated with specific park activities. This article advances our understanding of the Commons and littering by considering the concept of "pollution," as well as understanding patterns of litter for a communal city. I argue that among the variety of park activities, there are "nonlitter" activities that require little more than the husbandry of local communal governance and there are "litter" activities that require the additional husbandry of the state. However, additional empirical evidence was also discovered that there are instances where the abuse of common resources is socially structured and that there is, on occasion, a normative structure to norm–violating behavior.


Most stock exchange regulators around the world reacted to the 2007-2009 crisis by imposing bans or regulatory constraints on short-selling. Short-selling restrictions were imposed and lifted at different dates in different countries, often applied to different sets of stocks and featured different degrees of stringency. We exploit this considerable variation in short-sales regimes to identify their effects with panel data techniques, and find that bans (i) were detrimental for liquidity, especially for stocks with small market capitalization, high volatility and no listed options; (ii) slowed down price discovery, especially in bear market phases, and (iii) failed to support stock prices, except possibly for U.S. financial stocks.


Background and Aim: Food poisoning caused by Salmonella enterica serovars is the most common type of foodborne illness. Tainted chicken meat is a major vector for spreading these serovars throughout the food supply chain. Salmonella isolates that developed resistance to commonly used antimicrobials pose a noteworthy risk to public health, yet there has been a lack of data on this issue in Iraq. Therefore, it is crucial to address these serious public health challenges with an adequate database on the occurrence and antibiotic resistance of these serovars. This study aimed to determine the frequency of occurrence of Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium (S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and prevalence of multidrug resistance among S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium isolated from poultry meat collected in Wasit Province in Iraq. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 raw and frozen poultry meat samples were gathered from retail markets in various locales across the Wasit Governorate in Iraq. Salmonella spp. were successfully cultured and identified using the technique recommended by ISO 6579:2002, with minor modifications. The multiplex polymerase chain reaction approach was used to confirm Salmonella spp. (S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium). A disk diffusion test was performed to determine the susceptibility to particular antimicrobial agents, and 12 different antimicrobial agents were evaluated. Results: Only 19 of the 150 (12.7%) samples tested positive for Salmonella (16% and 11% were isolated from raw and frozen chicken meat, respectively). S. Enteritidis accounted for 63.2%, whereas S. Typhimurium accounted for 36.8%. Nalidixic acid resistance was the most common (73.7%), followed by sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (63.2%) and tetracycline (63.2%), but gentamicin and ciprofloxacin (up to 15.8%) only had modest resistance. Antibiogram of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium yield 13 antibiotypes. Among the 19 Salmonella isolates, 12 of 19 (63.2%) established resistance to no less than three categories of antimicrobials. Conclusion: This study highlighted the necessity of limiting the utilization of antibiotics in animal production by providing vital information regarding the frequency and AMR of Salmonella at markets in Wasit Province. Therefore, risk assessment models could use these data to lessen the amount of Salmonella passed on to humans in Iraq from chicken meat.


The study examined the knowledge and practice of antibiotic use among students in a university in south western Nigeria. A questionnaire was administered to each of 500 students drawn from all the Departments in the university excluding those from the faculty of Pharmacy, Health Sciences and Department of Microbiology.
A response rate of 99.2% was obtained from the respondents. The most commonly used antibiotics were tetracycline and amoxicillin. The aim of antibiotic use for common cold was observed in 32.3% of the respondents while 17.7% used antibiotics for sore throat. Majority of the participants (72.4%) used the same antibiotics as previously prescribed by their doctors to treat their perceived infections while 51.2% kept left over antibiotics with the intention of future use. More than half (55%) of the students stopped taking their antibiotics when they felt better or when the symptoms of their infections appeared to have stopped. The students' rating of their sources of antibiotics and prescription for antibiotics indicated that most of the students do not know the appropriate sources from where to purchase their antibiotics nor do they know the appropriate persons from whom to obtain a prescription for antibiotics.
The study showed a high rate of consumption of antibiotics among university undergraduates who mostly obtain their antibiotics without a physician's prescription from unofficial sources and do not complete their course of antibiotic therapy. The education of these students on the appropriate use of antibiotics will go a long way in improving the students' attitude towards antibiotics.


In competitive telecom industry customer satisfaction is the single most considerable matter and that depends only on quality of service (QoS) of wireless networks. The major part of the GSM cellular mobile telecommunication system structure is radio frequency related. So that, the quality of the network is relate mostly depend on radio functions. The major expectation is the network should cover whole area as planned the network is free from interference and reliable wireless communication.RF Network planning for GSM is a systematic project covering the whole process of network building comparison to radio transmission theory, from antenna feeder index analysis to network capability forecast, and to test of network performance and system parameter for optimization purpose. In this paper firstly a clear form of GSM cellular system has discussed. After that a complete planning of RF network for GSM has discussed. After successful planning, RF survey, system designing and installation and debugging are performed. Then a BTS is connected with live wireless network to be given opportunity to customers for mobile communication.


transfusion, length of stay, readmissions and overall costs. All multivariable logistic and quantile regression models were controlled for clinical, demographic, and hospital factors. Analyses used sampling weights to achieve a nationally representative estimation. RESULTS: A total of 7,119 men in PHD, representing a weighted sample of 27,232 patients, underwent simple prostatectomy during 2011-2020. In the study period, the portion of robotic procedures increased from 5.1% to 26.4% of annual cases. There were no differences in the 90-day minor (Clavien grade 1-2) and major (Clavien grade 3-5) complications, although the open approach was more commonly associated with intraoperative and postoperative hemorrhage (OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.25 to 2.90, p [ 0.003). The robotic approach was associated with longer median operating room time ( þ 135 min, 95% CI: 120 to 151 min, p < 0.0001), shorter hospitalization (-1.5 day, 95% CI: -1.71 to -1.29 days, p < 0.0001), and no difference in the odds for 90-day readmission. The 90-day cost was signi fi cantly higher for robotic simple prostatectomy ( þ US $3,550, 95% CI: $3,044 to $4,057, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There is a gradual increase in the proportion of simple prostatectomies in the United States performed via the robotic approach. The 90-day cost of robotic simple prostatectomy was signi fi cantly higher despite the shorter hospital length of stay d likely due to higher equipment costs and longer operative times d with no differences in major or minor complications.


Objective: To analyse outcome of tympanoplasty in children is with regard to graft success rate and hearing improvement.
Study Design: Interventional and descriptive.
Place and Duration: ENT department of Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi, from March 2003 to November 2005.
Patients and Methods: Thirty three children between the ages of 8 to 14 years undergoing 37 tympanoplasties. All of them had dry central tympanic membrane perforations of various sizes secondary to chronic tubotympanic suppurative otitis media.
Results: Post auricular approach and underlay technique of tympanoplasty was used to repair the tympanic membrane perforation in all cases. They were then followed up at monthly interval for up to at least 6 months.  During that period, they were observed for the development of complications like graft failure, lateralization of graft and atelactasis. At the end of 6 months of follow up, pure tone audiogram with air and bone conduction thresholds was repeated to evaluate the change in air bone gap i.e., the difference between the average pre- and postoperative air bone gap at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHtz. Results were statistically analyzed with paired sample t test using statistical soft ware package SPSS 10.0.  Thirty four out of 37 operated ears had full graft take at 6 months of follow up resulting in graft success rate of 91.9%.  Average air bone gap closure was 13.5 dB (range 5 to 33.3 dB). The change in pre and post-operative air bone gap was found to be statistically significant (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: Tympanoplasty proved to be a useful intervention in children age 8 to 14 years. The procedure gave good anatomical and functional results.


Low radio frequency solar observations using the Murchison Widefield Array have recently revealed the presence of numerous weak short-lived narrowband emission features, even during moderately quiet solar conditions. These nonthermal features occur at rates of many thousands per hour in the 30.72 MHz observing bandwidth, and hence necessarily require an automated approach for their detection and characterization. Here, we employ continuous wavelet transform using a mother Ricker wavelet for feature detection from the dynamic spectrum. We establish the efficacy of this approach and present the first statistically robust characterization of the properties of these features. In particular, we examine distributions of their peak flux densities, spectral spans, temporal spans, and peak frequencies. We can reliably detect features weaker than 1 SFU, making them, to the best of our knowledge, the weakest bursts reported in literature. The distribution of their peak flux densities follows a power law with an index of −2.23 in the 12–155 SFU range, implying that they can provide an energetically significant contribution to coronal and chromospheric heating. These features typically last for 1–2 s and possess bandwidths of about 4–5 MHz. Their occurrence rate remains fairly flat in the 140–210 MHz frequency range. At the time resolution of the data, they appear as stationary bursts, exhibiting no perceptible frequency drift. These features also appear to ride on a broadband background continuum, hinting at the likelihood of them being weak type-I bursts.


ABSTRACT: Early statements by 41 depressive inpatients about a subjective change in their condition and about their attitude to proposed treatment were examined. These statements, made on the day after admission, were found to correlate with the outcome of the treatment. It was found that early subjective reactions can indicate to some extent, not only the result of hospital treatment for depressive symptoms, but also the outcome measured by objective and subjective criteria, after a 3 to 4 month follow‐up.


Sentence simplification aims to improve readability and understandability, based on several operations such as splitting, deletion, and paraphrasing. However, a valid simplified sentence should also be logically entailed by its input sentence. In this work, we first present a strong pointer-copy mechanism based sequence-to-sequence sentence simplification model, and then improve its entailment and paraphrasing capabilities via multi-task learning with related auxiliary tasks of entailment and paraphrase generation. Moreover, we propose a novel 'multi-level' layered soft sharing approach where each auxiliary task shares different (higher versus lower) level layers of the sentence simplification model, depending on the task's semantic versus lexico-syntactic nature. We also introduce a novel multi-armed bandit based training approach that dynamically learns how to effectively switch across tasks during multi-task learning. Experiments on multiple popular datasets demonstrate that our model outperforms competitive simplification systems in SARI and FKGL automatic metrics, and human evaluation. Further, we present several ablation analyses on alternative layer sharing methods, soft versus hard sharing, dynamic multi-armed bandit sampling approaches, and our model's learned entailment and paraphrasing skills.


A considerable amount of research has examined trust since our 1995 publication. We revisit some of the critical issues that we addressed and provide clarifications and extensions of the topics of levels of analysis, time, control systems, reciprocity, and measurement. We also recognize recent research in new areas of trust, such as affect, emotion, violation and repair, distrust, international and cross-cultural issues, and context-specific models, and we identify promising avenues for future research.


We present terahertz-frequency characterization of doped silicon via a multiphysics numerical technique that couples ensemble Monte Carlo (EMC) simulation of carrier transport and a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solver of Maxwell's curl equations. We elucidate the importance of rigorous enforcement of Gauss's law, in order to avoid unphysical charge buildup and enhance solver accuracy. The calculated complex conductivity of doped bulk silicon shows excellent agreement with available experimental data. This comprehensive microscopic simulator is a valuable predictive tool in the terahertz frequency range, where experimental data are scarce and the Drude model inadequate.


Seven families took part in a phenomenological study to consider the effects on family life when a parent has chronic renal failure. This is a topic which has not attracted much attention, possibly because the incidence of renal failure increases with age, and as such, young families where there is parental chronic renal failure do not make a major contribution to the workload of a renal unit. Therefore their needs are not necessarily to the fore. In looking at family life there is an acknowledgement of the fact that, for the majority of people, there is a life outside their chronic illness and hospital appointments and there is a need therefore to incorporate this other life into planning their care. It is therefore suggested that a worthwhile approach would be that of family centred care, more commonly seen within the paediatric domain, but here taken from the view of the adult at the centre, rather than the more usual centrality of the child. From the study three central themes emerged: · Normality in family life · Living with uncertainty · Protecting the family. Overarching these themes the 'life view' of the parents was important. This is a common thread in all the themes and affects the way in which the parents approach their life. This, in turn, affects how the children from this study are involved in family discussions, about the influence of chronic renal failure on their family. This 'life view' fits well with Paterson's (2001) shifting perspectives model of chronic illness. In this study it is argued that to meet the needs of the family the information provided needs to be congruent with the 'life view' of the parent. This, combined with a family centred approach, is the best strategy to facilitate the sharing of information with the children.


In this paper, a neural network PID controller is presented, applying neural network and reducing PID configuration in controlling industry process. Two built neural networks are considered as cores to adjust weights which result in the suggested PID parameters. Algorithm program is written in Siemens TIA Portal and tested in Factory I/O. It is verified after analysis that the proposed model has a better performance than conventional PID in terms of steady state, deviations and consistency of control value after tuning time.


In order to tackle the key problems in the experimental study on the microwave plasma thruster, of which the whole system operates under the vacuum condition, and remove the unnecessary energy loss, an electro microwave device operating under atmosphere and vacuum condition has been developed by applying the design technology of the nonlinear power supply, the integration of attenuator and detector, liquid cooling, and after resolving the gas breakdown problems of electro and microwave apparatus. The experimental study on the device with argon and helium as propellant has been carried out. The results show that the output power of microwave is stable, the device can operate under vacuum and atmosphere condition reliably.


Key Points Question What types of stigmatizing language are written by physicians about patients in their medical records? Findings This qualitative study of 600 encounter notes from 138 physicians found 6 ways that physicians express positive feelings toward patients in medical records, including compliments, approval, and personalization. This study also found 5 ways that physicians express negative feelings toward patients, including disapproval, discrediting, and stereotyping. Meaning These findings suggest that physicians should increase their awareness of stigmatizing language in patient records to ensure that their notes are informative and respectful.


By anodic oxidation of the edges of the portions of the Al film under photoresist, controllable gaps between electrodes with good insulation can be obtained. These techniques are applied to realize a surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) narrow gap interdigital transducer (NG-IDT) and narrow gap unidirectional transducer (NG-UDT). The experimental result shows 7.2 dB insertion loss with amplitude ripples of +or-1.2 dB for a conventional NG-IDT. Directives of 3-dB/transducer at 440 MHz (fundamental) and 13-dB transducer at 870 MHz (second-harmonic operation) for a new floating electrode type unidirectional transducer (NG-FEUDT) are demonstrated. Also a three transducer low loss filter using a combination of NG-IDT and NG-FEUDT exhibits 3.46 dB insertion loss at 894 MHz (second-harmonic operation, electrode width of 1.7 mu m) with sidelobe suppression greater than 35 dB.<<ETX>>


Mutations in the LRRK2 gene were first described in 2004 and have now emerged as the most important genetic finding in Parkinson's Disease (PD) (Paisan-Ruiz et al., 2004, Zimprich et al., 2004). Incredibly, they account for up to 40% of familial parkinsonism in certain ethnic populations (Ishihara et al., 2007; Kachergus et al., 2005; Ozelius et al., 2006). Moreover LRRK2 mutations also are responsible for about 2 % of PD in sporadic (idiopathic) patients and two risk factors increase the risk for sporadic PD in Asian populations by twofold (Di Fonzo et al., 2006; Farrer et al., 2007; Ross et al., 2008; Tan, 2006). While the precise functional role of LRRK2 protein is still emerging, it has attracted intense pharmaceutical interest as a highly "druggable" target. This, and other unique properties including variable penetrance and pathologies that overlap with other neurodegenerative disorders, have fueled theories that a LRRK2 therapeutic will benefit not just familial parkinsonism, but also sporadic parkinsonism and perhaps even neurodegeneration in general. Development of LRRK2 agents relies on the availability of animal models, which provide not only information of physiological and pathological functions but also a means for testing and phenotypic reversal. In this chapter we summarize the progress to date for both invertebrate and vertebrate models of LRRK2 parkinsonism and briefly discuss opportunities for therapeutic development.


Modern storage systems are employing data deduplication with increasing frequency. Often the storage systems on which these techniques are deployed contain important data, and utilize fault-tolerant hardware and software to improve the reliability of the system and reduce data loss. We suggest that data deduplication introduces inter-file relationships that may have a negative impact on the fault tolerance of such systems by creating dependencies that can increase the severity of data loss events. We present a framework composed of data analysis methods and a model of data deduplication that is useful in studying the reliability impact of data deduplication. The framework is useful for determining a deduplication strategy that is estimated to satisfy a set of reliability constraints supplied by a user.


Different task models have been proposed to represent the parallel structure of real-time tasks executing on manycore platforms: fork/join, synchronous parallel, DAG-based, etc. Despite different schedulability tests and resource augmentation bounds are available for these task systems, we experience difficulties in applying such results to real application scenarios, where the execution flow of parallel tasks is characterized by multiple (and nested) conditional structures. When a conditional branch drives the number and size of sub-jobs to spawn, it is hard to decide which execution path to select for modeling the worst-case scenario. To circumvent this problem, we integrate control flow information in the task model, considering conditional parallel tasks (cp-tasks) represented by DAGs composed of both precedence and conditional edges. For this task model, we identify meaningful parameters that characterize the schedulability of the system, and derive efficient algorithms to compute them. A response time analysis based on these parameters is then presented for different scheduling policies. A set of simulations shows that the proposed approach allows efficiently checking the schedulability of the addressed systems, and that it significantly tightens the schedulability analysis of non-conditional (e.g., Classic DAG) tasks over existing approaches.


Unilever is helping people to improve their health and wellbeing. Clear time-bound nutrition targets have been committed to in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and progress is reported annually. Our commitment to nutrition focusses on delivering products that are responsibly delicious and we inspire people to consume more nutritious diets. We developed our nutritional standards for reformulation, addressing the relevant nutrients of concern: saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, and sugar. In addition, we provide essential vitamins and minerals via our products, using a variety of high-quality ingredients or by adding micronutrients to commonly eaten foods via fortification. We are dialing up on plant-based offerings, like plant-based meat alternatives, dairy-free ice cream, and solutions for more plant-based meals. We empower people to consume more nutritious diets through our recipes and behavior change programs. We launched the Future 50 program that highlights 50 nutritious, plant-based ingredients for a more sustainable food system, which can be incorporated into daily meals. We run campaigns to inspire people to cook more nutritious meals, an example includes the program around our iron-fortified bouillon in Nigeria and Kenya. Reformulation and innovation do not come without challenges. We must consider the functionality of nutrients in the product, regulatory limitations, and consumer demand. The call for sustainable diets is clear and to make the dietary shift happen, as is needed for healthy diets within the boundaries of the planet, a strong multi-stakeholder approach is needed.


A population-based twin study is a useful design for quantification of the effects of genes and environmental factors in disease etiology. We used data from 10,000 Swedish twin pairs to quantify genetic and environmental contributions to tooth loss and periodontal health. Oral health information was obtained from telephone interviews. Structural equation models measured the relative importance of genetic and environmental factors. Genetic factors contributed to 14% of variation in tooth loss among women, and 39% among men. Non-shared environmental factors accounted for one-quarter of risk; environmental factors shared by twins comprised the remainder. Heritability estimates of periodontal disease were 39% and 33% for women and men, respectively, while non-shared environmental factors accounted for the remaining variation. Heritability for both conditions varied as a function of age and smoking status. Analysis of data from this large, population-based study demonstrates a moderate role of genetic factors in oral diseases, and suggests potential gene-environment interactions.


Web services for years as a software engineering technique. Programmers need a service description language so they can see what a software component written as a Web service does and how to use it. WSDL also facilitates the concept of software components, which could lead to the programming dream of reusable, maintainable software. Well, it could, were these components' functions better described. Unfortunately, programmers who use these functions within an enterprise typically treat them like a new version of subroutines. The next programmer hired to work on one of these components hasn't much more of a clue how to use it than he or she did with any other piece of software. Web services with semantic and enforceable descriptions that would enable dynamic interoperability over the Internet, would be more practical.


Background With competing parameters of specificity and sensitivity, breast cancer screening must limit both missed cancers and false-positive call-backs (with potential to biopsy) to reduce cost and unnecessary anxiety to patients. Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) has been shown to provide improved sensitivity over analog mammography in the detection of breast cancers, particularly in women with dense breasts. Unfortunately, call-back rates for both digital and analog screening mammography have similar, elevated rates of approximately 10% (E. Pisano et al, NEJM, 2005). Incorporation of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), a novel 3-D reconstruction of multiple low-dose digital mammographic images, may reduce the number of call-back visits needed by providing many of the benefits of diagnostic imaging at screening. This study will assess variations in DBT image acquisition while limiting radiation dose to women with varying breast sizes and densities, to define parameters to be used in a larger national screening tomosynthesis trial. Eligibility : Asymptomatic women 25 years and older with no breast cancer history are eligible for Group A or B (see below). Pregnant women, women unable to tolerate compression of the breast associated with mammography, women with implants, and women with breasts too large for DBT are excluded from participation. Trial design/target accrual : This multicenter trial uses Hologic digital mammography units at two institutions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The timing of the study-related imaging visits are segregated into two cohorts, screening (Group A) and diagnostic (Group B). Group A comprises 500 women who will undergo both FFDM and DBT at screening. Initial independent interpretations of the FFDM and DBT from local readers will determine call back. Enriched Group B comprises 50 women who have been informed of abnormal findings from a FFDM screening within 30 days of enrollment. They will be recruited prior to their diagnostic imaging and consent to DBT of both breasts as part of their diagnostic imaging. Participants from both Groups will be followed or biopsied as recommended by their treating physician. Follow up includes medical record review and images collection at approximately 1-year. Follow-up data may be collected up to 18 months. Specific aims and statistical methods : ACRIN PA 4006 will evaluate the specificity of 2-D FFDM versus a combination of 2-D and 3-D tomosynthesis imaging in breast cancer screening. Specificity will be measured by the participant call-back rate by each modality. Sensitivity and specificity by lesion-type characteristics, especially focused on DBT assessment of calcifications, will be compared. Current accrual : Currently, the trial accrual has reached 259 of 550. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-05-04.


PURPOSE
We established the incidence of bladder stones in patients who experienced recurrent encrustation and blockage of indwelling bladder catheters and examined the relationship between isolates of Proteus mirabilis from the stones and from the crystalline biofilms on the catheters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The first 100 patients attending a clinic for patients experiencing problems with the management of long-term bladder catheters were studied. Flexible cystoscopy was used to detect bladder stones. Catheter encrustation was assessed visually and by electron microscopy. Bacteriological analysis was performed on the stones and catheter biofilms. P. mirabilis isolates were genotyped by pulsed field gel electrophoresis of restriction enzyme digests of bacterial DNA.

RESULTS
Most patients (85%) had been referred because of catheter blockage and in 61 (72%) the catheters were encrusted. P. mirabilis was recovered from 37 of 47 encrusted catheters (79%) that were examined but not from any nonencrusted catheters. Of the 61 patients with encrusted catheters 38 (62%) had bladder stones. Pairs of isolates of P. mirabilis from the stones and the catheter biofilms from 6 patients were genotyped. The DNA profiles of each pair of isolates were identical.

CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients (62%) with recurrent catheter encrustation had bladder stones. The stones harbored the strains of P. mirabilis that rapidly colonize replacement catheters with crystalline biofilm. Flexible cystoscopy to detect and remove stones might help resolve the problem of recurrent catheter encrustation.


A www.oncoreview.pl AbstrAct Co-occurrence of metabolic disorders is a recognized risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer which is currently the leading cause of morbidity due to malignant neoplasms in the world. The pathogenesis of colorectal cancer is not well understood yet. Among the postulated neoplastic mechanisms is the activation of insulin-like growth factors, with both epidemiological and clinical observations of their role. In this paper, the authors synthesize the current knowledge about the importance of activation of insulin-like growth factors in the development of colorectal cancer.


Squeeze film air damping is a significant factor in the design of MEMS devices owing to its great impact on the dynamic performance of vibrating structures. However, the traditional theoretical results of squeeze film air damping are derived from the Reynolds equation, wherein there exists a deviation from the true results, especially in low aspect ratios. While expensive efforts have been undertaken to prove that this deviation is caused by the neglect of pressure change across the film, a quantitative study has remained elusive. This paper focuses on the investigation of the finite size effect of squeeze film air damping and conducts numerical research using a set of simulations. A modified expression is extended to lower aspect ratio conditions from the original model of squeeze film air damping. The new quick-calculating formulas based on the simulation results reproduce the squeeze film air damping with a finite size effect accurately with a maximum error of less than 1% in the model without a border effect and 10.185% in the compact model with a border effect. The high consistency between the new formulas and simulation results shows that the finite size effect was adequately considered, which offers a previously unattainable precise damping design guide for MEMS devices.


Comparative population genetic and phylogenetic analyses were used to study historical and recent gene flow between two colour variants of the spider Eresus cinnaberinus, in order to explain variant distributions in Northern and Central Europe. Recently, the colour variants have been assigned to two species, E. cinnaberinus and E. sandaliatus, the latter found isolated in Denmark and in Bavaria. Explaining Eresus's distributions thus poses a twofold problem: (i) clarifying species limits at a population–species transition and (ii) explaining noncontinuous distributions in a postglacially colonized area. Combined allozyme and mtDNA data suggest that disjunct distributions of E. sandaliatus in Bavaria and Denmark were caused by introgression of E. cinnaberinus into a E. sandaliatus background, giving rise to E. cinnaberinus phenotypes, rather than competitive exclusion of a genetically independent species by the other. Introgression caused mtDNA paraphyly of the derived E. sandaliatus whereas paraphyly of E. cinnaberinus outside the putative introgression zone may be associated with lineage sorting. Allozymes reveal local and extant gene flow processes better than mtDNA, but, because of the divided population structure, allozymes have limited power in making inferences about historical gene flow and the speed of postglacial colonization. Mitochondrial DNA distributions indicate that postglacial colonization of Northern Europe occurred rapidly and in several waves from different source populations.


Garcinia indica Linn (Clusiaceae), a medicinal plant mentioned in Ayurveda has been used for treatment of liver disorders, dysentery, sunstroke, cancer and heart diseases. The present study was undertaken to investigate ulcer protective effect of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Garcinia indica Linn fruit rind. The aqueous and ethanol extract of Garcinia indica Linn were investigated for ulcer protective activity against indomethacin induced ulcerogenesis and HCl/ethanol induced gastric lesion. Oral administration of the aqueous and ethanol extracts of Garcinia indica fruit rind at the dose 500 mg/kg provided significant (p<0.001) reduction of ulcer index in the HCl/ethanol and indomethacin induced gastric lesion rat models.


Irreparable rotator cuff tears are infrequent but well-defined lesions consisting of massive rotator cuff tears that are not reparable by conventional means. Rockwood and others1-3 defined irreparable tears as those that, because of their size and retraction, cannot be repaired primarily to their insertion onto the tuberosities despite conventional techniques of mobilization and soft-tissue releases. Goutallier et al. classified rotator cuff tears on the basis of the amount of muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration of the affected rotator cuff muscles demonstrated by computed tomographic scans4. Often, these tears are associated with concomitant arthritis of the glenohumeral joint, making treatment options even more complex5.

Patients with irreparable rotator cuff tears can present with a variety of manifestations. They may have no symptoms or mild symptoms, or they may be completely disabled and in severe pain. The true incidence of irreparable rotator cuff tears is not known; however, anatomic studies on cadavera and imaging studies of asymptomatic patients have demonstrated rotator cuff tears in 30% to 50% of older patients, especially those older than seventy years of age6-8. Tempelhof et al. studied 411 asymptomatic individuals and found that 38% of those older than the age of seventy had full-thickness rotator cuff tears9. Rotator cuff tears with an increased degree of fatty infiltration and muscle atrophy in association with a high-riding humeral head to the acromion are at high risk for irreparability. Goutallier et al. used computed tomography scans to evaluate fatty infiltration, but magnetic resonance imaging is probably more sensitive4.

Look for this and other related articles in Instructional Course Lectures , Volume 56, which will be published by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in February 2007:

• "Technical Pearls on How to Maximize Healing of …


Several studies have reported that symptoms of anxiety and depression are significantly associated with diseases characterized by painful crises. However, there is little information about the psychological aspects of recurrent painful episodes of renal stone disease. Our objective was to evaluate the association of symptoms of anxiety, depression and recurrent painful renal colic in a case-control study involving 64 subjects (32 cases/32 controls) matched for age and sex. Cases were outpatients with a confirmed diagnosis of nephrolithiasis as per their case history, physical examination, image examination and other laboratory exams. Patients had a history of at least two episodes within a 3-year period, and were currently in an intercrisis interval. The control group consisted of subjects seen at the Ophthalmology Outpatient Clinic of this University Hospital with only eye refraction symptoms, and no other associated disease. Symptoms of anxiety were evaluated by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and symptoms of depression by the Beck Depression Inventory. Statistically significant differences were observed between patients with nephrolithiasis and controls for anxiety state (P = 0.001), anxiety trait (P = 0.005) and symptoms of depression (odds ratio = 3.74; 95%CI = 1.31-10.62). The Beck Depression Inventory showed 34.5% of respondents with moderate and 6% with severe levels of depression. There was a significant linear correlation between symptoms of anxiety (P = 0.002) and depression (P < 0.001) and the number of recurrent colic episodes (anxiety-state: P = 0.016 and anxiety-trait: P < 0.001). These data suggest an association between recurrent renal colic and symptoms of both anxiety and depression.


Purpose To determine the impact of pelvic bone fracture on the recurrence of urethral stenosis after bulbomembranous anastomotic urethroplasty. Materials and Methods A total of 197 patients with complete posterior urethral injuries underwent bulbomembranous anastomotic urethroplasty. These patients were divided into two groups according to the presence of pelvic bone fracture. Recurrence of urethral stenosis was defined as the need for any postoperative surgical intervention. The surgical outcomes and postoperative recurrence rate of urethral stenosis were compared between the two groups, and significant predictors for posterior urethral restenosis, including pelvic bone fracture, were analyzed via multivariate analysis. Results Of the patients, 92 had pelvic bone fractures and the other 105 patients did not. The patients with pelvic bone fracture had increased involvement of the prostatic urethra compared to the group without pelvic bone fracture (3.8% vs. 17.4%, p=0.002). Recurrence of urethral stenosis was more common in the pelvic bone fracture group (42/92, 45.7%) than the group without pelvic fracture (27/105, 25.7%). In a Kaplan—Meier analysis, the recurrence rate at 5 years was significantly lower in the pelvic bone fracture group (59.1% vs. 72.6%, p=0.003). A Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that the presence of pelvic bone injury was a significant predictor of posterior urethral re-stenosis. Conclusions Patients with posterior urethral injuries associated with pelvic bone fracture had a higher recurrence rate of urethral stenosis after bulbomembranous anastomotic urethroplasty than those without pelvic bone fracture.


Apart from surface Ig receptors, a variety of membrane molecules have now been described to deliver activation and progression signals to human B cells. Among them, CD40 antigen is likely to play a crucial role in the antigen-dependent maturation process. Recent studies performed in the laboratory have established that presentation of anti-CD40 mAbs in a crosslinked fashion by mouse Ltk(-) cells stably expressing human FcyRII/CDw32, allowed normal human B cells to enter into sustained proliferation. In their overwhelming majority, B-CLL cells are positive for CD40 expression. We have therefore examined the capacity of purified B-CLL cells to be stimulated by various cytokines for growth and differentiation, following crosslinking of slgs or CD40 antigen. In most B-CLL specimens studied, IL-2 was the sole factor, among a wide panel of cytokines tested, which reproducibly and significantly induced proliferation of leukemic B cells activated with anti-Ig reagents (SAC or anti-IgM antibodies). Unlike normal B cells, the great majority of anti-Ig activated B-CLL cells failed to proliferate in response to IL-4. In this activation system, IL-4 profoundly suppressed the IL-2 driven proliferation of B-CLL. An opposite pattern of growth-response was obtained following ligation of CD40 since IL-4 elicited proliferation of B-CLL whereas the growth-promoting effect of IL-2 was reduced. Under these culture conditions, IL-4 and IL-2 displayed additive effects on leukemic B cell growth. Surprisingly, IL-4 combined with anti-CD40 mAb allowed activation of certain leukemia specimens otherwise refractory to other stimulatory signals. Most B-CLL samples were induced for IgM synthesis upon SAC stimulation. This Ig response was potentiated by IL-2 and antagonized by IL-4. Anti-CD40 mAb used alone or in combination with cytokines (IL1-IL6, IFNγ, TNFα, TGFβ) failed to induce Ig secretion from B-CLL. No evidence for Ig isotype switching was obtained with the cytokines listed above, whatever the mode of B-CLL activation. Taken together, our results suggest that B-CLL can be released in vitro from their apparent maturation block, by IL-2 and anti-Ig reagents or by IL-4 and immobilized anti-CD40 mAb. Additionally, the data reported here suggest that development of the agonistic and antagonistic activities of IL-4 on B cell growth and differentiation may depend upon the nature of the activation signal provided.


We propose a new method of identification of the monetary policy rule. Using this method, we argue that, before the Great Moderation, the Federal Reserve implemented the Friedman policy of steady money growth as could be interpreted and adopted by the policymakers in the 1960s and 1970s. During the Great Moderation, the monetary policy follows the Taylor rule with interest rate smoothing instead, where the type of smoothing is more general than discussed in the literature. The estimated impulse response functions for the monetary policy shock are large and significant, even when they are estimated on the Great Moderation data.


Dy3+ -doped Y3 Al5 O12 phosphors were prepared at a relatively low temperature using molten salt synthesis. The phase of the prepared Dy3+ -doped Y3 Al5 O12 phosphors was confirmed using X-ray powder diffraction. Results indicated that Dy3+ doping did not change the Y3 Al5 O12 phase. Following excitation at 352 nm, emission spectra of the Dy3+ -doped Y3 Al5 O12 phosphors consisted of blue, yellow, and red emission bands. The influence of Dy3+ concentration and excitation wavelength on emission was investigated. The ratio of yellow light to blue light varied with change in Dy3+ doping concentration, due to changes in the structure around Dy3+ . Emission intensities also changed when the excitation wavelength was changed. This variation is luminescence generated a system for tunable white light for Dy3+ -doped Y3 Al5 O12 phosphors.


The purpose of this study to determine the profile of digital literacy skills
for biology pre-service teachers. The method used in the study is a survey method
that is applied to students who contract general biology courses with 30 people.
The digital literacy aspects or indicators used in this study are the digital literacy
category developed by NCREL & Metiri Group (2003) in the 21st Century Skills
enGauge which covers: basic literacy, scientific literacy, information literacy,
technology literacy, visual literacy, and global awareness literacy. Research data is
collected using a digital literacy skill questionnaire and a digital literacy assessment
observation sheet during the learning process. The type of data will be obtained in
the form of qualitative data which will be processed using a Likert Scale calculation.
The data is then analyzed using descriptive analysis techniques. The results of the
study have shown that digital literacy skills in biology pre-service teachers are still in
the low category.


Model reducing-end oligosaccharides were successfully labeled by a brominated aromatic amine reagent, 2-amino-5-bromopyridine (ABP), through reductive amination. Using either a combination of liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) with in-source fragmentation or liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS), sequence information corresponding to the model oligosaccharides was revealed with little ambiguity via the diagnostic unique twin peaks arising from the bromine isotopes, for both the molecular ions of the derivatized oligosaccharides and their fragments. No fragment ions arising from loss of the bromine atom were observed.


Accurate real-time estimation of the gait phase (GP) is crucial for many control methods in exoskeletons and prostheses. A class of approaches to GP estimation construct the phase portrait of a segment or joint angle, and use the normalized polar angle of this diagram to estimate the GP. Although several studies have investigated such methods, quantitative information regarding their performance is sparse. In this work, we assess the performance of 3 portrait-based methods in flat and inclined steady walking conditions, using quantitative metrics of accuracy, repeatability and linearity. Two methods use portraits of the hip angle versus angular velocity (AVP), and hip angle versus integral of the angle (IAP). In a novel third method, a linear transformation is applied to the portrait to improve its circularity (CSP). An independent heel-strike (HS) detection algorithm is employed in all algorithms, rather than assuming HSs to occur at a constant point on the portrait. The novel method shows improvements in all metrics, notably significant root-mean-square error reductions compared to IAP (−3%, p < 0.001) and AVP (-2.4%, p < 0.001) in slope, and AVP (-1.61%, p = 0.0015) in flat walking. A non-negligible inter-subject variability is observed between phase angles at HS (equivalent to up to 8.4% of error in the GP), highlighting the importance of explicit HS detection for portrait-based methods.


A 44-year-old white man presented with an erythemato-squamous rash in the supra-orbital and preauricular regions of the face. The diagnosis systemic lupus erythematosus was confirmed by histopathology, immunofluorescence (circulating antinuclear antibodies and a positive lupus band test), and by immunoelectron microscopy. Further examinations disclosed a multiple myeloma of the IgG type without cutaneous involvement. The coexistence of these two disorders has not been reported previously.


Abstract The potential mediating roles of parental warmth and inductive discipline on the relations of parental emotion regulation strategies to children's prosocial behavior were examined in this study. Sixty-four parents of preschoolers (50% girls) completed questionnaires assessing their own regulation practices (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression), parenting behaviors (i.e., parental warmth/nurturance, inductive discipline), and children's prosocial behavior (voluntary behavior intended to benefit another). The authors hypothesized that cognitive reappraisal would be positively and expressive suppression would be negatively related to parenting behaviors and children's prosocial behavior. They further hypothesized that parental warmth and inductive discipline would mediate the relations between parents' own regulation strategies and children's prosocial behavior. Results demonstrated that parental cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with warmth, and expressive suppression was negatively associated with inductive discipline and children's prosocial behavior. Parental warmth, but not inductive discipline, mediated the relations between cognitive reappraisal and children's prosocial behavior. The results highlight adults' own regulatory strategies as predictors of socialization behaviors and the potential processes for socialization of children's moral emotions and positive social development.


Abstract We introduce vector solitary waves in two-component Bose–Einstein condensates with spatially modulated nonlinearity coefficients and a harmonic trapping potential. Using the self-similarity method, novel vector solitary waves are built with the help of Whittaker function, including multipole solutions and necklace rings. The stability of vortex soliton pairs is examined by direct numerical simulation; the results show that a new class of stable low-order vortex soliton pairs with n = 2 and m ≤ 3 can be supported by the spatially modulated interaction in the harmonic trap. Higher order vector-vortex soliton is found unstable over prolonged distances.


PURPOSE
In radiotherapy (RT), the planning CT (pCT) is commonly used to plan the full RT-course. Due to organ deformation and motion, the organ shapes seen at the pCT will not be identical to their shapes during RT. Any difference between the pCT organ shape and the organ's mean shape during RT will cause systematic errors. We propose to use statistical shrinkage estimation to reduce this error using only the pCT and the population mean shape computed from training data.

METHODS
The method was evaluated for the rectum in a cohort of 37 prostate cancer patients that had a pCT and 7-10 treatment CTs with rectum delineations. Deformable registration was performed both within-patient and between patients, resulting in point-to-point correspondence between all rectum shapes, which enabled us to compute a population mean rectum. Shrinkage estimates were found by combining the pCTs linearly with the population mean. The method was trained and evaluated using leave-one-out cross validation. The shrinkage estimates and the patient mean shapes were compared geometrically using the Dice similarity index (DSI), Hausdorff distance (HD) and bidirectional local distance (BLD). Clinical dose/volume histograms, equivalent uniform dose (EUD) and minimum dose to the hottest 5% volume (D5%) were compared for the shrinkage estimate and the pCT.

RESULTS
The method resulted in moderate but statistically significant increase in similarity to the patient mean shape over the pCT. On average, the HD was reduced from 15.6 to 13.4 mm, while the DSI was increased from 0.74 to 0.78. Significant reduction in the bias of volume estimates were found in the DVH-range of 52.5 to 65 Gy, where the bias was reduced from -1.3 to -0.2 percentage points, but no significant improvement was found in EUD or D5%, CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that shrinkage estimation can reduce systematic errors due to organ deformations in RT. The method has potential to increase the accuracy in RT of deformable organs and can improve motion modelling. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/HER) family is an effective target for cancer therapeutics with thousands of cancer patients treated annually with EGFR inhibitors. However, we are only beginning to appreciate the rapid and dynamic signaling impact of various EGFR inhibitors on cancer cell phosphorylation events. The purpose of this study was to characterize the temporal phosphoprotein kinetics in head and neck cancer cells treated with the anti-EGFR antibodies cetuximab and Sym004. For the first time, perturbation data were generated using reverse phase protein array probed with 183 phosphorylated proteins involved in various signaling pathways at 11 different time points starting as early as 5 min and up to 24 hours. A novel signaling module comprised of phospho-ATM at Ser-1981, p-53(Ser15), p-IkB-α (Ser32/36) and p-Bad (Ser112) was found to be highly upregulated following exposure to Sym004. Concomitantly, high resolution imaging also revealed rapid EGFR degradation and increased endosomal trafficking with Sym004 treatment. Correlation matrix on a temporal scale revealed distinct network topologies suggesting that phosphorylation occurs in distinct waves over time. These response patterns were highly distinct when comparing cetuximab with Sym004. Using this platform, we are able to quantify the strength of various signaling networks triggered by EGFR inhibition and are able to model new pathways. These findings may have significant implications for developing more personalized treatment strategies including logical combination with other molecular target inhibitors. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Gopal Iyer. Temporal interrogation of EGFR signaling in head and neck cancer reveals highly distinct phosphorylation waves for individual EGFR inhibitors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4660. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4660


Experiments that yield inversion of the Co59thin film nuclear system were carried out. For nanosecond magnetization reversal by a field with a growth rate greater than 5 \cdot 10^{11} Oe/s, 85% inversion was obtained. The investigation of the inverted state at frequencies corresponding to hexagonal (α) and f.c.c. (β) phases revealed that Co59-β switches 1.3 times faster than Co59-α. This is explained by the large contribution of rotational processes for Co59in β phase. Longitudinal relaxation time T 1 is measured by the method of pulse inversion.


This study considers the competence of lawyers. in carrying out the work of interviewing their clients and the value of training and experience in acquiring client interviewing skills.
Literature on legal skills is first surveyed to assist in understanding the concept and help decide on methodology. Literature on client, interviewing' and the educational value of experiencee reviewed to provide background to subsequent studies.
The first study provides an overall framework for solicitors' work and monitors, through observation and questionnaire, the work of a number of solicitors over a four day period. Client interviewing is found to take up a larger proportion of solicitors' professional work than other categories noted, and observation proves to be a more sound basis for studying detail than a questionnaire approach.
The second study assesses the competence of 27 new trainee solicitors at interviewing clients through a detailed monitoring of their performance over thirteen tasks using eighteen different techniques and providing thirteen heads of information. Their performance exhibited many of the deficiencies recognised in the literature.
The trainees were then randomly allocated to three treatment groups. One group received full training, one received training without audio-visual feedback of first interviews and the third (control) received no training at all. They all then undertook a second interview which was similarly assessed. Training was found significantly to enhance performance over the spectrum of measurement, an audio-visual feedback) especially enhanced behavioral aspects of performance.
In the final study, solicitors and trainees ranging widely in experience were videotaped interviewing their clients and similarly assessed. Experience was not found to have- the expected effect of enhancing performance significantly except in some minor respects, but it did increase the feeling of confidence in interviewing ability.
In conclusion, suggestions are made for stronger linking of training with experience in the production of new lawyers.


We have developed an algorithm to perform structure-oriented filtering (SOF) in 3D seismic data by learning the data structure in the frequency domain. The method, called spectral SOF (SSOF), allows us to enhance the signal structures in the [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] domain by running a 1D edge-preserving filter along curvilinear self-adaptive trajectories that connect points of similar characteristics. These self-adaptive paths are given by the eigenvectors of the smoothed structure tensor, which are easily computed using closed-form expressions. SSOF relies on a few parameters that are easily tuned and on simple 1D convolutions for tensor calculation and smoothing. It is able to process a 3D data volume with a 2D strategy using basic 1D edge-preserving filters. In contrast to other SOF techniques, such as anisotropic diffusion, anisotropic smoothing, and plane-wave prediction, SSOF does not require any iterative process to reach the denoised result. We determine the performance of SSOF using three public domain field data sets, which are subsets of the well-known Waipuku, Penobscot, and Teapot surveys. We use the Waipuku subset to indicate the signal preservation of the method in good-quality data when mostly background random noise is present. Then, we use the Penobscot subset to illustrate random noise and footprint signature attenuation, as well as to show how faults and fractures are improved. Finally, we analyze the Teapot stacked and depth-migrated subsets to show random and coherent noise removal, leading to an improvement of the volume structural details and overall lateral continuity. The results indicate that random noise, footprints, and other artifacts can be successfully suppressed, enhancing the delineation of geologic structures and seismic horizons and preserving the original signal bandwidth.


Small-scale energy storage systems incorporating a battery bank have attracted special interest for load-levelling systems. Because the battery bank voltage in such systems is actually low, it is important to consider the bidirectional chopper suitable for large step-up and step-down ratios. A novel circuit topology for a bidirectional chopper acceptable for small-scale load levelling systems is presented and evaluated on the basis of analytical and experimental results.


RUNX1-ETO (also known as AML1-ETO and AML1-MTG8 ) is a fusion gene generated from t(8;21), which is a common chromosome translocation in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It has been shown that t(8;21) requires additional aberrations to induce leukemia. Interestingly, 32-59% of t(8;21) patients also display loss of a sex chromosome (LOS) in their leukemia cells. Therefore, loss of the genes located on the sex chromosomes, especially in the pseudoautosomal regions (PARs) that are shared between the X and Y chromosomes, may contribute to RUNX1-ETO leukemia development. One gene of interest in the PARs is CSF2RA , which encodes the alpha subunit of the granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptor. When the GM-CSF receptor is bound to its ligand, downstream signaling events promote various functional outcomes including proliferation, differentiation, self-renewal, and survival of myeloid cells. Thus, GM-CSF signaling has the potential to regulate both normal and malignant hematopoiesis. We previously reported that mice expressing RUNX1-ETO in GM-CSF deficient hematopoietic cells displayed higher incidence of leukemia (Matsuura S et al. 2012 Blood 119:3155). This result suggests that GM-CSF signaling is inhibitory to RUNX1-ETO dependent leukemogenesis. Furthermore, GM-CSF treatment reduces the self-renewal potential of RUNX1-ETO expressing cells and promotes myeloid differentiation in replating assays. We therefore hypothesize that the negative effect of GM-CSF on RUNX1-ETO induced leukemia development is due to the activation of selected GM-CSF downstream signaling pathway(s) that diminish self-renewal capacity and promote myeloid differentiation. To understand the molecular mechanism of the negative effect of GM-CSF on t(8;21) leukemogenesis, in the current report, we conducted a gene expression profiling assay to examine the effect of GM-CSF on RUNX1-ETO cells. MigR1 vector control or MigR1-RUNX1-ETO retrovirus transduced lineage negative/c-Kit positive (Lin - /c-Kit + ) murine hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) were cultured with or without GM-CSF for 24 hours. Then, Lin - /c-Kit + /GFP + HSPCs were isolated for the profiling study. We observed little response to GM-CSF in control HSPCs, with only 4 genes being differentially expressed after a 2-fold cutoff. Conversely, 122 genes were differentially expressed in RUNX1-ETO cells treated with GM-CSF. These results clearly indicate that RUNX1-ETO specifically enhances GM-CSF responsiveness in HSPCs. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of the differentially expressed genes in RUNX1-ETO cells reveals that this response resembles that of GM-CSF-induced myeloid differentiation. Furthermore, pathway analysis of these differentially expressed genes predicts MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 to be activated after GM-CSF treatment in RE cells. We previously reported that ERK1/2, downstream targets of MEK1/2, are hyper-phosphorylated after GM-CSF treatment of RUNX1-ETO cells, and MEK-ERK activation has been shown to regulate cell proliferation and myelopoiesis. Other GM-CSF induced genes are predicted targets of MYD88. MYD88 is upregulated during myeloid differentiation. Its in vivo knockout has been reported to result in an increase of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and reduction of mature granulocytes. Most interestingly, a subset of genes upregulated in GM-CSF treated RUNX1-ETO cells are predicted to be activated by CEBPβ. CEBPβ can heterodimerize with CEBPα and is induced during myelopoiesis, critical for macrophage differentiation, capable of promoting granulopoiesis, and involved in regulating granulopoiesis in vivo . In conclusion, our data suggest that RUNX1-ETO expression results in hyper-responsiveness to GM-CSF. Such enhanced GM-CSF signaling activates the expression of a specific group of genes and results in the reduced self-renewal capacity and increased myeloid differentiation of HSPCs. These GM-CSF effects are likely involved in reducing the leukemogenic potential of RUNX1-ETO and may be considered for specific therapeutic interventions. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This paper investigates to what extent unregulated local monopolies attempt not to evoke the introduction of a formal price regulation by conforming to customers' and authorities' expectations. It is argued that utilities can meet expectations by setting prices that imitate neighbours' prices. The empirical evaluation rests on a cross-sectional data set representing all Swedish district heating utilities, and on a flexible nonlinear IV specification. It is found that while utilities' price setting schemes are insensitive to customer complaints, they are significantly influenced by the passive monitoring by authorities. The spillover effect from the 5-6 closest neighbours is around 40 %.


INTRODUCTION
External electron beams have excellent distributions in treatment for superficial tumors while suppressing influence deeper normal tissue. However, the skin surface cannot be given a sufficient dose due to the build-up effect. In this study, we have investigated the combination of electron beams to expand the treatment region by keeping the dose gradient beyond dmax.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The percentage depth doses of different electron beams were superimposed on a spreadsheet to determine the combinations of electron beams so that the treatment range was maximized. Based on the obtained weight for electron beams, dose distributions were calculated using a treatment planning system and examined for potential clinical application.

RESULTS
With the combination of 4 MeV and 9 MeV electron beams, the 90% treatment range in the depth direction increased by 8.0 mm, and with 4 MeV and 12 MeV beams, it increased by 4.0 mm, with the same maximum dose depth and halfdose depth of the absorbed dose. The dose calculations were performed using the treatment planning system yielded similar results with a matching degree of ±1.5%.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the influences of low monitor unit values and daily output differences remain to be considered, the results suggest that the proposed approach can be clinically applied to expand treatment regions easily.


Now I am Dead (2018) takes an unexpected turn which transforms the narrative from meta-critical docufiction into an immersive tale. Anthropologist Isabel Bredenbröker and director Philipp Bergmann had planned to explore the status quo of the ethnographic encounter through the lens of Isabel's research on death in a Ghanaian town. Shortly after their arrival in Ghana, in the midst of filming, Isabel's grandfather dies in Germany. Baffled by the coincidence, in between assisting an undertaker, visiting the morgue, attending funerals and inspecting cemeteries, she asks for advice. How to react to the death of a far-away family member whilst shooting a film on death in West Africa? Help comes from friends and collaborators: an undertaker, a neighbour, a research assistant and friend, a priest. A second narrative streak in which the grandfather is commemorated in town develops alongside other death-related events, such as the picking up of a soul or the dressing and treatment of dead bodies. The perspective of the foreign visitor is tragicomically inverted and incorporated into a local perspective. The distinction between the other culture and one's own gets blurred, just as the threshold between life and death can be experienced in a playful way.


We studied the bradykinin-induced changes in phosphoinositide composition of N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells using a combination of biochemistry, microscope imaging, and mathematical modeling. Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) decreased over the first 30 s, and then recovered over the following 2–3 min. However, the rate and amount of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) production were much greater than the rate or amount of PIP2 decline. A mathematical model of phosphoinositide turnover based on this data predicted that PIP2 synthesis is also stimulated by bradykinin, causing an early transient increase in its concentration. This was subsequently confirmed experimentally. Then, we used single-cell microscopy to further examine phosphoinositide turnover by following the translocation of the pleckstrin homology domain of PLCδ1 fused to green fluorescent protein (PH-GFP). The observed time course could be simulated by incorporating binding of PIP2 and InsP3 to PH-GFP into the model that had been used to analyze the biochemistry. Furthermore, this analysis could help to resolve a controversy over whether the translocation of PH-GFP from membrane to cytosol is due to a decrease in PIP2 on the membrane or an increase in InsP3 in cytosol; by computationally clamping the concentrations of each of these compounds, the model shows how both contribute to the dynamics of probe translocation.


Many development scholars in India see the recently enacted the Right to Information (RTI) as a tool to ensure transparency and accountability in the day-today functioning of government. The poor so far have been denied basic rights and necessities 'through a web of lies based on information that is quoted but never revealed' (Roy et al. 2006). In this context, legal tools like the RTI and other supporting mechanisms, such as public hearings and public audits, have 'eroded the social acceptability of corruption' (Roy et al. 2007). The RTI has emerged centre-stage in societal actors' demands for direct accountability.


Burn-induced cardiac dysfunction is thought to involve mitochondrial dysfunction although the mechanisms responsible are unclear. In this study, we used our established model of in vivo burn injury to understand the genetic evidence of burn-induced mitochondrial metabolism confusion by describing cardiac mitochondrial metabolism-related gene expression after burn. Cardiac tissue was collected at 24 hours after burn injury. An O2K respirometer system was utilized to measure cardiac mitochondrial function. Oxidative phosphorylation complex activities were determined using enzyme activity assays. RT Profiler PCR array was used to identify differential regulation of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and metabolism. Quantitative qPCR and Western Blotting were applied to validate differentially expressed genes. Burn-induced cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction was supported by the finding of decreased state 3 respiration and decreased mitochondrial electron transport chain activity in complex I, III, IV, and V following burn injury. Eighty-four mitochondrial metabolism-related gene profiles were measured. The mitochondrial gene profile showed that one third of genes related to mitochondrial energy and metabolism was differentially expressed. Of these 28 genes, 15 were more than 2-fold upregulated and 13 were more than 2-fold downregulated. All genes were validated using qPCR; 4 genes had a protein level which correlated with the observed change in gene expression. This study provides preliminary evidence that a large percentage of mitochondrial metabolism-related genes in cardiomyocytes were significantly affected by burn injury.


The diagnosis of Ebstein's anomaly is usually based on echocardiographic findings; however, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) can add useful information enabling a detailed visualization of cardiac abnormality, as well as a method of accurate physiological evaluation. CMR, in conjunction with echocardiography, offers a comprehensive non-invasive evaluation either for surgical management or ongoing follow-up of these patients.


Orthotopic xenotransplantation studies represent the final stage in preclinical cancer research and could facilitate the implementation of precision medicine. To date, these xenografts have been tested in immunodeficient animals, but complete elimination of the adaptive immunity is a significant drawback. We present a method of efficient human glioblastoma (GBM) cell engraftment in adult mice with intact immune systems, mediated by a transient blockade of T-cell co-stimulation. Compared to transplants grown in immunodeficient hosts, the resulting tumors more accurately resemble the clinical pathophysiology of patient GBMs, which are characterized by blood-brain-barrier leakage and strong neo-vascularization. We expect our method to have great utility for studying human tumor cell biology, particularly in the field of cancer immunotherapy and in studies on microenvironmental interactions. Given the straightforward approach, the method may also be applicable to other tumor types and additional model organisms.


Experimental studies of the erosion of contacts submitted to the action of an electric arc carrying currents whose mean values are less than 2000 A, enable the mass loss Delta m to be expressed as a function of the total amount of energy involved, integral ui dt. For the materials under investigation, a statistical survey enables a linear relationship between these two values to be shown, and an erosion rate to be defined as a function of the power dissipated at breaking arc level. A table of the results obtained quantifies the behaviour of alloys in circuit-breaking devices, and shows that adding nickel or carbon to silver contacts tends to make erosion symmetrical at anode and cathode.


In Russian, there are derivational suffixes which are distinguished by the uniform manner in which they form surface words. These suffixes keep the same phonological/orthographic composition and are found with surface words derived only from a particular base, as seen with {+тель} and {+ость}.
However, the suffix {+к(а)} displays more complexity than the suffixes above. While the Item-and-Arrangement morphemic approach seems acceptable when morphemes are organised in a linear arrangement, such as демократ /demokrat/ 'democrat (m.)' > демократка /demokratka/ 'democrat (f.)', this approach cannot be generalised over other coinages due to the mismatch of the following: 1) the orthographic correspondence as illustrated by болгарин /bolgarin/ 'Bulgarian (m.)' > болгарка /bolgarka/ 'Bulgarian (f.)'; and 2) the semantic relatedness as found with вода /voda/ 'water' > водка /vodka/ 'vodka'.
Moreover, the formation of this suffix possibly differs from other counterpart suffixes that denote similar functions/meanings. For instance, this suffix expresses the diminutive meaning as found by дед /ded/ 'grandfather' > дедка /dedka/ 'grandfather (dim.)'. However, the majority of suffixes that denote diminutiveness are masculine, such as {+ок} (город /gorod/ 'city' > городок /gorodok/ 'small city'); {+ик} (дом /dom/ 'house' > домик /domik/ 'small house'); {+чик} (роман /roman/ 'novel' > романчик /romanchik/ 'small novel'), etc.
One of the outcomes of this study is a contribution to the debate on morphological models from a morphological perspective only. Other approaches (e.g. psycholinguistics, frequency of occurrence, corpus-based study, experimental-based study, and prototype-radial model) are employed to determine which model describes the word formation process in Russian. I identify the correlation of productivity of {+к(a)} with its mental representation and frequency factor. Also, I demonstrate the effect of relative frequency on coinages of {+к(a)} using corpus materials. The reaction time of native speakers is tested to evaluate whether coinages of {+к(a)} are mentally perceived according to storage or compositional process. Finally, I provide a new look at the semantic distribution of {+к(a)} based on 'prototype theory' which connects multiple meanings/functions of {+к(a)} according to 'family relatedness' concept.
My data on {+к(a)} come from a variety of sources, such as dictionaries, corpora, and an online experiment. I make use of data from a number of Russian dictionaries to ascertain the scope of use of this suffix and provide information on its semantics. Corpora data, however, constitute a more representative source of modern language usage, and I use them to assess the importance of frequency of occurrence. Finally, I employ experimental data to test whether the cognitive perception of native speakers supports a single-route account of word-formation.
The suffix {+к(а)} has a substantial influence in Russian since it provides a multiplicity of semantic meanings. It is used in forming a larger number of words compared to other suffixes. Its formation includes a variety of linguistic phenomena which are associated with word formation process (e.g. additive morphology, subtractive morphology, allomorphy, and mutation). This complexity requires explanation. After providing such an explanation and comprehensive details about suffixation in Russian, it will be argued that {+к(a)} can serve as an appropriate tool in order to assess the performance of models of word-formation; it is therefore used to test our hypotheses.
I find that the word-based approach represented by the Word and Paradigm (WP) gives a more convincing explanation of linguistic phenomena associated with {+к(а)} and offers a better explanation for the description of {+к(а)} than other approaches, particularly a morpheme-based approach represented by the Item and Arrangement model (IA) or a process-based approach represented by the Item and Process model (IP).


Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is the most widely-used network management protocol on TCP/IP-based networks. The functionality of SNMP was enhanced with the publi cation of SNMPv2. However, both these versions of SNMP lack security features, notably authentication and privacy, that are required to fully exploit SNMP. A recent set of RFCs, known collectively as SNMPv3, correct this deficiency. This article outlines the overall network management framework defined in SNMPv3, and then looks at the principal security facilities defined in SNMPv3: authentication, privacy, and access control.


Broncholithiasis due to pulmonary histoplasmosis causing central airway obstruction and broncho-mediastinal fistula is a rare complication in the pediatric population. A 16-year-old previously healthy female was referred to a university hospital for worsening cough and shortness of breath for over a two-year period. Radiologic investigation revealed a calcified subcarinal lymph node eroding into the left mainstem bronchus causing central airway obstruction and collapse of the left lower lobe. Direct laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy showed a large obstructive lesion in the left mainstem bronchus. Debulking of the endobronchial lesion was performed with neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser and cryotherapy. Pathology examination was consistent with broncholith. Great clinical and radiological response to the procedure was evident with complete re-expansion of the left lung and resolution of symptoms.


The author of the article analyzes works of foreign and Russian researchers dealing with marketing issues. The author proves that different researchers identified the trend of marketing adaptation in organizations related to the non-profit sphere as a stable one. It is noted that social aspects of marketing, which are further formalized and implemented in the concepts of strategic, socially-oriented (social-ethical), individual marketing, relationship marketing, marketing of large social communities, are strengthened. The author marks out the most important reasons for borrowing marketing and its adaptation in the non-commercial sphere: due to the use of the entire marketing complex, stable connections are formed, loyal and trust-based relations with consumers of services are established, their needs are met through services, and the social effect of activity of this type of organization is increased. The article proves the usefulness of marketing application in the activities of government bodies and their subordinate organizations as a set of functions, a tool for creating specific products and services of public importance. The author of the article makes her theoretical contribution to the analysis of processes of marketing adaptation to different types of management: namely, she proves the appropriateness of marketing adaptation in public administration in order to achieve such a goal as the satisfaction of public interests acknowledged by the majority of public administration subjects. The author of the article also proposes a list of public administration subjects interested in application of the marketing complex. The article reveals the presence of marketing approach in the activity of one of the public administration subjects (the Ministry of Social Policy), which is implemented in the following marketing elements: in marketing functions and tools, their recording in regulatory acts, and also, to some extent, in mastering of marketing ideas by executives and specialists, and their application in activities.


The complex soil biome is a center piece in providing essential ecosystem services that humans rely on (carbon sequestration, food security, one-health interactions).  Agricultural engineers and soil scientists are developing wireless sensor networks (WSN) that collect large/big data on the soil key state variables (water content, temperature, chemistry) to better understand the soil biome primary environmental drivers. The profession extracts information from WSN records with methods including soil-process modeling and artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithms.  However, these approaches carry their own limitations.  A recent review article faulted current soil-process modeling for inadequately detecting and resolving model structural (abstraction) errors.  AI experts themselves caution against indiscriminant use of AI methods because of: a) problems including replication of past results due to inconsistent experimental methods; b) difficulty in explaining how a particular method arrives at its conclusions (the black box problem) and thus in correcting algorithms that learn ‘bad lessons’; and c) lack of rigorous criteria for selecting AI architectures.  An alternative approach to address these limitations is to investigate new strategies for reducing large/big data problems into smaller, more interpretable causal abstractions of the soil system.

We develop an innovative data diagnostics framework—based on empirical nonlinear dynamics techniques from physics—that addresses the above concerns over soil-process modeling and AI algorithms.  We diagnose whether WSN and other similar environmental large/big data are likely generated by dimension-reducing (i.e., dissipative) nonlinear dynamics.  An n-dimensional nonlinear dynamic system is dissipative if long-term dynamics are bounded within m<<n dimensions, so that the problem of modeling long-term dynamics shrinks by the n-m inactive degrees of freedom.  If so, long-term system dynamics can be investigated with relatively few degrees of freedom that capture the complexity of the overall system generating observed data.  To make this diagnosis, we first apply signal processing to isolate structured variation (signal) from unstructured variation (noise) in large/big data time series records, and test signals for nonlinear stationarity.  We resolve the structure of isolated signals by distinguishing between stochastic-forcing and deterministic nonlinear dynamics; reconstruct phase space dynamics most likely generating signals, and test the statistical significance of reconstructed dynamics with surrogate data.  If the reconstructed phase space is dimension-reducing, we can formulate low-dimensional (phenomenological) ODE models to investigate nonlinear causal interactions between key soil environmental driving factors.  When we do not diagnose dimension-reducing nonlinear real-world dynamics, then underlying dynamics are most likely high dimensional and the information-extraction problem cannot be shrunk without losing essential dynamic information. In this case, other high-dimensional analysis techniques like AI offer a better modeling alternative for mapping out interactions.  Our framework supplies a decision-support tool for data practitioners toward the most informative and parsimonious information-extraction method—a win-win result.

We will share preliminary results applying this empirical framework to three soil moisture sensor time series records analyzed with machine learning methods in Bean, Huffaker, and Migliaccio (2018).


Programmable Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has emerged as a powerful parallel processing architecture for various applications requiring a large amount of CPU cycles. In this paper, we study the feasibility for using this architecture for image halftoning, in particular implementing computationally intensive neighborhood halftoning algorithms such as error diffusion and Direct Binary Search (DBS). We show that it is possible to deliver very high performance even for high speed printers.