9 This paper reviews approaches to the measurement of total factor productivity, efficiency and technological change. N onfrontier analysis assumes that the production technology is efficient and technological change is equivalent to total factor productivity change. On the other hand, the frontier approach explicitly considers inefficiency of production. In the presence of inefficiency, total factor productivity consists of efficiency and technological change. The traditional parametric approach to technological change may give results with technological bias that are sensitive to a specific parametric form applied in the analysis. The advantage of the nonparametric frontier approach using Data Envelopment Analysis in productivity analysis has been recently recognized. The Malmquist productivity index (Fare, Grosskopf, Kindgren and Ross, 1989) as a nonparametric frontier approach, is not constrained by specific functional forms and has shown a relative advantage in productivity analysis in developing countries where price information is limited and only quantity data is available. The Malmquist productivity index can be decomposed into efficiency change and technological change, which can provide useful information for policy analysis.


The accurate prediction of neurological outcomes in patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) is difficult because of heterogeneity in patient characteristics, treatment strategies, and radiographic findings. Although machine learning algorithms may increase the accuracy of outcome predictions in various fields, limited information is available on their efficacy in the management of SCI. We analyzed data from 165 patients with cervical SCI, and extracted important factors for predicting prognoses. Extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) as a machine learning model was applied to assess the reliability of a machine learning algorithm to predict neurological outcomes compared with that of conventional methodology, such as a logistic regression or decision tree. We used regularly obtainable data as predictors, such as demographics, magnetic resonance variables, and treatment strategies. Predictive tools, including XGBoost, a logistic regression, and a decision tree, were applied to predict neurological improvements in the functional motor status (ASIA [American Spinal Injury Association] Impairment Scale [AIS] D and E) 6 months after injury. We evaluated predictive performance, including accuracy and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Regarding predictions of neurological improvements in patients with cervical SCI, XGBoost had the highest accuracy (81.1%), followed by the logistic regression (80.6%) and the decision tree (78.8%). Regarding AUC, the logistic regression showed 0.877, followed by XGBoost (0.867) and the decision tree (0.753). XGBoost reliably predicted neurological alterations in patients with cervical SCI. The utilization of predictive machine learning algorithms may enhance personalized management choices through pre-treatment categorization of patients.


The present study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical, phytochemical screening and antimicrobial assessment of Aegle marmelos fruits extract. The powder was evaluated for loss on drying, alcohol extractive value and aqueous extractive value. The petroleum ether, ethanol and aqueous extract were prepared by soxhlet extraction process. The phytochemical analysis of extracts was performed, and antimicrobial activity of ethanol extracts against various strains was done. The loss on drying, alcohol and aqueous extractive values were 3.9%, 14.2% and 17.6%, respectively. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of carbohydrates, alkaloids, glycoside, flavonoids, saponins, tannins phenols in ethanol extracts. The ethanol extracts demonstrated moderate to strong antimicrobial activity against S. epidermis, S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans. Thus in future, extract of Aegle marmelos may be beneficial for another several species of microbes.


Unsupervised image-to-image translation aims to learn the translation between two visual domains without paired data. Despite the recent progress in image translation models, it remains challenging to build mappings between complex domains with drastic visual discrepancies. In this work, we present a novel framework, Generative Priorguided UNsupervised Image-to-image Translation (GP-UNIT), to improve the overall quality and applicability of the translation algorithm. Our key insight is to leverage the generative prior from pre-trained class-conditional GANs (e.g., BigGAN) to learn rich content correspondences across various domains. We propose a novel coarse-to-fine scheme: we first distill the generative prior to capture a robust coarse-level content representation that can link objects at an abstract semantic level, based on which finelevel content features are adaptively learned for more accurate multi-level content correspondences. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of our versatile framework over state-of-the-art methods in robust, high-quality and diversified translations, even for challenging and distant domains. Code is available at https://github.com/williamyang1991/GP-UNIT.


Objective:In this study we will get EMG signals from arm for different elbow gestures, than filtering the signal and later classification the signal. The reason for doing is that, EMG signals are used for many rehabilitation and assistive prostheses of paralyzed or injured people. Methods:Filtering a biological signal is the key point for these type studies. Filtering the EMG signals needed and starts with the elimination of the 50 Hz mains supply noise. After filtering the signal, feature extraction will be applied for both wrist flexion and wrist extension cases. There are many feature extraction methods for time and frequency domain. After feature extraction, classification of hand movements will be studied using extracted features. Classification is made using K Nearest Neighbor algorithm. The dataset used in this study is acquired by the EMG signal acquisition tool and belong to us. Results:90 % accuracy performance is obtained by K Nearest Neighbor algorithm purposed signal classification. Conclusion:This system is capable of conducting the classification process with a good performance to biomedical studies. So,this structure can be helpful as machine-learning based decision support system for medical purpose.


Color segmentation is crucial in robotic applications, such as RoboCup, where the relevant objects can be distinguished by their color. In these applications, real-time performance and robustness are primary concerns. We present a hybrid method for color segmentation based on seeded region growing (SRG) in which the initial seeds are provided by a conservative threshold color segmentation. The key to the robustness of our approach is to use multiple seeds to perform local blob growing, and then merge blobs that belong to the same region. We have implemented our technique on a team of Sony AIBO 4-legged robots, and have successfully tested it in the RoboCup 2001 competition.


five chapters. The first chapter provides a brief introduction and contains the primary significance of his study: the methodology of identifying biblical allusion and allusive paronomasia. Once Kline has clearly established his methods, he divides the next three chapters into thematic examples (theodicy, judgment, and salvation) which illustrate the dialogic use of allusive paronomasia in ancient Israel's early theological tradition. Kline illustrates some unanimous examples while also contributing original cases. Kline writes with clarity and argues with modesty; he acknowledges the difficulty in identifying allusion and soundplay, while laying out a sound framework for achieving the task. This work is unique in it is the first if its kind to directly study allusive soundplay; Kline's work is preliminary but significant. Kline achieves his goal in demonstrating allusive paronomasia is found throughout the biblical texts (prose and poetry alike) and was utilized to express and develop ancient Israelite theology. Kline's examples assert this device was employed utilizing both the oral and written forms of the text to shape and reshape, interpret and reinterpret the theological tenets within. Kline's work is both groundbreaking and foundational, and paves the way for scholars to continue seeking examples of allusive paronomasia. An underlying contribution this work makes is the revelation the biblical authors considered even the smallest of words and sounds to be significant, and they considered the voice of God to be able to express itself as a part of an ever-evolving tradition rooted in the past and reaching into the future. This monograph is commended to both scholars and students alike.


Immune abnormalities, including deficient CD8 lymphocyte‐mediated suppression, have been implicated in the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). The peripheral sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system innervates the lymphoid organs and affects immune function. Animals with an ablated sympathetic nervous system develop more severe experimental allergic encephalomyelitis than control animals and exhibit an increased density of betaadrenergic receptors on their lymphocytes. Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis shares many features with MS. Accordingly, we investigated the psychogalvanic skin reflex in patients with rapidly progressive MS and found that 13 patients (57%) lacked this sympathetic‐mediated response. The density of beta‐adrenergic receptors on lymphocyte subsets was increased in progressive MS, most notably on the CD8 suppressor/cytotoxic subset. B lymphocytes had the greatest number of receptors with 12.1 ± 1.8 fmol/106 cells in control subjects and 18.7 ± 2.6 fmol/106 cells in patients with MS. CD8 lymphocytes possessed an intermediate number of receptors with 3.4 ± 0.4 fmol/106 cells in control subjects and 9.1 ± 1.6 fmol/106 cells in patients with MS. CD4 lymphocytes demonstrated the fewest receptors with 1.2 ± 0.1 fmol/106 cells in control subjects and 1.8 ± 0.4 fmol/106 cells in patients with MS. No differences in the affinity or function (cyclic adenosine monophosphate levels in response to 10−5 M (–)isoproterenol) of the adrenergic receptor were found when patients with progressive MS and control subjects were compared. Autonomic abnormalities in progressive MS and the increased beta‐adrenergic receptor density found on CD8 lymphocytes may be related.


: Epidemiological survey was carried out for prevalence of guinea worm infection in 12 villages having a total population of 10281 persons in Jhabua district of M.P. The prevalence of 2.85 percent. Infection was more common in males. A paste of leaves of carica papya with opium and common salt applied for 3 days was helpful in relief of symptoms and easy extraction of worm from the body.


New policy measures have been introduced to transform Greece's agriculture into a more modern and environmentally friendly agriculture. Adopting new technology and environmentally friendly production systems involves risk and uncertainty, which in turn stress the need for well designed policy schemes. This study attempts to examine the effects of income variability upon the decision to adopt new technology and environmentally friendly production systems by introducing the real options analysis to dairy sheep farming in Greece. The real options procedure revealed that the investment in new technology in dairy sheep farms under organic scheme is profitable. Attractive economic incentives that are offered by the applied agricultural policy to young farmers compensate for the risk and uncertainty of the activity.


Most copper wire is produced using a drawing process. The crystallographic texture of copper wire, which is strongly associated with grain deformation, can have a profound effect on the formability and mechanical and electrical properties. Thus, the ability to predict grain deformation in drawn copper wire could help to elucidate the evolution of microstructure, which could be highly valuable in product design. This study developed a novel method for predicting grain deformation in drawn copper wire based on finite element simulation with flow net analysis. Simple upsetting tests were conducted to obtain flow stress curves for the simulation of the drawing process. Predictions related to grain deformation were compared with those on the micrographs of the drawn copper wire obtained in experiments. In longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of the drawn wire, the predicted and experiment results presented similar trends involving considerable deformation within the grains. This preliminary study demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed method in providing information useful to the prediction of the grain deformation in drawn copper wire.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the treatment of urinary calculi in renoureteral malformations. METHODS: From April 1988 to December 2000, we have treated 158 patients with renoureteral malformations (36 horseshoe kidneys, 32 caliceal diverticula, 2 megacaliosis, 2 crossed renal ectopy, 3 polycystosis, 7 hydrocalyx, 24 complete duplex ureter, 18 incomplete duplex ureter, 22 ureterocele, 2 segmental megaureter). RESULTS: Renoureteral malformations were diagnosed in 158 of 19,000 patients that were treated in our stone unit from April 1988 and December 2000. Horseshoe kidney: 54% of the patients treated by ESWL are stone-free; PNL was performed in 2 patients and conventional surgery in another 2 patients. Caliceal diverticulum: 42% of the patients treated by ESWL are stone-free; 3 patients underwent conventional surgery. Other renal malformations: 62% of the patients treated by ESWL are stone-free. Ureteral malformations: duplex ureter and megaureter: 82% of the patients treated by ESWL are stone-free. Ureterocele: due to the poor results achieved by ESWL, we performed endoscopic transurethral meatotomy. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that ESWL alone can be considered to be the treatment of choice for small calculi in patients with renal malformations, although we consider it to be mandatory to perform individual assessment of the urinary tract and stone size in these patients in order to choose the best therapeutic option. The same criteria for the normal urinary tract can be applied in ureteral malformations except ureteroceles, for which we advocate performing endoscopic surgery for stone removal.


A spike protein is a protein that builds a huge spike that ejects from an enveloped virus's membrane. The spike protein is the only virus membrane protein that enables the virus to penetrate through the cell. Spike Protein has three potential methods of action. Most common viral illnesses have relatively similar virus structures, which are predominantly made up of dimers or trimers of the spike glycoprotein, as well as analogous mechanisms of host cell invasion. The purpose of this paper is to explore the structure of the spike protein and its cell invasion method. The prevalence of spike protein in distinct viruses, as well as their similar invasion mechanisms, are also highlighted in the paper. We observed that many infectious viruses have very identical structures, predominantly constituted of spike glycoprotein, as well as similar processes of invasion into host cells. There are diverse sorts of pathogenesis that have been identified, especially those relating to host cell contamination and the means wherein the infection spreads and produces disease. The Spike protein must be operational for the virus to penetrate the host organism, and variations in the protein's activation techniques are thought to have an influence in viral pathogenesis. Vaccines struggle to prevent the transmission of all virus variants due to variances in the spike protein in different viral versions, as well as modifications in them. More research into the structure of spike glycoproteins, as well as the creation of more effective vaccines to inhibit spike protein invasion and infection, are required.


Search engines become incompetent in tackling with the gap caused by differences in vocabularies used by both the authors of documents and users in expressing their information needs. One way to alleviate this problem is to introduce concept based retrieval of information. In this study, a model that can be regarded as an extension of RUBRIC system in some perspectives, but it has some distinct features especially suited for enabling descriptive-level retrieval was proposed and obtained results were evaluated.


BACKGROUND
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) may develop exercise intolerance due to musculoskeletal involvement, restrictive lung disease, left ventricular dysfunction, or pulmonary vasculopathy (PV). The latter is particularly important since it may lead to lethal pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We hypothesized that abnormalities during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in patients with SSc can identify PV leading to overt PAH.

METHODS
Thirty SSc patients from the Harbor-UCLA Rheumatology clinic, not clinically suspected of having significant pulmonary vascular disease, were referred for this prospective study. Resting pulmonary function and exercise gas exchange were assessed, including peakVO2, anaerobic threshold (AT), heart rate-VO2 relationship (O2-pulse), exercise breathing reserve and parameters of ventilation-perfusion mismatching, as evidenced by elevated ventilatory equivalent for CO2 (VE/VCO2) and reduced end-tidal pCO2 (PETCO2) at the AT.

RESULTS
Gas exchange patterns were abnormal in 16 pts with specific cardiopulmonary disease physiology: Eleven patients had findings consistent with PV, while five had findings consistent with left-ventricular dysfunction (LVD). Although both groups had low peak VO2 and AT, a higher VE/VCO2 at AT and decreasing PETCO2 during early exercise distinguished PV from LVD.

CONCLUSIONS
Previously undiagnosed exercise impairments due to LVD or PV were common in our SSc patients. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing may help to differentiate and detect these disorders early in patients with SSc.


This article examines the problem of assessing the quality of the professional training of students who complete higher education courses. The authors analyze the essential characteristics of quality control and assessment of educational processes at a university, as well as criteria, tools, and methods used for assessing the quality of education. The authors believe that the Pedagogical Olympiad is one of the most efficient tools to evaluate the quality of professional training. The article describes practices to evaluate the quality of education among students during the "All-Russian" stage of the Russian Student Olympiad (ARSO) in speech therapy (Saransk, 2015), as well as aspects of content and the procedure to apply this evaluation tool; the results of this evaluation allow the authors to conclude that the quality of professional competence development and personal education of students are assessed qualitatively and quantitatively.


This paper investigates the existence and estimates the magnitude of a financial market stigma associated with the International Monetary Fund's non-concessional programmes. In particular, it focuses on the impact of IMF non-concessional loans on Emerging Markets' sovereign spreads, using the propensity score matching methodology to deal with the selection bias problem. We find evidence of higher spreads for countries supported by a non-concessional IMF programme with respect to comparable countries that are not supported by such a programme. This effect may be linked to both a pure financial stigma and the (low) probability of the programme succeeding, as it tends to dissipate towards the end of the programme and to be smaller and less significant if we restrict the sample to non-repeated programmes (more likely to be successful). Finally, we find that precautionary programmes (such as the Flexible Credit Line) have a negative impact on sovereign spreads.


This paper proposes a model to determine the optimal investment time for energy storage systems (ESSs) in a price arbitrage trade application under conditions of uncertainty over future profits. The adoption of ESSs can generate profits from price arbitrage trade, which are uncertain because the future marginal prices of electricity will change depending on supply and demand. In addition, since the investment is optional, an investor can delay adopting an ESS until it becomes profitable, and can decide the optimal time. Thus, when we evaluate this investment, we need to incorporate the investor's option which is not captured by traditional evaluation methods. In order to incorporate these aspects, we applied real option theory to our proposed model, which provides an optimal investment threshold. Our results concerning the optimal time to invest show that if future profits that are expected to be obtained from arbitrage trade become more uncertain, an investor needs to wait longer to invest. Also, improvement in efficiency of ESSs can reduce the uncertainty of arbitrage profit and, consequently, the reduced uncertainty enables earlier ESS investment, even for the same power capacity. Besides, when a higher rate of profits is expected and ESS costs are higher, an investor needs to wait longer. Also, by comparing a widely used net present value model to our real option model, we show that the net present value method underestimates the value for ESS investment and misleads the investor to make an investment earlier.


This research analyses the compatibility of Indonesian Patent Act with the Trade related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) dealing with Genetic Resources Related to Traditional Knowledge (GRTK). The focus this analyses on whether the new Indonesian Patent Act provides a clear policy on the protection of GRTKF and the development of the biotechnology in Indonesia, particularly on the patentability of genetic resources related inventions, including genes patent. This research found that the new Indonesian Patent Act on GRTK is not only to synergise between the TRIPs Agreement obligation and the CBD compliance, but also adopted patent policies derived from other developed countries particularly in examining the patentability thresholds and exceptions from patentability. Even, in the context of patentability of living organisms, Indonesia adopts a very liberal approach compared to most industrialised countries. This research advises that Indonesian patent policy on GRTK should take into account the richness of this country on biodiversity and the level of biotechnology industry development.


Thirty one germplasm lines of sesame collected from AICRP on Sesame & Niger, Jabalpur and NBPGR Regional Station, Akola were evaluated for genetic divergence using Mahalanobis D2 analysis. Analysis of variances for dispersion indicates significant differences among the genotypes. Thirty one genotypes were grouped into seven clusters and cluster I (10) was largest, followed by cluster II (8), cluster III (7) and cluster V (3), while clusters IV, VI and VII were solitary. Inter cluster distance ranged from 51.96 (between clusters V and VII) to 423.26 (between clusters II and VII), while maximum intra cluster distance observed within cluster V (48.03). Character oil content contributed maximum (91.83%) towards genetic divergence. On the basis of the inter cluster distance, cluster I, II, III and VII were identified as distant clusters and genotypes viz., S-0434, IC-413209, GRT-8637, NIC-16328, TKG-22, IC-413204, IC-413231, Lalguda local, KMR-116, SI- 331517, IC-413208, KMS-5-343, ES-111-284, KMS-5-873, SI-3218 and SI-2973 from these clusters could be used for intercrossing to obtain heterosis and also wider variability.


In this study, we examine the role of individuals' commitment in small and medium‐sized firms. More specifically, we argue that employees will commit themselves to their firm based on their current work status in the firm, their perception of the organizational climate, and the firm's entrepreneurial orientation. We also examine how individuals' commitment affect the actual effort they exert vis‐à‐vis their firm. The study's hypotheses are tested by applying quantitative analyses to survey data collected from 863 Mexican small and medium‐sized businesses. We found that individuals' position and tenure in the firm, their perception of psychological safety and meaningfulness, and the firm's entrepreneurial orientation all are positively related to organizational commitment. We also found a positive relationship between organizational commitment and effort. Finally, our findings show that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between many of the predictor variables and effort. We discuss the limitations and implications of our findings and provide directions for future research.


Lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma is a rare variant of World Health Organization (WHO) Grade I meningioma, which may present as diffuse granulomatous disease with leptomeningeal spread. Here, we report a case of 61 years old man who presented with gradual onset of progressive quadriperesis. Patient was initially treated with antitubercular medications as imaging studies and serum markers were suggestive of granulomatous lesion. Surgical intervention was adviced as patient did not respond to medical management. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma. This meningioma can present as diffuse leptomeningeal infiltrative lesion involving both the hemispheres and all the tentorial surfaces mimicking inflammatory lesion. Tuberculosis is very common in our part and the diffuse infiltrative nature of lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma with similar radiological features of these two pathologies may confuse and delay the diagnosis. Recognition of this entity is of utmost importance as it guides proper management.


Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is increasingly diagnosed in children, and can result in severe long-term disability. We use a clinical case to illustrate the core clinical features, initial investigations and management of this potentially treatable condition, and describe the common presenting neurological syndromes alongside highlighting differences between each autoantibody subtype.


Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid is a very rare tumor, accounting for less than 1% of all thyroid tumors. In addition, primary thyroid squamous cell carcinoma progresses rapidly and the prognosis is poor. The average survival time is about 6 months. This article explores the causes and treatment of common carotid artery rupture after thyroid squamous cell carcinoma involving the common carotid artery, esophagus, trachea, recurrent laryngeal nerve, methods and prognosis.


X-ray diffraction is an important technique of forensic practise for accurate phase analysis of soil, pigments, explosives, drugs, etc. Recently, X-ray Powder Microdiffraction (micro-XRPD) has been applying predominantly, allowing analyses of very small samples. The analysed area is approaching to a size of surfaces examined by microscopic techniques, light microscopy, SEM/EDS, etc., routinely used in forensic practice. Combination of these techniques provides complementary information. Micro-XRPD allows in the forensic field a direct phase analysis recovered from traces, for which XRPD was not feasible. To employ micro-XRPD for microscopic fragments and abrasions it was necessary to carry out tests of different ways of sample fixation allowing the performance of other analyses by different methods (SEM/EDS, optical microscopy, FTIR, etc.) on the same carrier. These sample treatment eliminate either the possibility of loss or trace contamination. Classical aluminum specimen mounts for SEM with carbon tape, zero-background silicon sample holders, foils designed for XRF sampling, etc., were analysed. Each of different fixation methods brings some advantages and some drawbacks for each kind of analysed traces. Another limiting factor tested for micro-XRPD is the size of monocrystalic areas in a sample. In the case of samples containing micro/nano particles and nanocomposites plays a pivotal role the issue of detection limits for different types of these materials and their comparisons with different configuration limits of classical XRPD. Both mixture models and real materials from different areas were tested. Acknowledgements: Microanalytical methods at ICP were supported by projects RN19961997008, RN19982000005, RN20012003007, RN20052005001, VD20062008B10, VD20072010B15.


Introduction: Military medical care encompasses domains such as the long-term prognosis, morbidity, and quality of life of survivors after discharge from the hospital. The identification factors affecting hospitalization and readmissions are crucial in military settings. The study aimed to assess rates and causes of readmissions in military casualties.Methods: We included 775 military personnel with combat-related injuries from September 2014 to October 2019. We determined readmissions if they occurred within one year since the date of discharge from the index admission. The data was included regarding the pattern and mechanism of injury, Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), injury severity score (ISS), primary and subsequent treatments and procedures, experienced side effects, source of admission, hospital care unit, and the length of stay in the hospital. Results: The mean age of the patients was 27.99±7.55 years. The great majority of the investigated combat-related injuries were penetrating (N=639, 82.5%), followed by blunt (N=97, 12.5%). The most injured part of the body was the extremities (N=360, 46.5%), followed by the head and neck (N=175, 22.6%) and the abdomen and pelvis (N=106, 13.7%). The most common reason for the readmission event number 1-7 was overall wound infection. The average length of hospitalization during the index admission was 9.48±12.07 days. There was a significant relationship between multiple readmissions and total readmission days and LOS, max AIS, ISS, side effects, and blood transfusion(P<0.001 for all the variables). Among the variables influencing multiple readmissions, ISS>24 led to the highest risk. Conclusion: A longer LOS within the index admission and its associated factors put patients at risk of multiple and longer readmission events in the future. The outcomes imply that patients with more severe injuries may require high-quality care for longer durations as part of the initial hospital inpatient stay, and this may motivate more effective management of combat-related injuries and the associated medical costs.


Purpose: This study evaluated the effectiveness of an eight-session universal parent training program for working parents using a parallel cluster randomized controlled trial design. The program was facilitated by preschool-based social workers in preschools. Method: Participants included 242 parents of children attending 16 preschools under the Pilot Scheme on Social Work Service for Pre-Primary Institutions, with 150 (seven preschools) randomly allocated to the intervention group and 92 (nine preschools) to the waitlist control group, with no blinding. Participants completed questionnaires on their parenting stress, parenting practices and emotion coaching (primary outcomes), and children's behavior problems (secondary outcomes). The study was registered with the ISRCTN registry (39415). Results: Mixed effects regression analysis (intention-to-treat) with preschool as a random factor indicated a significant decrease in over-reactivity, and an improvement in emotion coaching. Conclusions: The results provided promising research on the effectiveness of a preschool-based parenting program for working parents.


The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is an expected phenomenon that will continue to happen due to the high number of cases worldwide. The present study analyzed how a Variant of Concern (VOC) could still circulate in a population hardly affected by two COVID-19 waves and with vaccination in progress. ABSTRACT The Amazonas was one of the most heavily affected Brazilian states by the COVID-19 epidemic. Despite a large number of infected people, particularly during the second wave associated with the spread of the Variant of Concern (VOC) Gamma (lineage P.1), SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate in the Amazonas. To understand how SARS-CoV-2 persisted in a human population with a high immunity barrier, we generated 1,188 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from individuals diagnosed in the Amazonas state from 1st January to 6th July 2021, of which 38 were vaccine breakthrough infections. Our study reveals a sharp increase in the relative prevalence of Gamma plus (P.1+) variants, designated Pango Lineages P.1.3 to P.1.6, harboring two types of additional Spike changes: deletions in the N-terminal (NTD) domain (particularly Δ144 or Δ141-144) associated with resistance to anti-NTD neutralizing antibodies or mutations at the S1/S2 junction (N679K or P681H) that probably enhance the binding affinity to the furin cleavage site, as suggested by our molecular dynamics simulations. As lineages P.1.4 (S:N679K) and P.1.6 (S:P681H) expanded (Re > 1) from March to July 2021, the lineage P.1 declined (Re < 1) and the median Ct value of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in Amazonas significantly decreases. Still, we did not find an increased incidence of P.1+ variants among breakthrough cases of fully vaccinated patients (71%) in comparison to unvaccinated individuals (93%). This evidence supports that the ongoing endemic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Amazonas is driven by the spread of new local Gamma/P.1 sublineages that are more transmissible, although not more efficient to evade vaccine-elicited immunity than the parental VOC. Finally, as SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread in human populations with a declining density of susceptible hosts, the risk of selecting more infectious variants or antibody evasion mutations is expected to increase. IMPORTANCE The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is an expected phenomenon that will continue to happen due to the high number of cases worldwide. The present study analyzed how a Variant of Concern (VOC) could still circulate in a population hardly affected by two COVID-19 waves and with vaccination in progress. Our results showed that the answer behind that was a new generation of Gamma-like viruses, which emerged locally carrying mutations that made it more transmissible and more capable of spreading, partially evading prior immunity triggered by natural infections or vaccines. With thousands of new cases daily, the current pandemics scenario suggests that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to evolve and efforts to reduce the number of infected subjects, including global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, are mandatory. Thus, until the end of pandemics, the SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance will be an essential tool to better understand the drivers of the viral evolutionary process.


Electric stimulation of the rat forepaw evokes a negative potential (N-wave) at the ipsilateral cuneate nucleus. The responses of the N-wave to microiontophoretically applied GABA agonists and antagonists have been studied. Applications of GABA-A agonists (3-amino-propanesulfonic acid and muscimol) reduce the amplitude of the N-wave. This effect decreases during prolonged application, suggesting a desensitization of GABA-A receptors. In addition the effect of muscimol is reduced by (-)-bicuculline methiodide. Baclofen (a GABA-B agonist) also depresses the N-wave but its action lasts longer, is less reversible, shows no desensitization and is not blocked by (-)-bicuculline methiodide. The different responses of the N-wave to GABA-A and GABA-B agonists are compatible with the existence of different types of functional receptors for them in the cuneate nucleus of the rat. The receptors activated by muscimol (GABA-A) are clearly not the same as the ones activated by baclofen (conceivably GABA-B).


In this paper, four new heuristics are proposed in order to solve the traveling salesman problem. Comparisons are made between the results obtained from those heuristics. A new version of 2-opt and 3-opt methods are developed namely as 2-opt + 3-opt Shifting method. In addition, a new hybrid algorithm based on NN and Greedy algorithms is proposed. Computational experiments and comparisons are made on library problems for Hybrid, NN, and Greedy algorithms. Obtained results show the efficiency of the algorithms. Keywords: Traveling salesman problem; heuristic algorithms; hyper-heuristic algorithms; hybrid algorithms


Detecting the existence of a consistent global state that satisfies a predicate in a
distributed environment is a processing intensive task since all the consistent global states
must be checked to verify that none of them satisfies the predicate. Three different serial
implementations have been provided for a breath-first, depth-first, and lexical traversal of
the lattice generated by enumerating the possible consistent global states has been
provided by Alagar and Venkatesan, Cooper and Marzullo, and Garg. This paper
modifies those implementations to perform the checks in a distributed environment,
providing the final algorithms, source code, and preliminary results for comparisons with
the original algorithms.


Multiple-choice reading and listening comprehension tests are an important part of language assessment. Content creators for standard educational tests need to carefully curate questions that assess the comprehension abilities of candidates taking the tests. However, recent work has shown that a large number of questions in general multiple-choice reading comprehension datasets can be answered without comprehension, by leveraging world knowledge instead. This work investigates how much of a contextual passage needs to be read in multiple-choice reading based on conversation transcriptions and listening comprehension tests to be able to work out the correct answer. We find that automated reading comprehension systems can perform significantly better than random with partial or even no access to the context passage. These findings offer an approach for content creators to automatically capture the trade-off between comprehension and world knowledge required for their proposed questions.


The emphasis of this review is placed on the treatment of clomiphene-resistant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. There has been an increasing awareness of the need to avoid the consequences of multiple folliculogenesis, and this is reflected in the more widespread use of low-dose regimens for induction of ovulation, particularly in PCOS. The past 12 months have seen the first reports of the clinical applications of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and there is an intriguing suggestion that long-acting opiate agonists may have a part to play in the management of anovulation of hypothalamic origin.


The major obstacle for successful treatment of advanced prostate cancer is the development of resistance to androgen ablation therapy leading to castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Evidence strongly suggests that the androgen receptor (AR) and AR variants in CRPC build resistance to anti-cancer drugs, including next-generation therapies such as abiraterone and MDV3100 that target AR signaling. Despite established AR antagonists, AR signaling remains a central mechanism of CRPC progression, involving AR gene amplification, reactivation of AR/AR variants, and generation of constitutively active AR-V7 variant. Therefore, there is an urgent need for anticancer drugs that can target these crucial signaling pathways to trigger apoptosis and growth inhibition in CRPC. We have previously shown that the combination treatment of carmustine and selenite effectively induces apoptosis in AR-independent PC-3 cells (Cancer Manag Res. 2012; 4: 383-95). Since there are no drugs available as of today to inhibit AR/AR variants, we tested whether the combination of carmustine and selenite could induce apoptosis and inhibit growth of CRPC cells (22Rv1) in in vitro and in vivo models and if this response is mediated by targeting AR/AR variants and AR-V7 in tandem with multiple signaling pathways. CRPC (22Rv1 and PC-3) and normal prostate epithelial cell lines were used to study the efficacy of carmustine and selenite in combination. Anchorage-independent growth of 22Rv1 and PC-3 cells was determined by a soft-agar assay. In vivo antitumor efficacy of the combination agent with therapeutically relevant doses was studied in a 22Rv1 xenograft mouse model. AR/AR variants, PSA and multiple signaling pathway (AKT, anti-apoptotic proteins, Bcl-2 and Mcl-1; cell cycle regulator, p27; and markers of proliferation, c-Myc and cyclin-D1) proteins were determined by western analysis. Combination of carmustine and selenite treatment completely abolished the protein expression of AR/AR variants, AR-V7, PSA in a time dependent manner, substantially decreased cell viability, growth, and induced apoptosis in 22Rv1 cells. In addition, the combination treatment dramatically induced p-H2AX, p27 while strongly inhibiting pAKT, Bcl-2, Mcl-1, c-Myc and cyclin-D1 in 22Rv1 cells without causing genotoxicity in normal prostate epithelial cells. In addition, anchorage-independent growth of 22Rv1 and PC-3 cells was completely inhibited. Consistent with in vitro results, combination treatment induced apoptosis and eradicated 22Rv1 xenograft tumors in nude mice correlating with dramatic inhibition of AR/AR variants, AR-V7, PSA, and Bcl-2 in xenograft tumors. A significant reduction in toxicity was revealed by an observed decrease in body weight loss. Whereas, individual agent treatment showed only partial effect both in vitro and in vivo. This is the first study to demonstrate that the combination of carmustine and selenite treatment completely inhibits AR/AR variants, AR-V7, and induces apoptosis in CRPC which is highly correlated with tumor growth inhibition in vitro and in-vivo. Our findings indicate that the combination of carmustine and selenite can be the next-generation therapy for successful treatment, survival, and improved quality of life of patients with castration resistant prostate cancer. Source of funding: HFHS-H10100 Citation Format: Vijayalakshmi Thamilselvan, Mani Menon, Sivagnanam Thamilselvan. Combination therapy of carmustine and selenite targets AR full length and AR variants: New hope for patients with castration resistant prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr LB-A18.


A complete Works Cited list begins on page 57. Mention of commercial products does not indicate endorsement. Faculty Susan Engman Lazear, RN, MN, received her undergraduate education at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing in Washington, D.C. After completing her BSN, she served as an Army Nurse at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco for four years. She then attended the University of Washington School of Nursing and received a Master's in Nursing, specializing in Burn, Trauma and Emergency Nursing. After receiving her MN, she started Airlift Northwest, the air ambulance service based in Seattle which serves the entire Northwest region, including Alaska. Mrs. Lazear left the air ambulance service to start her own nursing education and consulting business, Specialists in Medical Education. For the past 20 years she has been teaching emergency nursing courses throughout the country. She lives in the Seattle area. Mrs. Lazear continues to teach and publish. She is both an editor and contributing author of Critical Care Nursing, published by W.B. Saunders Company, in June of 1992. She served as an author and reviewer of the Emergency Nursing Core Curriculum 6th Edition, published by W.B. Saunders Company in 2007. She has been named to the Who's Who in American Healthcare list annually since 1992.


The Orthodox Church of Greece has been ever present as a prominent actor of the Modern Greek state, which entails that willingly or not, it had a part to play in the significant events and sociopolitical developments in the country. Both were founded within the same historical conditions and evolved together in an interdependent relationship which affected their structural and institutional composition. In fact, more often than nought the church was utilised by the state, in line with the exigencies of the time – and within the context of the international political climate that co-shaped the domestic currents. In the lapse of time, with the end of the Cold War the migratory paradigm shifted, and Greece, from a country of emigration became a country of immigration alike, and thus both church and state have had to adapt and respond to the new reality; which became all the more imperative with the immigrant and refugee crisis, when an unprecedented number of people fled to Europe through Greece and the Balkan route, constituting thus a notable humanitarian challenge.


Abstract This study deals with the Fire Growth Rate Index (FIGRA) as a key fire characteristic of electrical cables (determined by a cone calorimeter) that allows to estimate their reaction to fire class. Three power (supply) electrical cables (reaction to fire class B2ca) were tested by a cone calorimeter using different heat fluxes of 20, 30, 40 a 50 kW·m−2. The cables were three-wire (cross-section of each wire was 1.5 mm2) with a nominal voltage of 0.6 kV (alternating current), resp. 1 kV (direct current). The cable sheaths were made of an ethylene copolymer filled with aluminum hydroxide. The beddings were made of an ethylene copolymer filled with a mixture of aluminum hydroxide and calcium carbonate. The conductor insulations of one electrical cable were made of crosslinked polyethylene and the conductor insulations of the other two electrical cables were made of an ethylene copolymer filled with aluminum hydroxide. FIGRA was determined per unit length and unit area of electrical cables. FIGRA increased with increasing heat flux. At a heat flux of 50 kW·m−2, all the electric cables examined showed a very similar FIGRA (from 0.19 to 0.21 kW·m−1·s−1 and 18.4 to 21.2 kW·m−1·s−1, respectively). Conversely, at a heat flux of 20 kW·m−2, the investigated cables showed greater FIGRA variance (in the range of 0.11 to 0.16 kW·m−1·s−1 or 10.8 to 16.2 kW·m−1·s−1).


[reaction: see text] A methodology for the microwave-promoted conversion of triflates to the corresponding nitriles by using 8% equiv of Pd(Ph(3)P)(4) as the catalyst and 2.0 equiv of Zn(CN)(2) as the cyanide source has been developed. This method is highly efficient for the preparation of 3-cyano-3-desoxy-10-ketomorphinans. The reaction was generally completed in 15 min at 200 degrees C and produced products in greater than 86% yields.


Klebsiella pneumoniae has been associated with different types of infections and one of the important aspects of Klebsiella associated infection is the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains particularly those involved in nosocomial diseases. For our studies we have collected fifty - nine clinical isolates, from different places of India as this study was conducted in India. Morphologically resembled Klebsiella were recovered from respiratory, UTI and pus cases. Out of fifty- nine clinical isolates, twenty were found positive for K.pneumoniae at biochemical characterization. These clinical isolates of K.pneumoniae were further tested for antimicrobial sensitivity and most of them were found to be multidrug resistant. All confirmed K.pneumoniae isolates were resistant to carbenicillin and one among them recovered from sputum sample of a pneumonic patient was resistant to all the antimicrobial agents tested except exhibiting a partial susceptibility to amikacin. Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from clinical cases in our study were found highly susceptible to quinolones, aminoglycoside, amykacin and gentamycin. At the same time over 60% strains were resistant to chloramphenicol and tetracycline. We also found that 28 to 76% of them were resistant to cephalosporins (ceftizoxime and cefotaxime).


The Ni(OH) 2 film electrodes doped respectively with alkali-earth metal aluminum, lead, partial transition metal and some rare-earth metal(altogether 17 kinds of metals) ions were prepared by cathode electrodeposition. The electrode reaction reversibility, the difficult extent of oxygen evolution, the proton diffusion coefficient, the discharge potential of middle value and the active material utilization of the Ni(OH) 2 film electrode were compared with those of the ones doped with the metal ions by means of cyclic voltammetry, potential step and constant current charge-discharge experiments. It was found that Ca 2+ , Co 2+ , Cd 2+ , Al 3+ etc. have obviously positive effect.


In the structure of female infertility, the uterine factor occupies one of the leading places and ranges from 25.20% to 42.30%, and in women with repeated unsuccessful attempts at in vitro fertilization, intrauterine pathology is detected in 45% of cases. In the structure of gynecological diseases, hyperplastic processes of the endometrium are 15–40%, and in women of reproductive
age – 24.0–62.0%.
The objective: to examine the risk predictors of the developing benign hyperproliferative pathology of the endometrium in women of reproductive age to improve preventive approaches of management of this group of patients.
Materials and methods. The results of analytical processing of medical documentation of 860 patients with uterine factor of subfertility (pregnant woman's card (form 111 / y), ambulatory card (form 025 / y-04)), witch were selected by the method of continuous sampling, were presented. This allowed to establish the structure and frequency of endometrial hyperplastic processes
in women of reproductive age, to assess the features of reproductive health parameters in this category of patients and to determine prognostic predictors of endometrial hyperplastic processes. For comparison, we analyzed 100 forms of medical records of patients who were routinely preventively examined in these medical institutions.
Results. Dominating influences are such clinical nosologies: endometrial polyposis and hyperplastic processes (44.19%), adenomyosis (22.33%), multiple uterine fibroids (10.47%), including submucous myomas (7.79%), uterine synechia (14.19%), uterine retinas and anomalies in the development of the uterus were rarely inserted (2.09% and 1.28% respectively). The uterine factor was the main factor in terms of reproductive losses and subfertility (38.68%), the incidence of the primary form of infertility was 17.63%, the secondary form (43.68%), the incidence in IVF programs was 119 cases (31.32%), including one in five failed IVF attempts
(21.85%). Patients ranged in age from 20 to 45 years, and endometrial hyperplasia and polyposis were more pronounced in late reproductive age (60.00%) versus (40.00%) in early reproductive age, respectively (p<0.05).
The performed statistical calculations allowed to present the risks of developing hyperplastic processes of the endometrium in relation to such factors as chronic pelvic inflammatory disease (OR = 6.16; 95% CI: 3.52–10.78), adenomyosis and external genital endometriosis (OR=10,59; 95%: 4.21–26.67), uterine fibroids (OR=3.07; 95%: 1.19–7.92), benign tumors and retention of ovaries (OR=4.98; 95%: 1.96–1.67).
It should be noted that the share of somatic disorders and their comorbidity increased with age by 1.7 times in cases of hypertension, metabolic disorders, thyroid pathology and diseases of the urinary system (p<0.05). Assessing the reproductive function in women with endometrial hyperplastic processes, it should be noted the low reproductive potential in this category of patients.
Conclusions. The results show an increase in the risk of endometrial hyperplasia and polyps with age by 2.3 times. There is a high proportion of long-term use of intrauterine systems, as well as a low use of hormonal and barrier methods of contraception, which, no doubt, can contribute to the chronicity of inflammatory diseases of the reproductive system. The statistical calculations allowed to present the risks of developing hyperplastic endometrial processes for such factors as chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, adenomyosis and external genital endometriosis, uterine fibroids, benign tumors and retention of ovaries. In the analysis
of the structure of somatic morbidity, the share of cardiovascular diseases, thyroid disease and disorders of fat metabolism is high. In the group of patients with endometrial hyperplastic processes, a low proportion of pregnancies was noted, along with a high percentage of miscarriages, missed abortions and recurrent miscarriages. The obtained results allow to supplement the pathogenetic concept of the development of endometrial hyperplastic processes.


We describe a boy with asymmetrical hydrocephalus in whom a marked hemiparesis of recent origin resolved completely following insertion of a shunt. In 2 children with shunted obstructive hydrocephalus due to a midline tumour a newly developed hemiparesis improved markedly in one and resolved in the other case subsequent to revision of a blocked shunt. A hemiparesis should therefore not necessarily be attributed to assumed progression of an underlying disease. Other unusual symptoms of hydrocephalus or shunt dysfunction reported in childhood as well as possible causes of hemiparesis in shunted patients are listed.


Failure to thrive (FTT) is a term used to describe inadequate growth in infants. The immediate cause is undernutrition. Ghrelin is a potent orexigenic hormone that induces a positive energy balance and enhances appetite. There is no information regarding the possible role of ghrelin in infants with FTT. The aim of this study was 2-fold: 1) to examine circulating ghrelin levels in FTT infants, compared with those of normally growing infants; and 2) to evaluate appetitive behaviors in the two groups. Plasma acylated and total ghrelin concentrations were measured in nine FTT and five normally growing infants (age range, 9–18 mo). Appetite was assessed using three novel appetite measures. Both acylated and total ghrelin levels were significantly elevated in FTT infants compared with controls (p = 0.03 or less). Infants with FTT scored significantly lower than control infants on all appetite measures (p = 0.002 or less). Ghrelin levels were inversely related to appetite, weight velocity, weight/length z-scores, and weight z-score. These findings provide the first evidence that infants with FTT have higher circulating ghrelin concentrations but paradoxically lower appetite scores. Increased ghrelin secretion may reflect an adaptive mechanism attempting to increase appetite and preserve energy balance in response to poor nutritional state.


Background: more than 80% of reproductive age woman reported at least one premenstrual symptom. In certain conditions, these symptoms are sever enough to affect negatively daily life activities. Aim: this study aims to evaluate the relationship between premenstrual syndrome and daily life activities among Medical College student at Najran University KSA. Setting: This study was conducted at medical college campus at Najran University KSA. Research design: A descriptive correlational design. Subjects: a comprehensive sample of 360 female student who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection: socio demographic and menstrual history questionnaire and modified version of premenstrual symptoms screening tool for clinicians. Results: The results of the study revealed that 38.3% of the students have mild PMS symptoms, while 20.0% and 5.8% have moderate and severe form of PMS symptoms, respectively. Moreover, the effect of PMS on daily life activities was mild among 47.5%, moderate among 20.8% and severe among 4.2%. Positive highly statistically significant correlations (P < .01) were found between students' total PMS symptoms scores and their daily life activities score. Conclusion: Premenstrual syndrome is significant health problem that can negatively influence the student daily life activities. Recommendation: Health education programs should be conducted in all educational institutions for girls and their mothers to increase their awareness about PMS influence on daily life activities and its management strategies.


Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a surface water filtration method for drinking water through the banks and bed of a river, using extraction wells located near the water body in order to ensure direct aquifer recharge. As the surface water travels through the sediments, contaminants, such as suspended and colloidal solids and pathogenic microorganisms, are removed. Apart from water quality improvement, RBF has the advantage of reducing peak concentrations which commonly pass through a river. RBF has been widely used in Europe, USA and, nowadays, in some Asian countries (e.g., South Korea, India, China). Latin-American and specifically Colombian river basins, have been suffering a continuous deterioration, leading to high suspended sediment loads being transported by the rivers. The RBF technology has not been proven yet in highly turbid waters, in which the excessive transport of suspended sediments threatens sustainable operation. Clogging of both the riverbed and deeper aquifer may increase flow resistance, reducing water revenues over the course of time. To assess the feasibility of RBF for highly turbid river waters in Colombia, a combination of field and laboratory research was conducted – both in the Netherlands and Colombia. In Colombia, the studies were done at the Cinara institute's Research and Technology Transfer (RaTT) Station for drinking water and at the Fluid Mechanics lab. The station is located at the Northeast of Cali, Colombia, and was built at the premises of the main water treatment plant of Cali, Puerto Mallarino. In the Netherlands, the laboratory work was done at the Delft University of Technology, running infiltration column experiments at the Sanitary Engineering lab and the flume experiments at the Fluid Mechanics lab...


An outer bound for the degrees of freedom (DoF) region of the K-user multiple-input single-output (MISO) broadcast channel (BC) is developed under the hybrid channel state information at transmitter (CSIT) model, in which the transmitter has instantaneous CSIT of channels to a subset of the receivers and delayed CSIT of channels to the rest of the receivers. For the 3-user MISO BC, when the transmitter has instantaneous CSIT of the channel to one receiver and delayed CSIT of channels to the other two, two new communication schemes are designed, which are able to achieve the DoF tuple of $\left(1,\frac{1}{3},\frac{1}{3}\right)$, with a sum DoF of $\frac{5}{3}$, that is greater than the sum DoF achievable only with delayed CSIT. Another communication scheme showing the benefit of the alternating CSIT model is also developed, to obtain the DoF tuple of $\left(1,\frac{4}{9},\frac{4}{9}\right)$ for the 3-user MISO BC.


Porous low dielectric films containing nano pores (~20Å) with low dielectric constant (<2.2), have been prepared by using various kinds of cyclodextrin derivatives as porogenic materials. The pore structure such as pore size and interconnectivity can be controlled by changing functional groups of the cyclodextrin derivatives. We found that mechanical properties of porous low-k thin film prepared with mCSSQ (modified cyclic silsesquioxane) precursor and cyclodextrin derivatives were correlated with the pore interconnection length. The longer the interconnection length of nanopores in the thin film, the worse the mechanical properties of the thin film (such as hardness and modulus) even though the pore diameter of the films were microporous (~2nm).


Oncology nursing has been given the challenge to determine if oncology patients are provided with the highest quality nursing care. Inherent in this challenge is the development of indicators to measure clinical excellence in oncology nursing practice as well as organizational excellence. The Standards of Oncology Nursing Practice by the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) and the American Nurses' Association (ANA) provides the framework for the development of specific clinical indicators to measure oncology nursing practice. These standards contain structure, process, and outcome criteria to measure oncology nursing practice. Within these practice standards, emphasis is placed on 11 high‐incidence problem areas that can occur in cancer patients at any stage of the disease process, regardless of the care setting. These problem areas should serve as the broad basis for the development of specific clinical indicators to measure the quality of nursing care provided to the oncology patient. This report provides suggestions for possible clinical indicators based on the ONS/ANA Standards and the scope of care provided by nursing to oncology patients. This report also discusses problems and issues related to quality assurance in cancer nursing, i.e., (1) the diversity of the patient populations that are cared for by oncology nurses; (2) the lack of research on clinical indicators in oncology nursing practice; and (3) the lack of a national data base on cancer nursing practice to aid in the establishment of "thresholds of acceptable performance" Possible solutions and recommendations for action are given.


Indonesian corporations were criticised for their poor corporate governance and disclosure practices during the 1990s financial crisis. Even though corporate governance practices have been improved, this research reveals that disclosure practices are still poor in Indonesia, particularly those practiced by family corporations. Using 21 disclosure items from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's corporate governance disclosure benchmark that are mandatory in Indonesia, I found that there are only three corporations which provide all of these required disclosures in their annual reports and none on the webs. These poor disclosure practices may be contributed by the nature of type II agency problems, or the late adoption of recent disclosure regulations in Indonesia. Furthermore, corporate webs in Indonesia do not substitute annual reports for corporate governance disclosures. It only complements annual reports, mainly for shareholders-related information.


Purpose: This study was done to develop a predictive model for quality of life of elderly residents in long-term care facilities (LTCF). The study was based on Brofenbrenner's ecological system theory and a literature review. Methods: Data were collected using a convenience sample of 205 elderly residents in 2 nursing homes located in D city and 1 nursing home located in K province. The exogenous variables were individual factors, family support, and facility environmental factors. The endogenous variables were self-esteem, accommodation adaptation and quality of life of elderly residents in LTCF. Collected data were analyzed through structural equation modeling using AMOS 20.0. Results: Eleven of the twelve hypotheses were supported, but the hypothesis that facility environment factors effect self-esteem was not supported. Quality of life of elderly residents in LTCF was explained first by facility environmental factors, followed by self-esteem, individual factors, accommodation adaptation, and family support with an explanatory power of 83.0%. Conclusion: To improve the quality of life of elderly residents in LTCF, the service and environment preparation provided by facilities is important, and it is necessary to provide emotional counseling to improve the self-esteem of these elders.


Community service in Nagari Siguntur, Sitiung District, Dharmasraya Regency aims to: 1) Increase the knowledge and skills of farmers about how to use agricultural waste such as fermented banana weeds as cattle feed and 2) Introduction of innovation technology in Urea Molases Block (UMB) feed as cattle feed. The method applied in this service activity is an extension method with a demonstration method approach, coaching and evaluation methods. The extension method demonstration approach was applied to banana weevil fermentation activities and during the introduction of innovation Urea Molases Block (UMB), while evaluation was carried out every one activity was completed and coaching would carried out continuously both directly and in remote discussions. The result of the service is knowledge and skills of breeders increase on the aspect of feed, especially alternative feeds such as Banana Bifold Fermentation (BBF) and feed Urea Molasses Block  (UMB). Other results from this activity can also be seen from the high response of cattle farmers in Nagari Siguntur to each stage of the activities carried out, with evidence of the number of farmers who attended and who asked quite a lot at the time of the activity and besides each activity was attended by Nagari officials and officers Dharmasraya District extension agent. Service activities for farmers can change the behavior of cattle farmers, both in the aspects of knowledge, attitudes and skills that local extension officers should be able to carry out extension activities consistently and accompanied by academics as resource persons.


This study investigated the reliability and discriminative ability of tensiomyography and countermovement jump variables as measures of a muscles contractile properties in a cohort of elite endurance and sprint track cyclists. Tensiomyography was performed on the vastus lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) muscles in sprint track cyclists (N = 8) and endurance track cyclists (N = 8). Additionally, the participants completed a countermovement jump on a force plate. Tensiomyography measurements obtained from the RF displayed greater reliability (ICC = 0.879–0.997) than VL (ICC = 0.746–0.970). Radial muscle belly displacement (Dm), contraction time (Tc) and delay time (Td) demonstrated the most reliable TMG measurements. Only two variables displayed acceptable coefficient of variation (RF Td = 8.89, VL Td = 6.88), other variables presented as unacceptable. The TMG variables were unable to discriminate between endurance and sprint track cyclists whilst the CMJ variables could. Due to the high variability in measurements and its inability to distinguish between sprint and endurance based track cyclists TMG should be used cautiously in this athlete population and if available the CMJ is a more appropriate assessment of leg muscle function.


Among its many activities, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) can maintain embryonic stem cell monolayers in a pluripotent undifferentiated state. Presuming that this might reflect its physiologic role during embryogenesis, we have examined LIF expression in the embryonic environment by RNase protection assays and have determined its in vitro effect on differentiating embryonic stem cell embryoid bodies. Of all adult tissues analyzed, LIF transcripts appear only in the uterus, where their level fluctuates with the estrous cycle, peaking after ovulation. LIF expression continues in the uteri of pregnant and pseudopregnant females, with a relative peak when blastocysts are normally present. As for its effects on in vitro differentiation, we have found that LIF blocks embryoid body differentiation only partially, yet in a precise manner. Using molecular markers to follow the differentiation of defined cell types, we demonstrate that LIF selectively inhibits the formation of primitive ectoderm, while permitting the differentiation of primitive endoderm. These results suggest a specific role for LIF in preimplantation mouse development.


This study evaluated the short message service (SMS) and multimedia message service (MMS) usability of mobile phones and wireless internet services by performance failure rates and flowcharts that adopted the concept of state diagrams. Forty-eight participants who had an experience of using mobile phones were recruited by posting an advertisement on websites for the experiment. They carried out both SMS and MMS tasks with the mobile phones of LG Cyon and Samsung Anycall as well as the wireless internet services of LGT ez-i, KTF magicN, and SKT NATE. In general, Cyon had the lower performance failure rate than Anycall for SMS, and ez-i had the lowest performance failure rate than the other services for MMS. More specifically through the workflow analysis, most participants used hot keys to take 7~8 steps to send a SMS including a symbol and had a difficulty in typing the symbol. They also took 10~11 steps to send a MMS after taking and attaching two pictures. Anycall, magicN, and NATE had significantly large error and failure rates due to the limited option of the menu paths that users could take and poor compatibilities of menu names and between menu and navigation keys. This study showed the possibility of use of flowcharts for systematic and specific usability evaluation methods and found the causes of performance errors and failures with mobile phones and wireless internet services to provide insight into their design.


ABSTRACTPotato (Solanum tubersumL.) is one of the most important cash and food security crop in Ethiopia. Its production is limited by low soil fertility, lack of quality seeds and diseases. To this effect, field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different blended fertilizer formulas on potato agronomic performance and tuber yield at Kokate Research Station (KRS) and on farmer's field (OnF) in SodoZuria district of southern Ethiopia. The experiment consists of seven treatments: control (no fertilizers), N-P (110-40), N-P-K (110-40-100), N-P-S (110-40-17), N-P-S-B (110-40-17-1), N-P-S-B-Cu (110-40-17-1-1), and N-P-K-S-B-Cu (110-40-100-17-1-1) in kg ha-1. The experiment was set in randomized complete block design with three replications. Potato growth parameter (main stem number and plant height), tuber yield components and tuber yield were superior on OnF to KRS. Tuber number, average tuber weight and tuber size categories significantly (p<0.05) influenced by fertilizer application. The NPK fertilizer application improved marketable tuber yield by 50.5% at KRS and by 82%at OnF, as compared to the control. However, the K content of the study soils was high to very high. Thus, balanced NPK fertilizer application resulted in higher nutrient use efficiency, higher marginal rate of return (MRR) and higher net benefit as compared to other blended fertilizers and the control. Therefore, based on the results N-P-K (110 N – 92 P2O5 - 100 K2O) fertilizer application could be recommended for potato production in KokateSodoZuria district, southern Ethiopia.


Partially purified antigens, derived from Leishmania infantum or L. major promastigotes and isolated under reducing conditions, were used to immunize BALB/c mice. Three subcutaneous injections of the 64- to 97-kilodalton preparation in conjunction with muramyl dipeptide conferred long-lasting immunity against L. mexicana subsp. mexicana and L. major infection; they led to the development of antibodies neutralizing the infectiousness of promastigotes, induced specific delayed-hypersensitivity reactions, and generated populations of peritoneal macrophages capable of killing amastigotes. Vaccination resulted in no harmful effects, since these antigen neither exacerbated preexisting Leishmania infection nor impeded the formation of antibodies to other antigens administered concomitantly.


Background: Exfoliative urine cytology is considered to be an essential non-invasive procedure for the diagnosis of bladder cancers and also for monitoring the patient s with bladder cancers. Objective: The present study was carried out to determine the efficacy of urinary cytology in detec ting the bladder cancer by analyzing the cytologica l findings in histopathologically proven bladder cancer patients. Methods: Urine cytology findings in 56 patients, who were histopathologically diagnosed to have bladder cance r were analyzed retrospectively. Urine specimen was centrifuged and sediment was examined for tumor cells. Results: Out of 56 patients studied, 28 patients showed mal ignant cells in urine (50%), 6 patients (10.71%) showed suspicious cells, 3 patients (5.36%) showed dysplastic cells and 19 patients (33.93%) urine cytology was negative for malignant cells. Ur ine cytology for malignant cells was positive in mo st cases having high grade bladder tumors and in tumors in advanced stage showing muscle infiltration. Conclusion: Urinary cytology is a less expensive, non-invasive procedure used for s creening bladder tumors and can detect the high gra de tumors and tumors with higher staging effectively.


A method for monitoring left ventricular (LV) volume changes of the human heart by intracardiac impedance measurement was developed. In order to model this method, we simulated the ventricular contraction using a finite-element model (FEM). The myocardium comprised three layers with anatomical fiber orientation. During excitation propagation contraction forces were applied, taking into account the myocardial elastic properties and the blood pressure time course. For a set of 21 contraction stages we calculated the intracardiac impedance Z between the right ventricular (RV) and LV leads for a set of common LV lead positions. The FEM results were compared to clinical data. Impedance and stroke volume were determined during overdrive pacing and end diastolic volume (EDV) at rest in 14 patients. All clinical EDV values were in the range of 147-394ml. Both the clinical data and the FEM in this volume range showed a linear correlation between admittance Y=1/Z and ventricular volume. For a quantitative comparison end diastolic impedance EDZ and the slope dY/dV were calculated. The model results across all LV lead positions were EDZ=0.16-1.2Ω, and dY/dV=3.3-21mS/ml, corresponding to clinical values of EDZ=0.14-1.46Ω and dY/dV=1-64mS/ml. In conclusion, the FEM resembled the clinical measurement data and serves as theoretical basis for ventricular volume monitoring via intracardiac impedance.


Numerous nonmalignant diseases can be treated with radiation therapy (RT). Among them, Heterotopic Ossification (HO) is a benign condition resulting from several causes that can be successfully managed with ionizing radiation. More often seen in the hip area after major surgical procedures, HO is of major concern as it can lead to functional disorders, pain and even to joint ankylosis. We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of therapeutic irradiation for the prevention of HO in 14 patients treated in our hospital between 2005 and 2011. All patients were irradiated with a dose ranging from 7 to10 Gy in a single fraction for prevention of HO after surgery. After a median follow up of 126 months (range 96 – 156 months) none of our patients developed HO. Impaired wound healing or other post surgery complications like trochanteric nonunion were not observed. A single fraction of RT seems to be a sufficient, cost effective and safe treatment regimen. In our study we report excellent results as none of our patients developed HO.


CO adsorption and dissociation on the Mo and C terminations of the orthorhombic Mo2C(100) surface at different coverage were systematically investigated on the basis of density functional theory. On the Mo termination, only molecular adsorption is likely for nCO = 9–16. Mixed molecular and dissociative adsorption becomes possible for nCO = 8, while only dissociative adsorption is favorable for nCO = 1–7. This indicates the coverage-dependent CO dissociation and equilibrium between dissociation and desorption. On the C termination, there is no dissociative adsorption, and only molecular adsorption is favorable at all coverages (nCO = 1–16). The computed CO stretching frequencies as well as the predicted desorption states from ab initio thermodynamic analysis agree well with the available experimental findings. The stable coverage as a function of temperature and partial pressure provides useful information not only for surface science studies at ultrahigh vacuum conditions but also for practical applicatio...


The tetraspanin family of four-pass transmembrane proteins has been implicated in fundamental biological processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Tetraspanins interact with various transmembrane proteins, establishing a network of large multimolecular complexes that allows specific lateral secondary interactions. Here we report the identification and functional characterization of Xenopus Tetraspanin-1 (xTspan-1). At gastrula and neurula, xTspan-1 is expressed in the dorsal ectoderm and neural plate, respectively, and in the hatching gland, cement gland, and posterior neural tube at tailbud stages. The expression of xTspan-1 in the early embryo is negatively regulated by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and stimulated by Notch signals. Microinjection of xTspan-1 mRNA interfered with gastrulation movements and reduced ectodermal cell adhesion in a cadherin-dependent manner. Morpholino knock-down of endogenous xTspan-1 protein revealed a requirement of xTspan-1 for gastrulation movements and primary neurogenesis. Our data suggest that xTspan-1 could act as a molecular link between BMP signalling and the regulation of cellular interactions that are required for gastrulation movements and neural differentiation in the early Xenopus embryo.


Seemingly smooth motions in manual tracking, (e.g., following a moving target with a joystick input) are actually sequences of submovements: short, open-loop motions that have been previously learned. In Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative movement disorder, characterizations of motor performance can yield insight into underlying neurological mechanisms and therefore into potential treatment strategies. We focus on characterizing submovements through Hybrid System Identification, in which the dynamics of each submovement, the mode sequence and timing, and switching mechanisms are all unknown. We describe an initialization that provides a mode sequence and estimate of the dynamics of submovements, then apply hybrid optimization techniques based on embedding to solve a constrained nonlinear program. We also use the existing geometric approach for hybrid system identification to analyze our model and explain the deficits and advantages of each. These methods are applied to data gathered from subjects with Parkinson's disease (on and off Ldopa medication) and from age-matched control subjects, and the results compared


To assess the nutritional status of 80 elderly living in a geriatric home, a cross-sectional study was designed. 40 men (76.1 +/- 8.2 years) and 40 women (83.1 +/- 6.9 years) were randomly selected. Anthropometric indicators (weight (W), height (H), triceps skinfold (TSF), muscle area (MA), fat area (FA), mid-arm circumference (MAC), arm muscle circumference (AMC) and body mass index (BMI)), biochemical parameters (hemoglobin, ferritin, cholesterol, albumin, zinc and vitamin A) and dietary intake (weighed method) were determined. MAC and AMC in men and PT and FA in women were below 10th percentile. 35.3% did not show signs of undernutrition, 39.7% was at nutritional risk (1 sign) and the other 25% was undernourished (2 or more signs). 8% showed anemia 52% had low values of ferritin, 13% were hypozincemic, 8% had vitamin A deficiency, 29% had hypoalbuminemia and 7.9% hipocholesterolemia. 50% and 48% of men and women had energy intake below 1.5 x BMR (n = 47). Vitamin A, C and zinc adecuacies were below 2/3 RDA. Evidence of the high nutritional risk of this elderly group is provided by alteration of anthropometric, biochemical and dietary indicators. Some other parameters must be assessed (reduced appetite, lack of foods) in order to detect more subtle changes of the nutritional status, and a nutritional intervention should be started immediately.


National surveillance data for reported cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were used to assess demographic characteristics and behavioral risk factors in lesbians. From June 1, 1980 through September 30, 1989, 79 women with AIDS reported sex relations only with a female partner; most of these women (95 percent) were intravenous drug users. Prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the lesbian community will require efforts to prevent and reduce intravenous drug use.


Background: Adansonia digitata (Linn.) is a widely distributed tree and its edible fruit pulp is well known to have L-ascorbic acid (AA) in high amounts. AA is essential for collagen biosynthesis and has been reported to have antioxidant and skin-lightening properties. Objectives: The aim of this study was to optimize the extraction of AA from the fruit pulp of A. digitata by ultrasound-assisted extraction and to evaluate the antityrosinase activity of the extract. Materials and Methods: A rotatable central composite design was used to investigate the effect of process variables by surface response methodology. The effect of key parameters of extraction temperature (30°C–40°C), extraction time (12–28 min), and ratio solvent to material (7–13 mL/g) was investigated on AA content. Then, mushroom tyrosinase was used to evaluate the antityrosinase activity of the extract. Results: The optimal conditions were obtained with a temperature of 43.4°C, in 23.5 min with a ratio solvent to material of 15.04 mL/g. Under these conditions, AA content from A. digitata (167.4 ± 5.724 mg AA per 100 g dry weight) was determined. Antityrosinase activity of A. digitata extract containing AA was 31.36% ± 1.65%. After degradation of AA, tyrosinase activity decreases to 24.21% ± 1.43%. Conclusion: AA contained in A. digitata extract show to increases significantly the inhibition of enzymatic tyrosinase activity. This extract may have a potential impact on skin depigmentation for the treatment of hyperpigmentation disorders.


Bcl-2-like proteins prevent cell death through expression level, post transcriptional modification, and protein-protein-interaction. Recent studies have shown that antiapoptotic Bcl-2-like members are overexpressed in many haematological malignancies. BH3 mimetics are promising anticancer agents by directly target these proteins and their interactions. S1 (8-oxo-3-thiomorpholin-4-yl-8H-acenaphtho[1,2-b]pyrrole-9-carbonitrile) is an authentic BH3 mimetic and a triple inhibitor of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and Bcl-XL. In the present study, we found S1 exhibited a variant sensitivity with LD 50 values ranging >2 logs (0.24-80.4 μM) in five established leukemia cell lines (Jurkat, K562, HL60, U937 and PTA-3920) and forty-one primary leukemic cells (including Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), and Chronic lymphoblastic leukemia (CLL)). Through a semi-quantitative approach by analyzing western blotting bands via imaging software, it revealed that the index value phosphoralated Bcl-2 (pBcl-2) to Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 provided a highly significant linear correlation with S1 sensitivity (r = 0.69, P Citation Format: Yubo Liu, Zhichao Zhang. An anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family protein index predicts the response of leukemic cells to the pan-Bcl-2 inhibitor S1. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1710. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1710 Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 because the presenter was unable to attend.


Protection of corporate creditors has become an important topic within the European Union. At EU level, discussion has been sparked by widespread dissatisfaction with some very rigid and cumbersome provisions, and even with the whole concept of the Second Company Law Directive. At EU Member State level, three landmark decisions by the European Court of Justice — Centros, Überseering, and Inspire Art — opened the way for an all-out competition between the different company forms provided for by national company laws. At both levels, albeit for different reasons, British company law — and in particular the absence of any legal capital in the private limited company — acts as the main driving force putting pressure on the concept of legal capital as enshrined in the Second Directive, which in turn was modeled on German company law notions.The High Level Group of Company Law Experts provided the appropriate starting point for the present discussion by dealing not only with the raising and maintenance of capital, but by also taking up the wrongful trading remedy (s. 214 British Insolvency Act) and the equitable subordination remedy. This present article builds upon this broader approach, seeking to develop a conceptual framework for an efficient creditor protection regime within a purely national setting, i.e., leaving aside the additional problems created by pseudo-foreign companies and the impact of the provisions of the EU Treaty for the free movement of companies on national company laws.Given the rich variety of creditor protection mechanisms within EU Member States, any attempt at developing even a high-level framework has to start by identifying the relevant risks against which creditors need protection and the required extent of such protection. Against this backdrop, any jurisdiction has to make a choice whether to rely mostly on creditor self-help or on mandatory protection rules. In principle, since all mechanisms for creditor self-help are inherently costly and fail to protect involuntary (tort) creditors and "weak" contractual creditors as effectively as they do "strong" contractual creditors, there is a case for mandatory protection rules. The article then goes on to review the different well-known mechanisms for mandatory creditor protection. In line with earlier findings and the criticism mostly from English scholars, the case for a German-style legal capital regime turns out to be weak, at best.On the other hand, since shareholders' incentive to act to the detriment of creditors increases with the company becoming financially distressed, it is important to provide for mechanisms that will work to effectively control any opportunistic behavior on the shareholder's part. In this respect, equitable subordination of a shareholder's right as well as the wrongful trading remedy may serve important roles. The article concludes by taking a brief look at the resultant high-level framework for an efficient creditor protection regime.


We use a multitude of reforms across 29 OECD countries from 1981 through 2009 that affected statutory corporate or personal tax rates as natural experiments to estimate the market value of the tax benefits of debt financing. We report time-series evidence that tax reforms are followed by large changes in firm value. However, the impact of tax reforms on value is greatly mitigated by the presence of leverage. Consistent with a tax story, the value of debt tax savings is greater among top tax payers, highly profitable firms, and in countries where tax laws are more strongly enforced. The results are robust to a battery of endogeneity tests. JEL Classifications: G3; G32; F3


An Intelligent Environment (IE) is composed by intelligent devices that interact with each other in carrying out their task, and they need to understand their contexts to provide adequate services to their users. An IE for Learning in the Cloud (IECL) is one that facilitates the location and use of educational services available in the cloud, which will be made available to users (teachers and students), resulting in an improvement of their teaching-learning process. One of the fundamental aspects for the development of IECLs, it is the contextual awareness. This paper integrates an IECL, based on Multi-Agent Systems, with services of Context Awareness, which enrich the Semantic Model of the IECL, characterized by an ontological knowledge base, which allows the agents of AmICL to take decisions adapted to the context. Particularly, through processes of ontological mining and using meta-ontologies, emerge ontological models appropriate to the context.


The article is focused on the conceptualization of Greek loan-words from the Orthodox discourse in literature. On the material of prose by I. Shmelyov we have analyzed the structure of the concept icon. It is possible to distinguish objective-notional, imagery-symbolic, and evaluative levels of the concept. Their distinctive features are shown to be determined by cultural and religious traditions and also explained by narrative characteristics of the works.


To separate the influence of inattentiveness from memory, we examined savings scores on material previously learned in 53 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), 63 with a reading disability (RD), 63 with both ADHD and RD combined, and 112 controls. Children with reading disabilities were impaired in their ability to remember previously-learned material unless it was repeated over four trials, whereas children with only ADHD performed as well as the controls for material presented only once. Children with ADHD did perform poorly on three subtests that are sensitive to attention/ concentration. We conclude that ADHD is associated with impaired initial learning due to attention deficits, but that long-term retention of learned material is normal.


Numerical simulations, by the discrete element method (DEM), of a model granular assembly, made of spherical balls, are used to investigate the influence of a small amount of an interstitial wetting liquid, forming capillary bridges between adjacent particles, on two basic aspects of granular material rheology: (1) the plastic response in isotropic compression, and (2) the critical state under monotonic shear strain, and its generalization to steady, inertial flow. Tensile strength F0=πΓa, in contacts between beads of diameter aa joined by a small meniscus of a liquid with surface tension Γ, introduces a new force scale and a new dimensionless control parameter, P∗=a2P/F0, for grains of diameter a under confining stress P. Under low P*, as cohesion dominates, capillary cohesion may stabilize very loose structures. Upon increasing pressure P in isotropic compression, such structures gradually collapse. The resulting irreversible compaction is well described by the classical linear relation between logP* and void ratio in some range, until a dense structure forms that retains its stability without cohesion as confinement dominates for large P*. In steady shear flow, with uniform velocity gradient γ˙=∂v1/∂x2γ˙=∂v1/∂x2 under normal stress P=σ22, the apparent internal friction coefficient, which is defined as μ∗=σ12/σ22, depends on P* and inertial number (reduced shear rate) I=γ˙√m/aP, and so does solid fraction Φ. The material exhibits, as P* decreases, a strongly enhanced resistance to shear (larger μ*). In the quasistatic limit, for I→0, it is roughly predicted by a simple effective pressure assumption by which the capillary forces are deemed equivalent to an isotropic pressure increase applied to the dry material as long as P*≥1, while the yield criterion approximately assumes the Mohr-Coulomb form. At lower P*, such models tend to break down as liquid bonding, causing connected clusters to survive over significant strain intervals, strongly influences the microstructure. Systematic shear banding is observed at very small P*


This paper examines the contribution that a community newspaper made to a remote aboriginal community in northern Australia. Instigated by the researchers as a way to engage young people in the project, the community newspaper became an important focus of activity and learning, providing young people with skills and education around the collection, management, and dissemination of news and supporting youth to gain empowerment in the community. At the time, the researchers did not acknowledge this impact. This article discusses the development of the community newspaper, and the authors (two academics and one community member) reflect on the importance of supporting community development activities in the research process.


This thesis investigates information extraction from unstructured, ungrammatical text on the Web such as classified ads, auction listings, and forum postings. Since the data is unstructured and ungrammatical, this information extraction precludes the use of rule-based methods that rely on consistent structures within the text or natural language processing techniques that rely on grammar. Instead, I describe extraction using a "reference set," which I define as a collection of known entities and their attributes. A reference set can be constructed from structured sources, such as databases, or scraped from semi-structured sources such as collections of Web pages. In some cases, as I shown in this thesis, a reference set can even be constructed automatically from the unstructured, ungrammatical text itself. This thesis presents methods to exploit reference sets for extraction using both automatic techniques and machine learning techniques. The automatic technique provides a scalable and accurate approach to extraction from unstructured, ungrammatical text. The machine learning approach provides even higher accuracy extractions and deals with ambiguous extractions, although at the cost of requiring human effort to label training data. The results demonstrate that reference-set based extraction outperforms the current state-of-the-art systems that rely on structural or grammatical clues, which is not appropriate for unstructured, ungrammatical text. Even the fully automatic case, which constructs its own reference set for automatic extraction, is competitive with the current state-of-the-art techniques that require labeled data. Reference-set based extraction from unstructured, ungrammatical text allows for a whole category of sources to be queried, allowing for their inclusion in data integration systems that were previously limited to structured and semi-structured sources.


This article considers the nexus between environment, health and colonial development through the migration, and visits, of Scottish-educated doctors to New Zealand. In arguing for the importance of local social, environmental and economic factors to explain their changing prominence within, in particular, the field of natural history, this article enriches and in some cases modifies the work of Richard Grove and John M. MacKenzie.


Nowadays, the large penetration of wind power generation poses new challenges for dynamic voltage stability analysis of an electric power system. The practical importance of dynamic voltage stability analysis is to help in designing and selecting counter-measures in order to avoid voltage collapse and enhance system stability. The impact of wind integration on reactive reserve requirements is a current area of interest for renewable integration studies and power system operators. In this paper is studied a new wind power plant model with reactive power management. The active power and the frequency management are taken into account too. The developed model can be used to represent, in a simplified way, an entire wind farm in order to simulate the dynamic voltage stability of the system, whatever the technology involved in the wind turbine. The system is completely modelled by a single dynamic converter model with appropriate control loops intended to reproduce the overall response of a wind farm for different grid events, such as faults or voltage and reactive power management at the point of common coupling.


Describes a series of dislocated structures produced by post-Tertiary tectonic activity (which is continuing into the present) in Turkey. Although formed considerably later than the Alpine orogeny, the orientation of the structures generally follows that of the axes of Alpine folds.


We report on a first-principle theoretical investigation of the optical absorption and emission spectra of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) aggregates by means of a multiscale all-atom hybrid approach, which combines: (i) molecular dynamics simulations of (intrachain) conformational and (interchain) positional disorder, (ii) quantum-chemical calculations of intrachain excited states and excitonic interactions, and (iii) solving of a Frenkel–Holstein model that includes coupling of the electronic excitations to a dominant high-frequency molecular vibration. The modeling work points to the co-existence of ordered nano-aggregates into disordered domains, with the former dominating the emission spectrum while both regions contribute to the absorption spectrum. The measured photoluminescence line shape and the Stokes shift are both reproduced by the theory for aggregates comprising polymer chain with lengths ∼35–40 repeating units.


An imposed strong magnetic field suppresses turbulence and profoundly changes the nature of the flow of an electrically conducting fluid. We consider this effect for the case of mixed convection flows in pipes and ducts, in which unique regimes characterized by extreme temperature gradients and high-amplitude fluctuations (the so-called magnetoconvective fluctuations) have been recently discovered. The configuration is directly relevant to the design of the liquid-metal components of future nuclear fusion reactors. This review presents the general picture of the flow transformation emerging from the recent studies, illustrates the key known facts, and outlines the remaining open questions. Implications for fusion reactor technology and novel experimental and numerical methods are also discussed.


This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature on the psychosocial wellbeing of populations in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period subsequent to the fall of the SovietBloc. A revision of research addressing emotional wellbeing trends in this period and theoretical models was carried in order to verify their validity in the analysis of empirical studies. Hence, a systematic bibliographic review was conducted, aiming to find possible subjective mediators between social variables derived from change sand emotional wellbeing. The results of the review show that subjective mediators such as locus of control,perceived control, self-efficacy beliefs, perceived familial support, and the subjective evaluation of social change explain part of the relationship between macrosocial changes and emotional wellbeing. Results appear coherent with proposed multidimensional models of social change and mental health, although further research should be conducted to determine the specific weight of these phenomena in individual emotional wellbeing.