Real-time games such as first-person shooters (FPS) are sensitive to even small amounts of lag. The effects of network latency have been studied, but less is known about local latency – that is, the lag caused by local sources such as input devices, displays, and the application. While local latency is important to gamers, we do not know how it affects aiming performance and whether we can reduce its negative effects. To explore these issues, we tested local latency in a variety of real-world gaming systems and carried out a controlled study focusing on targeting and tracking activities in an FPS game with varying degrees of local latency. In addition, we tested the ability of a lag compensation technique (based on aim assistance) to mitigate the negative effects. To motivate the need for these studies, we also examined how aim in FPS differs from pointing in standard 2D tasks, showing significant differences in performance metrics. Our studies found local latencies in the real-world range from 23 to 243 ms that cause significant and substantial degradation in performance (even for latencies as low as 41 ms). The studies also showed that our compensation technique worked well, reducing the problems caused by lag in the case of targeting, and removing the problem altogether in the case of tracking. Our work shows that local latency is a real and substantial problem – but game developers can mitigate the problem with appropriate compensation methods.


One of the issues of mobility management in a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network is the high-frequency location binding update initiated by mobile nodes (MNs). To solve this problem, we propose a location management scheme based on dual location area (LA) in an IP/LEO satellite network. The proposed scheme uses two kinds of LA, the fixed Earth station LA and satellite LA, to manage the location of the MNs together. MNs operate the binding update procedures only when they are moving out of both of the two LAs last registered. Geographical location information of MN is used in the binding update procedures, so that the network can page the idle MNs near their last registered location first, to enhance the probability of paging success. A detailed description of the implementation of the scheme is provided. Mathematical analysis shows that the proposed scheme reduces the location management cost and minimizes the influences of the distance between MN and its home agent. Paging cost is also reduced by introducing geographical location information in the binding update procedures.


Thin YSZ (yttria stabilized zirconia) films having sub-micrometer thickness without gas leakage were successfully deposited on anodic nanoporous alumina substrates for low-temperature SOFCs application. By oxidation of metal thin films deposited onto the nanoporous substrates with pore size of 20 nm - 200 nm using DC magnetron sputtering at room temperature, YSZ thin films with thickness of about 30 nm - 300 nm were obtained. During oxidation at high temperature, the metal films were successfully transformed into defect-free oxide thin films and volume expansion induced from oxidation of metal resulted in dense thin films that are free from hydrogen permeation. Conductivity of YSZ thin films with different compositions could be measured at room temperature.


The western coasts of coral islands facing the open Andaman Sea are exposed to large
amplitude internal waves (LAIW) during winter to spring (January to April). LAIW
entrain cold subpycnocline water into shallow reef areas causing frequent (several events
per day) and severe drops in temperature (up to 9 ◦C) and pH (up to 0.6 units) and an
increase in nutrients. It would therefore stand to reason that these waves have a direct
impact on the formation of a coral reef framework, because it is widely believed that
calcifying macroalgae in their role as important reef stabilizers and sediment producers
need stable water conditions over a large temporal scale. The present study explored
a possible impact of LAIW on the distribution, calcification, photosynthesis and respiration
of the calcifying macroalgae Halimeda opuntia. The study was conducted at
Racha island located about 18 km south of Phuket in the Andaman Sea. Belt transect
observations along the island revealed that H. opuntia occured only at the eastern side
of Racha. A combined transplantation and incubation experiment was performed. Algae
were transplanted from the eastern to the western side of Racha island and after a two
months adaptation period the algae were incubated at different pH and temperature
treatments. Additionally, the temperature at the western and eastern side of Racha
island was recorded for 6 months (October until March). The recorded data indicated
no difference in LAIW intensity between the western and eastern coasts of Racha which
is in contrast to other offshore islands in this region. The experiments showed that H.
opuntia calcified faster and revealed higher photosynthetic rates after being transplanted
to the western side in contrast to their eastern counterparts. The higher rates in oxygen
production of the west-transplanted algae were maintained as well under simulated
LAIW-conditions with reduced temperature and/or pH during the incubations. The
calcification rates of east- and west-transplanted algae differed at reduced pH conditions
but not when both pH and temperature were reduced. Despite the natural absence of
H. opuntia along the western side of Racha island, this algae seemed to benefit from the
natural conditions in the west in contrast to its common eastern environment. It may be
concluded that factors other than LAIW such as less sedimentation and possibly higher
light intensities in the west favored the development of the algae which may naturally
be restricted to the east due to the lack of suitable settling substrate in west.


It has become widely acknowledged that the rising environmental and economic cost associated with fossil fuel energy has made Renewable Energy (RE) a basic requirement for the development of Nigeria's economy. The paper focuses on ways of generating electricity with renewable source of energy for economic development in Nigeria. Specifically, the Nigeria's energy scene, renewable energy potentials and barriers, as well as various national energy policies were analyzed and areas that require attention to achieve sustainable provision of RE were highlighted. Overall, achieving sustainable development in Nigeria lies in addressing the imminent energy crisis facing the country. While fossil fuels have increased in use and declined in supply, excessive usage of fuel wood is already creating environmental problems especially in the Sahel area. But RE brings together climate protection, poverty reduction, and technological progress.


Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is seriously threatening the health and life quality of the elderly, who have a high incidence and high disability rate. Resveratrol (RES) was reported to play a protective role in PD. However, the functions and potential mechanism of RES in PD remain unclear, which need to be further explored. Methods: Human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y and SK-N-SH) were subjected to 1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridium (MPP+) induction to construct a cell model of PD. Cell viability was evaluated using CCK-8. The gene expression was evaluated using qRT-PCR and western blot. Luciferase activity assay and RIP were performed to validate interactions among SNHG1, miR-128-3p and SNCA. Results: Our results exhibited that RES reduced SNHG1 and SNCA expression but elevated miR-128-3p expression in human neuroblastoma cells upon MPP+ induction. Functionally, RES resulted in the promotion of cell autophagy in MPP+-induced human neuroblastoma cells, while these influences were abolished by SNHG1 overexpression. Mechanistically, SNHG1 could indirectly elevate SNCA expression via sponging miR-128-3p. Moreover, SNCA overexpression reversed SNHG1 silencing-induced cell autophagy in MPP+-induced human neuroblastoma cells upon RES pre-incubation. Conclusions: RES prevented MPP+-induced repression of cell autophagy through inhibiting the SNHG1/miR-128-3p/SNCA axis, suggesting that RES might play a preventive effect on PD progression.


The movement of human resources across national borders has become a common practice in multinational organizations. The challenges international human resources face have become a subject of intense interest in the field of industrial and organizational psychology and human resource management. In view of this, the researchers investigated the influence of national culture on work adjustment, intention to leave host country and organizational commitment among expatriates in Ghana. Cross-sectional survey design was employed to investigate differences in work adjustment, intention to leave and organizational commitment between expatriates from collectivist and individualistic cultures. Data were collected from 111 expatriates using reliable research questionnaires. Independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses. It was observed that expatriates from collectivist cultures had fewer problems with adjustment than their counterparts from individualistic cultures. It was also observed that, expatriates from collectivist cultures had less intention of leaving the host country and significantly high level of organizational commitment compared to their counterparts from individualistic cultures. The findings are consistent with the person-culture fit theory. The implications for cross-cultural personnel selection and expatriates behaviour are discussed. Keywords: National Culture, Work Adjustment, Intention to Leave, Expatriates, Organizational Commitment, Person-Culture Fit Theory, Ghana


BACKGROUND: Human gliomas account for the most common and malignant tumors in the central nervous system (CNS). Despite optimal treatments, survival of patients with high-grade glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains poor. Recent coordinated genomic analyses of a large cohort of clinical GBM specimens identified frequent co-alterations of genes in three core pathways—the P53, retinoblastoma (RB), and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways that are crucial in gliomagenesis. Further multi-institutional efforts have sub-classified GBMs into four clinical relevant subtypes based on their signature genetic lesions. Among them, PDGFRA overexpression is concomitant with a loss of CDKN2A locus (encoding P16INK4A and P14ARF) in a large number of tumors within one subtype of GBMs. To better understand and design therapeutic strategies against gliomas driven by abnormal platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling, functional studies using human or mouse models are needed. MAJOR FINDINGS: In order to establish a model that allows us to assess contributions of different signaling pathways to PDGFRα-induced glioma formation, we generated Ink4a/Arf-deficient primary mouse astrocytes (referred to as mAst hereafter) and human glioma cells that overexpress PDGFRα and/or PDGF-A. We found that activation of PDGFRα confers tumorigenicity to Ink4a/Arf-deficient mAst and human glioma cells in the brain. Restoration of p16INK4a but not p19ARF by retroviral transduction suppresses PDGFRα-promoted glioma formation. Mechanistically, abrogation of signaling modules in PDGFRα that lost capacity to bind to SH-2-containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 or Phosphoinositol 3'-Kinase (PI3K) significantly diminished PDGFRα-promoted tumorigenesis. Furthermore, inhibition of SHP-2 by shRNAs or pharmacological inhibitors disrupted the interaction of PI3K with PDGFRα, suppressed downstream AKT/mTOR activation, and impaired tumorigenesis of Ink4a/Arf-null cells, whereas expression of an activated PI3K mutant rescued the effect of SHP-2 inhibition on tumorigenicity. In clinical glioblastoma specimens, PDGFRα and PDGF-A are co-expressed and such co-expression is linked with activation of SHP-2/AKT/mTOR-signaling. Our data thus suggest that in glioblastomas with Ink4a/Arf deficiency, overexpressed PDGFRα promotes tumorigenesis through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR-mediated pathway regulated by SHP-2 activity.SIGNIFICANCE: We expect these findings will improve our understanding of the formation of the gliomas with PDGFRA and INK4A/ARF aberrations. There were studies that predicted SHP-2/PTPN11 as one of the linker genes in clinical GBMs that interact with multiple commonly altered genes. Our results functionally validate this hypothesis and identify SHP-2 as a converge point of several signaling pathways such as PDGFR, EGFR, PI3K, and mTOR that are frequently deregulated in GBMs. It thus represents a promising target for treatments against this fatal disease.


This article describes on-going developments of the VENUS European Project (Virtual ExploratioN of Underwater Sites, http://www.venus-project.eu) over its first two years of activity. The VENUS project is a collaborative venture which aims to bring together archaeological and scientific methodologies with technological tools for virtual exploration of deep underwater archaeological sites. The breadth of results produced by the project mean that we can only give an overview of the key project elements here. The techniques developed through the work of the project are firmly rooted in the requirements of the archaeologists involved. The on-going dialogue between these archaeological requirements and the technological solutions developed in response to them forms the core of the project. In this article we will describe the evolution of both the archaeological methodologies and the technical solutions that were developed in response to them during the first two sea missions of the project ? the first to Pianosa Island, Italy in October 2006 and the second to Sesimbra, Portugal in October 2007. Realising the integration of the acoustic data stream with the optical data acquisition has formed a major component of the first two years of the project. Acoustic sensors track the position of unmanned underwater vehicles, like ROVs and AUVs, while they collect images during a site's survey. The fusion of acoustic and navigation data provides the seed for the photogrammetric process, recording cameras' position and orientation in real time within the EXIF metadata of the images. In response to archaeological requirements the presentation of the data takes three distinct forms. The first being a traditional two-dimensional representation, conforming to the illustrative norms of archaeological cartography, providing a rich interface to the extensive underlying archaeological datasets. The second presentation is a three-dimensional visualization of the site. By using an augmented reality system we are able to present these complex datasets for archaeologists to investigate in both accepted, traditional, two-dimensional forms but also making use of innovative, three-dimensional interfaces providing new insights on archaeological data. In order to represent the archaeological information, we consider a knowledge base consisting of application ontology and observations. We constructed application ontology for underwater archaeological knowledge. Throughout the course of data acquisition, processing and delivery the project has addressed the need for long-term preservation and access to the dataset. By identifying specific digital preservation requirements of the project the aim is to produce guidelines for the archiving of material derived from future investigations. The project will conclude with a final field mission near Marseille, France, utilising all the techniques developed to undertake a fully automated diver-less survey of a deep-water wreck site. This culmination of the project will realise the desire to provide archaeological and public interaction of an underwater site that is out of the physical reach of the common diver.


Measurement techniques which allow the detection of airborne nanoparticles are of great interest for e.g. exposure monitoring and quality control during nanoparticle production. An increasing number of commercial devices use a unipolar diffusion charger to charge the particles and determine the nanoparticle concentration and sometimes size. The analysis however may be biased by the presence of large particles. We therefore developed a preseparator that removes particles larger than 450 nm, i. e the minimum in the range of particle lung deposition curves, but only causes a low pressure drop. The preseparator uses a total flow rate of 2.5 L/min and consists of two stages. The first stage is a virtual impactor that removes particles larger than approximately 1 μm with a minor flow of 1 L/min. Particles above 450 nm are removed from the remaining 1.5 L/min in the cyclone of the second stage. The combination of a cyclone with a virtual impactor was shown to reduce the pressure drop of the preseparator from 8.1 to 5.6 kPa compared with a cyclone alone and improve the sharpness of the separation curve for cut-off diameters around 450 nm. Furthermore the virtual impactor extends the cleaning intervals of the preseparator, because large particles are no longer deposited in the cyclone. Eventually the preseparator was tested with an opposed flow diffusion charger and it was shown that particle charging is not affected by the pressure drop.


The paper begins with a brief history of botany leading to the first descriptions on plant life phenomena. It then moves on to plant physiology as a science with a proper identity in the XVIII century. The works by Duhamel du Monceau and the German forester Robert Hartig are pointed out as landmarks on the way to the future ecophysiology of trees. The Symposium «The Physiology of Forest Trees», held in 1957 at the Harvard Forest, is also remarked as a step forward in the incorporation of forest trees as experimental material and the application of modern techniques in Plant Physiology. Thereafter, some topics in Ecophysiology, relevant for process-based forest management, are briefly reviewed. Tree canopy as a radiation collector and primary production factory of forest stands, carbon balance and allocation in trees, water and mineral nutrition, and modelling are the matters dealt with.


The relationship between patterns of codon usage bias (CUB), the preferential usage of synonimous nucleotide triplets encoding the same amino acid, and radioresistance was investigated int he genomes of 16 taxonomically distinct radioresistant prokaryotic organisms and in a control set of 11 non-radioresistant bacteria. The radioresistant species were found to be strongly biased towards G and C in the third synonimous codon position. ENC and neutrality plots also sugest that CUB in radioresistant bacteria is mainly affected by mutational bias. Furthermore, the availability of tRNA gene copy number was analyzed and it was found that nine radioresistant species have the sam number of tRNA gene copies for each codon. This suggests that tRNA gene copies and codon bias co-evolved in a specific way in radioresistant species.


Green goods such as recycled paper stationary or carbon-neutral flights provide increasingly popular examples of impure public goods. Motivated by theoretical treatments of green goods as a bundle of private and public characteristics in proportions fixed by the provider, we design an experiment with two linked treatments to test how the presence of impure public goods affects behaviour towards public good causes. We set parameters, such that from a standard economic perspective the presence of the impure public good is behaviourally irrelevant. In a treatment where the impure public good provides only small contributions to the public good, we observe that on aggregate pro-social behaviour is lower in the presence of the impure public good. On the contrary, in the treatment where the impure public good is more generous towards the public good component at the expense of private earnings, individuals are unaffected in their behaviour. We observe that impure public goods, that are theoretically irrelevant and are mostly self-interested, may hinder pro-social behaviour and look for explanations in social psychology, such as the phenomenon of thoughtful anchoring, motivated reasoning and reluctant altruism. The results from this experiment question the role of green goods in enhancing environmentally friendly behaviours.


PURPOSE
This qualitative study explores the perceptions of dental hygiene faculty regarding issues surrounding critical thinking skills integration within their associate degree dental hygiene programs.

METHODS
Twenty faculty participated in the study, as drawn from 11 accredited associate degree dental hygiene programs in one Midwest state. Multiple sources of data were collected, including email questionnaires, individual follow-up phone interviews and artifacts. Interpretive analysis was conducted.

RESULTS
Data analysis revealed that faculty generally understood critical thinking, but interpretations varied. Most do not use varied teaching strategies to promote critical thinking skills, and focus on one particular strategy--that of case studies. The participants identified the need for allied health-focused faculty development opportunities, and noted that calibration of instruction was needed. Despite challenges, faculty felt responsible for teaching critical thinking skills, and identified the need for time to build critical thinking skills into the curriculum.

CONCLUSION
This study was conducted in response to the American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation's challenge for dental hygiene educators to comprehend their own knowledge on the concept of critical thinking related to research-based pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning. Findings revealed a strong desire among the dental hygiene faculty in this study to incorporate critical thinking into their work. They want to do what they believe is the right thing, but their actual knowledge of the definitional and application theories about critical thinking is still in the early stages of development. Regular and targeted faculty development opportunities are needed.


We submitted to ozone treatment Triticum aestivum (common wheat) seeds severely contaminated by fungi. Fungi colonies developed when seeds were placed over malt agar medium in Petri dishes; Fusarium sp. and Alternaria sp. were identified. However, conventional colonies counting did not allow a clear assessment of the effect of ozone disinfection. We thus used self-organizing maps (SOMs) to perform an image analysis of colonies surface area that clearly showed a significant disinfection effect on Fusarium sp.


An Information Fusion (IF) based Decision Support Tool (DST) is presented to aid the identification of a target, from a large set of candidates, carrying out a pattern of activity which could be comprised of a wide variety of possible sub-activities and chronologies of events. The overall activity can only be defined in terms of its impact and in some cases detectable signatures of sub-activities. Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and time series anomaly detection methods process multi-modal sensor data which are then integrated by a novel, efficient Bayesian IF algorithm to provide a probability that each candidate under observation is carrying out the target activity. The DST has been developed to prototype status by implementing this framework using commercial off the shelf (COTS) software. The DST allows the decision maker to rapidly access current and historical situational awareness pictures quantifying the progress of the overall search. A range of geospatial visualization and data interrogation features available to the decision maker are described and their performance is qualitatively evaluated. Finally, planned future developments are outlined.


Ecologically specialist species are more prone to extinction than generalist species, yet the global distribution and conservation of ecological specialism is poorly understood. Here, we show that the global distribution of avian dietary specialization is roughly congruent with overall bird species richness for resident and breeding species, as well as for non‐breeding species. However, some areas harbour a higher number of diet specialist birds than expected given overall species richness (e.g. the Amazon, Gabon and Cameroon in Central Africa, extensive parts of Indonesia and some parts of northern Eurasia, Baltic cost and Mediterranean areas for resident and breeding birds, and tropical zone and south part of subtropical zone in South America for non‐breeding birds). These areas represent hotspots of avian specialization that need to carefully be considered in conservation strategies. We found that overall, 49.6% of resident and breeding species and 45.5% of non‐breeding diet specialist species are adequately represented by the global protected area system, but that this percentage is lower for the most threatened species. Policies that modify conservation planning approaches to include measures of specialization alongside other more traditional metrics of biodiversity could improve the protection of biodiversity in the face of rapidly accelerating anthropogenic threats.


The ankle is a loading joint with a small contact surface and it is therefore very vulnerable to trauma, as it is an exposed region. It is a unique joint because it forms several joints. In this joint the load falls on the contact area, which is one third of the knee or the hip, and it is the most important part of our musculo-skeletal system designed for ambulation and bipedestation. In case of ankle injuries, arthrodesis is a procedure performed to relieve pain, decrease deformity and provide stability. An optimum result of this procedure may be easily achieved if the ankle is fixed in the right position, so this technique will continue to be a treatment alternative. With "minimally invasive percutaneous fixation (MIPF)" fixation is safe, it relieves pain and stops the progression of regeneration, it is a minimally invasive method performed through a small posteromedial incision on the ventral surface of the distal tibial metaphysis, which minimizes soft tissue dissection thus eliminating wound complications. In this study we included patients with severe joint damage and pain, with a physically demanding type of work, in whom other treatments had previously failed and in whom total arthroplasty was not possible (due to questionable results). Patients with a varus-valgus > 15 degrees, talar necrosis, bone defects requiring a graft or subtalar arthrosis were excluded. Our results are no different from the world literature concerning the incidence rate of complications by age and diagnosis as well as the healing rate. Postoperative patient management was better as no rigid immobilization was required. Even though weight bearing was not immediate, at two weeks they could use an unloading boot for partial weight bearing, and total weight bearing was possible by week six. Therefore, there were less complications and in failed cases salvage surgery was possible.


A new method for measuring shape rectangularity is introduced. The new shape measure is invariant with respect to similarity transformations, ranges over the interval (0,1] and picks the value 1 if and only if the measured shape is a rectangle. The measure is theoretically well founded and has a clear geometric meaning, i.e. it indicates how the shape considered differs from a rectangle. So, the measure behaviour can be predicted to some extent, which is always an advantage.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate a non-toxic AdCTLA4-Ig-based protocol for non-myeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation to induce donor-specific tolerance to hind limb allografts in rats.

METHODS
Fully mismatched, 4 to 8 week old Brown Norway (RT1(n)) and Lewis (RT1(1)) rats were used as cell/organ donors and recipients, respectively. Recipients were treated with AdCTLA4-Ig (5 x 10(9) PFU, day -30, 0, 30), standard immunosuppressive therapy (MP: 10 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), MMF: 20 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), RAPA: 0.2 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1);day -33 - 100), soon after total body irradiation (3 Gy, day -30) and donor bone marrow (100 x 10(6), day -30) transplantation (BMT). Thirty days after BMT, chimeric animals received hind limb transplantations. And 100 days after hind limb transplantations, immunosuppressive therapy was changed for low-dosed CsA (8 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1), day 100-), until the allografts were rejected.

RESULTS
In Group C, hematopoietic chimerism was (38.8 +/- 10.6)% at day 0, and was stable (29.3 +/- 11.9)% at 330 days post-BMT. There was no graft versus host disease in both Group C and Group D. When the standard immunosuppressive therapy was stopped and changed for low-dosed CsA, chimeric recipients (Lewis, RT1(1)) permanently accepted (> 200 days) donor specific (Brown Norway, RT1(n)) hind limb allografts in Group C, yet rapidly rejected in Group A (8 +/- 2) d, Group B (18 +/- 3) d and in Group C (20 +/- 2) d. Lymphocytes of graft tolerant animals' demonstrated hyporesponsiveness in mixed lymphocyte cultures in a donor-specific manner in Group C. Tolerant graft histology showed no obliterative arteriopathy or chronic rejection.

CONCLUSION
The AdCTLA4-Ig based conditioning regimen with donor BMT produce stable mixed chimerism and induce donor-specific tolerance to hind limb allografts.


To the Editor: We welcome the review by Wan Ahmad relating to the management of heart failure in pregnancy (1). This is a pertinent topic at a time when recommendations are being made in the UK for more physicians to assist with the management of pregnancy (2). However, an important nutrient, namely vitamin D, is not mentioned in this paper. Activated vitamin D by binding to the vitamin D receptor has crucial extra-skeletal functions in cardiac muscle and the arterial tree (3). Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with increased incidence of a range of cardiovascular pathologies including cardiac failure in adults (3–5). Requirements for this vitamin increase in pregnancy and lactation: as with other nutritional components, pregnancy represents a major nutritional challenge to the mother. Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy is associated with pregnancyinduced hypertension and small for gestational age babies (6,7). Mothers with very low levels of vitamin D can give birth to infants with a cardiomyopathy that resolves on treatment of the infant with vitamin D (8). Vitamin D levels are low in pregnant women. In the UK, 72% of a cohort of 402 mothers in the east end of London were identified as deficient in 2010; similar figures are obtained wherever screening is initiated (9,10). It is likely that a high proportion of mothers in cardiac failure will have low levels of vitamin D, and it is predictable that this will compromise their cardiovascular function. Supplementation of adults with vitamin D improves cardiovascular outcomes at a population level and in specific patient groups (11,12). The safety and efficacy of supplementation with vitamin D during pregnancy has been demonstrated, and reduced levels of pregnancy-induced hypertension have been documented (13). The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends checking whether a pregnant mother requires extra vitamin D supplements in pregnancy (14). We would like to propose that there may be some advantage in developing a dosage trial of vitamin D in the management of heart failure in pregnancy. C. Michie, P. Julies Ealing Hospital NHS Trust, London UB1 3HW, UK Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore HA7 4LP Email: email@example.com


The Complex Adaptive Systems, Cognitive Agents and Distributed Energy (CASCADE) project is developing a framework based on Agent Based Modelling (ABM). The CASCADE Framework can be used both to gain policy and industry relevant insights into the smart grid concept itself and as a platform to design and test distributed ICT solutions for smart grid based business entities. ABM is used to capture the behaviors of different social, economic and technical actors, which may be defined at various levels of abstraction. It is applied to understanding their interactions and can be adapted to include learning processes and emergent patterns. CASCADE models 'prosumer' agents (i.e., producers and/or consumers of energy) and 'aggregator' agents (e.g., traders of energy in both wholesale and retail markets) at various scales, from large generators and Energy Service Companies down to individual people and devices. The CASCADE Framework is formed of three main subdivisions that link models of electricity supply and demand, the electricity market and power flow. It can also model the variability of renewable energy generation caused by the weather, which is an important issue for grid balancing and the profitability of energy suppliers. The development of CASCADE has already yielded some interesting early findings, demonstrating that it is possible for a mediating agent (aggregator) to achieve stable demand flattening across groups of domestic households fitted with smart energy control and communication devices, where direct wholesale price signals had previously been found to produce characteristic complex system instability. In another example, it has demonstrated how large changes in supply mix can be caused even by small changes in demand profile. Ongoing and planned refinements to the Framework will support investigation of demand response at various scales, the integration of the power sector with transport and heat sectors, novel technology adoption and diffusion work, evolution of new smart grid business models, and complex power grid engineering and market interactions.


Abstract Observations of a severe form of rainband, which is comprised of a line of strong but shallow convection, suggest that the environment into which it moves is nearly neutrally stratified with respect to moist convection. A simple two-dimensional model of a severe rainband has been developed to explore how the cold air at the base of the rainband modifies local stability as it underruns the saturated surface layer. This dynamic lifting is found to have two distinct effects. First, the lifted fluid contains regions of absolute and conditional instability. Then it also reorganizes the midtroposphere into a sequence of elevated inversions set between unstable layers. This latter effect results from the intense "lee wave" response in the air flow. The elevated inversions would appear to cap the severe moist convection, establishing the rainband character rather than allowing the deep cellular convection of squall lines. The flow disturbances end abruptly at the steering level (a critical level for the ...


. Path analysis allows one to test the consistency of data to hypothesized causal relationships between variables. Often, interest lies in how the hypothesized dependencies differ between groups. Multigroup comparisons can be made by imposing various constraints: constraints on the topology, the path coef fi cients, the residual variances, and more. To date, only classical path analysis and structural equation modeling can account for differences between groups. These techniques have assumptions that are often not appropriate for ecological studies. The d-sep test and the recently developed generalized chi-squared test relax many of these assumptions for path models that can be represented as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), but are currently lacking a multigroup test. In this paper, we develop a multigroup extension to the d-sep test. Furthermore, we show how a recently developed generalized chi-squared test and AIC for DAGs can be used for multigroup testing. The approaches are illustrated by a worked example and implemented in the commonly used statistical package, R. Practical recommendations for multigroup modeling are made, and advantages and disadvantages of the multigroup d-sep and the chi-squared test are discussed.


BACKGROUND
We examined the effect of oral vitamin B(12) treatment on fluctuations in plasma total cobalamin and its binding proteins transcobalamin (TC) and haptocorrin (HC).

METHODS
Patients (n = 88; age range, 38-80 years) undergoing coronary angiography (part of the homocysteine-lowering Western Norway B-Vitamin Intervention Trial) were allocated to daily oral treatment with (a) vitamin B(12) (0.4 mg), folic acid (0.8 mg), and vitamin B(6) (40 mg); (b) vitamin B(12) and folic acid; (c) vitamin B(6); or (d) placebo. EDTA blood was obtained before treatment and 3, 14, 28, and 84 days thereafter.

RESULTS
The intraindividual variation for patients not treated with B(12) was approximately 10% for plasma total cobalamin, total TC, apo-TC, and apo-HC, and <20% for holo-TC and TC saturation. In B(12)-treated patients, the maximum change in concentrations was observed already after 3 days for total TC (-16%), holo-TC (+54%), and TC saturation (+82%). At this time holo-HC (+20%) and plasma total cobalamin (+28%) showed an initial burst, but had increased further at 84 days. All changes were highly significant compared with the control group (P <0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
Oral vitamin B(12) treatment produces maximal effects on total TC, holo-TC, and TC saturation within 3 days, whereas maximal increases in holo-HC and plasma total cobalamin occur later. The results support the view that holo-TC is an early marker of changes in cobalamin homeostasis.


Cross-border economic activities are often done by people of Skouw Sae Village, Muara Tami District, Jayapura City to Wutung Village, Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. This study attempts to analyze the functions of economic activity in this community. Data were processed using qualitative analysis. The results of this study found seven functions of cross-border economic activities. First, to meet nutritional needs of the family. Second, to meet reproductive needs for family continuity. Third, to meet the needs for comfort and welfare of wife's family. Fourth, to meet safety needs. Fifth, to meet the needs for relaxation. Sixth, to meet mobility needs. Seventh, to meet the needs for growth. It also meets the needs for activities and systems of ideas related to the fulfillment of seven needs. In conclusion, the functions of cross-border economic activities of Skouw Sae Village are to meet basic, institutional and symbolical needs of local people.


With rapid advancements in communication and travel, one's neighbor is not only the person next door, but those around the globe. People are meeting others different than themselves every day. Diana Eck, a Harvard University professor of religion, created the Pluralism Project to map out the diverse religious landscape of the United States and document those engaging positively with other religions.  Theologians, like Eck, have identified typologies for classifying these interactions.  The most commonly used typology separates people into three categories:  Exclusivists, Inclusivists, and Pluralists.  Exclusivists believe their religion hold the truth and other religions offer no benefit to them.  Inclusivists see merit in other traditions, but view their religion as superior.  Pluralists see equal value in all religions.  Though these categories appear neat on paper, the on-the-ground reality of applying them tends to be messier.  Using the Pluralism Project as a basis, this study focuses on the neighboring places of worship to Hamline University to provide a sample of the reality of interfaith interactions.  Through interviews with the leaders of local religious organizations the on-the-ground realities were documented.  The interviews focused on three questions.  The first question looks at the messiness encountered during interfaith collaboration, what problems those in the field have come across within and outside of their congregations.  The second question analyzes their views of pluralism and interfaith, placing them into two categories:  pragmatic or doctrinal.  Those with pragmatic views approach interfaith collaboration based on the practices of each tradition.  While those with doctrinal views look at what writings within each tradition say about interfaith work, truth, and salvation.  Last, the effectiveness of the common typology used for classifying interfaith interactions was explored.  This study will show the recurring theme of dialogue in literature and on-the-ground, as well as illuminate the effect the raising population of religious nones is having on the places of worship in the Hamline-Midway community.  As more people are not identifying with organized religion these religious organizations have to change to remain open.  In a fluid reality, the typology used to describe interfaith interactions must be just as loose and ever changing.


BACKGROUND
Previous studies have suggested that a child's dental anxiety is mainly influenced by the maternal dental anxiety. As modern society evolves the conventional structure of the family changes and both parents take equal part in the child's upbringing.

AIM
The aims of the present study were: 1. To evaluate and compare the levels of dental anxiety among kibbutz-bred and city-bred parents, whose children were dentally treated.; 2. To examine the effect of selected sociodemographic variables on parental attitudes toward the dental situation on their dental anxiety; 3. To assess the parents' ability to evaluate their children's future behavior at the dental office.

STUDY DESIGN
seventy-four parents, 44 from a kibbutz and 31 that live in a city comprised the study population. Dental anxiety was assessed by using Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale and Kleinknecht's Dental Fear Survey. The future behavior of the parent's child in the dental office was evaluated by Parental assessment of child's behavior.

RESULTS
No significant difference was found in the level of dental anxiety between kibbutz-member parents and city parents. Gender had no significant influence on the levels of dental anxiety among parents.

CONCLUSIONS
The old axiom that dental anxiety is more prevalent among women is questioned. Dental anxiety of children may be equally influenced by both parents.


Dengue virus poses a significant health threat. The new emerging strains continue to cause annual epidemics. In this paper, we report results of an analysis of dengue virus serotype 1 (DV1) genome polyprotein sequences in the context of time and geographical distribution. We studied the clustering of 60 DV1 genome polyprotein sequences of different geographical distributions, reported in the past 30 years, to identify geographic and temporal patterns of genetic and antigenic variation. Our analysis showed distinct clustering of sequences into two main geographical regions: i Western and South Pacific and South-East Asian region (with three distinct sub-clusters) and ii South American region. The results provide evidence suggesting temporal changes of the isolated strains. In addition, our analysis indicated that potential T-cell epitope hotspots within DV1 are shifting with time and recurrent epidemics, resulting in disappearing of some hotspots and emerging of new hotspots.


A toxicity reduced conditioning regimen containing Treosulfan (Treo), Fludarabine (Flu), Thiotepa in patients with class III high risk thalassemia major (TM) has significantly improved transplant outcomes compared to the historical Busulfan/cyclophosphamide based myeloablative regimen (Mathews et al, 2013). However, complications related to mixed chimerism, rejection and regimen related toxicity remain. Analysis of Treo pharmacokinetics (PK) in TM showed significant inter individual variation but no association with HSCT outcome (Mohanan et al, 2018). This may be attributed to the fact that only the pro-drug Treo was measured and not its active metabolites. Treo, administered as a prodrug, is converted non-enzymatically to its active metabolite monoepoxide 2S, 3S-1,2-epoxybutane-3,4-diol-4-methanesulfonate (S, S-EBDM) and (2S,3S)- 1,2:3,4-diepoxybutane (S, S-DEB) that causes cytotoxicity. We have now assessed the PK of both Treo and S, S-EBDM and the factors which may influence the inter-individual variation in PK, and their impact on HSCT outcome in patients with TM.
 Fifty-six patients with TM undergoing HSCT between January 2016 and June 2019 with Flu/Treo based conditioning regimen (Flu 40mg/m2/day x 4 days as a 1hr infusion and Treo as 14g/m2/day x 3 days infused at 5g/hr) were included in this analysis. Selected functional polymorphisms in NAD(P)H Quinone Dehydrogenase-1 (NQO1) and Glutathione S-transferase (GST) genes that showed association with Treo PK based on our previous report (Pai et al, Abstract. Proceedings of BMT Tandem Meetings 2018) were screened. Plasma Treo and S, S-EBDM were measured using an LC-MS/MS method. Treo and S, S-EBDM PK were estimated using nonlinear mixed effects modeling via Monolix 5.0.1. The covariates tested were age, sex, body weight, BSA, serum ferritin, NQO1 3'UTR (rs10517) and GSTA1*B polymorphisms. The influence of Treo & S, S-EBDM PK and polymorphisms on graft rejection, regimen related toxicities (RRT), chimerism status, overall and event-free survival were estimated using logistic regression analysis.
 A two-compartment model best described the PK of Treo and S, S-EBDM. Two and 11-fold inter-individual variation was observed in Treo and S, S-EBDM PK respectively. Among the covariates tested, Treo Cl decreased with age (p=0.03) while, S, S-EBDM apparent Cl increased in patients with NQO1 3'UTR variant (p=0.02) and decreased in patients with GSTA1*B variant genotype (p=0.02). Neither Treo AUC nor clearance showed association with HSCT outcome. However, high S, S-EBDM AUC (213. Vs 130 mg*hr/mL, p=0.016) and low S, S-EBDM apparent Cl (68 Vs 122 L/hr/m2, p=0.013) were significantly associated with increased incidence of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS). Also, on quartile analysis, patients with S, S-EBDM AUC >210 mg*hr/mL and Treo/S, S-EBDM AUC ratio >18 mg*hr/mL showed increased incidence of SOS (p=0.006 & p=0.026 respectively). Multivariate analysis adjusting for known clinical risk factors also showed in addition to age, only high S, S-EBDM AUC to be significantly associated with increased incidence of SOS (p=0.013). No association between rejection or mixed chimerism and Treo/S, S-EBDM PK was observed, probably due to very low incidence of graft rejection in this cohort (4/56; 7%).
 Our study suggests that active metabolite S, S-EBDM influences SOS following HSCT in TM patients. It is well acknowledged that Treo to S, S-EBDM conversion is a non-enzymatic nucleophilic substitution reaction and there is a difference in the disposition of Treo and S, S-EBDM in different organs including the liver (Romanski et al, 2017). Treo metabolites exert their cytotoxic activity by both DNA-DNA and DNA-protein crosslinks in these organs. The role of Treo metabolites in exhausting essential cellular proteins like GSH and NQO1 as well as the effect of GST/NQO1 variants in influencing Treo metabolism in liver which may then impact the incidence and severity of SOS need further evaluation.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


In conducting communicative approach in ELT classroom, some key elements should be taken into consideration: syllabus design; the relation between the teacher and learner, accuracy and fluency, learning and acquisition; teaching and learning activities in CLT including communicative tasks, materials employed in teaching, usual classroom activities, and typical communicative activities under this approach. With all these considered, can CLT be possibly carried on in ELT classroom fully and efficiently.
Key words: Communicative language teaching; Syllabus design; Classroom activities


Background  Patients with immunodeficiency are prone to infestation with Demodex folliculorum mites. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can lead to immunosuppression and sebaceous gland hyperplasia. Although some cases of demodicidosis related to UV radiation exposure have been reported, no studies have been performed on the incidence of D. folliculorum and its clinical characteristics in patients receiving phototherapy.


The Lg phase generated by earthquakes is used to infer the gross crustal structure of Baffin Bay. The principle of interpretation is that the presence of the Lg phase on an earthquake record is sufficient proof of the existence of continental crustal structure along the entire propagation path, while the absence of the Lg phase is a consequence but not sufficient proof of the existence of a section of oceanic crust somewhere along the propagation path. Examples are given of earthquake records involving propagation paths through three distinct types of gross crustal structure, namely shield-type continental, intermediate-type continental, and oceanic. These examples are used to interpret the records at four seismic observatories located around Baffin Bay for eleven earthquakes, which occurred in and around the Bay in the years 1965 to 1967. The records reveal two areas of Baffin Bay that appear to have oceanic crust, one in the northern part of the Bay at the entrance to Nares Strait, and one in the deep c...


In iterative methods for cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) reconstruction, the use of a huge system matrix is the primary computational bottleneck and is still an obstacle to the more widespread use of these methods in practice. In this paper, to put iterative methods to practical applications, we propose a pragmatic idea, the-so-called dual-resolution voxellation scheme, for a small region-of-interest (ROI) reconstruction in CBCT in which voxels outside the ROI are binned with a double resolution such as 2×2×2, 4×4×4, 8×8×8, 16×16×16, etc., and the voxel sizewithin the ROI remains unchanged. In some situations of medical diagnosis, physicians are interested only in a small ROI containing a target diagnosis from the examined structure. We implemented an efficient compressed-sensing (CS)-based reconstruction algorithm with the proposed voxellation scheme incorporated and performed both simulation and experimental works to investigate the imaging characteristics. Our results indicate that the proposed voxellation scheme seems to be effective in reducing the computational cost considerably for a small ROI reconstruction in iterative CBCT, with the image quality inside the ROI not being noticeably impaired.


Abstract Although humans can raise and lower their voice pitch, it is not known whether such alterations can function to increase the likelihood of attracting preferred mates. Because men find higher-pitched women's voices more attractive, the voice pitch with which women speak to men may depend on the strength of their attraction to those men. Here, we measured voice pitch when women left voicemail messages for masculinized and feminized versions of a prototypical male face. We found that the difference in women's voice pitch between these two conditions positively correlated with the strength of their preference for masculinized versus feminized male faces, whereby women tended to speak with a higher voice pitch to the type of face they found more attractive (masculine or feminine). Speaking with a higher voice pitch when talking to the type of man they find most attractive may function to reduce the amount of mating effort that women expend in order to attract and retain preferred mates.


The pH-dependence of selected 13C chemical shifts reflects the state of ionization of the imidazole ring in both imidazole and L-histidine. Titration of the amino and carboxyl groups of histidine also perturbs the shifts. The coupling constants 1J (13C(2),H) and 1J (13C(5),H) for both compounds also vary with pH, but in L-histidine these constants are relatively insensitive to the titration of groups outside the imidazole ring.


Abstract:Many African water-related conflicts have their roots in so-called colonial treaties. This article examines the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia regarding the construction and operation of an Ethiopian dam at the headwaters of the River Nile. We start by reviewing these countries' current political and economic circumstances as a prerequisite to assessing the severity of the conflict. We then trace the dispute back to the treaties used by each country to prove its rights to the Nile's water. We identify political circumstances that provide hidden motives behind the stalled negotiations. We conclude that current bilateral economic and political circumstances push decision makers away from reaching a concrete settlement of the dispute and argue that the treaties are only worsening the situation. Cooperation in the field of development in general is required to break the current deadlock, strengthen Egyptian-Ethiopian relations, and promote regional prosperity.


Hydraulic reciprocating seals have been widely used to prevent fluid leakage and to provide lubricant film on counter surface in various hydraulic system. The degradation of the seal may cause the catastrophic failure of the hydraulic system. To assess the durability of the seals and the compatibility with counter surface, accelerated life testing (ALT) has been typically employed from industry. However, ALT often takes up to a few months to cause a failure of the seals, and therefore, there is a need to develop more efficient ALT methods. In this work, the degradation characteristics of polyurethane (PU) seals from field test are investigated and they are compared to those from the component and bench tests, with an aim to contribute to the development of ALT method. From the comparison of the cross-sectional profiles of the sealing surface of the PU specimens before and after the tests, both wear and compression set are found to be responsible for degradation of the PU seals. It is also shown that the major wear mechanisms of the PU seals from the field is abrasive wear and formation of pits. The component and bench tests performed in this work are shown to reproduce such wear mechanisms, and therefore, those test methods can be used as an ALT method for PU seals. In particular, the bench test proposed in this work may be effectively utilized to assess the durability and the compatibility of the seals with the counter surface. The results of this work are expected to aid in the design of ALT for PU seal.


Given an adjunction F ⊣ G connecting reasonable categories with weak equivalences, we define a new derived bar and cobar construction associated to the adjunction. This yields homotopical models of the completion and cocompletion associated to the monad and comonad of the adjunction. We discuss applications of these resolutions to spectral sequences for derived completions and Goodwillie calculus in general model categories.


Very recently, an AP3-like transcription factor regulating the chemokine gene MARC and an NF-AT family member regulating IL-5 were the first components of the transcription factor repertoire to be described as activated in mast cells after an allergic triggering. In this study, we show that with respect to cross-competition in a gel shift analysis using an NF-AT consensus oligonucleotide binding site, the antigenicity to a recently generated serum against T cell NF-AT, and the sensitivity to macrolide immunosuppressants, the AP3-like activity on the MARC promoter is indistinguishable from that described for NF-AT in T cells. Additionally, we show that this factor functions on the MARC chemokine promoter without the AP1 cofactor, a situation reminiscent of the function of NF-AT in Th2-type T cells. In all of these aspects, and strengthened further by a gel shift competition analysis, the AP3-like transcription factor is identical to the NF-AT family member recently described by an analogous set of experiments as regulating IL-5 in mast cells. Our finding that p21ras, but probably not protein kinase C, is necessary to activate this factor after Fc epsilon RI triggering indicates a situation in which a common transcription factor denominator in mast cells induces chemokine (MARC) and lymphokine (IL-5) gene expression in a manner closely similar to Th2-type T cells, which are induced along the ras/raf signal pathway.


OBJECTIVE
Assess the quality of information contained in the medical files of patients with cancer pathology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Eighty medical files from patients cared for in the cancerology units of the Lyons civil hospices were retrospectively analyzed to determine information quality. Prior to the audit, the health care teams established a set of consensus standards to compared with observed procedures. After data collection and analysis of the results, observed departures from the standards led to propositions for guidelines designed to improve points where significant deviations were observed.

RESULTS
For certain items, the medical files did not always contain the expected data. Significant deviations were observed for important data such as postal code of birth, pTNM classification, presence of pathology report, codified evaluation of general status.

CONCLUSION
Management of these patients requires more rigorous record keeping and classing of appropriate data. A unique data sheet is proposed for all cancer. This should be a computerized sheet with a cancerology reference in each medical unit.


Cyclodextrins (CDs) are naturally available water-soluble cyclic oligosaccharides widely used as carriers in the pharmaceutical industry for their ability to modulate several properties of drugs through the formation of drug–CD complexes. The addition of an auxiliary substance when forming multicomponent complexes is an adequate strategy to enhance complexation efficiency and to facilitate the therapeutic applicability of different drugs. This review discusses multicomponent complexation using amino acids; organic acids and bases; and water-soluble polymers as auxiliary excipients. Special attention is given to improved properties by including information on the solubility, dissolution, permeation, stability and bioavailability of several relevant drugs. In addition, the use of multicomponent CD complexes to enhance therapeutic drug effects is summarized.


The present study aimed to determine whether there is excessive mean daily intake of phosphorus in 3- to 5-year-old Japanese children and to ascertain relationships between phosphorus intake and various food and beverage groups. Subjects comprised of 90 children, with 15 boys and 15 girls in each age group from 3 to 5 years. The duplicate-diet technique was used to ascertain total dietary intake, including snacks and beverages over a 24-h period on 3 separate days from summer 1999 to winter 2000. After wet ashing food samples, phosphorus was quantified by colourimetry using a spectrophotometer. Median and 25th-75th percentile daily phosphorus intake for 3- to 5-year-old Japanese children was 674 mg (534-890 mg), and phosphorus intake correlated with the intake of many food groups and was closely correlated with total daily intake of food and beverage (rs=0.64). In addition, phosphorus intake correlated with the intake of magnesium and calcium (rs>=0.6, p<0.001). When assessed based on dietary reference intakes for the US, maximum intake did not exceed the tolerable upper intake level in any of the young children, but phosphorus intake was not more than the estimated average requirement (EAR) in 4.4% of subjects, which exceeded the target of 2.5% for the US EAR. We concluded that there is a risk of insufficient phosphorous intake, rather than excessive intake, for 4.4% of 3- to 5-year-old Japanese children.


A dynamic simulation model for cold forming of involute splines through a rolling process is presented. The model identifies a unique rolling methodology which consists of various phenomenon to illustrate the forming process in detail. Mass produced involute splines on four loose gears in a six speed manual transmission are developed from forgings to the final part. A new standard has been set for manufacturing of spline rolled gears. The final vehicle applications comprised of various automotive model variants. It is a report that provides a background into the theoretical and practical principles of cold metal working otherwise known as cold forming. Splines are formed on gear surfaces through an axial rolling cold forming process. In addition, it addresses all the concept, design, manufacturing and quality processes involved. State of the art technology in gear manufacturing is clearly demonstrated. Furthermore, in depth analysis of results from critical dimensions that constitute the major and minor characteristics of involute splines are reviewed. Finite element modelling and simulation aspects are all covered. The modelling of contact between the tool (die) and a gear blank is presented in detail which fundamentally demonstrates the understanding of material flow during the manufacturing of cold formed involute splines. The effects of stress, plastic strain and temperature on the material is understood and shown in the model development. The splines in this project are manufactured in the fourth process of seven different gear manufacturing processes and procedures. Additionally, the finished parts are internally assembled into a sealed transmission case comprising of meshed components that sit in chronological positions known as ratios. Individual gear manufacturing operations are also captured in this report as they respectively influence the geometry and tolerance criteria of the finished cold formed spline. An established failure mode effect analysis report, drawings and control plans are revealed. These validate the phases that led to achieving design intent and final product ii specification. Factors such as machines and automations installation, process and design capability studies are presented. Core effective manufacturing criteria such delivery, cost, cycle time and statistical process controls are identified. Part clamping and tooling trials were completed in respect of the mechanical and material deformation observed during the simulated and actual rolling processes. All these aspects formed integral parts of the process development stages. For the cold forming process, quality standards were reviewed for various spline classes to institute the correct geometric tolerances for the measurement processes. Within the 80 year history of the establishment, splines were always manufactured by cutting which had significant cost implications hence a different approach was investigated to enhance quality, reduce waste, increase efficiency and product reliability.


In "Accounting for Dante", Justin Steinberg reexamines Dante's relation to his contemporary public, an audience that included those poets who responded to Dante's early work as well as the readers who first copied, preserved, and circulated his poetry. Based on original research of manuscripts and documents, Steinberg's study reveals in particular the importance of professional, urban classes - namely, merchants and notaries - as cultivators of early Italian poetry. Although not officially trained as glossators or scribes, these newly educated readers were full participants in an emergent vernacular literature, demonstrating at times a marked degree of sophistication in their choices of which lyric poems to include in their personal anthologies. Adapting their methods of memorializing contracts and keeping accounts to the collecting of medieval Italian poetry, these urban readers and writers made copying Italian poetry a crucial aspect of how they understood and represented themselves as individuals and communities. Steinberg describes how notaries and merchants transcribed Dante's poetry in nontraditional formats, such as in the archival documents of the Memoriali bolognesi and the register-book "Vaticano Latino 3793". In bringing to light evidence of the urban reception of the early Italian lyric, Justin Steinberg restores the political, social, and historical contexts in which Dante would have understood the poetic debates of his day. He also examines how Dante continuously responded in his literary career - from the "Vita Nova", to the "De Vulgari eloquenta", to the "Commedia" - to the interpretations and misinterpretations of his early lyrics by this bourgeois audience.


In this work, we systematically analyzed the secondary structure amino acid compositions of acidic and alkaline enzymes and compared them with neutral ones. We found that the propensity of the individual residues to participate in secondary structures and the consistently higher composition of neutral and tiny residues might be the general stability mechanisms for their adaptation to pH extremes. Based on this, we presented a secondary structure amino acid composition method for extracting useful features from sequence. The overall prediction accuracy evaluated by the 10-fold cross-validation reached 80.3%. Comparing our method with other feature extraction methods, the improvement of the overall prediction accuracy ranged from 9.4% to 18.7%. The random forests algorithm also outperformed other machine learning techniques with an improvement ranging from 2.7% to 21.8%.


The two-way satellite time and frequency transfer (TWSTFT) is a precise time transfer technique and has being used to generate the TAI since 1999. Nowadays, TWSTFT links have formed a worldwide network and the large amount of TWSTFT data become highly redundant. To fully utilize the data of TWSTFT network and improve the TWSTFT results, a feasible method of processing data is proposed in this paper. According to the stability of each link, we assign a weighting value to each related equation and then solve the matrix equation with the weighted least squares method. We perform data analysis with practical time transfer data, and the results show that it is an effective method to improve the TWSTFT results.


In this paper, we introduce a new method for detecting and estimating faults on a power line using the time-frequency domain reflectometry system. The system rests upon time-frequency signal analysis and uses a chirp signal which is multiplied by Gaussian envelope. The chirp signal is used as a reference signal, and we can get the reflected signal from a fault on a wire. To detect and estimate faults, we analyze the reflected signal by Wigner time-frequency distribution function and normalized time-frequency cross correlation function. In this paper we design an optimal reference signal for power line and implement a system for estimating fault distance on a power line with the TFDR implemented by PXI equipments. This approach is verified by some experiments with HIV 2.25mm power lines.


Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) has been comparatively recently isolated as the separate nosologic diagnosis. This disease is characterized by the feeling of burning, dryness, numbness, pricking and seldom by pain in the tongue or mouth cavity area (palate, lips, alveoli) without any changes in mucous membrane. Absence of visible causes of the disease complicates its treatment and makes the patients to address the physicians of various profiles, often without any result. All the above stated made the authors to define the etiologic factors of various clinical versions of BMS and to carry out their differential diagnostics along with the development of pathogenetic therapy of BMS. 30 women of 40 to 70 year of age were examined. According to the anamnesis, BMS was developing gradually and in most cases it was associated with the aggravation of the existing disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, aggravation of climacteric state) or with deterioration of psycho-emotional sphere due to conflicting situation. The carried out studies enabled the authors to select and divide patients with BMS into groups according to clinical values and the etiologic factors. In most cases diverse clinical versions of the burning mouth syndrome are cause-and-effect expressions of various somatic diseases, the timely determination and adequate therapy of which give the best results in the struggle against BMS.


The folding process defines three‐dimensional protein structures from their amino acid chains. A protein's structure determines its activity and properties; thus knowing such conformation on an atomic level is essential for both basic and applied studies of protein function and dynamics. However, the acquisition of such structures by experimental methods is slow and expensive, and current computational methods mostly depend on previously known structures to determine new ones. Here we present a new software called GSAFold that applies the generalized simulated annealing (GSA) algorithm on ab initio protein structure prediction. The GSA is a stochastic search algorithm employed in energy minimization and used in global optimization problems, especially those that depend on long‐range interactions, such as gravity models and conformation optimization of small molecules. This new implementation applies, for the first time in ab initio protein structure prediction, an analytical inverse for the Visitation function of GSA. It also employs the broadly used NAMD Molecular Dynamics package to carry out energy calculations, allowing the user to select different force fields and parameterizations. Moreover, the software also allows the execution of several simulations simultaneously. Applications that depend on protein structures include rational drug design and structure‐based protein function prediction. Applying GSAFold in a test peptide, it was possible to predict the structure of mastoparan‐X to a root mean square deviation of 3.00 Å. Proteins 2012; © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Here we employ a novel method for preparing the homogeneous copper pyrophosphate nanocrystals inside silica mesopores. In order to characterize and identify synthesized nanocrystals we performed the ab initio studies of the α phase of Cu2P2O7. The electronic and crystal structure were optimized within the density functional theory with the strong electron interactions in the 3d states on copper atoms and van der Waals corrections included in calculations. The relaxed lattice parameters and atomic positions agree very well with the results of the diffraction measurements for nanocrystalline copper pyrophosphates embedded inside SBA-15 silica pores. The obtained Mott insulating state with the energy gap of 3.17 eV exhibits the antiferromagnetic order with magnetic moments on copper atoms (0.8 μB ) that is compatible with the experimental studies. The phonon dispersion relations were obtained to study the dynamical properties of the Cu2P2O7 lattice and the element-specific atomic vibrations were analyzed using the partial phonon density of states. The calculated Raman spectrum revealed the consistency of typical bands of Cu2P2O7 with the experimental data. The investigation that combines a new synthesis of nanomaterials with the first-principles calculations is important for better characterization and understanding of the physical properties relevant for nanotechnological applications.


A new type of 2D metal-organic framework (MOF), namely Cu-MOF, was constructed from Cu(NO3)2·3H2O and the novel ligand 1,4-bis(4-naphthoic acid)benzene. The C-Hπ interactions in the Cu-MOF effectively reduced aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) due to restrictions in intramolecular motion (RIM), increased fluorescence, and controlled crystal packing properties, resulting in low dimensional parallelogram channels and a responsive "turn-on" fluorescence. The activated Cu-MOF exhibited excellent chemical sensing properties to various volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and showed excellent recyclability.


Current problems in parent broiler chickens caused by the new avian leukosis virus subgroup J are described. The possibilities and limitations of diagnosing avian leukosis, and in particular that caused by the J subgroup virus, are reviewed and the eradication of the disease is discussed.


On 8 February 1865, Mendel read a paper entitled Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden before the Naturforschender Verein in Brunn. The audience consisted of about forty; there was no discussion. At a further meeting on the following 8 March, he discussed the interpretation of his results and their significance. It is not too much to claim that this communication, which was the foundation of the science of genetics and introduced mathematics and the theory of probability into the study of inheritance, represented an advance of knowledge in biological science of an order of magnitude comparable with that of evolution by natural selection. As will be seen below, these two discoveries had the most important bearing on each other, but this was not reahzed except by Mendel himself and by biologists generally after the year 1930. Mendel's paper was printed and published in 1866 but remained ignored and forgotten for thirty-four years. Now, one hundred years after its announcement to an inattentive and unappreciative world of science, it is possible to appraise it at its true worth. This is largely owing to the experiments, demonstrations, and conclusions of Sir Ronald Fisher, F.R.S., who, in 1930, brought out the full significance of Mendel's work, which will be referred to below. First, however, it is necessary to consider with as rigorous precision as possible exactly what it was that Mendel did, and how he did it. Here again, it was Fisher who undertook this investigation when he subjected Mendel's paper to close scrutiny from the combined points of view of genetics, statistics, and the history of science.


In this book it is analyzed to what extent the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have influenced international, regional and national frameworks and the conduct of companies and if John Ruggie has succeeded in developing practicable Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Guiding Principles and their three pillars – protect, respect and remedy – are described in detail. Furthermore the different legal frameworks are analyzed. On the international level, it is dealt with the relation of the Guiding Principles and the UN Global Compact, the OECD Guidelines, ISO 26000 and the IFC Performance Standards. On the regional level, it is displayed to what extent the European Union and the Council of Europe implement the Guiding Principles. On the national level, it is focused on Austria and the constitution and functioning of the National Contact Point is described. The corporate conduct of two TNCs, Nokia and the Adidas Group, is investigated and if it is in accordance with the Guiding Principles. Therefore, the due diligence process of Nokia, the human rights complaint mechanism of the Adidas Group and the human rights policies of both companies are analyzed.


Synthesis of the unconventional phase of noble metal nanocrystals may create new opportunities in exploring intriguing physicochemical properties but remains challenging. In the research field of thin film growth, the interface strain offers a general driving force to stabilize the metastable phase of epitaxial film. Herein we extend this concept to the field of noble metal nanocrystals and report the solution synthesis of metastable face-centered tetragonal Au that has not been discovered before. The successful synthesis relies on the formation of intermetallic AuCu3@Au core-shell structure, where the interface strain stabilizes the metastable fct Au overlayer. Compared with the face-centered cubic Au counterpart, the metastable fct Au shows greatly improved catalytic activity toward CO2 reduction to CO. The density functional theory calculations and spectroscopic studies reveal that the metastable fct Au upshifts the d-band center, which lowers the energy barrier of key intermediate COOH* formation and thus facilitates the reaction kinetics.


A field experiment was conducted at Research Area of Institute of Soil ad Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during year 2004 with the objective to determine the effect of tillage and Farm Yard Manure on soil tilth at sandy clay loam soil. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Blocked Design with four replications having split plot arrangement. Three tillage aspects (Deep tillage (DP), Conventional tillage (CT) and Minimum tillage (MT) and three Farm Yard Manure levels (20 Mg ha-1, 40 Mg ha-1 and control) were used as media of research. The tillage methods were kept in the main plots and FYM levels in subplots. The results revealed that tillage methods significantly increases the soil physical properties as increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity in deep tillage method and decrease in bulk density of soil was noted. The farm yard manure (FYM) also affected the physical properties as it increased saturated hydraulic conductivity. The maximum supply of nitrogen contents (0.079%) was recorded in case of application of FYM (40 Mg ha-1) during minimum tillage.


We report gravity oscillations of a liquid column partially immersed in a bath of liquid. We stress some peculiarities of this system, namely (i) the fact that the mass of this oscillator constantly changes with time; (ii) the singular character of the beginning of the rise, for which the mass of the oscillator is zero; (iii) the sources of dissipation in this system, which is found to be dominated at low viscosity by the entrance (or exit) effects, leading to a long-range damping of the oscillations. We conclude with some qualitative descriptions of a second-order phenomenon, which is the eruption of a jet at the beginning of the rise.


This qualitative study explored the gendered constructions of good management by men school leaders. The research participants were 30 men school leaders in Israel, selected through purposive sampling. The study aimed to identify the dominant discourses of masculinity and how they shaped ideal school leadership practices. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants and used thematic analysis to explore the data. The findings suggest that the participants constructed good management using two prototypes of masculinity: hegemonic and caring. Hegemonic masculinity was associated with traditional managerial styles, such as being focused on the task and achieving excellence, using charismatic-visionary behaviours and a focus on resources and organizational structure. By contrast, caring masculinity involves more empowering behaviour styles, concern for others, and the distribution of power. To be regarded as good managers, some participants adopted an androgynous management style, indicating the ongoing struggles associated with the gender experiences of current men leaders.


Every improvement in infrared detector sensitivity afforded by modern technology amplifies apparent background "clutter", and complicates the task of designing target/background discrimination algorithms for autonomous surveillance systems. To the extent that background clutter rather than detector sensitivity limits over-all performance, the sensitivity inherent in the detector is not being fully exploited. In this paper we design adaptive threshold point target detectors that operate in the background-shot-noise-limited regime against structured backgrounds.


executive summary The value within the terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica and the management and conservation implemented is a pressing topic as the intensifying human footprint makes consideration of this issue more urgent. Investigation of the Protected Areas system of the Antarctic Treaty demonstrates that microbial habitats are poorly protected. There is no other region on Earth that is dominated to a similar extent by microbial life. This presents an opportunity to develop and integrate new mechanisms of conservation and management of terrestrial biota on a continental scale. This account examines the reliability of tools of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), including the Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs), and the Antarctic Conservation Biogeographic Regions (ACBRs) and highlights possible threats to Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Analysis of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty Database (ATS, 2019) showed that of the 73 ASPAs only 7 were created specifically for the management and protection of the terrestrial ecosystem, 27 ASPAs were created with terrestrial ecosystem values as a part of their management plans and 38 did not list terrestrial ecosystem values within their management plans at all. The study demonstrates that there is scope to enhance the management and protection of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems and these improvements must be considered urgently and implemented before ecosystem disturbance is irreversible.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in adolescent population with National Health and Nutrition Survey 2018-19 data.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Questionnaire for adolescents (10 to 19 years old) was analyzed and carry out a stratified analysis and a logistic regression model adjusted for variables of interest.

RESULTS
The prevalence of CSA in adolescent population is 2.5% (3.8% for women and 1.2% for men). Among women, CSA was associated with age, marital status, locality type, excessive alcohol consumption, depressive symptomatol-ogy and suicidal thoughts. Among men, CSA was associated with socioeconomical level, depressive symptomatology and suicidal thoughts.

CONCLUSIONS
Studies with greater preci-sion and periodicity as well as access to health and justice services are urgent.


Analysis of the legal nature of Air transportation contract plays an important role in identifying tasks and the domain of the organization which is responsible for transportation. The evolution of legislation applied including Warsaw convention 1929, the Hague protocol 1955 has changed the different analysis and established an independent identity to Air transportation contract inspired by the traditional in the light of developments in the aviation industry and new ideas that guarantee the rights of the parties especially passenger .This new nature subsequently has provided a context for the new ideas discussions especially in responsibility of transport carrier.  This paper aims to discuss the nature of Air transportation contract and its impact on responsibility of transportation carrier according to regulations and legal system of Iran.


ABSTRACT During the course of investigating the effects of lysogeny on niche diversification of Escherichia coli, we used the temperate phages induced from one E. coli strain to infect another and created an isogenic lysogen of the latter. The draft genome sequences of the three E. coli strains are reported herein.


We present a set of concise formulas for dielectronic recombination rate coefficients of the He-like isoelectronic sequence for ions from B3+ to Xe52+ in the electron temperature range from 0.1 keV to 70keV. These formulas are obtained by fitting the directly computed dielectronic recombination rate coefficients on the basis of the relativistic intermediate-coupling MCDF model made by M. H. Chen and J. Nilsen. The reproduced dielectronic recombination rate coefficients are in close agreement with the original results of Chen. The errors are generally less than 5%. Our formulas may be used easily to obtain dielectronic recombination rate coefficients for other members of the He-like isoelectronic sequence between B3+ and Xe52+ in which explicit calculation are unavailable. The detailed results are tabulated and discussed.


Operations research methods have been applied to the modeling and the solution of numerous problems in insurance and actuarial science. This paper reviews the applications of these operations research methods in the insurance industry. The paper is organized according to the categorization of operations research methods. Specifically, various mathematical programming models and their applications are first introduced. Game theory and some new operations research approaches are discussed, along with their applications in insurance and actuarial science. The paper concludes with a general discussion of developments and trends in operations research and insurance. For the student who has studied specific operations research techniques mandated by the SOA examination system, this paper provides a set of examples of techniques pertinent to actuaries and shows how the expanding field of general quantitative reasoning in risk management can have a positive impact on the insurance industry. For research actuaries, we finally present an updated bibliography of operations research applications in insurance cross-classified by authors, operations research methodologies, and insurance areas of application.


This paper is devoted to the application of specialized processors for speeding-up the realization of relational algebra operations on fine-grain SIMD computers. A short description of two processors is presented. By means of a special high level language STAR, the algorithms of implementation of relational algebra operations are described in a STARAN-like computer model, and then in the same model with attached processors. The comparison is made, corroborating the efficiency of the proposed co-processors.<<ETX>>


A study of optical absorption, photoconductivity and photodecomposition in lead iodide has indicated that excitons are produced by the interaction of visible light with this material. These excitons are mobile and interact with lattice defects to produce chemical decomposition. The experiments on photodecomposition described in this paper are consistent with a mechanism in which two excitons react at a preferred site to give a molecule of iodine, two anion vacancies and a lead atom. The preferred sites are thought to be anion vacancies situated at surface imperfections. The factors influencing the growth of these centres of decomposition from atomic to microscopic dimensions are discussed. The exciton mechanism is consistent with observations on both the distribution of decomposition products and the kinetics of the decomposition process. A number of images, recorded on lead iodide, are reproduced in this paper to demonstrate the potential applications of the decomposition process in the fields of image recording and high resolution photography.


We study a crowdsourcing problem where the platform aims to incentivize distributed workers to provide high-quality and truthful solutions without the ability to verify the solutions. While most prior work assumes that the platform and workers have symmetric information, we study an asymmetric information scenario where the platform has informational advantages. Specifically, the platform knows more information regarding workers' average solution accuracy, and can strategically reveal such information to workers. Workers will utilize the announced information to determine the likelihood that they obtain a reward if exerting effort on the task. We study two types of workers: (1) naive workers who fully trust the announcement, and (2) strategic workers who update prior belief based on the announcement. For naive workers, we show that the platform should always announce a high average accuracy to maximize its payoff. However, this is not always optimal for strategic workers, as it may reduce the credibility of the platform's announcement and hence reduce the platform's payoff. Interestingly, the platform may have an incentive to even announce an average accuracy lower than the actual value when facing strategic workers. Another counter-intuitive result is that the platform's payoff may decrease in the number of high-accuracy workers.


Tax competition within the EU is flercer than in the rest of the OECD with tax rates falling rapidly. This paper analyzes tax responses of EU-15 countries to corporate tax changes in the EU-10 new member states as a function of their proximity to these new member states. The average corporate tax rate in the new member states has always been considerably lower than the average in the EU-15 countries. Their entry into the EU eliminated capital barriers, allowing flrms to locate in one of the new EU-10 with full access to the European Market. Our results indicate that EU-15 countries geographically closer to the new member states respond stronger to corporate tax changes in these new member states. We use a theoretical and a spatial regression framework to test the hypothesis that distance to a low tax region intensifles countries' tax reaction functions.


A series of tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivatives based on hexakisphenylbenzene backbone (HPB-nTPE, n=2, 4, 6) were synthesized by cobalt carbonyl-catalyzed cyclotrimerization of alkynes with 1,2-bis(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)ethyne and 1,2-bis(4'-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)-(1,1'-biphenyl)-4-yl)ethyne (TPE-TPE) as starting materials. By varying the ratio of the starting materials, HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) with 2, 4 or 6 TPE substituents were obtained. The structures of HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) were characterized by IR, 1 H NMR and MALDI-TOF mass spectra. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) show that the decomposition temperatures of HPB-nTPE are all above 440 ℃, indicative of high thermal stability of HPB-nTPE. The photophysical properties of the tetrahydrofuran solution, the aggregate and the neat solid of HPB-nTPE were investigated. The aggregates of HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) were obtained in tetrahydrofuran/water mixed solvents with various volume fractions of water, which was confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM). HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) show typical aggregation induced emission properties, almost non-emissive in tetrahydrofuran solu- tion, but strongly emissive in the aggregate or solid state. The highest fluorescence quantum yields for HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) in aggregate state are 0.37, 0.36 and 0.37, respectively, which are more than 400 times higher than that in tetrahydrofuran. The quantum yields of the neat solid of HPB-nTPE (n=2, 4, 6) are determined to be 0.39, 0.36 and 0.36, which are ca. 1.8 times of that of the neat solid of tetraphenylethylene. Both restrictions of the intramolecular rotation of phenyl rings and the inter/intramolecular π-π stacking of the TPE chromophores caused by the star-shape rigidity structure of hexakisphenylben- zene suppress the nonradiative transition, consequently, giving higher fluorescence quantum yield of the aggregates and the neat solid of HPB-nTPE in comparison with TPE. This work is of importance for developing highly emissive organic materi- als in solid states. Keywords tetraphenylethylene; hexakisphenylbenzene; aggregation induced emission; nanoaggregate


Abstract Introduction There is a substantial amount of evidence to support the role of long chain omega-3 fatty acids in the maintenance of optimal health and in the prevention of chronic disease. While many chronic conditions are not gender specific, there are emerging studies based on cohorts of women, specifically relevant to women's health. Additionally, maternal and infant consumption of long chain omega-3 fatty acids as a part of a healthy and balanced diet can have lifelong effects on health outcomes. This review is a comprehensive look at research into the health benefits of long chain omega-3 fatty acids on women's health. Research on female cohorts and that relating to issues specific to women's health are reviewed. Conclusion Research shows clear benefits to women's health from consumption of the marine sourced long chain omega-3 fatty acids. Evidence pertains to reductions in all-cause morbidity, coronary heart and cardiovascular disease, mental health including depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, dysmenorrhoea and infant cognitive development.


We demonstrate how a target model's generalization gap leads directly to an effective deterministic black box membership inference attack (MIA). This provides an upper bound on how secure a model can be to MIA based on a simple metric. Moreover, this attack is shown to be optimal in the expected sense given access to only certain likely obtainable metrics regarding the network's training and performance. Experimentally, this attack is shown to be comparable in accuracy to state-of-art MIAs in many cases.


PICARD is a scientific space mission dedicated to the study of the solar variability origin. A French micro-satellite will carry an imaging telescope for measuring the solar diameter, limb shape and solar oscillations, and two radiometers for measuring the total solar irradiance and the irradiance in five spectral domains, from ultraviolet to infrared. The mission is planed to be launched in 2009 for a 3-year duration. This article presents the PICARD Payload Data Centre, which role is to collect, process and distribute the PICARD data. The Payload Data Centre is a joint project between laboratories, space agency and industries. The Belgian scientific policy office funds the industrial development and future operations under the European Space Agency program. The development is achieved by the SPACEBEL Company. The Belgian operation centre is in charge of operating the PICARD Payload Data Centre. The French space agency leads the development in partnership with the French scientific research centre, which is responsible for providing all the scientific algorithms. The architecture of the PICARD Payload Data Centre (software and hardware) is presented. The software system is based on a Service Oriented Architecture. The host structure is made up of the basic functions such as data management, task scheduling and system supervision including a graphical interface used by the operator to interact with the system. The other functions are mission-specific: data exchange (acquisition, distribution), data processing (scientific and non-scientific processing) and managing the payload (programming, monitoring). The PICARD Payload Data Centre is planned to be operated for 5 years. All the data will be stored into a specific data centre after this period.


This paper deals with recognizing the indicators significant for early selection in handball. The sample consisted of 311 selected young players (175 males and 136 females), of the ages of between 12 and 16, who had trained handball for a minimum of 3 years. They have been tested by assemblies of young representative selections of the Handball Federation of Vojvodina. Three anthropometric variables were applied (Mass, Height, BMI), 8 tests of the Eurofit battery for the evaluation of motor abilities, and 3 tests with a ball that contained basic technical elements of handball. A factorial analysis for both genders was conducted individually, in order to establish model characteristics of young handball male and female athletes. For the subsample of girls, where three qualitatively different groups existed (the national, regional and club level), a canonical analysis was also conducted. Both subsamples resulted in a bi-component structure. With boys, the first component was formed from general motor skills, and the second from physical dimensionality. With girls, both components were similarly saturated, but they had reversed hierarchy (the first factor was formed from anthropometric, and the second from motor skills variables). A boy and a girl that are distinguished from their peers by a higher physical strength and larger physical constitution were used as the typical model of beginner handball players. In the sub-sample of girls, two canonical factors were gained, but neither was significantly discriminable. The Eurofit battery of tests did not prove to be discriminatory enough in the selection of young handball players.


Abstract A major focus for transportation safety analysts is the development of crash prediction models, a task for which an extremely wide selection of model types is available. Perhaps the most common crash prediction model is the negative binomial (NB) regression model. The NB model gained popularity due to its relative ease of implementation and its ability to handle overdispersion in crash data. Recently, many new models including the Poisson-Inverse-Gaussian, Sichel, Poisson-Lognormal, and Poisson-Weibull models have been introduced as they can also accommodate overdispersion and could potentially replace the NB model, because many have been found to perform better. All five of the aforementioned models, including the NB model, can be classified as mixed-Poisson models. A mixed-Poisson model arises when an error term, following a chosen mixture distribution, enters the functional form for the Poisson parameter. For the NB model, the mixture distribution is selected as gamma, hence the alternate model name of Poisson-Gamma model. In this paper, confidence intervals (CIs) for the Poisson mean ( ) as well as prediction intervals (PIs) for the Poisson parameter ( alternately referred to as the safety), and the predicted number of crashes at a new site ( ) are derived for each of the aforementioned types of mixed-Poisson models. After the derivations, the theory is put into practice when CIs and PIs are estimated for mixed-Poisson models developed from an animal-vehicle collision data set. Ultimately, this study provides safety analysts with tools to express levels of uncertainty associated with estimates from safety-modeling efforts instead of simply providing point estimates.


Gut microbiota play a critical role in the development of intestinal cancer. Dietary changes cause dysbiosis of gut microbiota that mediates production of dietary factors triggering intestinal cancer. Genetic and dietary factors work in different combinatorial ways in initiation and progression of intestinal cancer, one of which is changes in gut microbiota. Recently, it has been found that high-fat-diet promote intestinal tumorigenesis in a genetically susceptible K-ras mice without induction of obesity. High-fat-diet along with oncogene activation dampened paneth-cell mediated immunity and thus shift bacterial communities in such a way that promotes intestinal cancer.


Jimson weed is a hallucinogenic plant that is common in rural areas. Consumption of any part of the plant can result in severe anticholinergic toxicity. The clinical presentation of jimson weed toxicity is similar to that seen in cases of atropine poisoning. Treatment is aimed at removing plant material from the gastrointestinal tract, keeping the patient safe and reversing severe anticholinergic sequelae.