Turbulent flow control of three types of flow is numerically studied using hybrid RANS/LES approaches. Flow control effect and control mechanisms are studied through both instantaneous and statistically-averaged flow properties. Behaviours of hybrid RANS/LES methods in these three types of flow are also investigated.

Flow over a backward facing step is investigated, with piezoelectric actuators implemented on the step to control flow separation and recirculation. The simulation results agree well with the experiments. For the controlled flow, a slightly reduced primary recirculation between two adjacent actuators was observed. In the exploring study of actuators with a control velocity similar to the free stream flow, counter-rotating vortex pairs are generated, interacting with the separated shear layer. The primary recirculation becomes much smaller, and the recovered flow has a smaller skin friction.

Pitched and skewed jet vortex generators are applied to the NACA0015 aerofoil to study their control effect on the trailing edge separation induced by a gradual adverse pressure gradient. Both the simulation and experiments show that after a certain time, the originally separated flow is forced to be attached by the blowing jets. The lift coefficient is enhanced and the drag coefficient is reduced. When the jets are switched off, the fully attached flow recovers to the originally separated flow. The jet-removal process has about 70% longer transient time than the jet-deployment process.

Flow through fractal orifices in pipes is studied to investigate the passive control effect of the orifice geometries in flow mixing and decay. The simulation results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. With a higher fractal level, the vena contracta velocity decreases and the unrecoverable pressure loss becomes smaller. The higher level fractal orifices generate more organized vortices, maintaining a high turbulent kinetic energy for a longer distance and a slower decay. Axis-switching is observed for all these fractal orifices.


There is no assumption of marriage in South African law in consequence of cohabitation regardless of the duration of the relationship. Our law does not give automatic rights to partners in a cohabitation relationship. If one of the parties dies without leaving a will for instance, the domestic partner is not legally entitled to inherit or to claim maintenance from the deceased's estate. An aggrieved party would have to go to court to show that the parties were partners in a "universal partnership" and that the one party owes something to the other. The question that often arises is whether any mechanisms exist for the division of assets accumulated in a cohabitation situation on separation of the parties. If parties have cohabited and they can prove that a tacit universal partnership exists between them, all property of such apartnership is deemed to be jointly owned by the parties and debts are the joint liability of the parties. The issue as to whether a tacit universal partnership extends beyond commercial undertakings and whether the contribution by each party must be confined to profit-making has been the subject of much debate by our courts but has finally been decided by the court in the cases of Ponelat v Schrepfer (2012 (1) SA 206 (SCA)) and Butters v Mncora (181/2011) [2012] ZASCA 29 (28 March 2012)).


The authors examine the possibility of improving the quality of speech obtained with continuously variable slope delta-modulation (CVSD), a speech coding method that has been quite widely employed in mobile radios. CVSD is well-known for its robustness and implementation simplicity, but the quality of the resultant speech (commonly at 16 kbps) is often not very satisfactory. Through their study, the authors obtain two crucial findings on the characteristics of the disturbancehoise introduced by CVSD. Based on their findings, they develop a method for estimating the short-time power spectra of CVSD noise, and this enables them to apply existing speech enhancement methods to effectively suppress CVSD noise. Performance assessments based on objective measures such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), segmental SNR, and COSH distortion measure, and informal subjective listening tests have all indicated significant improvements in speech quality.


This paper presents an artefactual field experiment with craftsmen working on renovation projects to assess the effect of training programs and incentive schemes on coordination. Workers frequently fail to coordinate their tasks when not supervised by a project coordinator. This is particularly important in the construction sector where it leads to a lack of final performance in buildings. We introduce two different incentives: a first contract paying craftsmen only according to their individual performance, and a second contract paying a group of three craftsmen with a weak-link payment according to the group's worst performance. In addition, we test these incentives on two different subject groups: one is composed of craftsmen trained to coordinate their tasks, and the others are not. The results suggest that trained subjects coordinate at significantly higher effort levels than non-trained subjects when facing an individual-based incentive. However, when facing a group-based incentive, non-trained subjects seem to "catch up" trained subjects in terms of coordination level, while these latter subjects do not significantly increase their performance level.


The gas-phase irradiation of CpRh(CO)2 (Cp = η5-C5H5) was examined in order to study the rates of reaction of the 16-electron intermediates presumed to be involved in the C-H oxidative addition of alkanes. "Naked" (unsolvated) CpRh(CO) was detected, and direct measurements of the rates of reaction of this very short-lived complex with alkane C-H bonds were made. Activation of C-H bonds occurs on almost every collision for alkanes of moderate size, and intermediates in which the alkanes are bound to the metal centers, without their C-H bonds being fully broken, are implicated as intermediates in the overall reaction.


Equine asthma and particularly severe equine asthma are commonly diagnosed diseases in adult horses. Exacerbations are triggered mostly by inhalation of environmental allergens that are most commonly found in hay, but also in other feed and bedding. The disease is incurable, so the use of all potentially helpful methods is required. The diet is a modifiable environmental factor that has a significant impact on the homeostasis of the organism. The aim of the study was to analyze selected components of the diet that could be useful in prevention and supportive therapy of equine asthma. Taking into account the nature of the disease, as well as the medical history and clinical condition of the patient, the effects of treatment can be improved by selecting appropriate feed and supplements. The most important components of a diet suitable for asthmatic horses include high quality, not dusty hay or haylage, antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids.


Fingerprint biometric security system identifies the unique property in human being and matching with template stored in database. Fingerprint details are generally defined in three levels i.e. Level 1 (Pattern), Level 2(Minutiae points) and Level 3 (pores and contour ridges). Level 3 features are barely used by automated fingerprint verification system. This research paper presents a Level 3 fingerprint matching system. In this paper, we deal with pores for matching with template. With the local pore model, a SIFT algorithm is used to match the pores with template. Experiments on a good quality fingerprint dataset are performed and the results demonstrate that the proposed Level 3 features matching model performed more accurately and robustly.


The impact of a radio-over-fibre subsystem on the total degradation (TD) performance of downlink wideband code-division multiple access with near-far effect is evaluated. The study investigates the use of pilot-aided channel estimation to compensate for the optical subsystem non-linearities for different channel conditions, estimation intervals, load factors (LFs) and near-far factors (NFFs). The results show that pilot-aided channel estimation is an effective method for compensating the composite impairments of the optical subsystem and the radio frequency channel. It is found that there is always a suitable quiescent point that optimises the system performance regardless of aforementioned conditions, however, the optimum achievable performance depends on the LF, spreading factor (SF) and NFF. Also, LF has more impact on the system performance in comparison to SF. Further, the optimum TD performance is only slightly affected by a decrease in the estimation interval over the optimum output backoff range.


An advanced computational approach to determination of the electron-collisional strengths and cross-sections for atomic ions in the Debye plasmas is presented and used to calculate effective collision strengths of the Kr26+ Ne-like ion excitation states for temperature T=5×106K and density ne==1014cm−3 . The obtained results are compared with the R-matrix data by Griffin et al and other theoretical estimates. The approach is based on the generalized relativistic energy formalism and relativistic many-body perturbation theory with the Debye shielding model Hamiltonian for electron-nuclear and electron-electron systems. The optimized one-electron representation in the perturbation theory zeroth approximation is constructed by means of the correct treating the gauge dependent multielectron contribution of the lowest perturbation theory corrections to the radiation widths of atomic levels.


The objective of this paper is to examine the CCI's reasoning and approach in patent – related cases, in light of (i) the legislative framework governing competition and patent law in India, (ii) the economic theories that govern the intersection between antitrust and patent law, and (iii) the manner in which competition agencies in comparative jurisdictions have dealt with similar agreements and conduct by a patent holder.Part 1 of this paper deals with an analysis of the distinction between sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act 2002, in light of the CCI's tendency to conflate issues pertaining to abuse of dominance and evaluation of anti-competitive agreement involving patents. Part 2 deals with constraints on pricing imposed in several CCI rulings. Part 3 deals with nonprice licensing restrictions as constituting abuse of dominance. Part 4 deals with cases involving a refusal to deal where products are protected by IP rights or proprietary technologies. Part 5 deals with the practice of price discrimination in unified systems markets dominated by intellectual property.


Atopic diseases, including atopic asthma, are characterized by T helper cell (Th)2 cytokine pathology. The increased prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases, as well as Th1-associated conditions, is linked to 'excessive' hygiene. Several new immunomodulatory strategies in asthma and allergy, such as peptide therapy and DNA vaccines, show promise and are under clinical evaluation. They appear to exert their effects by producing a Th2 to Th1 shift, as well as inducing regulatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor-beta. There is no evidence that such approaches are associated with Th1 pathology in humans, although lung inflammation induced by Th1 cells has been observed in mice. IL-10 plays a key regulatory role in dampening both Th2- and Th1-associated diseases. Failure to stimulate regulatory responses could explain the rising trends in allergy and autoimmunity, and also partly explain the mode of action of allergen-injection immunotherapy and new immunomodulatory approaches.


BACKGROUND
In 2017, a "Muslim ban" on immigrants to the United States was coupled with a continued rise in Islamophobia and hate crimes toward Muslims. Islamophobia undermines health equity, yet delineating the effects of Islamophobia globally is challenging as it affects a myriad of groups (geographically, racially, and socially). Additionally, stereotypes equate all Muslims with populations from the Middle East and South Asia. To date, health research pays insufficient attention to Islamophobia, Muslims, and those racialized to be Muslim.

OBJECTIVES
This literature review advances our understanding of racism and health by examining the racialization of religion, by specifically examining Islamophobia as a form of discrimination.

SEARCH METHODS
Per PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a search in October 2017 using PubMed-MEDLINE and a combination of terms. We identified additional articles using other search engines. For inclusion, articles needed to include a descriptor of discrimination, contain an identifier of Muslim or Muslim-like identity (i.e., groups commonly perceived as Muslim, including Arabs, Middle Easterners, North Africans, and South Asians), include a health outcome, be in English, and be published between 1990 and 2017.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We identified 111 unique peer-reviewed articles. We excluded articles that did not meet the following criteria: (1) examined Islamophobia, discrimination, or racism among a Muslim or Muslim-like population; (2) included a health outcome or discussion of health disparities; and (3) was conducted in North America, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand. This yielded 53 articles.

RESULTS
The majority of studies (n = 34; 64%) were quantitative. The remaining studies were qualitative (n = 7; 13%), mixed methods (n = 2; 4%), or reviews (n = 10; 19%). Most studies were based in the United States (n = 31; 58%). Nearly half of the reviewed studies examined mental health (n = 24; 45%), and one fourth examined physical health or health behaviors (n = 13; 25%). Others focused on both physical and mental health (n = 10; 19%) or health care seeking (n = 7; 13%). Studies showed associations between Islamophobia and poor mental health, suboptimal health behaviors, and unfavorable health care-seeking behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS
This study elucidates the associations between Islamophobia, health, and socioecological determinants of health. Future studies should examine the intersectional nature of Islamophobia and include validated measures, representative samples, subgroup analyses, and comparison groups. More methodologically rigorous studies of Islamophobia and health are needed. Public Health Implications. Addressing the discrimination-related poor health that Muslims and racialized Muslim-like subgroups experience is central to the goals of health equity and assurance of the fundamental right to health.


Since the collapse of the central government, Somalia has experienced civil war for decades. Although the country is now recovering from civil war and is in a fight against the Al Shabab terrorist group, corruption is a major barrier to getting strong institutions, which leads to political violence. Thus, this study aims to compare how corruption affects political development in a specific time period. The objective of the study is to know how corruption and political development move in a specific time period. During this study, we used a comparative research design by using secondary data obtained from two different sources; the corruption perceptions index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI) to measure corruption. While measuring political development, we used the World Bank database's Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI). Finally, the WGI variables were five and four of them didn't relate to corruption after comparison. But one of the sub variables relates directly to corruption, and it is government effectiveness. For all the years from 2012-2018, as you can see in the above tables, the two variables moved together. This means there is a significant relationship between corruption and government effectiveness.


Exploring the most task-friendly camera setting—optimal camera placement (OCP) problem—in tasks that use multiple cameras is of great importance. However, few existing OCP solutions specialize in depth observation of indoor scenes, and most versatile solutions work offline. To this problem, an OCP online solution to depth observation of indoor scenes based on reinforcement learning is proposed in this paper. The proposed solution comprises a simulation environment that implements scene observation and reward estimation using shadow maps and an agent network containing a soft actor-critic (SAC)-based reinforcement learning backbone and a feature extractor to extract features from the observed point cloud layer-by-layer. Comparative experiments with two state-of-the-art optimization-based offline methods are conducted. The experimental results indicate that the proposed system outperforms seven out of ten test scenes in obtaining lower depth observation error. The total error in all test scenes is also less than 90% of the baseline ones. Therefore, the proposed system is more competent for depth camera placement in scenarios where there is no prior knowledge of the scenes or where a lower depth observation error is the main objective.


For the author, the view of the negro problem by the social scientists in Cuba has made a strong influence in the poetry of Nicolas Guillen and Gaston Baquero. Such influence has resulted in what the author calis the "poetics of the Identity".


This article explores some of the central methodological issues connected with ideological readings of the Bible through reflecting upon the contrary interpretations of Genesis 34 offered, on the one hand, by Danna Fewell and David Gunn (which, they claim, is made from the standpoint of a "feminist" ideology) and, on the other hand, by Meir Sternberg (whose reading is charged by Fewell and Gunn with being "androcentric"). After assessing the exegetical disagreements between them, it is argued that both readings are deficient in being over-narrowly focused upon the question of the reader's feelings towards the characters of the story. A new interpretation is therefore offered, which sees the story as primarily concerned with exploring the issues of "crime and punishment." In the light of these exegetical studies it is argued that Fewell and Gunn's claim that all reading is necessarily ideological is undermined by their actual exegetical practice, which oscillates between (i) an objective, reader-independent style of exegesis which makes useful contributions to the understanding of Genesis 34 but offers nothing distinctively ideological; and (ii) a form of ideological "reading" which does not undermine but simply talks at cross-purposes to the doctrine of "foolproof composition" that Fewell and Gunn are attempting to refute. Their "reader-oriented" argument fails because it does not appreciate how the effects that a reader's own ideological presuppositions have upon his or her interpretations may be corrected by a sound exegetical methodology.


Hereditary and acquired thrombophilias are known risk factors for a first venous thromboembolism (VTE). In contrast, the relative risk of VTE recurrence in presence of hereditary thrombophilia seems to be at most moderately elevated. However, thrombophilia still contributes to a greater extent to the absolute risk of VTE recurrence. This is explained by the 20-50-fold increased risk of VTE in a subject after a first VTE when compared to the state without previous VTE. Testing for thrombophilia may therefore be helpful in patients at intermediate risk of recurrence in whom the finding of a "strong" thrombophilia can bring about a decision for long-term anticoagulation.


The authors propose a framework of unified planning of vision and motion with uncertainty. They use a probabilistic model to represent uncertainty and use statistical decision theory to make a unified plan of vision and motion. They describe a method of predicting the information acquired by a sensing operation and formulate the planning problem in a recurrence formula. They analyze vision-motion planning problem in a simple example and conclude that the combination of dynamic programming and hill-climbing is useful. Simulation results show the validity of the approach.<<ETX>>


A general strategy amenable to the strerocontrolled synthesis of complex, ring-expanded analogues of natural aminoglycosides has been developed. Central to the method is the utilization of septanosyl fluorides as glycosyl donors in facile and selective glycosylation reactions. The septanosyl fluorides proved to be the best choice for the glycosylations because of their accessibility and the scope of aglycones that they could glycosylate. Moreover, a high degree of stereoselectivity was observed in the glycosylations, exclusively giving 1,2-trans-glycosides. 2-Amino septanosyl fluorides were prepared from D-glucose, D-galactose, and D-mannose. Other routes to the septanosyl glyconjugates, especially with regard to alternate donor types, were systematically investigated. Since routes to the individual donor types were being explored, factors that exert a controlling influence on the acid-mediated cyclization of 1,6-hydroxy-aldehydes were determined. The newly prepared 2-amino septanosyl glycoconjugates illustrate the scope of the reaction and how it may be utilized for the preparation of other ring-expanded analogues of glycosylated natural products.


Anderson localization (AL) phenomena usually exists in systems with random potential. However, disorder-free quantum many-body systems with local conservation can also exhibit AL or even many-body localization transition. In this work, we show that the AL phase exists in a modified Kondo lattice without external random potential. The density of state, inverse participation ratio and temperature-dependent resistance are computed by classical Monte Carlo simulation, which uncovers the AL phase from previously studied Fermi liquid and Mott insulator regime. The occurrence of AL roots from quenched disorder formed by conservative localized moments. Interestingly, a many-body wavefunction is found, which captures elements in all three paramagnetic phases and is used to compute their quantum entanglement. In light of these findings, we expect the disorder-free AL phenomena can exit in generic translation-invariant quantum many-body systems.


The exercise therapy is a therapy of physiological reactions. Moving impulses can lead to direct or indirect functional reactions in different systems (i.e. neuromotor, cardiovascular etc.). As an aim within the therapy, exercise is used either under adaptive substituting or compensatory relieving. In order to reach economic and effective functional results, many aspects have to be considered many aspects, such as executing-, planning- and control criteria. They are demonstrated by means of selected samples of diseases and injuries of the locomotor apparatus.


This thesis aims to explain how the involvement of secondary parties affect the duration of intrastate armed conflicts. It argues that the acquisition of secondary support in favor of rebel groups is likely to lead to an extended duration of intrastate armed conflict. By granting a relatively weaker rebel group secondary support, a secondary party ought to directly alter the balance of power and capabilities in benefit for the rebels. The secondary party could thereby be able to level the balance of capabilities between a government and a rebel group, creating a situation in which the, at first, stronger government now have to face a rebel group capable of surviving longer. Using a structured focused comparison on two cases, the results find secondary support in the form of funding or economic support given to relatively weak rebels to be an important influence on extending the duration of intrastate armed conflicts. Nonetheless, further research might have to be made in order to fully understand the even more detailed mechanisms behind the strong influences of economic secondary support on conflict duration.


In a previous publication (O'Hara, 1985), I presented detailed measurements on the attenuation of elastic waves in fluid‐saturated Berea sandstone. These measurements were used in a systematic empirical study of the frequency dependence of attenuation as a function of external pressure applied to the sandstone, pore fluid pressure, and the saturated sandstone temperature. Two pore fluids were used in the study: a brine solution and n-heptane. I measured the attenuation of the extensional and torsional rod modes of cylindrical specimens of the sandstone at identical conditions of pressure and temperature for each of the two fluids.


Aberrant accumulation of proteoglycans, particularly versican, is a hallmark of vascular lesions and is potentially important in the development of myxomatous cardiac valve lesions. My overarching hypothesis is that the dysregulation of proteoglycan expression plays an important role in the pathogenesis of accelerated vascular disease and valvular heart disease. I tested three specific hypotheses relating to this overarching framework. First, that the overexpression of versican by smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is due to modulation of its expression by specific molecules present within the tissue microenvironment. Second, that versican is spatially associated with modified lipoproteins in human atheromatous disease. Third, that the exposure of cardiac valves to certain anorexigens (appetite suppressants) produces a proteoglycan-rich lesion morphologically distinct from lesions characterizing other valve diseases and related to the dysregulation of versican expression by myofibroblasts (MFBs). To address the first hypothesis, growth factor-mediated modulation of versican expression by rat aortic SMCs was examined. Treatment of SMCs with either epidermal growth factor (EGF) or insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) significantly upregulated versican mRNA levels and increased core protein expression. Stimulation of SMCs with a combination of EGF and IGF-I further increased versican expression. The oxidative status of lipoproteins present in coronary arteries from human heart allografts and their localization relative to versican and vessel wall cells were examined to address the second hypothesis. Lipoproteins in mild and severe lesions were oxidatively modified, although certain forms of oxidative modification only appeared in severe lesions. The oxidized lipoproteins were often associated with versican and intimal SMCs. The third hypothesis was addressed by examining the geometric and compositional characteristics of normal and diseased heart valves. Valves excised from patients exposed to anorexigens exhibited a glycosaminoglycan-rich lesion distinct from lesions characterizing other myxomatous valve diseases. The myxomatous process was present in both the valve onlays and


Symmetry is an important mathematical concept which plays an extremely important role as a problem-solving technique. Nevertheless, symmetry is rarely used in secondary school in solving mathematical problems. Several investigations demonstrate that secondary school mathematics teachers are not aware enough of the importance of this elegant problem-solving tool. In this paper we present examples of problems from several branches of mathematics that can be solved using different types of symmetry. Teachers' attitudes and beliefs regarding the use of symmetry in the solutions of these problems are discussed.

http://cimm.ucr.ac.cr/resoluciondeproblemas/PDFs/Leikin,R. Berman,A.  Zaslavsky, O. Applications ...pdf


Protecting children's informational privacy has never been more difficult. To what extent does it depend upon parental control and consent, and how is this factor incorporated into the law seeking to protect children's informational privacy? This article addresses these questions, considering the relevant jurisprudence of the English courts, in particular under the tort of misuse of private information, and the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In this article I argue that the relevant jurisprudence in both jurisdictions reveals a doctrine that prioritises parental control and consent, above the harm of intrusion to the child. This risks laying a legal terrain that does not accommodate the protection and vindication of children's informational privacy rights when they conflict with the wishes of, or are not actively protected by, that child's parents.


This report seeks to introduce a variety of top-down and bottom-up practices that, in concert with the macro-environment of cost-reduction globally and early adoption in Europe, helped boost the distributed generation photovoltaic market in the United States. These experiences may serve as a reference in China's quest to promote distributed renewable energy.


The paper de…nes the identi…cation problem for Discrete Event Systems (DES) as the problem of inferring a Petri Net (PN) model using the observation of the events and the available output vectors, that correspond to the markings of the measurable places. Two cases are studied considering dierent levels of the system knowledge. In the …rst case the place and transition sets are assumed known. Hence, an integer linear programming problem is de…ned in order to determine a PN modelling the DES. In the second case the transition and place sets are assumed unknown and only an upper bound of the number of places is given. Hence, the identi…cation problem is solved by an identi…cation algorithm that observes in real time the occurred events and the corresponding output vectors. The integer linear programming problem is de…ned at each observation so that the PN can be recursively identi…ed. Some results and examples characterize the identi…ed PN systems and show the ‡exibility and simplicity of the proposed technique. Moreover, an application to the synthesis of supervisory control of PN systems via monitor places is proposed.


The present paper proposes a new integration method of plural spoken term detection (STD) results obtained from plural subword models that we previously proposed. We confirmed that these new subword models, which are the 1/2 phone model, the 1/3 phone model, and the sub-phonetic segment (SPS) model, are effective for STD systems, which must be vocabulary-free in order to process arbitrary query words. In addition, these models are more sophisticated on the time axis than conventional phone models, such as the triphone model. In the present study, we utilize the results of the subword models explicitly when integrating the plural results. For this purpose, we introduce an STD performance index that expresses the degree of detection difficulty for each query word. The index is approximated by the recognition accuracy of the query subword sequence. We demonstrate improved performance through experiments using an actual presentation speech corpus.


The simulation hypothesis claims that the whole observable universe, including us, is a computer simulation implemented by technologically advanced beings for an unknown purpose. The simulation argument (as I reconstruct it) is an argument for this hypothesis with moderately plausible premises. I develop two lines of objection to the simulation argument. The first takes the form of a structurally similar argument for a conflicting conclusion, the claim that I am a so-called freak observer, formed spontaneously in a quantum or thermodynamic fluctuation rather than through ordinary processes of evolution and growth. The second rejects the basic line of reasoning of both arguments: the sort of evidence they cite is not capable of supporting either the claim that I am a simulant or the claim that I am a freak observer. The evidence that simulants or freak observers exist is not a reason to think that I am one of them.


The structures of the Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba salts of 1-naphthoic acid are examined and compared with analogous structures of salts of benzoate derivatives. It is shown that catena-poly[[[diaquabis(1-naphthoato-κO)magnesium(II)]-μ-aqua] dihydrate], {[Mg(C(11)H(7)O(2))(2)(H(2)O)(3)]·2H(2)O}(n), exists as a one-dimensional coordination polymer that propagates only through Mg-OH(2)-Mg interactions along the crystallographic b direction. In contrast with related benzoate salts, the naphthalene systems are large enough to prevent inorganic chain-to-chain interactions, and thus species with inorganic channels rather than layers are formed. The Ca, Sr and Ba salts all have metal centres that lie on a twofold axis (Z' = 1/2) and all have the common name catena-poly[[diaquametal(II)]-bis(μ-1-naphthoato)-κ(3)O,O':O;κ(3)O:O,O'], [M(C(11)H(7)O(2))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](n), where M = Ca, Sr or Ba. The Ca and Sr salts are essentially isostructural, and all three species form one-dimensional coordination polymers through a carboxylate group that forms three M-O bonds. The polymeric chains propagate via c-glide planes and through MOMO four-membered rings. Again, inorganic channel structures are formed rather than layered structures, and the three structures are similar to those found for Ca and Sr salicylates and other substituted benzoates.


Introduction: Tumors located at the hepatocaval junction with the involvement of hepatic veins conventionally warrant major liver resections. Appreciation of sizeable inferior right hepatic vein can allow preservation of uninvolved inferior segments of the liver. Operative Technique: Preoperative and intraoperative identification of sizeable inferior right hepatic and other accessory or communicating veins in combination of intra-operative ultrasound guidance for resection to preserve inferior segments of the liver with adequate venous drainage. Application of upper transversal resections for pediatric liver tumors at the hepatocaval confluence was illustrated with description of operative technique and patient selection. Conclusions: Parenchymal preserving surgeries are possible for pediatric liver tumors located at the hepatocaval confluence by identification of accessory draining veins to the inferior segments. This along with meticulous parenchymal dissection with ultrasound guidance to preserve all uninvolved veins is key to safe upper transversal resections.


This article explores the language in the four plays of Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Krapp's Last Tape, and Footfalls. It considers the way in which Beckett uses language, especially through fragmentation utterances, repetitions, monologues, contradictions, and silence. It discusses the function of language in modern society, in the Theater of the Absurd, and in the plays. Paradoxically enough, his plays attempts to communicate the incommunicability of language.


Polymer layered silicate nano-composites were prepared in melt by reactive extrusion (25:1 21 mm Rondol twinscrew compounding line) using poly(ethylene-co-propylene- co-ethylidenenorbornene) terpolymer (EPDM) as a matrx polymer, PP-g-MA and poly[(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene)-g-PEO (poly(MA-alt-OD)-g-PEO) as functionalized polymer compatibilizer-internal plasticizer, octadecyl amine-montmorillonite (ODA-MMT) and dimethyldidodecyl ammonium -MMT (DMDA-MMT) as reactive and non-reactive nano-fillers, respectively. The formation of nano structural fragments, polymer blend composition-properties (thermal behavior and morphology) was studied using FTIR, XRD, TGA-DTG and DSC analysis methods. It was found that intercalation/exfoliation degree of EPDM macromolecules significantly depends on the origin and content of organoclays. Better results were obtained for nanocomposites prepared in the presence of reactive organo-filler (ODA-MMT) and PEO grafted alternating copolymer. The results of FTIR (chemical structure) and XRD (physical structure and exfoliation degree) analyses indicate that amidization of anhydride copolymer with alkyl amine groups of organo-filler and esterification of alternating copolymer with α -hydroxy- ω -methoxy- PEO occur in melt compounding in situ processing in the chosen extrusion conditions (barrel temperature: 120, 130, 140 and 145°C, twin-screw speed around 30-40 mrp). The glass-transition (Tg), melting (Tm) and recrystallization (Tc) temperatures strongly depend on the origin and content of organoclay and PEO-grafted copolymer-compatibilizer, respectively. Thermal behavior, crystallinity and thermostability of nanocomposites were significantly improved as compared with pristine EPDM terpolymer.


Liquid wall chambers are one of the most critical technologies in inertial fusion energy (IFE) plants. The critical problem for the liquid wall IFE chamber is the chamber clearance after laser shots. This paper presents preliminary results from an experimental simulation of ablation processes induced by alpha-particle heating.


Nanotechnology as the science began to be formed in the end of the twentieth century, that first of all has been connected with basic works of Norio Taniguchi and Richard Fejnman and the invention in 1981 of a scanning tunnel microscope by Gerd Binnig and Henry Rorer from Zurich laboratories IBM (Switzerland). Rapid development nanotechnology has begun in the beginning of the twenty first century and is connected with the statement and financing of national programs of development of this branch of a science in the USA, Japan and China. For today nanotechnology as branch of a science greater perspective directions in development of information technologies and electronics, methods of reception of materials and open their processings, preservation of the environment and power, biology and medicine, an agriculture, aircraft and the space industry. In clause the basic historical and basic moments of development nanotechnology as sciences are stated. It is emphasized on already existing and actively developed opportunities nanotechnology as sciences in medical branch. Clause is of interest as in general educational and scientific sense.


The archaic cynipoid family Ibaliidae is revised. All described taxa are included in a checklist, and keys to valid taxa are presented. Host records include larvae of several woodwasp species (Siricidae: Siricinae and Tremicinae). Ibaliidae is considered to include the East Asian genus Heteribalia Sakagami, with five valid species, and the mainly Holarctic genus Ibalia Latreille, with 13 valid species, seven in the subgenus Ibalia and six in the subgenus Tremibalia. Heteribalia aureopilosa Maa, 1949 and H. subtilis Maa, 1949 are raised from subspecies to species level. Ibalia (T.) hunanica sp. n., is described from Oriental China. Three morphs of I. (T.) anceps, differing in wing colour pattern, are recognized, and distribution records of these morphs in North America are mapped. I. scalpellator Westwood, 1837 is synonymized with I. anceps Say, 1824; I. takaehihoi Yasumatsu, 1937 with I. jakowlewi Jacobson, 1899; I.fulviceras Yang, 1991 with I. ornata Belizin, 1968; and I. yunshae Yang et Liu,1992 with I. rufipes drewseni Borries, 1891. Lectotypes are designated for I. picea Matsumura, 1912 (syn. of I. leucospoides (Hochenwarth, 1785)) and for I. japonica Matsumura, 1912.


Sectors such as the aerospace, civil, and automotive industries have experienced increasing demands and applications of fiber-reinforced composites. However, due to their nature of complex and often outwardly invisible failure modes, monitoring fiber-reinforced composites by non-destructive means is important. One way of monitoring these materials is by integrating self-sensing capabilities into the composites through nanofiller modification in order to make use of the piezoresistive effect. In this approach, changes in electrical resistivity are a function of mechanical strains, thereby allowing for intrinsic self-sensing. So far, predictive modeling work in this area has focused predominantly on microscale piezoresistivity. Much less work has considered the effect of the continuous fiber reinforcement, and research on achieving meaningful analytical predictions of resistivity changes in fiber-matrix material systems has been limited. Therefore, to overcome this gap, an analytical model that allows for predicting changes in the resistivity of a material system consisting of both a nanofiller-modified polymer phase and a continuous fiber reinforcement phase is presented. This approach is predicated on the development of an electrical concentric cylindrical model. We start by identifying our analysis domain: concentric cylinders representing a continuous reinforcing fiber surrounded by the nanofiller-modified matrix. Then, by enforcing the law of conservation of electrical charge and by utilizing existent piezoresistivity relations for the nanofiller-modified matrix, the system is homogenized in order to predict the change in the resistivity of the concentric cylinder as a function of applied strains and constituent properties. It is hoped that this preliminary result will be an important building block towards the development of a laminate theory of piezoresistivity.


Abstract:This photo essay describes the life and work of self-taught itinerant portrait photographer Hugh Mangum (1877–1922) and includes a selection of his black-and-white glass plate negatives—many damaged by neglect and the passage of time—scanned and reproduced in full color with the aid of twenty-first century digital technology. Working primarily in North Carolina and Virginia, during the rise of the segregationist laws of the Jim Crow Era, Hugh Mangum welcomed a clientele that was both racially and economically diverse. Using a Penny Picture camera that allowed him to record multiple separate exposures on a single glass plate negative, he left behind an unintended record of the succession of sitters who passed through his traveling studio. These multiple image plates depict a wide variety of people, confounding the common historical narrative and hinting at unexpected relationships and complex lines of connection that refute the racial categories defined by law to separate black and white people. Hugh Mangum's strikingly detailed and democratically seen portraits offer an unusual sightline into a turbulent time in the history of the southern United States.


An Tae-Hoon was born in Hwanghae Province during wave of modernization and foreign invasion. He was born as a Intellectual with deep concern of tactics and strategies. Moreover, he was called a genius in Hwanghae Provinse with outstanding talent during his childhood. He was born in a rich family with economic power, which rose from Hangnee to Muban and he took civil examination with such a background. He finally passed the civil examination with the title of Chinsa when he was 29. He was an elite in the region with talents in both military and literary accomplishments. An Tae-hoon was a reformist and he was influenced by the reform of King Kojong in 1880. He had close relationship with Pak Yong-hyo, who was the leader during the Kapsin Coup; criticized the conservative Min's ruling during 1890; opposed the democratic movement led by the Independence Club. However, he accepted the foreign idea of Catholic. Though he criticized the modernized political idea from the West, he accepted the Western religion. An Tae-hoon led his personal army with the use of Catholics ideal properly. He had been leading an army, while he accepted the ideal of Catholics as he tried to avoid any action against the law just like those Tonghak peasants army. He solved the problems between the regional government and the Catholics by match of his personal army and his Catholics belief. To make it simple, internally, he built a personal army; externally, he advocated Catholics ideal, which made him become an influential figure in the region. An Tae-hoon made Chonggaedong and people around him believer of Catholics. After he became a Catholics, he actively spread the gospel of the God. He invited Catholics father while built a Catholics church in Chonggaedong. It made Chonggaedong become one of the center of Catholics in Hwanghae Province. At that time, the believers in Chonggaedong received Catholics ideas when they learnt the doctrine of Catholics and listened to the preaching for a long term. An Tae-hoon became a spiritual godfather of those Catholics' believers in Hwanghae Province. An Tae-hoon also had important influence on the independent movement in Korea. Firstly, he had big influence on his son, An Jung-Jun, who was a great person in the modern history of Korea. Secondly, he and his brothers started anti-Japanese movement as believers of Catholics. Finally, he had close relationship with his brother, Kim Ku and started the independent movement as members of the Korean Provisional Government.


In resin transfer molding, the fabrication of the fiber preform is critical to both part quality and production efficiency. The deformation induced by preforming introduces porosity and permeability variations, which affect mold filling, and may result in defects (tears and wrinkles) in the preform. In this study we develop an experimental method for determining the formability of thermoformable random-fiber mats, and provide a mathematical framework for expressing the results. We characterize formability of random-fiber mats using a forming limit diagram, similar to the diagrams used for sheet metal. This diagram maps the combinations of principal stretch ratios λ 1 and λ 2 that cause the material to fail. The maximum load during constant-rate extension provides the failure criterion in forming limit tests. The experiments combine uniaxial and constrained tests. The uniaxial tests reveal behavior when the sample is free to contract in the lateral direction, and also help determine the strains that cause wrinkling in the sheet. The constrained tests give data when lateral contraction is prohibited. Biaxial data is acquired by conducting a sequence of two constrained tests on a single sample, rotating the sample by 90° between the tests. Forming limit data is presented for CertainTeed's U750 thermoformable random-fiber mat. The results are expressed mathematically in a formability function W (λ 1 , λ 2 ), in which the forming limits are incorporated through a quadratic penalty function. This type of data can be used in an ideal forming theory to determine the feasibility of forming any given shape from a random-fiber mat.


Lolium (Poaceae) is composed of five species in Iran that are of forage and weed importance. Culm and glume anatomy of grasses is inadequately explored. In the present study culm and glume anatomical structures of 17 population of four Lolium species is considered by use of 16 qualitative and quantitative features to distinguish Lolium species in Iran and to determine their diagnostic value. The culm cross-section showed multilayered hypodermis, ribbed or un-ribbed culm cross-sections, cuticles with different thicknesses, and the cortex with different tissues. Vascular bundles are arranged in two to more rings in the culm anatomy. Glume anatomical observations showed differences in girder attachment to vascular bundles, the outline of the cross-section, and the cortex tissue composition. The multi-variate statistical method based on culm and glume anatomical features showed that L. perenne and L. multiflorum are grouped near each other but there is more mixture between L. persicum and L. rigidum. Our findings are in agreement with the grouping pattern achieved by previous researches on leaf anatomy and lemma and palea micro-morphology of the same species. The molecular study by ISSR also provides support for the present study. The culm and glume anatomy of species studied provides valuable data for taxonomic purposes.


Nearly 30 taxa of Pleistocene freshwater snails and sphaeriids have been found in recent years at eight localities in glacial Lake Iroquois deposits. Older reports of molluscs from Lake Iroquois deposits by Ami (1900) and Coleman (1899, 1933) probably represent confusion with shells from Lake Algonquin and Wisconsinan interstadial deposits at Toronto.Molluscs are most abundant in shallow-water sediments deposited in former lagoons and near former river mouths in Lake Iroquois. A northeastward limit of occurrences near Oshawa, Ontario may reflect the influence of the retreating ice-margin in eastern Ontario 12 000 years ago. Shells have been found occasionally in deposits of lower level, post-Iroquois (but pre-Champlain Sea) lake stages in eastern Ontario. The Lake Iroquois fauna suggests the presence of vegetation both on land and in the water with water conditions at individual sites varying from oligotrophic to eutrophic.


Abstract In [6] and [7], Krasnosel'skiĭ proved several fundamental fixed point principles for operators leaving invariant a cone in a Banach space. In [9], Nussbaum extended one of the results, the theorem about compression and expansion of a cone, to k-setcontraction maps, k < 1. Other versions for completely continuous maps were given by Fournier-Peitgen [2] and G. Fournier [1]. The purpose of this paper is to generalise some of these results to upper semi continuous multivalued maps which are K-set contractions, k < 1, and differentiable at the origin and infinity.


Abstract Microencapsulation is almost exclusively performed in batch processes. With today's chemistry increasingly performed in flow reactors, this work aims to realise a continuous reactor setup for the encapsulation of an ester with a polyuria (PU) shell. The generation of an emulsion template is performed in a recirculation loop driven by a pump and equipped with static mixers, screen type and Kenics®. Calorimetric measurements are performed to characterise the energy dissipation rate inside the loop. The curing step is performed in a coiled tube reactor with two geometric configurations. Number based capsule size distributions are derived from micrograph analysis. Results indicate that the recycle pump is the main contributor to determine the capsule size distribution. A continuous setup is achieved for PU microcapsules containing hexyl acetate with a production rate of 198 g/h dry capsules, and a mean capsule diameter of 13.3 µm with a core content of 54 wt%.


This article deals with the phenomenon of political violence. The concept of "armed resistance" (Lithuanian: ginkluotas pasipriesinimas) is introduced to describe political violence perpetrated by non-state actors or subnational groups. The Lithuanian concept of "armed resistance" in general corresponds to the English concept of "insurgency". Many problems related to the definitions of concepts of "insurgency", "guerrilla warfare" and "terrorism" are pointed out. The article states that the identified concepts are often used incorrectly in foreign and Lithuanian academic publications. Very often these concepts of "insurgent", "guerrilla fighter", and "terrorist" are used as synonyms. One of the main reasons for misuse of the mentioned concepts is the lack of related academic literature. Misuse of the terms insurgents, guerrillas and terrorists by official governmental institutions is also underlined. It is argued in the article that proper understanding of the armed resistance is needed. To get such an understanding one needs to distinguish political violence and non-political or apolitical violence. Violence used by armed resistance groups (guerrilla and terrorist groups) is inevitably political in its aims and motives. That is why it is called political violence. Criminals and pathological murders also use violence but their aims and motives are different. Criminal groups use violence to obtain money or to acquire material goods. Pathological murders see violence as an end in itself. Usually they are not interested in politics, profit or material goods. The main idea of this article is that, because of the numerous recent researches made in the field of political violence (insurgency, terrorism, and guerrilla warfare), different strategies of armed resistance may be more or less clearly defined. Guerrilla warfare and terrorism are different strategies or different strategic approaches used by various non-state actors. The author argues that guerrillas and terrorists should be distinguished according to four criteria: 1) targets; 2) identification signs; 3) control of territory; 4) size of operational units. Terrorists' targets are mostly civilian ones. Guerrillas' targets are mostly military. Terrorists do not use uniforms or other signs to identify them as combatants. Guerrillas usually have some sort of identification signs. Terrorists are not interested in control of the territory. Guerrillas want to seize or hold on territory. Terrorists usually operate in units ranging from lone assassin to five-member teams. Guerrillas mostly wage their war in platoon or company size units. The distinction between terrorism and guerrilla warfare is of crucial importance because it helps to better understand the nature of armed resistance. It should be pointed out that on the understanding and clear definitions of terrorism and guerrilla warfare depends the quality of an academic research. In addition, the distinction of guerrilla warfare and terrorism is important for the success of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism campaigns.


In using the term 'genealogy', Foucault proclaimed his connection to Nietzsche. 'Genealogy' analyses what Foucault thought about the genealogical method, how it compared to Nietzsche's, and to what extent he used it. Both Nietzsche and Foucault offer many problematic, yet different, remarks on genealogy. Foucault is thoroughly Nietzschean in one respect: the critical intent with which he employs his genealogy. Foucault's genealogies deconstruct, by showing their real origin, official meanings and evaluations involved in a society's self-understanding. Foucault saw an intimate bond between knowledge and power. The mere fact that a cognitive state is an effect of power does not exclude it from the realm of knowledge.


This PhD research focuses on untouchables' (Dalits) perceptions of their past and more specifically on the transformations that occurred at the inter-caste level. For that sake, more than 60 testimonies have been collected. The investigations have been centered around three generations of people in two communities of the cakkiliyar caste in Tamil Nadu (South India). Firstly, the following main questions have been addressed : How did these cakkiliyar communities drift from one state to another in the lapse of 40 years? How did the inter-caste relationships evolve? Which were the main triggering factors and their consequences? What was the impact on people's minds and mentalities? At the micro level and with the help of oral testimonies, this work endeavors to highlight the past of these communities and to 'un-knit' the social, political, cultural and economic changes that 'made the difference' at the local level with reference to the dalit/non-dalit relationship. A strong difference of dynamics emerges from the study of the two villages, it is largely highlighted throughout the work. Secondly, memory issues are investigated. Interestingly, although Dalits share a common past, they bear witness in many different ways. People's mindset today largely influences the perspective each one adopts while speaking about the past. Three main prototypes defining the different postures can be observed in cakkiliyar oral testimonies: a) the prototype of "Dalits" looking for their dignity, b) the hesitant "Cakkiliyars" and, c) the submissive "Harijans". Each of these prototypes implies a certain mindset, a specific behavior, some specific aspirations for the future and a certain posture towards the past and history: from strong dissent and expression of agency to resignation and bemoaning their fate, from volubility to silence, from interest to detachment.


Opponents of analytic philosophy often associate it with logical positivism. From a historical point of view, it is clear that one main strand in the development of the broad tradition known as 'analytic philosophy' was indeed the logical positivism of the Vienna Circle, with its austerely verificationist principle of significance and its exclusion of metaphysics as cognitively meaningless. Another main strand in the development of the analytic tradition, ordinary language philosophy, tended to be almost equally suspicious of the ways in which metaphysicians made free with ordinary words, far from the everyday contexts of use on which their meaning was supposed to depend. Despite that history, however, recent decades have seen the growth and flourishing of boldly speculative metaphysics within the analytic tradition. Far from being inhibited by logical positivist or ordinary language scruples, such analytic metaphysics might be described by those unsympathetic to it as pre-critical, ranging far outside the domain of our experience, closer in spirit to Leibniz than to Kant.


Although a growing number of students are accessing online learning programs, there are concerns about the quality of these programs.  Multiple reports examined online program quality, but many of those studies had methodology and design issues that make it difficult to interpret the findings conclusively.  This study attempted to address the methodological concerns by comparing the learning outcomes of college students enrolled in an online early childhood teacher education program pathway with students enrolled in a parallel face-to-face early childhood teacher education program pathway.  The study examined the extent to which: (a) content knowledge from an earlier required applied instructional technology course would be retained at the student teaching level, and (b) a significant difference would be found in the learning performance outcomes of student teachers based on program pathway. Student teaching data analyzed over a three-year period indicate that student teachers met expectations in their technology use and in their overall lesson planning and teaching, and that there was no significant difference in student performance in the online program pathway when compared to student performance in the face-to-face program pathway.


High throughput screening technologies have created a fundamental challenge for statistical and machine learning analyses, i.e., the curse of dimensionality. Gene expression data are a quintessential example, high dimensional in variables (Large P) and comparatively much smaller in samples (Small N). However, the large number of variables are not independent. This understanding is reflected in Systems Biology approaches to the transcriptome as a network of coordinated biological functioning or through principal Axes of variation underlying the gene expression. Recent advances in generative deep learning offers a new paradigm to tackle the curse of dimensionality by generating new data from the underlying latent space captured as a deep representation of the observed data. These have led to widespread applications of approaches such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), especially in domains where millions of data points exist, such as in computer vision and single cell data. Very few studies have focused on generative modeling of bulk transcriptomic data and microarrays, despite being one of the largest types of publicly available biomedical data. Here we review the potential of Generative models in recapitulating and extending biomedical knowledge from microarray data, which may thus limit the potential to yield hundreds of novel biomarkers. Here we review the potential of generative models and conduct a comparative analysis of VAE, GAN and gaussian mixture model (GMM) in a dataset focused on Tuberculosis. We further review whether previously known axes genes can be used as an effective strategy to employ domain knowledge while designing generative models as a means to further reduce biological noise and enhance signals that can be validated by standard enrichment approaches or functional experiments.


Abstract : The present studies demonstrate the usefulness of routine measurements of plasma colloid osmotic pressure (c. o. p.) both as a prognostic index of the course of the shock syndrome and as a guide for the effectiveness of other therapeutic measures. Severe and protracted hemorrhagic shock is associated with a failure of hemodilution mechanisms and a trend for plasma c. o. p. and blood hematocrit to become dissociated. Endotoxin has a clear-cut action on neurogenic readjustment mechanisms which is masked in anesthetized animals. Survivors of an LD/50 dose of endotoxin, show a blunting of compensatory constrictor responses and thereby permit peripheral blood flow to be maintained more effectively as cardiac output and central pressure fall. Measurements of pressure within the microcirculation reveal that fatal shock is associated with an inability to maintain capillary pressure (P/c) and a progressive narrowing of the pressure differential or hydraulic driving force across the capillary bed. Fluid exchange at the capillary level is disrupted when capillary pressure (P/c) and plasma c. o. p. are no longer in balance and lead to extensive venular stasis during shock. Electrolyte therapy in hemorrhagic shock becomes less effective as the capillary barrier begins to show evidence of increased permeability (filtration coefficients may increase 2 to 3 fold).


Purpose: Although the use of (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients has resulted in improved disease-free and overall survival, not all patients benefit equally. Nevertheless, chemotherapy is still applied empirically, since clinical tests for response prediction are not routinely available. We have evaluated the utility of an in vitro chemosensitivity assay (ATP-TCA) in predicting response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Pre-therapeutic tumor core biopsies were obtained from 65 breast cancer patients and subjected to a standardized ATP-based Epi/Doc tumor chemosensitivity assay (ATP-TCA). Of these, 30 breast cancer patients were also assigned to three cycles of neoadjuvant epirubicin 75 mg/m2 and docetaxel 75 mg/m2 (Epi/Doc) in a prospectively randomized clinical trial. Tumor response was evaluated by pre-and post-interventional ultrasound measurements of tumor diameter, and by differential Ki67 expression. Results: 3 Cycles of neoadjuvant Epi/Doc resulted in a clinical response according to RECIST criteria in 11/23 evaluable patients (48%), and in a profound reduction in tumor proliferation in 10/23 patients (43%). Similarly, in vitro treatment of tumor cell suspensions with Epi/Doc performed in 65 pre-treatment core-biopsies yielded chemosensitivity in comparable fraction of patients (30/65, 46%). When the differentail changes in tumor cell proliferation in response to 3 cycles Epi/Doc in 23 patients were compared with ATP-TCA results obtained from the pre-interventional tumor core-biopsies of the same individual patients, we found that the efficacy of Epi/Doc in vitro was significantly correlated with differential changes in tumor cell proliferation in response to 3 cycles Epi/Doc in vivo (p= 0.0011; r=0.73670, Spearman9s rho), but did not predict for changes in tumor size when measured by ultrasound. Conclusion: This is the first prospective clinical trial to demonstrate the utility of a standardized in vitro chemosensitivity assay in predicting the individual response to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-20.


This paper presents a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) dedicated to public authorities, civil protection and highway companies in order to help these decision makers to prepare their emergency plans and to manage a crisis situation in a case of a hazmat (Hazardous Material) transportation road accident. This SDSS is focalized on the impact assessment of a gas release on the population in a dense urbanized area (Nice, French Riviera). The data of hazmat type and routing come from two complementary prototypes: i) a hazmat identification system which recognizes the UN code of hazardous material carried by trucks ii) on-board sensors and GPS monitoring the flows of some hazmat trucks in real time. The Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) is associated to the GIS platform in order to simulate the dispersion distances of gas releases in the selected territory. The SDSS provides maps of the population, infrastructures, environmental and economic stakes potentially affected by the gas release and it estimates the number of targets affected. These results provide a useful information to the decision makers that helps them to allocate the resources to manage a crisis situation.


Base on the application in underground coal mine emergency rescue equipment, The paper research a wireless transmission system used wire as backbone network. The system use the SDSL telephone twisted pair as the backbone network, Wi-Fi as a wired network expansion. The audio, video temperature and a variety of multimedia information flow of gas parameters in form of IP packet send to the network, which suitable for application in the coal mine emergency rescue. It achieve specific environmental conditions underground coal mine fast network, address the problem of disaster images, voice and multimedia real-time transmission of environmental parameters to the rescue base and the ground command center. It provides a guarantee for rescue work effective. The paper start from the networking strategy, rescue terminals and transfer between wireless and wired describing the system.


Increases in world oil prices since 2004 have challenged consumers and oil-importing countries across the world. Oil prices temporarily fell sharply in 2009, only to triple three years later. The oil import share of gross domestic product rose by nearly half among net oil importers in just two years between 2009 and 2011. Governments that control oil product prices have come under pressure to intervene by keeping domestic prices low and effectively subsidizing consumers. This study focuses on the evolving role of oil in national economies, particularly those of developing countries, and proposes a menu of options for drawing a roadmap for pricing policy reform for oil products. In light of events since 2009, it examines how recent price movements have affected countries' vulnerability to world oil price increases, how governments have adjusted domestic fuel prices in response, the consequences of the policy responses, other coping mechanisms to deal with high oil prices and price volatility, the roadblocks to reforming pricing policy, and how to deal with them. This report suggests a menu of options for moving away from sectoral subsidies to market-based pricing, accompanied by an integrated social protection program and complementary policies to reduce consumption through efficiency improvement and fuel diversification. Sending the right price signals and reducing consumption can bring many benefits, ranging from greater supply security to less congestion and pollution from road transport. This report can help policy makers conduct more informed national dialogues on managing fuel pricing and the political economy around it.


This article emerges from the Project «Higher education and civic education». In a rapprochement between conceptual topoi and affective citizenship exercises manifest in voices of students of Universidad de La Salle, interweave questions to the reading of citizenship and the civility. Voices reading dared to the epistemic; within qualitative collected concepts of citizenship and civility and analyzed by effective practices articulated with knowledge-own citizen and with the identification of relations


Haloalkaliphilic bacteria were isolated from water samples collected from alkaline Lonar meteorite crater, (MS) India having pH 10.5. Among them one of the bacterial strains was identified by 16S rRNA sequencing showed 97% alignment match with Bacillus fusiformis . The optimum growth of such organism was at 12.5 pH and 18% salt concentration. Chemical analysis of water showed higher amount of metal ions and salts concentrations present in lonar crater. The Bacillus fusiformis have potential to produce hydrolytic enzyme such as amylases. The amylase was partially purified by 80% ammonium sulphate and obtained 2 fold increase amylase activity. The optimum enzyme activity was at 10 pH and 30°C temperature of. The enzyme was incubated in presence of different metal ions and showed its stability at 1mM concentration of MgSO 4.


Objective: The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of D-dimer and fibrinogen levels in maternal serum as a marker for detection of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Materials and Methods: Two hundred-thirty four pregnant women who get pregnancy follow-up and delivery in the tertiary hospital between January 2011 and December 2011 were admitted to the study. Pregnant women were divided into two groups; group-1: 117 pregnants complicated with IUGR and group-2: 117 healthy pregnants without IUGR as control. Serum D-dimer and fibrinogen levels of all pregnant women were measured in the third trimester. The levels of D-dimer and fibrinogen were compared between two groups. Results: There is no significant difference between the groups for age, body mass index before pregnancy, smoking and gestational weeks (p>0.05). Gravidity, parity, number of children and maternal serum fibrinogen level were detected significantly different between the groups (p<0.001). D-dimer level was not significantly different between the groups (p=0.183), but fibrinogen level in group-1 was found higher than group-2. Conclusion: Serum fibrinogen level was found higher in pregnant women complicated with IUGR but D-dimer level was not different between the groups. Although serum D-dimer should not be used as a marker for detection of IUGR, serum fibrinogen may be used.


This paper provides an overview of the trial implementation of Focused fracture jetting, a solution aimed at effectively stimulating long horizontal open-hole wells in the oil and gas industry. The goal of this method is to create multiple fractures that penetrate deeper into the reservoir, increasing the overall stimulated surface area. Previous techniques, such as HCl stimulations, delayed reaction acid, abrasive jetting, and fishbones, did not achieve the desired improvements in injectivity for microporous water injection and oil producer wells. As a result, alternative methods were explored, leading to the adoption of Focused fracture jetting. This methodology utilizes high velocity jetting and dynamic diversion to create controlled fractures etched with acid, providing permanent increases in effective wellbore area. This paper focuses on the trial implementation of Focused fracture jetting in two water injection wells and one oil producer, named as WI-1, WI-2 and OP#1. In WI#1, 25 stages were pumped over a 700m interval with 30m spacing between stages, while in WI#2, 20 stages were pumped over a shorter interval of approximately 500m with 25m spacing between stages and OP#1, 11 stages were pumped over a shorter interval of approximately 680m with 29m spacing between stages. The stimulation was successful in improving water injection rates, resulting in a significant increase in the initial rate and approximately doubling the stable injection rate as well as production was enhanced drastically from the oil producer OP#1. The deployment of Focused fracture jetting has the potential to unlock the microporous reservoir's development, particularly in tight reservoirs with long open-hole sections, offering competitive costs and sustainable results.


Environmental attitude and ecological behavior were investigated in relation to the use of nature for psychological restoration. Specifically, with survey data from 468 German university students, the role of environmental attitude was investigated as a mediator of the restoration-behavior relationship. Assuming that positive experiences in nature can have a broad influence on environmental attitudes, the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, an attitudinal measure with broad scope, was adopted. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated partial mediation by environmental concern. The study helps to consolidate the restoration theme in the growing literature on positive motivations for ecological behavior.


10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH) is an abundant enzyme in liver cytosol. It is important for the regulation of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate/tetrahydrofolate pools, for de novo purine biosynthesis and for the removal of formate in the form of CO(2). The enzyme is a natural fusion of two unrelated genes and consists of two functional catalytic domains. Here, the crystallization of the N-terminal domain of FDH is reported. This domain binds folate and functions as a 10-formyltetrahydrofolate hydrolase. The crystals grow as either spear-shaped needles or large plates, with the largest crystals reaching dimensions of 1.2 x 0.2 x 0.05 mm. Diffraction analysis revealed the space group to be P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 100.00, b = 64.63, c = 64.59 A. Based on the estimated solvent content, there is one 34 kDa molecule in the asymmetric unit. A native data set extending to 2.3 A resolution has been collected with good merging statistics.


The creation of the euro should now be recognized as an experiment that has led to the sovereign debt crisis in several countries, the fragile condition of major European banks, the high levels of unemployment, and the large trade deficits that now exist in most Eurozone countries. Although the European Central Bank managed the euro in a way that achieved a low rate of inflation, other countries both in Europe and elsewhere have also had a decade of low inflation without incurring the costs of a monetary union. The emergence of these problems just a dozen years after the start of the euro in 1999 was not an accident or the result of bureaucratic mismanagement but the inevitable consequence of imposing a single currency on a very heterogeneous group of countries, a heterogeneity that includes not only economic structures but also fiscal traditions and social attitudes. This paper reviews (1) the reasons for these economic problems, (2) the political origins of the European Monetary Union, (3) the current attempts to solve the sovereign debt problem, (4) the long-term problem of inter-country differences of productivity growth and competitiveness, (5) the special problems of Greece and Italy, (6) and the pros and cons of a Greek departure from the Eurozone.


Introduction: Neurobehavioral effects on cognitive functioning and motor disturbances were linked to organic solvents even in setting exposure standards in the workplace which may interfere with job tasks resulting in costly injuries and lost of productivity. This study is aimed to assess and manage the risks of naphtha exposure and the neurobehavioral health effects among workers in a tyre manufacturing industry. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Phase I, followed by an intervention study in Phase II. A total of 119 male workers exposed to naphtha were universally recruited as the exposed group, while 72 male administrative workers who did not exposed to naphtha were selected as the unexposed group. In Phase I, questionnaires were used to collect the information on general background, occupational profile and the risk factors. Environmental and personal air monitoring were carried out using a portable volatile organic compound (VOC) monitor and personal air sampling pump. Neurobehavioral performance was measured using the Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery (NCTB). The respondents from the Phase 1 were then followed up in the second phase for the intervention study. They were later undergone a workplace health promotion (WHP) programme for three consecutive days in order to improve their knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of safe handling of naphtha. Seminar and small group discussion were carried out in this WHP programme. The pre- and post- questionnaires were administered before and after the WHP programme among the respondents. Results: The range of VOC concentration was from 1.10 to 546.10 ppm, with the highest mean of 92.93 (SD153.63) ppm found in the "repair" area. Laboratory analysis found various organic compounds such as 2-methyl pentane, hexane, methyl cyclopentane, heptane, cyclohexane and toluene made up the liquid naphtha. The mean neurobehavioral score of the exposed group was significantly lower than the unexposed group (p=0.001). There were significant differences in the tests of Digit Symbol (p=0.001), Pursuit Aiming (p<0.001), and Santa Ana Manual Dexterity for dominant hand (p=0.021) and non-dominant hand (p=0.048) scores between the 2 groups. However, there was no correlation between personal air naphtha concentration and the total NCTB scores among the exposed group. The personal air naphtha concentrations among the exposed group were significantly higher than the unexposed group (p<0.001). Factors such as duration of work, total years of education, age, household income, knowledge and practice influenced the neurobehavioral performance. The level of knowledge among workers was significantly higher after the intervention programme (p<0.05). Conclusion: An early sign of neurobehavioral impairment was identified among the exposed group to low level of VOC and naphtha exposure. Therefore, attention to the chronic adverse health effects of organic solvent exposure should be given for safe and healthy working environment. The WHP package is a good mechanism of communicating risk at the workplace for an early detection and prevention of adverse health effect. A continual education should be implemented through various methods to enhance and retain workers' good performance at the workplace. Key words: Risk management, naphtha, neurobehavioral health, knowledge, attitude, practice, occupational health promotion.


Background: Due to the high prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in Parkinson disease (PD), routine cognitive screening is important for the optimal management of patients with PD. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is more sensitive than the commonly used Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in detecting MCI and dementia in patients without PD, but its validity in PD has not been established. Methods: A representative sample of 132 patients with PD at 2 movement disorders centers was administered the MoCA, MMSE, and a neuropsychological battery with operationalized criteria for deficits. MCI and PD dementia (PDD) criteria were applied by an investigator blinded to the MoCA and MMSE results. The discriminant validity of the MoCA and MMSE as screening and diagnostic instruments was ascertained. Results: Approximately one third of the sample met diagnostic criteria for a cognitive disorder (12.9% PDD and 17.4% MCI). Mean (SD) MoCA and MMSE scores were 25.0 (3.8) and 28.1 (2.0). The overall discriminant validity for detection of any cognitive disorder was similar for the MoCA and the MMSE (receiver operating characteristic area under the curve [95% confidence interval]): MoCA (0.79 [0.72, 0.87]) and MMSE (0.76 [0.67, 0.85]), but as a screening instrument the MoCA (optimal cutoff point = 26/27, 64% correctly diagnosed, lack of ceiling effect) was superior to the MMSE (optimal cutoff point = 29/30, 54% correctly diagnosed, presence of ceiling effect). Conclusions: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, but not the Mini-Mental State Examination, has adequate psychometric properties as a screening instrument for the detection of mild cognitive impairment or dementia in Parkinson disease. However, a positive screen using either instrument requires additional assessment due to suboptimal specificity at the recommended screening cutoff point.


Purpose

– Seeks to explain the survival of the Local Education Authority (LEA) as an organizational form despite the significant reform of UK education that created a hostile environment for them.

Design/methodology/approach

– Adopting a historical perspective and drawing on neo‐institutional sociology, analyses the structuration of the educational field and the survival strategies of three LEAs, from 1988 to the mid‐1990s. The evidence base is some 100 semi‐structured interviews conducted between 1993 and 1997 with local education officers, head teachers and members of Boards of Governors.

Findings

– The paper shows that LEAs have been able to continually transmute structures and reproduce social systems that secured their continued and major involvement in education. Coping strategies were designed that reduced their own bureaucracy, built partnerships and new patterns of coalitions with schools, and discouraged a broadening of the organizational field.

Research limitations/implications

– Although the evidence comes from just three LEAs, survival strategies appear to have been adopted across the country, but there may be regional variations that could be further explored. In addition, parents were not interviewed, and issues of parent power and the nature of relationships between parents and other participants in the organizational field would be fruitful areas for future research.

Practical implications

– In practice the system of education remains dominated by the producers of education, although the head teacher has more and the LEA less power than previously.

Originality/value

– The historical perspective offers an understanding of institutional context by focusing on changes over time and generates insights on how organizations behave and develop.


Purpose: To analyze the results of an arthroscopic reduction and percutaneous fixation of scaphoid fracture and nonunion. Materials and Methods: Fourteen scaphoid fractures or nonunion patients were analyzed clinically. There were 13 men and 1 woman, with a mean age of 30 (14-45) years. The average follow-up time was 13 months (12-18). Three cases had delayed union, 5 cases had nonunion and 6 cases had a fracture. After fluoroscopic reduction and an arthroscopic examination, the scaphoid was fixed with an Acutrak screw or K-wire percutaneously. The serial radiographs were checked by 2 weeks to confirm the bony union. The Mayo wrist score and DASH were used to assess the functional result at the final follow up. Results: Bony union was acquired in 13 cases in a mean time of 8 weeks. The mean Mayo wrist score was 86 points (60-100) with 7 excellent, 4 good, 2 fair and 1 poor case. The mean DASH was 11.1 points (0-63.3). Conclusion: In scaphoid fracture and delayed union, good results could be obtained by an arthroscopic reduction and percutaneous fixation. However, in scaphoid nonunion, this technique should only be used in selected cases.


In order to reduce the content of nitrogen in treated wastewater, microbial processes conducting nitrification of nitrogenous compounds and denitrification to gaseous nitrogen are included in the sewage wastewater treatment process. A set of compounds has been found inhibitory to these microorganisms. A procedure is presented for identification of nitrification inhibitors in wastewaters. This includes fractionation of the wastewater sample and location of the inhibitory effect using a nitrification inhibition assay where pure cultures of Nitrobacter are used. A series of unsaturated fatty acids and two monoterpenes were found to constitute the inhibitory effect in a wastewater sample from a plant for drying wood‐derived fuel. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 15: 527–532, 2000


Summary Transmittance waveform (TW) analysis has been proposed as a method of both prediction and monitoring of non-overt and overt disseminated intravascular coagulation. This study assessed the use of the rapid TW of the activated partial thromboplastin time in the detection of sepsis in 49 consecutive neutropenic haemato-oncology patients. A slope 1 cut-off value of –0.050 was found to be optimum giving 85% sensitivity with 92% specificity and positive and negative predictive values of 62% and 98%, respectively. Furthermore a worsening slope 1 value at 24 hours was indicative of a 60% increase in mortality risk. Haemato-oncology patients have a significantly increased risk of developing sepsis during intensive chemotherapy, exacerbated by the resultant neutopenia. This sepsis may progress extremely rapidly and is associated with a high mortality. Early diagnosis is therefore critical and is currently made on a predominantly clinical basis with supporting microbiological evidence 2–3 days later. This study showed that TW offers an early marker, predictive of sepsis in neutropenic patients. It correlates with subsequent microbiological results and may identify patients at greater risk of clinical deterioration who may require more intensive early therapy or observation. It may also provide a useful marker to monitor the effects of treatment.


Suppose that we are given a picture having approximately piecewise constant gray leveL Each point P has a largest neighborhood N(P) that is entirely contained in one of the constant regions, and the set of maximal N(P)'s (i.e., N(P)'s not contained in other N(P)'s) constitutes an economical description of the picture, generalizing the Blum "skeleton" or medial axis transformation. This description can be used to construct approximations to the picture (e.g., by discarding small N(P)'s). The picture can be smoothed, without excessive blurring, by averaging over each N(P). By taking differences between pairs of touching maximal N(P)'s, the edges between the regions can be detected; since this edge detection scheme is not based on symmetrical detection operators, it is not handicapped when two adjacent regions differ greatly in size.


Early mammalian embryogenesis relies on a large range of cellular and molecular mechanisms to guide cell fate. In this highly complex interacting system, molecular circuitry tightly controls emergent properties, including cell differentiation, proliferation, morphology, migration, and communication. These molecular circuits include those responsible for the control of gene and protein expression, as well as metabolism and epigenetics. Due to the complexity of this circuitry and the relative inaccessibility of the mammalian embryo in utero, mammalian neural commitment remains one of the most challenging and poorly understood areas of developmental biology. In order to generate the nervous system, the embryo first produces two pluripotent populations, the inner cell mass and then the primitive ectoderm. The latter is the cellular substrate for gastrulation from which the three multipotent germ layers form. The germ layer definitive ectoderm, in turn, is the substrate for multipotent neurectoderm (neural plate and neural tube) formation, representing the first morphological signs of nervous system development. Subsequent patterning of the neural tube is then responsible for the formation of most of the central and peripheral nervous systems. While a large number of studies have assessed how a competent neurectoderm produces mature neural cells, less is known about the molecular signatures of definitive ectoderm and neurectoderm and the key molecular mechanisms driving their formation. Using pluripotent stem cells as a model, we will discuss the current understanding of how the pluripotent inner cell mass transitions to pluripotent primitive ectoderm and sequentially to the multipotent definitive ectoderm and neurectoderm. We will focus on the integration of cell signaling, gene activation, and epigenetic control that govern these developmental steps, and provide insight into the novel growth factor-like role that specific amino acids, such as L-proline, play in this process.


A reference interval, or an interval in which a prespecified proportion of measurements from a healthy population are expected to fall, is used to determine whether a person's measurement is typical of a healthy individual. For a specific biomarker, multiple published studies may provide data collected from healthy participants. A reference interval estimated by combining the data across these studies is typically more generalizable than a reference interval based on a single study. Methods for estimating reference intervals from random effects meta‐analysis and fixed‐effects meta‐analysis have been recently proposed and implemented using R software. We present an R Shiny tool, RIMeta, implementing these methods, which allows users not proficient in R to estimate a reference interval from a meta‐analysis using aggregate data (mean, standard deviation, and sample size) from each study. RIMeta (https://cers.shinyapps.io/RIMeta/) provides users a convenient way to estimate a reference interval from a meta‐analysis and to generate the reference interval plot to visualize the results. The use of this web‐based R Shiny tool does not require the installation of R or any background knowledge of programming. We explain all functions of the R Shiny tool and illustrate how to use it with a real data example.


Transcription factor p63 is a key regulator of epidermal keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. In humans mutations in p63 cause several developmental disorders with defects of ectoderm-derived structures including the epidermis. The underlying molecular mechanisms of these mutations however remain unclear. Here we characterized the transcriptome and epigenome from EEC syndrome patients carrying mutations in the p63 DNA-binding domain. The transcriptome of p63 mutant keratinocytes deviated from the normal epidermal cell identity. Epigenomic analyses showed that the deregulated gene expression in p63 mutant keratinocytes resulted from an altered enhancer landscape contributed by loss of p63-bound active enhancers and by unexpected gain of enhancers. The gained enhancers in mutant keratinocytes were frequently bound by deregulated transcription factors such as RUNX1. Reversing RUNX1 overexpression partially rescued deregulated gene expression as well as the enhancer distribution. Our findings support the pivotal role of p63 in controlling the enhancer landscape of epidermal keratinocytes and identify a novel mechanism whereby p63 DNA-binding mutations associated with EEC syndrome rewire the enhancer landscape and affect epidermal cell identity.


The Sun is the only star from which matter can be collected in order to investigate its elemental and isotopic composition. Solar elemental abundances provide the most important benchmark for the chemical evolution of the galaxy. They can be derived from photospheric observations, from in situ investigations of the solar wind, and from solar energetic particles. Solar isotopic abundances provide an important reference for the galactic evolution and if available with sufficient precision, also for the chemical and physical evolution of the solar system. The abundances of isotopes in the solar atmosphere can only be inferred from in situ observations of solar particles. This review makes an attempt to summarize current knowledge about the composition of the solar wind and shows how the elemental, isotopic, and charge state composition of solar wind particles is shaped as the solar corona expands throughout the heliosphere.


Silver cluster-assembled materials (SCAMs), by virtue of their tunable structure, accessible surface area and excellent stability, hold great promise as highly efficient catalysts. Herein, we report a new SCAM [Ag12(StBu)6(CF3COO)3(TPyP)]n (denoted as Ag12TPyP) composed of a Ag12 chalcogenolate cluster core stabi-lized by porphyrinic ligands. Ag12TPyP showed superior sulfur mustard simulant (2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide, CEES) degradation efficiency and achieved a half lifetime (t1/2) of 1.5 min with 100% selectivity. The experimental results demonstrated that synergistic effects between the silver cluster and photosensitizer ligand pro-mote the efficiency of the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2), which accelerates the decontamination rate. Additionally, benefiting from strong affinity between the silver cluster and CEES, Ag12TPyP exhibits a CEES uptake of 74.2 mg g-1. This work demonstrates that SCAMs offer a new route to the rational design of novel mate-rials for the detoxification of mustard gas.


Previous in vivo experiments have indicated a potentiating role of growth hormone (GH) during experimentally induced vitellogenesis by 17-beta-estradiol (E2) in the female silver eel (Anguilla anguilla L.). To investigate whether GH has direct hepatic actions, the effects of hypophysial-purified and recombinant QH on vitellogenin (Vg) synthesis in response to E2 were tested on primary cultures of hepatocytes. Hepatocytes were prepared from control or E2-primed eels. Addition of E2 alone into the culture medium induced both Vg synthesis and secretion in a dose- and time-related fashion. Bovine growth hormone (bGH) alone had no effect on the induction of Vg synthesis or secretion. Bovine GH enhanced the in vitro effects of F2 on both Vg synthesis and secretion, an effect attenuated by an in vivo E2 priming which was dose-dependent with an ED(50) of 5 ng/ml. To investigate the specificity of GH action, purified eel and salmon GH and salmon, trout, and tilapia prolactins (PRL), as well as recombinant trout and tilapia GH, were tested, and the responses were compared to bGH. Purified salmon and homologous eel GH potentiated the vitellogenic response to F2. Recombinant GH were highly efficacious, excluding the presence of active contaminants in the potentiating effect of GH preparations. The potentiating effect of recombinant trout GH on the vitellogenic response was reduced at high doses (above 20 ng/ml), suggesting a down-regulation of GH binding sites by GH itself. Salmon PRL has minimal activity, but not trout and tilapia PRL, indicating that PRL is not an important potentiating factor on Vg synthesis in our model. It is concluded that GH acts directly on the liver to potentiate E2 induction of eel hepatic Vg synthesis. The potentiating effect of GH appears to be time- and dose-dependent and modulated as a function of hormonal status (E2 priming) of the eel.


Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC), endothelial cells (EC), and fibroblasts exist in a dynamic mechanical environment and can sense and respond to mechanical stimuli in vivo (McKnight and Frangos [1]). It is becoming more and more clear that complex dynamics not only influences vascular tone but also SMC proliferation (see Dancu et al. [2]) and extracellular matrix turnover (Cummins et al. [3]) by stimulating cell activity.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To identify the contextual factors that influence individual patient involvement during colorectal cancer surgical follow-up consultations.

BACKGROUND
The healthcare system is subject to the requirement and expectation of greater involvement of patients and relatives. Increased patient involvement requires the development and implementation of new communication initiatives. Research shows that it is also necessary to consider the contextual circumstances surrounding patient involvement in specific situations.

DESIGN
Case study of a single Danish outpatient clinic, which allows the issues and circumstances involved in an everyday situation to be captured.

METHOD
12 nonparticipative observations of outpatient visits and, subsequently, seven in-depth patient interviews.

ANALYSIS
Content analysis based on a dialogical, interactive framework, which underpinned the identification of current contextual factors.

RESULTS
The results showed five contextual factors that seemed to have an impact on patient involvement. The first, 'Two dimensions of patient involvement: treatment-oriented and person-oriented' highlighted a dual interpretation of patient involvement in the consultation situation. The two dimensions seemed to be influenced by four additional factors: 'Doctors leading the agenda', 'Traditional health professional roles', 'Unclear responsibilities' and 'Guidance primarily focused on treatment'.

CONCLUSION
The results showed how patient involvement in clinical practice could be understood as a two-way movement, in which patients are invited to participate in clinical practice, while health professionals are invited to participate in the patients' lives. The movement will change from situation to situation and is influenced by several contextual factors.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
The results can help doctors and nurses to navigate using a goal-oriented approach towards patient involvement. The study makes visible the need for research-based development of the independent role of the nursing profession in cancer care follow-up, with a view to enhanced patient-centred care.


It is shown that any non-degenerate $\mathbb C$-convex domain in $\mathbb C^n$ is uniformly squeezing. It is also found the precise behavior of the squeezing function near a Dini-smooth boundary point of a plane domain.


The purpose of this article was to report an extremely rare case of post-traumatic intrapericardial diaphragmatic herniation of the transverse colon complicated by strangulation directly at the pericardial defect and perforation in left pleural cavity. Materials and Methods. We report a case of a 42-year-old male patient presenting post-traumatic pericardial diaphragmatic hernia with transverse colon strangulation and perforation diagnosed intraoperatively after being operated on in the emergency setting for acute abdomen and chest pain. Results and Discussion. Celiotomy and thoracotomy were employed. The gangrenous bowel was resected and colostomy was performed. The patient made an uneventful recovery and was discharged in satisfactory condition in 15 days postoperatively. The patient undergoing reversal colostomy at 3 months after the primary procedure and did not have any recurrences. Conclusion. Chronic post-traumatic colonic herniation through the diaphragmatic defect into the pericardial sac is an extremely rare entity. Only 96 cases have been reported in the world literature until now. This case appears to be the first report of pericardial herniation demonstrating that colon may be strangulated directly at the pericardial defect.