This paper addresses the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's current policy statement against the use of mandatory arbitration which is now more than ten years old. Quite a lot has occurred since the 1997 statement in which the EEOC criticized employers who attempted to require that employees agree as a condition of employment to arbitrate their statutory employment discrimination claims. Since 1997, the Supreme Court has issued opinions in both Circuit City v. Adams and EEOC v. Waffle House that should have clarified the EEOC's position. The author explores the reasons why the EEOC has still not taken a clear position and updated its policy regarding enforcement of agreements to arbitrate when made as a condition of employment. The paper identifies a number of legitimate and possibly some not so legitimate factors that have stymied the EEOC from being a leader in the ongoing development of critical processes to ensure fair enforcement of arbitration clauses. The author concludes, however, that we have reached a crucial juncture where failure by the EEOC to define a supportive policy may not bode well for the overall future use of arbitration in employment discrimination matters. While any EEOC policy may not ultimately reflect what the courts eventually decide on many of the remaining issues, the influence of the EEOC on employees and employers, both small and large, can foster and encourage the positive aspects of resolving statutory employment discrimination claims through the arbitration process. It is incumbent upon the EEOC, as the critical government agency charged with enforcing key statutes that ban workplace discrimination, to set a clear policy addressing the fairness of arbitration clauses. That policy must provide guidance regarding many of the still unresolved issues such as class actions, arbitrator's fees, and other requirements that must be established to effectively vindicate employees' statutory rights in the arbitration forum.


The purpose of this study is to describe communicative tonality in the light of pragmalinguistic approach. This study gives information on different types of communicative tonality, specific character of their usage within institutional discourse, key factors influencing the choice and change of communicative tonality.


In a prospective study of 100 cases of cataract surgery, astigmatism surgically induced by the reversed corneal incision technique was evaluated. There was a tendency towards with-the-rule and oblique astigmatism in the early post-operative period, but the final distribution of cases was similar to the preoperative distribution. The sutures could be left in place in about one third of the cases.


The van der Pauw technique is one of the popular methods for determining the conductivity of flat metal samples. Traceability of the national standard for the conductivity has been achieved by direct current measurement techniques in national measurement institutes of many countries. But recently, alternative current measurement techniques for determining the conductivity of flat metal samples is also interested. In this study, we measured the conductivity of non-ferrous and ferrous flat metals at alternative current using van der Pauw technique. As measurement results, the conductivities of the samples were decreased according to increasing the test frequency even though the decreasing ratio was different.


Ciprofloxacin is a fluorinated quinolone antibacterial agent extensively used against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. In certain polytherapy programs, ciprofloxacin can be administered with some antacids that could modify its dissolution rate and reduce its absorption leading to therapeutic failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of some antacids on the availability of ciprofloxacin. The release of ciprofloxacin from tablets in the presence of antacids, such as sodium bicarbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, magnesium trisilicate and magaldrate was studied on BP 2002 dissolution test apparatus. These studies were carried out in simulated gastric and intestinal juices for 3 hours at 37 degrees C. The results confirmed that the dissolution rate of tablets was markedly retarded in the presence of all the antacids studied. Magaldrate and calcium carbonate in simulated gastric juice exhibited relatively higher adsorption capacities, as did magnesium trisilicate and calcium hydroxide in simulated intestinal juice.


Ecological preferences and life history strategies have enormous impacts on the evolution and phenotypic diversity of salamanders, but the yet established reliable ecological indicators hinder investigations on the paleobiology of early salamanders. Here we statistically demonstrate using geometric morphometric analysis that both the shape of the palate and many non-shape variables particularly associated with vomerine teeth are ecologically informative in early stem- and basal crown-group salamanders. The morphology of the palate is heavily impacted by convergence constrained by feeding mechanisms and also exhibits clear stepwise evolutionary patterns with alternative phenotypic designs to cope with similar functional demand. Paleoecological disparities in early salamanders had took place before the Middle Jurassic and have achieved all ecological preferences in the Early Cretaceous. Metamorphosis is significant in the expansion of ecomorphospace of the palate in early salamanders. The common ancestor of salamanders is metamorphosed and terrestrial, and share unified lifestyles with other modern amphibians.


AVAILABLE BANDWIDTH INFERENCE BASED ON NODE-CENTRIC CLUSTERS by Seetharam Samptur End-to-End Available Bandwidth (AB) is a real-time network metric that is useful for a wide range of applications including content distribution networks, multimedia streaming applications and overlay networks. In a large network with several thousand nodes, it is infeasible to perform all-pair bandwidth measurements as AB measurements could induce traffic overhead along the path. Also because of its dynamic nature, the measurements have to be performed frequently thus imposing significant probe traffic overhead on the network. In this paper, we discuss a clustering based distributed algorithm to infer the AB between any pair of nodes in a large network based on measurements performed on a subset of end-to-end paths. The algorithm was validated on Planet-Lab and for some nodes, 80% of the inferences were within 50% of the actual value.


We present an analytical framework describing the steady-state distribution of protein concentration in live cells, considering that protein production occurs in random bursts with an exponentially distributed number of molecules. We extend this framework for cases of transcription autoregulation and noise propagation in a simple genetic network. This model allows for the extraction of kinetic parameters of gene expression from steady-state distributions of protein concentration in a cell population, which are available from single cell data obtained by flow cytometry or fluorescence microscopy.


Introduction: Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in epilepsy. It is a comorbid condition that adversely decrease patients health-related quality of life, and also potentially lead to the emergence of suicidal habits in people with epilepsy. So it required an instrument that is brief and accurate in Indonesian version, for detection of depression in people with epilepsy. Aims: Determine the validity and reliability the NDDI-E in Indonesian version. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study, which included 30 patients epilepsy in the outpatient clinic Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital Jakarta on June 2013. Transcultral validation based on WHO, and determination of the Pearson's correlation and Crobanch alfa coeffisient for validity and reliability test. Results: There were 30 patients invited to the study, man and woman are equal (50%). From the transcultural validation obtained the NDDI-E in Indonesian version. In validity test with the Pearson's correlation, it obtained 6-items valid statements. The 1 statement had correlation from the total value 0.898 (p<0.01), 2 statement 0.580 (p<0.05), 3 statement 0.716 (p=0.01), 4 statement 0.620 (p<0.05), 5 statement 0.681 (p<0.05), and 6th statement 0.888 (p<0.01). Estimation of the reliability with Pearson's correlation was r=0.935 (p<0.001). It showed that the measurements were consistent from time to time (reliable). The reliability of the internal consistency with determination of crobanch alfa coefficient were: 1 statement 0.772>0.6, 2 statement 0.820>0.6, 3 statement 0.795>0.6, 4 statement 0.814>0.6, 5 statement 0.803>0.6, and 6 statement 0.741>0.6. Crobanch alfa for all items of the NDDI-E were 0.823>0.6 which means that all items of the NDDI-E statements are consistent and reliable. Discussions: The NDDI-E in Indonesian version was valid and reliable in assessing depression of epilepsy patients.


In Electrospray Droplet Impact (EDI), the charged liquid droplets formed by ambient electrospray are introduced through an orifice into vacuum, accelerated by 10 kV and impact the samples prepared on the metal substrate. The secondary ions are detected by an orthogonal-type time-of-flight mass spectrometer. EDI can afford soft ionization/desorption for various kinds of real-world samples such as biological tissues, dyes, pigments, synthetic polymers, and inorganic materials with no special sample preparation. EDI is capable of atomic- and molecular-level etching with leaving little damage on the etched surface. Moreover, the useful yield (total ions generated divided by the total atoms or molecules desorbed) was found to be larger than 10-2. Due to these unique natures, EDI may be promising for the next-generation nano-scale 3D imaging.


Respiratory diseases impose an immense health burden worldwide. Epidemiological studies have revealed extensive disparities in the incidence and severity of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) between males and females. It is recently hypothesized that there might also be a nasal microbiome axis contributing to the observed sex disparities, but without evidence. In this work, we study the nasal microbiome of healthy young adults in, as of today, the largest cohort based on deep shot-gun metagenomic sequencing. We mainly focus on the bacteriome, but also integrate the mycobiome to get a more holistic perspective. De novo assembly is performed to catalog the nasal bacterial colonizers/residents, which also identify and therefore account for uncharacterized components of the community. The bacteriome is then profiled based on the non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) catalog constructed therefrom. Unsupervised clustering reveals clearly separable structural patterns in the nasal microbiome between the two sexes. Following this link, we systematically evaluate sex differences for the first time and reveal extensive sex-specific features in the nasal microbiome composition. More importantly, through network analyses, we capture markedly higher ecological stability and antagonistic potentials in the nasal microbiome of females than that of males. The analysis of the keystone bacteria of the communities reveal that the sex-dependent evolutionary characteristics might have contributed to this difference. Highlights The non-redundant nasal bacterial MAGs catalog constructed from ultra-deeply sequenced metagenomic data provides a valuable resource. Integrating nasal bacteriome and mycobiome data provides a more holistic perspective for the understudied human nasal microbiome. Unsupervised clustering helps uncover extensive sex differences in the nasal microbiome compositions. Network analyses capture markedly higher ecological stability and antagonistic potentials in the nasal microbiome of females than that of males. Sex-dependent genetic evolutionary forces play a role in the shaping of keystones in the nasal microbial community.


Ultrastructural changes in central nervous system (CNS) white matter of three goats affected with beta-mannosidosis were analyzed to further define characteristics and pathogenesis of axonal and myelin abnormalities. The variations in myelin association and contents of axonal spheroids were delineated. The occurrence of spheroids in a 96/150-day fetus documented the early development of these axonal lesions. In regions of severe myelin deficits, the presence of apparently normal axons and a reduction in the number of oligodendrocytes were confirmed. Many remaining cells in myelin-deficient regions were characterized by dark, vacuolated cytoplasm. The occurrence of internodes with myelin sheaths adjacent to internodes without myelin sheaths suggested that an axonal defect is not primarily responsible for the absence of myelin sheaths. A mild myelin deficit in the spinal cord was indicated by the presence of unmyelinated axons. Except for occasional mild cytoplasmic vacuolation, the spinal cord glial cells appeared relatively normal. The findings presented here are consistent with the hypothesis that an oligodendrocyte defect, expressed by regional differences, is a major factor in the pathogenesis of myelin deficiency in beta-mannosidosis.


There is good evidence from N-body simulations that the velo city distribution in the outer parts of halos is radially anisotropic, with the kinetic energy in the radial direction roughly equal to the sum of that in the two tangential directions. We provide a simple algorithm to gen erate such cosmologically important distribution functions. IntroducingrE(E), the radius of the largest orbit of a particle with energy E, we show how to write down almost trivially a distribution function of the formf (E, L) = Lg(rE) for any spherical model – including the 'universal' halo density law (Navarro-Frenk-White pro file). We in addition give the generic form of the distribution function for any model with a local density pow er-law indexα and anisotropy parameter β and provide limiting forms appropriate for the central parts an d envelopes of dark matter halos. From those, we argue that, regardless of the anisotropy, the density fallo ff at large radii must evolve toρ ∼ r−4 or steeper ultimately.


Activation of the endothelium by alkyl-glycerophosphate (AGP) has been implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. Our previous study suggested that cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA) inhibits arterial wall remodeling in a rat model in vivo. However, the mechanisms through which specific target genes are regulated during this process remain unclear. Here, we examined whether cPA inhibited AGP-induced expression of class I histone deacetylases (HDACs, namely HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3, and HDAC8), which may affect subsequent transcriptional activity of target genes. Our experimental results showed that human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAECs) expressed high levels of HDAC2 and low levels HDAC1, HDAC3, and HDAC8. Moreover, AGP treatment induced downregulation of HDAC2 expression in HCAECs. However, cotreatment with cPA inhibited this downregulation of HDAC2 expression. Interestingly, treatment with AGP increased the expression and secretion of endogenous interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8; however, this effect was inhibited when HCAECs were cotreated with cPA or the synthetic peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor gamma (PPARγ) antagonist T0070907. Thus, our data suggested that cPA may have beneficial effects in inflammation-related cardiovascular disease by controlling HDAC2 regulation.


This paper examines when firms pursue structural realignment through business unit reconfiguration, specifically by recombining business units. Our results refine and extend contingency theory and studies of organization design by drawing on theories of decision avoidance and delay to describe environmental conditions when firms pursue or postpone structural realignment. Our empirical analysis of 46 firms from 1978 to 1997, operating within the U.S. medical device and pharmaceutical sectors, demonstrates that while decision makers initiate structural recombination during periods of industry growth (i.e., munificence), they reduce their recombination efforts during periods of industry turbulence (i.e., dynamism), and managerial turbulence (i.e., growth in top management team size). We also find evidence that firms delay realignment and bide their time for better environmental conditions of declining turbulence and industry growth before pursuing more structural realignment. Together, these findings suggest that decision makers often delay initiating structural recombination until they can effectively process information and assess how structural changes will help them realign the organization to the environment.


Bone consists of the mineralized component (i.e., cortex and trabeculae) and the non-mineralized component (i.e., bone marrow). Most of the routine clinical bone imaging uses X-ray-based techniques and focuses on the mineralized component. However, bone marrow adiposity has been also shown to have a strong linkage with bone health. Specifically, multiple previous studies have demonstrated a negative association between bone marrow fat fraction (BMFF) and bone mineral density. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) are ideal imaging techniques for non-invasively investigating the properties of bone marrow fat. In the present work, we first review the most important MRI and MRS methods for assessing properties of bone marrow fat, including methodologies for measuring BMFF and bone marrow fatty acid composition parameters. Previous MRI and MRS studies measuring BMFF and fat unsaturation in the context of osteoporosis are then reviewed. Finally, previous studies investigating the relationship between bone marrow fat, other fat depots, and bone health in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes are presented. In summary, MRI and MRS are powerful non-invasive techniques for measuring properties of bone marrow fat in osteoporosis, obesity, and type 2 diabetes and can assist in future studies investigating the pathophysiology of bone changes in the above clinical scenarios.


This research presents a model describing the behaviour of a non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluid during aseptic filling processes, in order to determine the influence of the behaviour of fluids on the performance of filling valves in aseptic beverage plants, mainly in terms of the time required to perform the filling process. The ultimate aim of the study is to explore the possibility of improving the accuracy of industrial filling processes, so as to be able to utilise them with high viscosity fluids.The numerical model, exploiting the Finite Elements Method (FEM), was designed using the commercial software Comsol Multiphysics, and validated by comparing the steady state predictions with outcomes of filling experiments performed in industrial laboratories. Hence, subsequent numerical simulations were performed to investigate the transition from laminar to turbulent flow for shear-thinning fluids under different pressure conditions, in 3D time-dependent configurations. Results of the simulations, performed on a low fat yoghurt, show that laminar flow subsists within the whole filling system when the Metzner-Reed Reynolds number at the inlet section of the valve is lower than approx 444.


: Background: Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is characterized by various symptoms. There is evidence for a genetic component of gastro-esophageal reflux disease, confirmed by familial aggregation of the disease. The aim of the study was to investigate whether certain genes of human leukocyte HLA-DRB1 antigens are associated with (GERD). Methods: Patients and controls were prospectively recruited from the Gastroenterology department of Dhulikhel Hospital Kavre District, Nepal for one-year duration from March 2019 to March 2020. Sixty patients with a history of heartburn and indigestion were compared with 100 controls. All studied patients and control groups underwent endoscopic examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract, and their sera were analyzed for CagA Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to H. pylori. HLA-DRB1 genotyping was performed in both groups. Results: A total of 60 patients with erosive gastritis; GERD was assessed (grade II and III) along with 100 controls. There is a significant increase in H. pylori infection (p = 0.0001) in patients with GERD than in the control group. HLA-DRB1 * 15: 01 was significantly increased in patients with GERD compared to the control group and the increased frequency of HLADRB1 * 11: 01 in the control group compared to the group of patients. Conclusions: There is an association between HLA-DRB1 * 15: 01 in GERD and H pylori positive patients.


Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) provides high-resolution images of the Earth's surface irrespective of sunlight and weather conditions. In conventional spaceborne SAR, nadir echoes caused by the pulsed operation of SAR may significantly affect the SAR image quality. Therefore, the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) is constrained within the SAR system design to avoid the appearance of nadir echoes in the SAR image. As an alternative, the waveform-encoded SAR concept using a pulse-to-pulse variation of the transmitted waveform and dual-focus postprocessing can be exploited for nadir echo removal and to alleviate the PRF constraints. In particular, cyclically shifted chirps have been proposed as a possible waveform variation scheme. However, a large number of distinct waveforms is required to enable the simple implementation of the concept. This work proposes a technique based on the Eulerian circuit for generating a waveform sequence starting from a reduced number of distinct cyclically shifted chirps that can be effectively exploited for waveform-encoded SAR. The nadir echo suppression performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed through simulations using real TerraSAR-X data and a realistic nadir echo model that shows how the number of distinct waveforms and therefore the system complexity can be reduced without significant performance loss. These developments reduce the calibration burden and make the concept viable for implementation in future SAR systems.


To understand primary health care practice, student nurse education requires opportunities to engage in authentic, person-in-environment interaction. This paper reviews an innovative student nurse placement model developed in rural Australia through a multidisciplinary partnership between a rural health service, a university, and the state governmental Department of Education and Training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 12 student nurses at placement completion. Themes drawn out of the data collected were grounded in the participants' opinions and experiences. The interview findings were grouped into six themes surrounding: (1) placement model, (2) identity, (3) autonomy, (4) interpersonal skills, (5) primary care, and (6) young people. Overall, student nurses gave positive feedback about the placement model and felt the experience contributed to their professional identity and autonomy as they transition to graduate roles. They self-reported strong indications that learning about the nuances and complexity of primary health care contributed to their practice skills. Investing in placement models such as the one presented in this paper is important to build capacity in the nursing workforce. Enabling an adaptable, responsive nursing profession is a critical area for further nurse education research and evaluation.


Dummy channels are introduced into the coupled region to achieve physical realizability and significantly increase rejection in nonuniform type coupled-line filters. Theory is verified by a filter circuit designed on alumina substrate to demonstrate 4 different band-pass filters using two cascaded coupler-filters with 50% bandwidth at X-band. Rejection in excess of 40 dB with sharp passband skirts have been achieved.


We investigated if reluctance to seek help could be explained by how people perceive an illness. Participants were members of the general public who had experienced mental health problems, for which approximately half had sought professional help. We asked them to rate the problems of 2 vignette characters using the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ). Participants who had sought help were more likely to see the problems of the vignette characters as having more serious consequences and to understand their problems better, compared with those who had not sought help. The depression vignette character was seen as having a problem that was more serious but less amenable to treatment compared with the anxiety vignette character. Compared with men, women were likely to be more aware of the consequences and chronicity of depression. We conclude illness perceptions may help explain reluctance to seek help and discuss implications for encouraging consultation.


This dissertation is a study on how social media platforms engineer whiteness as ideology and aesthetic. Where work in the field to this point has primarily emphasized the ways in which platforms reproduce ideologies like white supremacy, I demonstrate that the platform is itself a generative mechanism that has infrastructural connections to white supremacy in the form of shared mechanics, including identification, categorization, and interpellation. To advance this research, I conduct textual, visual, and design-based rhetorical analysis on three case study platforms: YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. From this work, I establish a theoretical framework combining visual culture studies, platform studies, and critical race studies.

This research contributes to the field of media studies by reframing how race and platforms correlate. Platformization as a phenomenon brings about fundamentally distinct dynamics with regard to conceptualizations of white supremacy, prompting a reassessment of how the latter is commonly defined in critical race studies. This work also contributes to the ongoing development of media studies via its public-facing nature and investment in understanding new media through anti-racist theory. Because of the growth of public knowledge on how content platforms have ideological functions that align with existing biases, my research contributes new insight into both scholarly and popular discussions of the relationships between race and social media.

The first chapter conceptualizes platform in theoretical relationship to race. Both platform and race are infrastructures that generate affect through interpellation. Belonging and loneliness are generated in the narratives that platforms produce as political power is given and denied based on the social construction of race. Chapters two, three, and four use case studies of social media platforms (YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram respectively) to demonstrate that there are always already design-based connections between platforms and the content that they host. Over the course of these chapters, I analyze media practices and objects that range across "passive" and "active" forms of engagement (from the acts of watching and searching to that of posting) and across moving and still images (from the formats of the video and GIF to the photograph).


Angiomyofibroblastomas, aggressive angiomyxomas and cellular angiofibromas are rare mesenchymal tumours with many overlapping radiological, histopathological and immunohistochemical features. Amongst these tumours angiomyofibroblastoma is relatively benign mesenchymal tumour with very low chances of recurrence. It is clinically confused with bartholin gland cyst due to its well demarcated and smooth appearance. Due to overlapping histopathological features its very difficult even for experienced pathologists to differentiate between these mesenchymal tumours. Earlier desmin reactivity was thought to be specific for angiomyofibroblastoma but recently many aggressive angiomyxomas have also been found to be positive for desmin. Ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging may be useful in diagnosis and ruling out more sinister malignancies. A well demarcated lesion with characteristic histopathological appearance of alternating hypo and hypercellular edematous regions with abundant blood vessels and stromal cells with dispersed chromatin is usually seen in angiomyofibroblastoma. Immunohistochemistry may further help in diagnosis. We here report a case of vaginal angiomyofibroblastoma. The diagnosis was made on the basis of imaging and was confirmed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry.


【Purpose: A hamate body coronal fracture is well known as a very rare fracture in the carpal bones and is also hard to diagnose in initial stage due to the bone's architecture. We report our experience in treatment of such a fracture, and we present a review of the relevant literatures. Methods: Four patients who experienced hamate body coronal fractures from October 2006 to October 2013 were enrolled in this study. One patient also had an associated Capitate fracture, and two patients had associated dislocations of the $4^{th}$ metacarpal joint. We performed open reduction and mini-screw fixation on the four patients. In addition, a K-wire was fixed for the two patients with dislocations. Results: The average follow-up period was 24.5 months after surgery, and bone union was observed at the $8^{th}$ week after surgery. We confirmed that bone union had been completed for all the patients, and functional tests showed that joint motion was in the normal range without complications. Conclusion: When a patient has consistent pain on the ulnar side of the wrist, a hamate fracture should be suspected. Computer tomography is better than a simple X-ray scan for confirming the diagnosis of a hamate body coronal fracture. An open reduction and mini-screw fixation led to a good result.】


2D materials, such as graphene, black phosphorous and transition metal dichalcogenides, have gained persistent attention in the past few years thanks to their unique properties for optoelectronics. More importantly, introducing 2D materials into silicon photonic devices will greatly promote the performance of optoelectronic devices, including improvement of response speed, reduction of energy consumption, and simplification of fabrication process. Moreover, 2D materials meet the requirements of complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor compatible silicon photonic manufacturing. A comprehensive overview and evaluation of state‐of‐the‐art 2D photonic integrated devices for telecommunication applications is provided, including light sources, optical modulators, and photodetectors. Optimized by unique structures such as photonic crystal waveguide, slot waveguide, and microring resonator, these 2D material‐based photonic devices can be further improved in light‐matter interactions, providing a powerful design for silicon photonic integrated circuits.


Background: Despite numerous studies exploring medical students' attitudes to communication skills learning (CSL), there are apparently no studies comparing different experiential learning methods and their influence on students' attitudes. Aims: We compared medical students' attitudes to learning communication skills before and after a communication course in the data as a whole, by gender and when divided into three groups using different methods. Method: Second-year medical students (n = 129) were randomly assigned to three groups. In group A (n = 42) the theatre in education method, in group B (n = 44) simulated patients and in group C (n = 43) role-play were used. The data were gathered before and after the course using Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Results: Students' positive attitudes to learning communication skills (PAS; positive attitude scale) increased significantly and their negative attitudes (NAS; negative attitude scale) decreased significantly between the beginning and end of the course. Female students had more positive attitudes than the male students. There were no significant differences in the three groups in the mean scores for PAS or NAS measured before or after the course. Conclusions: The use of experiential methods and integrating communication skills training with visits to health centres may help medical students to appreciate the importance of CSL.


This paper proposes a new method of estimating the interest rate risk of banks from the perspective of bank outsiders. The key innovation is the inclusion of time series of accounting-based data instead of using only the latest available reports to estimate the maturity structure of banks. Using regulatory accounting-based data, we estimate the model for more than 1,000 German universal banks and compare the results with a unique data set of bank-internal quantified interest rate risk. We find evidence that our model yields a significantly better fit of banks' internally quantified interest rate risk than standard approaches that rely on one-point-in-time data.


The tumor suppressor PTEN plays an essential role in regulating signaling pathways involved in cell growth and apoptosis and is inactivated in a wide variety of tumors. In this study, we have identified a protein, referred to as PICT-1 (protein interacting with carboxyl terminus 1), that binds to the C terminus of PTEN and regulates its phosphorylation and turnover. Down-regulation of PICT-1 in MCF7 cells by RNA interference enhances the degradation of PTEN with a concomitant decrease in its phosphorylation. PTEN C-terminal tumor-associated mutants, which are highly susceptible to protein degradation, have lost the ability to bind to PICT-1 along with their reduced phosphorylation, suggesting that their rapid turnover results from impaired binding to PICT-1. Our results identify PICT-1 as a PTEN-interacting protein that promotes the phosphorylation and stability of PTEN. These findings suggest a novel molecular mechanism underlying the turnover of PTEN, which also provides an explanation for the loss of PTEN function due to C-terminal mutations.


ABSTRACT: Soil erosion was assessed at Camp Williams Army National Guard Training Facility by creating an erosion risk classification map. The map was created by applying empirical erosion models including the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) with CIS and then grouping the quantitative erosion estimates into erosion risk classes. The assessment indicated where problem areas occurred and showed relative erosion risk, but its lack of quantitative accuracy should be noted. Soil erosion does not appear to be a problem for most of the facility except in areas with little or no protective vegetation such as roads. Analysis of each factor showed that the cover-management factor (C) contributed most of the variability to the erosion risk classification map. A comparison of three GIS derived factors (K, S, and C) to factors derived from field data indicated mixed results for accuracy.


In this study the possibility of classifying carcinoma in situ and normal specimens by measuring normal-appearing intermediate cells was explored. Twenty-five histologically verified carcinoma in situ specimens and 99 normal specimens, matched with the abnormal specimens for age and use or nonuse of an oral hormonal contraceptive, were examined. The smears were monolayer preparations stained with Thionin-Feulgen Congo red. Twenty-one nuclear features were measured. A discrimination among the experimental groups could be made on the basis of the relationship between two features, area and average optical density (AOD). A regression of AOD on area for each smear was performed. The correlation, coefficient of variation, slope, intercept, as well as the mean of the AOD level and the age of the subject were used in a discriminant analysis. This resulted in a smear classification with a false-positive rate of 14% and a missed-positive rate of 32%. When contraceptive use was taken into account the overall classification was improved with a false-positive rate of 12% and a missed-positive rate of 20%.


This article examines the global diffusion of same-sex marriage (SSM) debates highlighting the diversity of countries where SSM is currently under discussion. This increasing diversity challenges most explanations originally put forward in the literature that have focused on socio-demographic changes relating to marriage, the couple, the family and intimacy, secularization and a decline of homophobia, as well as the influence of social movements. The impact of the burgeoning global politics of SSM appears even more crucial for the development of SSM debates than they were at the time of civil partnership. The argument put forward is fundamentally about time and space: the increasing geographical diversity of countries where SSM has entered the domestic discourse combined with the accelerating pace of its diffusion. Moreover, the pronounced legal nature of SSM claims, which partly results from the transnational activism of a few committed legal experts, also contributed to its global diffusion. Its predominance as the only valid device to achieve legal equality for same-sex couples has profoundly changed the type of contexts in which such debates can emerge.


Recent studies with the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (Deese 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995) paradigm have revealed that amnesic patients do not only show impaired veridical memory, but also diminished false memory for semantically related lure words. Due to the typically used explicit retrieval instructions, however, this finding may reflect problems at encoding, at recollection, or both. Therefore, the present experiments examined implicit as well as explicit false memory in patients suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome and controls. In Experiment 1, encoding instructions either focused on remembering individual list words, or on discovering semantic relationships among the words. In Experiment 2, different presentation durations were used. Results emphasize the distinction between automatic and intentional retrieval: Korsakoff patients' veridical and false memory scores were diminished when explicit recollection was required, but not when memory was tested implicitly. Encoding manipulations only significantly affected veridical memory: Priming was reduced with thematic encoding, and explicit retrieval was facilitated when given more study time.


This research is meant to explain the home ownership financing mechanism by applying the murabahah contract at Bank Syariah Mandiri Surabaya and its accounting treatment whether all the record keeping which is conducted by the bank has in appropriate with the PSAK No. 102 which regulates the murabahah contract. The descriptive qualitative method is used as the analysis technique in this research as well as the case study approach by performing survey, interview and documentation. The result of this research is the mechanism and the accounting treatment of home ownership financing by applying the murabahah contract at Bank Syariah Mandiri Surabaya generally has in appropriate with the statement of financial accounting standards No. 102 about Murabahah Accounting which regulates the recognition, the measurement, and the presentation from the beginning to the end of the murabahah contract. Bank Syariah Mandiri Surabaya has explained to the bank customer of the murabahah asset acquisition price as well as the margin which becomes the bank profit as the sales. This matter has in appropriate with the Islamic principles which are the principle of justice, mandate, partnership, and transparency.


Distal clavicle excision (DCE) for acromioclavicular (AC) joint primary osteoarthritis and post-traumatic arthritis has been shown to have good to excellent outcomes. However, there are studies that report significant rates of residual AC joint pain and distal clavicle instability after open and arthroscopic techniques. We describe a surgical technique for management of AC joint primary osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, and revision DCE that involves DCE with ligament reconstruction and tendon interposition arthroplasty. It provides distal clavicle stability and can theoretically reduce residual AC joint pain secondary to acromial abutment after DCE.


The Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are innate sensors that recognize both microbial and endogenous ligands, initiating the host defense response. TLRs initiate the potent proinflammatory response to infection, are the target for adjuvants, and are essential for the establishment and maturation of adaptive immunity. As such they have been the interest of widespread research and the target of therapeutic intervention on multiple diseases. It has become apparent that expression of a subset of TLRs (TLR1, TLR2, TLR3, TLR5, and TLR7) is induced by Type I interferons (IFN). The role and impact of IFN expression on TLR responses is therefore critical in understanding the role of TLRs in disease, particularly as IFN itself is a downstream gene induced by specific TLRs. In this review we discuss the function and role of IFN-regulated TLRs in disease and how the role of IFN may impact upon TLR induction of the immune response in diseases, particularly in mouse models.


Damia is a lightweight enterprise data integration service where line of business users can create and catalog high value data feeds for consumption by situational applications. Damia is inspired by the Web 2.0 mashup phenomenon. It consists of (1) a browser-based user-interface that allows for the specification of data mashups as data flowfgraphs using a set of operators, (2) a server with an execution engine, as well as (3) APIs for searching, debugging, executing and managing mashups. Damia offers a framework and functionality for dynamic entity resolution, streaming and other higher value features particularly important in the enterprise domain. Damia is currently in perpetual beta in the IBM Intranet.

In this demonstration, we showcase the creation and execution of several enterprise data mashups, thereby illustrating the architecture and features of the overall Damia system.


The DeNOx performance of catalysts is a key part in the selective catalytic reduction process. In this study, CeO2/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method and the sol-gel method, and the DeNOx performance of the catalysts was tested on a self-built experimental system. The efficiency difference due to the two preparationmethods was analyzed by X-ray diffraction technology and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method. The experimental results showed that CeO2/TiO2 catalysts prepared by the sol-gel method had a larger surface area and the DeNOx activity was higher than the catalysts prepared by the impregnation method, when the temperature was below 350 oC. For CeO2/ TiO2 catalysts prepared by the impregnationmethod, the crystal form of CeO2 could be seen, when CeO2 content was 10%. However, if CeO2 content was more than 3%, the catalyst had relative high activity suitable for industrial application.


BackgroundThe loss of anterior tooth leads to a volumetric deficit of soft and hard tissues, which causes an altered topography. This localized alveolar ridge defect in turn complicates the prosthetic rehabilitation and un-esthetic result might lead to patient's social stigma. Such defects can be corrected by either soft or hard tissue augmentation, along with esthetic prosthesis.Case presentationThis case report describes the augmentation of the sub-epithelial soft tissue graft to rebuild the lost gingival contour for prosthetic rehabilitation missing tooth in esthetic region. The surgical "trap door" approach is explained in detail along with procedure to introduce innovative E pontic design in prosthesis.ConclusionThe ultimate goal of any prosthetic treatment is to enhance esthetics of patient thus aiding in his/her psychological health along with functional stabilization of the compromised arch. The periodontal surgery with gingival friendly prosthetic design increases esthetic outcome of the treatment.


The objectives of this research are to acknowledge the perception mapping of the people towards UPN "Veteran" Jakarta, Gunadharma University, Moestopo University dan Satya Negara Indonesia University that are located in South Jakarta reviewed from the indicator of Location, Promotion, Tuition Fees, Educational quality, Reference, Brand image, and Facility. The amount of sample on this research is up to 360 respondents which are senior high school students around South Jakarta. The analysis technique being used in this research is multivariate analysis technique. This multivariate analysis is connected with statistical method which is equally performing analysis to more than two variables on each private university. To find out the similarity between private universities can be done with Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS) and Correspondence Analysis (CA) to discover the excellence of each variable on every private university. In this research both analysis tools are being used and completed each other, because MDS and CA are both producing an out put which is perceptual map than can draw the Position of UPN "Veteran" Jakarta and its competitor. Though MDS and CA, both are expected to get on information about the Positioning of UPN "Veteran" Jakarta as Private University, also the preference of variable exellence that UPN "Veteran" Jakarta has. This information will be made as platform in defining the marketing strategy which can be implemented on UPN "Veteran" Jakarta to strengthen its positioning based on variables that are owned by private university.


It is essential to look at cybersecurity not only as a technical problem but also from economic, societal, and legal perspectives. Companies need to pay more attention to planning and investments in cybersecurity due to different factors, such as budget constraints and complexities involved in the planning and decision-making processes. Also, companies wrongly do not see themselves as the target of a potential cyberattack. Therefore, there is still a need for approaches that support companies, especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), during the cybersecurity planning and investment decisions. This PhD thesis addressed cybersecurity planning and investment gaps by proposing the CyberTEA approach. This approach is composed of a five-phase methodology, a framework, and a set of solutions for cybersecurity planning and investment, considering the technical requirements of cybersecurity and its economic dimensions, such as the potential economic impacts of cyberattacks and the cost-benefit of protections available on the market to protect against specific threats. The evaluations and scientific advances of CyberTEA approach was proven valid to support SMEs while also showing the benefits and opportunities for cybersecurity economic approaches.


The inactivation of the tumor suppressor gene p53 has been demonstrated in a variety of human tumors. Herein, we performed a p53 gene analysis of human gynecologic tumor cell lines and tumor tissues. In the SK-OV-3 cell line, Southern analysis suggested the presence of sequence deletions/rearrangements in at least one allele of p53 gene. Transcripts were not detectable by either Northern or PCR analysis. Sequencing analysis of the entire coding region revealed mutations changing the p53 amino acid composition in all six endometrial carcinoma cell lines tested (Ishikawa, Hec1-A, Hec1-B, KLE, RL95-2, and AN-3), and four cell lines in ovarian carcinoma cell lines (Caov-3, -4, OVCAR-3, and Kuramochi). Of the seven cervical carcinoma cell lines, two (HT-3 and C-33A) contained p53 codon changes. We were unable to detect the human papilloma virus (HPV) in these two cell lines. By contrast, five HPV-positive cervical carcinoma cell lines (HeLa S-3, Caski, SiHa, C-41, and ME-180) contained wild-type p53 gene sequences. Examination of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) by PCR revealed that about 30% of the human ovarian carcinoma tissues has LOH at the locus of p53 gene. We suggest that, in the HPV-positive cervical tumors, p53 inactivation occurred via the known mechanism of viral E6/cellular p53 protein association, whereas in all other tumors (ovarian carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, HPV-negative cervical carcinoma) p53 function was compromised by changes in the amino acid sequence.


This paper presents a novel solution method based on measurement and analysis of current signals for gearbox fault recognition of wind turbine. A gearbox with typical oil-leakage fault is purposely made. The oil-leakage gearbox and a normal gearbox are used as experimental models to measure and analyze the current signals of generator. This work employs wavelet transform (WT), empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and fast Fourier transform (FFT) to analyze the current signals for both the oil-leakage and the normal gearboxes. K-nearest neighbors (KNN) is used on automatic fault recognition. First, the normal gearbox and the oilleakage gearbox are separately applied to practical power platform experiments. Second, empirical mode decomposition is applied on analyzing the intrinsic mode function (IMF) of the current signals, and fast Fourier transform is used to get the intrinsic mode function spectrum. Finally, the features of the spectrum are extracted, and K-nearest neighbors is used on gearbox fault recognition of wind turbine. Experimental results indicate that the proposed solution method can effectively recognize the oilleakage fault of gearboxes.


Surgical options for proximal humeral fractures continue with complications in elderly patients with avascular necrosis, screw cut-out and re-operation rate. The literature suggests that these problems on the fracture fixation could be related to the implant stiffness. The main factors involved in this scenario include the physiological loading conditions, the support screws configuration, the implant material and the bone quality. The goal of this study was to determine the effects of the mentioned factors in order to establish a favourable scenario to avoid the fracture fixation failure. The finite element method in association with a two-level 24 full-factorial design model and its statistical products were used to develop this research. Results suggest that the implant material is the factor with the most relevant effect to provide stiffness on the fracture fixation, following by the support configuration. The use of a medial support with calcar screws on different qualities of bone tissue offers an optimal level of rigidity than those who do not use them. A beneficial scenario is obtained by medial support with calcar screws for the implant fixation on a 2-part surgical neck fracture of the proximal part of the humerus model.


A small investor provides liquidity at the best bid and ask prices of a limit order market. For small spreads and frequent orders of other market participants, we explicitly determine the investor's optimal policy and welfare. In doing so, we allow for general dynamics of the mid price, the spread, and the order ow, as well as for arbitrary preferences of the liquidity provider under consideration.


Objectives Digital ulcers (DUs) occur in up to half of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and may lead to infection, gangrene and amputation with functional disability and reduced quality of life. This study has elucidated the burden of SSc-associated DUs through identification of four patient categories based on the pattern of DU recurrence over a 2-year observation period. Methods Patients with SSc-associated DUs enrolled in the Digital Ulcers Outcome Registry between 1 April 2008 and 19 November 2013, and with ≥2 years of observation and ≥3 follow-up visits during the observation period were analysed. Incident DU-associated complications were recorded during follow-up. Work and daily activity impairment were measured using a functional assessment questionnaire completed by patients after the observation period. Potential factors that could predict incident complications were identified in patients with chronic DUs. Results From 1459 patients, four DU occurrence categories were identified: 33.2% no-DU; 9.4% episodic; 46.2% recurrent; 11.2% chronic. During the observation period, patients from the chronic category had the highest rate of incident complications, highest work impairment and greatest need for help compared with the other categories. Independent factors associated with incident complications included gastrointestinal manifestations (OR 3.73, p=0.03) and previous soft tissue infection (OR 5.86, p=0.01). Conclusions This proposed novel categorisation of patients with SSc-associated DUs based on the occurrence of DUs over time may help to identify patients in the clinic with a heavier DU burden who could benefit from more complex management to improve their functioning and quality of life.


Although the assessment of the expansive potential of clay soils has been the subject of active research for the past 40 years, its treatment in routine geotechnical practice around the world remains inconsistent. This paper describes the shrink swell test, which is used routinely in Australian geotechnical practice as the principal method for the experimental assessment of the expansive potential of clay soils. The test procedure and its underlying assumptions are described and discussed in the context of the historical development of the test and its routine application. It is shown that the shrink swell test is a simple and economical means of assessing soil expansiveness, which is achieved largely through the adoption of several simplifying assumptions that effectively circumvent the measurement of soil suction. The significance of these assumptions is discussed, and it is concluded that the shrink swell test can be conveniently and reliably employed to guide the routine design of foundations in expansive soils.


A hallmark of human intelligence is that we continue to learn new information and then extrapolate the learned information onto new tasks and domains (see, e.g., Thrun and Pratt (1998)). While this is a fairly intuitive observation, formulating such ideas has proved to be a challenging research problem and continues to inspire new studies. Recently, there has been increasing interest in AI/ML about building models that generalize across tasks, even when they have some form of distribution shifts. How can we ground this research in a solid framework to develop principled methods for better practice? This talk will present my recent works addressing this research question. My talk will involve three parts: revisiting multitask learning from the lens of deep learning theory, designing principled methods for robust transfer, and algorithmic implications for data augmentation.


There are numerous participants involved in construction projects including the client or sponsor of the project, regulatory bodies, contractors, consultants, ward councilors, community who affect or become affected by the project. Stakeholders can affect the road construction positive or negatively. Stakeholder's engagement is done to avoid unnecessary conflicts and controversies and to attain the desired successful implementation of the project. The paper aims to identify the impact of internal stakeholders on road construction project. Quantitative approach was adopted for this study. 100 questionnaires were distributed and 76 were collected and analyzed. The data was collected through primary and secondary sources. Factor analysis was conducted, Correlation matric coefficients has been conducted to ensure visibility of coefficients greater than 0.3 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkim (KMO) and Barlett's test were conducted. From the findings it transpired that late payment to service providers; failure to verify contractor qualification; Client knowledge to review design documentation; inadequate involvement during construction project, lack of understanding project feasibility. The participation of stakeholders encourages the public to share their knowledge with the regulatory authorities, fosters better-informed decisions and decreases likelihood of project failure. Early stakeholder's involvement can add benefits of diffusing opposition to a project.


Education for pastoralist communities remains a challenge to the country's socio – economic development. The Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) that are mostly inhabited by the pastoralists have recorded low enrolment rates, high dropout rates, and unsatisfactory completion and transition rates at various levels of education. This coupled with poor performance by most of the learners and few transition options at tertiary level has left young generation with minimum prosperity in education. Worsened by retrogressive cultures like Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages; and harsh climatic conditions that have degenerated the living conditions of these communities. Facts indicate that whereas the rest of the country is actively involved and on target to achieve the development goals, ASAL regions are struggling to keep pace. This book identifies and critically analyzes issues of access, retention and transition rates in Kajiado County. This will inform stakeholders and development partners in Kajiado County on how to track access, retention and transition for policy improvement and extension of quality basic education to those currently unreached by the mainstream education


ABSTRACT
 The maintenance of species diversity in modified and natural habitats is a central focus of conservation biology. The Iberá Nature Reserve (INR) protects highly diverse ecosystems in northeastern Argentina, including one of the largest freshwater wetlands in South America. Livestock grazing is one of the major disturbances to these ecosystems; however, its effect on ant diversity is poorly known. The objective of this work was to study the effect of savanna versus grassland and grazing on the structure and composition of subtropical terrestrial ants focusing on the particular response of the native red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Unbaited pitfall traps were used to capture worker ants in 25 grazed and 20 nongrazed sites. Fifty ant species were collected. The savanna showed more species, individuals, biomass, and functional groups of ants than the grassland. S. invicta was the most frequently captured (61.4%) and numerically dominant species; however Camponotus punctulatus punctulatus Mayr showed the highest biomass. Grazing simplified vegetation structure in both habitats, but its impact on vegetation seemed only to promote a higher total biomass especially in the grassland, and/or functional groups, favoring occurrence of hot-climate specialists in the savanna. This study revealed that habitat type strongly affected the organization of the terrestrial ant assemblages at the INR. However, as in other studies, we did not find clear evidence that habitat modification by grazing significantly affected terrestrial ant assemblages. The weak grazing influence could be the consequence of the short enclosure time as to recover the original ant communities, the differential response of ant species to habitat type, and/or the resilience of ants.


Importance
As self-collected home antigen tests become widely available, a better understanding of their performance during the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection is needed.

Objective
To evaluate the diagnostic performance of home antigen tests compared with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and viral culture by days from illness onset, as well as user acceptability.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This prospective cohort study was conducted from January to May 2021 in San Diego County, California, and metropolitan Denver, Colorado. The convenience sample included adults and children with RT-PCR-confirmed infection who used self-collected home antigen tests for 15 days and underwent at least 1 nasopharyngeal swab for RT-PCR, viral culture, and sequencing.

Exposures
SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Main Outcomes and Measures
The primary outcome was the daily sensitivity of home antigen tests to detect RT-PCR-confirmed cases. Secondary outcomes included the daily percentage of antigen test, RT-PCR, and viral culture results that were positive, and antigen test sensitivity compared with same-day RT-PCR and cultures. Antigen test use errors and acceptability were assessed for a subset of participants.

Results
This study enrolled 225 persons with RT-PCR-confirmed infection (median [range] age, 29 [1-83] years; 117 female participants [52%]; 10 [4%] Asian, 6 [3%] Black or African American, 50 [22%] Hispanic or Latino, 3 [1%] Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 145 [64%] White, and 11 [5%] multiracial individuals) who completed 3044 antigen tests and 642 nasopharyngeal swabs. Antigen test sensitivity was 50% (95% CI, 45%-55%) during the infectious period, 64% (95% CI, 56%-70%) compared with same-day RT-PCR, and 84% (95% CI, 75%-90%) compared with same-day cultures. Antigen test sensitivity peaked 4 days after illness onset at 77% (95% CI, 69%-83%). Antigen test sensitivity improved with a second antigen test 1 to 2 days later, particularly early in the infection. Six days after illness onset, antigen test result positivity was 61% (95% CI, 53%-68%). Almost all (216 [96%]) surveyed individuals reported that they would be more likely to get tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection if home antigen tests were available over the counter.

Conclusions and Relevance
The results of this cohort study of home antigen tests suggest that sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 was moderate compared with RT-PCR and high compared with viral culture. The results also suggest that symptomatic individuals with an initial negative home antigen test result for SARS-CoV-2 infection should test again 1 to 2 days later because test sensitivity peaked several days after illness onset and improved with repeated testing.


The complementary matching pursuit (CMP) algorithm is analogous to the classical matching pursuit (MP), but performs the complementary action. It deletes (N-1) atoms from the sparse approximation at each iteration and keeps only one atom while other algorithms select one atom and add it into the sparse approximation, which makes CMP have better reconstruction quality. However, remaining only one atom at each iteration costs more time in CMP. In this work, an improved CMP algorithm is proposed to shorten the reconstruction time. The proposed CMP algorithm selects more than one atoms at each iteration following a certain rule from Sparsity Adaptive Matching Pursuit(SAMP). In which, the number of selected atoms changes with Adaptive Size (AS) every iteration. The experiment results show that the improved method could achieve better reconstruction quality with less time than the Gradient Pursuit (GP), Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and original CMP.


Clostridium difficile infection, the most frequent cause of nosocomial diarrhea, disproportionately affects older adults. The two most important risk factors for developing C. difficile infection are antimicrobial exposure and age >65 years old. Risk factors specific to older adults are frequent interactions with healthcare systems and age-related changes in physiology, including immune senescence and changes to the gut microbiome. Metronidazole and oral vancomcyin are the mainstays of conventional treatment for C. difficile infection. Alternative therapies include fidaxomicin, a narrow-spectrum macrocyclic antibiotic, and fectal bacteriotherapy, which offers an excellent therapeutic outcome. Strategies to prevent C. difficile infections include enhanced infection control measures and reducing inappropriate antimicrobial use through stewardship.


I Ax desirous of correcting, through the medium of the AssOcIATION MEDICAL JOURNAL, an error to which publicity has been given in an original article, published by Mr. Henry Lee in the October number of the British and Foreign Afedico-Clihrurgical Review. The point in question refers to the indications for the employ of mercury in primary venereal sexual sores. It is exceedingly probable that what I wished to be understood has not been expressed in language sufficiently clear; and this I endeavoured to correct in a clinical lecture, published in the AssocIATION JOURNAL for March 185i. That lecture contains my doctrine, as clearly expressed as I know how to express it, in reference to this important subject. With regard to the point more immediately in question, I say " that the employ of mercury specifically is indicated in cases of well marked indurated chancre;* but this would have been better expressed if I had said, in sores presenting a well marked "sub-chancrous induration." Again, I say "1that this indication is still more pressing, if such sores are accompanied by bubo." What I mean here is, that when such sores arc, as they most commonly are, accompanied by distinct enlargement of one or more glands in one or both groins, which glands are hard and tender, but which have not suppurated, and do not apparently contain matter, the use of mercury is still more strongly indicated. I do not mean, and never said, " in suppurating bubo"; for, without believing implicitly in the dogma of Ricord and his school on this point, it is well known that a bubo which suppurates at all freely is not commonly followed by secondary symptoms, though this is not true in all cases; and, in such instances, it would be well to wait for the appearance of secondary symptoms before mercury is employed at all. I use the term "sub-chancrous" induration, as synonimous with the so-ca1led " specific induration" of a primary syphilitic ulcer. By it I mean a hard lump, movable under the skin, which comes on between four and fourteen days after the first appearance of the ulcer; this induration is situatedaunder the sore, or at one side of the sore, and at time it appears the glands of one or both groins become hard and tender, but very rarely suppurate. This specific induration, or sub-chancrous induration, is the transition state between the local and the constitutional disease, and marks the commencement of constitutional infection. There is another condition of a primary syphilitic ulcer to which the term " induration" has been applied; and it is of the first importance to distinguish between these two. After the continuance of a primary ulcer for a longer or shorter period of time, it frequently happens that its edges become hard and elevated, surround it as it were by a little hard ring; or the skin upon which it is situated, and which at first was perfectly healthy, becomes infiltrated with serum or lymph, and thus elevates or raises the sore higher than the surrounding parts. This infiltration or exudation renders the skin or tissues in the neighbourhood of the sore more or less hard; and such a condition might be confounded with specific induration, from which it very widely differs. And it is in this sense that some modem authors have said that all primary syphilitic ulcers were more or less indurated.


In this study, a multi-station and multi-instrument system, organized and proposed for ionospheric scintillation and equatorial spread-F (ESF) specification and their associated motions in the Taiwan–Philippines sector, is outlined. The issues related to the scintillation and ESF event observed on 26 October 2021, at magnetic quiet conditions are presented and discussed. We first indicate the existence of a plasma bubble in the Taiwan–Philippines sector by using the FormoSat-7/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate-2 (FS7/COSMIC2) GPS/GLONASS radio occultation observations. We verify the latitudinal extent of the tracked plasma bubble using the recorded ionograms from the Vertical Incidence Pulsed Ionospheric Radar located at Hualien, Taiwan. We further discuss the spatial and temporal variabilities of two-dimensional vertical scintillation index VS4 maps based on the simultaneous GPS L1-band signal measurements from 133 ground-based receivers located in Taiwan and the surrounding islands. We also operate two high-sampling, software-defined GPS receivers and characterize the targeted plasma irregularities by carrying out spectrum analyses of the received signal. As a result, the derived plasma irregularities moved eastward and northward. Furthermore, the smaller the irregularity scale, the higher the spectral index and the stronger the scintillation intensity were at lower latitudes on the aimed irregularity feature.


Patients with Poland syndrome were ascertained through the British Columbia Health Surveillance Registry, through hospital records, and through practicing plastic and orthopedic surgeons. Of 44 patients who were ascertained, 28 had family histories taken and were examined. Physical findings were: absence of the sternal head of the pectoralis major in all patients, symbrachydactyly in most patients, and infrequent other associations such as ipsilateral undescended testis, Möbius syndrome, clubfoot, and submucous cleft palate. Family histories were "negative" in all cases. The 8 affected adults had 24 reportedly normal children. Mean paternal age was significantly higher than the paternal age in the population. The incidence was 1/32,000 livebirths in British Columbia. It was concluded that in the British Columbia population the syndrome is usually a sporadic event.


Currently, more than half of all donors are aged over 65 years, and previous studies have shown that this group is less willing to support organ donation. Objective: to analyse the attitude of people aged over 65 years toward organ donation and transplantation (ODT) and to determine how their psychosocial profile affects their attitude. Study population: citizens residing in southeastern Spain older than 65 years of age. A representative sample was obtained, which was stratified by gender and geographical location (n = 420). A validated questionnaire about ODT was used. Statistical analysis: a bivariate analysis was performed using the X2 test and a multivariate analysis. The favourable attitude toward the donation of one's own organs was 53%. The psychosocial variables affecting attitude were mainly: having discussed ODT with one's family (p < 0.001) or friends (OR 2.223), acceptance of cremation (OR 2.508), and acceptance of an autopsy (OR 2.578). Citizens aged over 65 tend to have an unfavourable attitude toward the donation of their own organs. The lack of dialogue about ODT in social and family settings, and the attitude to the manipulation of one's own body after death, are aspects of a respondent's psychosocial profile, which influence this attitude.


A map of the district surrounding the largest lake in Norway was published in 1796 by the Topographical Society of Norway. Their members contributed private funds for this unique map and for the publication of the Topographical Journal, containing multidisciplinary descriptions, including environmental, of many regions of the country. The map was produced by lieutenant Niels S Darre, a military surveyor and cartographer, as a private undertaking in his own home district. The geodetic reference point of the map is the church at Vang, the position of which had been determined by repeated astronomical observations by its vicar, Abraham Pihl. He had been trained as an astronomical observer by professor Thomas Bugge at the Round Tower Observatory in Copenhagen. A supporting latitude determination in Lillehammer is also noted on the map, obtained by Maximilian Hell in 1769 on his return from Vardø in Northern Norway to Vienna after a successful observation of the transit of Venus. The observed magnetic deviation from astronomically determined north is given. The map also identifies a marker of the great flood of the river Glomma in 1789, causing environmental and social devastation. We have digitized the map and compared it to a 67 km × 82 km section of a modern, digitized topographical map of Norway, by transforming the UTM projection to a meridian through the church at Vang. While most features coregister acceptably by visual inspections of the old and new maps, we note geometrical deviations of up to 1 km in the locations of western shorelines.


Time-resolved VUV spectroscopy has been used to investigate the effects of impurities in a reversed field pinch operating with a resistive shell. Results of electron temperature, impurity ion densities, particle confinement time and together with a description of the interpretation and the equipment are presented.


The mammalian target rapamycin (mTOR) signaling cascade is a key regulatory pathway controlling initiation of mRNA in mammalian cells. Torin2 is a potent, selective and orally available mTOR inhibitor for treatment of cancer. Dysregulation of mTOR signaling has been found in many cancers, however its role Papillary Thyroid Cancer (PTC) has not been explained. Therefore in this study, we investigated the role of mTOR and its associated molecules in PTC cell lines using MTT, flow cytometry and DNA fragmentation assays and western blotting. Our data showed that Torin2 caused a dose dependent growth inhibition in all cell lines studied. Cell cycle assay showed that the sub-G1 population in TPC-1 cell increased from 12.44% in untreated control sample to 31.50% after 200nM of Torin2 treatment and 44.08% after 400nM of Torin2 treatment for 48 hours. Similarly BCPAP cells increased from 8.47% in untreated control sample to 33.54% after 200nM of Torin2 treatment and 41.16% after 400nM of Torin2 treatment for 48 hours. Further confirmation using FITC-conjugated Annexin V and PI assay showed that apoptotic cell increased from 8.89% in untreated cells to 58.54% and 73.54% after 200nM and 400nM treatment in TPC-1 cells, and from 13.24% in control to 46.74% and 70.64% in BCPAP cells, indicating a dose dependent apoptosis induced in both cell lines. Treatment of PTC cell lines with Torin2 inactivated downstream targets of mTOR; p70S6 and 4E-BP1. Torin2 treatment of PTC cell lines also induced mitochondrial dependent apoptosis via activation and cleavage of caspase-9, and 3, and cleavage of PARP. Furthermore Torin2 positively regulated autophagy by disrupting the Beclin-1 complex, releasing Beclin-1 to induce autophagy. Our results suggest mTOR and its associated signaling pathway play a critical role in PTC tumorigenesis, therefore targeting of mTOR expression may be a viable therapeutic intervention for treatment of these cancers. Citation Format: Maqbool Ahmed, Azhar R. Hussain, Fouad Al Dayel, Shahab Uddin, Khawla S. Al-Kuraya. Targeting of mTOR mediated signaling pathways in papillary thyroid cancer cell. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4097. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4097


Both traditional open lung biopsy through a limited thoracotomy and VATS lung biopsy are effective methods for obtaining parenchymal samples in patients who have respiratory insufficiency and radiographic pulmonary infiltrates. For patients with slowly progressive disease processes, who require an elective biopsy, VATS biopsy is the procedure of choice because of the ability to visualize and sample multiple areas of the lung, and because of the decreased postoperative pain. On the other hand, when patients are critically ill and already on high-level ventilatory support, the VATS method offers no advantages over the standard minimal thoracotomy.


The late nineteenth century saw a wave of Indian, Syrian and Afghan immigrants arrive in Victoria, Australia, many of whom took up the highly mobile and audible occupation of hawking. New transnational and Imperial histories have illuminated the racially circumscribed mobility of colonial and Imperial subjects in traveling in and across Empire(s). In this article I conceive the Hawker's License Courts of colonial Victoria as linguistic "nodes" where met subjects from locales in and beyond the British Empire. I argue that further than studying the mobility of colonial subjects, and of Indian hawkers in Victoria in particular, focusing on the speech uttered by hawkers demonstrates the importance of studying the linguistic colonial past. Doing so brings into focus the spatially located processes by which Whiteness and English language ability were gaining affinity in the late nineteenth century.


In recent years, computer networks have become more and more advanced in terms of size, applications, complexity and level of heterogeneity. Moreover, availability and performance are important issues for end users. New types of cyber-attacks that can affect and damage network performance and availability are constantly emerging and some threats, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, can be very dangerous and cannot be easily prevented. In this study, we present a novel hybrid approach to detecting a DDoS attack by means of monitoring abnormal traffic in the network. This approach reads traffic data and from that it is possible to build a model, by means of which future data may be predicted and compared with observed data, in order to detect any abnormal traffic. This approach combines two methods: traffic prediction and changing detection. To the best of our knowledge, such a combination has never been used in this area before. The approach achieved a highly significant accuracy rate of 98.3% and sensitivity was 100%, which means that all potential attacks are detected and prevented from penetrating the network system.


As Computer Aided Design has developed since the 1970s, it has enabled more complex building forms to be designed, drawn and constructed. The availability of complex curved surfaces has allowed architects, in particular, to design more expressive buildings. The question must now be asked whether these have added value or whether they are only relevant to iconic buildings, of which only a few justify their greater cost. The paper follows the development of building form and looks at its increasing complexity, since CAD was introduced, in the work of Foster & Partners, Frank Gehry and others. It considers measures of quality such as the Design Quality Index, and looks at the geometry of curved surfaces and the volumes they contain from economic and environmental points of view. The current obsession with iconic buildings may not last since being different becomes a style in itself and the current ability to pay for complex forms may not continue. The conclusion is that only in a few special buildings do complex curved surfaces offer more than a variety of expression for the designer. The additional quality that may be achieved by use of complex forms depends upon the prominence of the building and the priorities of the client. The economic benefits of CAD are more likely to lie in better models of simpler forms which enable design to be coordinated and integrated with manufacture and construction.


There is growing evidence that early growth influences bone mass in later life but most studies are limited to birth weight and/or early infant growth and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements. In a British birth cohort study with prospective measures of lifetime height and weight, we investigated the growth trajectory in relation to bone in males (M) and females (F) at 60 to 64 years old. Outcomes were DXA measures of hip and spine areal bone density (aBMD) (n = 1658) and pQCT measures of distal and diaphyseal radius cross‐sectional area (CSA), strength, and volumetric bone density (vBMD) (n = 1350 of the 1658). Regression models examined percentage change in bone parameters with standardized measures of birth weight, height, and weight. A series of conditional growth models were fitted for height and weight gain (using intervals: birth–2, 2–4, 4–7, 7–15, 15–20, 20–36, and 36–64 years) and height gain (using intervals: 2–4, 4–7, 7–15, and 15–36 years). Birth weight was positively related to bone CSA (M: 1.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.3%–2.5%; F: 1.3%; 95% CI, 0.3%–2.4% per 1 SD increase in birth weight for diaphyseal CSA) and strength (M: 1.8%; 95% CI, 0.3–3.4; F: 2.0%; 95% CI, 0.5–3.5). No positive associations were found with trabecular, total, or cortical vBMD. One SD change in prepubertal and postpubertal height and weight velocities were associated with between 2% and 5% greater bone CSA and strength. Height gain in later years was negatively associated with trabecular vBMD. Weight gain velocity during the adult years was positively associated with up to 4% greater trabecular and total BMD, and 4% greater aBMD at hip and spine. In a cohort born in the early post‐war period, higher birth weight, gaining weight and height faster than others, particularly through the prepubertal and postpubertal periods, was positively related to bone strength, mostly through greater bone CSA, at 60 to 64 years. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


Motion-JPEG2000 is derived from Part 1 of the JPEG2000 standard and provides high quality image compression in video coding system. This paper presents a real-time Motion-JPEG2000 encoding which is built on a fixed-point digital signal processor (DSP) as a single-chip implementation. The design addresses on the system-level design considerations. Among several modules in JPEG2000, Embedded Block Coding with Optimized Truncation (EBCOT) algorithm contains the highest computation complexity and also becomes the bottleneck of JPEG2000. Two speed-improved methods are proposed to significantly reduce the processing time of EBCOT. The fast algorithm is used by processing the three coding passes in sequential and is very suitable to the execution on programming-based processor. For Motion-JPEG2000 implementation, a real-time encoding system is built on the single-chip DSP processor without any extra hardware support. The optimization techniques are also applied to enhance the performance. Due to the contribution on algorithm and implementation issue, the complexity of Motion-JPEG2000 is largely reduced. Simulation results show that the proposed system can process 30 frames per second in CIF size (352 × 288 pixels) with 4:2:0 video sequences. For SDTV size resolution (760 × 480 pixels), the system can achieve near 20 frames per second.


As the interest in adhesion is shifting towards smaller and smaller scales, the well known Tabor adhesion parameter decreases and the DMT theory is frequently considered to be the appropriate limit. A very attractive much simplified version of DMT has been proposed in a recent investigation of rough contacts by Pastewka & Robbins (PNAS, 111(9), 3298-3303, 2014) which seems to work in very general conditions in numerical experiments. However, when comparing this calculation to the known theories for the sphere, surprisingly large conflicts occur, and the reason for the success of the numerical experiments is obscure.


This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary project that explores street name changes in Leipzig, a city in eastern Germany, over the past one-hundred years. Our analysis focuses on the ways in which semantic choices in the streetscape are recruited to canonize traces of the national past that are "supportive of the hegemonic socio-political order" (Azaryahu, 1997:480). We triangulate results from variationist sociolinguistics, Linguistic Landscape (LL) studies and geographical analysis to visualize waves of street (re)naming during a century of political turmoil. Drawing on historical archival data allows us to interpret spatial and temporal patterns of odonymic choices as the public embodiment of subsequent political state ideologies. The analysis provides quantitative and longitudinal support to Scollon and Scollon's (2003) claim that the indexing of officially sanctioned identity and ideology as well as the appropriation of human space are performed by and in turn index state-hegemonic politics of memory.


Purpose: To investigate the potential of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3T as a clinical tool in the preoperative evaluation of patients with intracranial tumors. High magnetic field strength such as 3T is of benefit for fMRI because signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity to susceptibility changes are field-strength-dependent. Material and Methods: Twenty patients with tumors close to eloquent sensorimotor or language areas were studied. Motor, sensory, and two language paradigms (word generation, rhyming) were used; their effectiveness was determined as the percentage of patients in whom the functional area of interest was activated. Activation maps were calculated and their quality rated as high, adequate, or insufficient. The influence of fMRI on the neurosurgical decision regarding operability, surgical approach, and extent of the resection, was assessed. Results: Paradigm effectiveness was 90% for motor and 95% for sensory stimulation, and varied from 79% to 95% for word generation and rhyming in combination. Ninety percent of the activation maps held high or adequate quality. fMRI proved useful: in the decision to operate (9 patients), in the surgical approach (13 patients), and in extent of the resection (12 patients). Conclusion: fMRI at 3T is a clinically applicable tool in the work-up of patients with intracranial tumors.


Low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) signals generated by networks of technical infrastructure such as power-lines, pipelines, or railways may provide a cheap and efficient means to perform EM depth sounding of the upper few kilometers of the earth. We attempt to use the signals emitted by an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system of a 35 km long gas pipeline segment in northwestern Germany. The installed ICCP system uses a periodical 12 s on/3 s off current switching scheme, which resembles current waveforms used in controlled-source electromagnetics (CSEM). In contrast to CSEM, where a grounded electrical dipole is used as the source, the current flow in pipelines is not constant along its legs. Our efforts are therefore concentrated toward the determination of the temporal and spatial behavior of the electrical current within the investigated pipeline segment. Although the time dependency of the current can be measured directly at the injection point, the spatial distribution is only accessible through indirect observations. We use fluxgate magnetic field measurements at multiple locations directly above the pipeline to infer the local source current and its frequency-dependency and phase lag. We observe that the current decays roughly exponentially away from the injection point, exhibits a position-dependent frequency dependency, and experiences a phase shift that accumulates to more than 30° at the ends of the segment. These effects can be consistently explained with a transmission line model. Having determined the current distribution, we can represent the pipeline as an EM source superposed of point dipoles. The estimated source model allows us to predict the electric (and magnetic) fields at remote locations. To verify our approach, we deploy an array of telluric recorders in the vicinity of the pipeline, estimate the frequency-domain transfer functions, and invert the data into a 3D electrical conductivity model using smoothness-constrained inversion techniques.


This research examines the professional experience of Vietnamese TESOL teachers who previously underwent professional training in two types of Master's level TESOL programs: those offered by institutions of one of the Inner-Circle countries (e.g., USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand) in these countries (overseas programs), and programs offered by Inner-Circle institutions in association with a Vietnamese institution in Vietnam (localised programs). These programs were chosen as the research is situated in the context of TESOL becoming a globalised field, partly demonstrated in the mobility of teachers and teacher training programs. The impacts of previous TESOL training are investigated through three main lenses believed to encompass different current aspects of TESOL teachers' professional experience, and which reflect the training content and aims of contemporary TESOL teacher education programs. The three lenses are teachers' beliefs toward various issues related to the teaching of English as an International Language (TEIL), their autonomy in teaching practice, and their satisfaction with the teaching job.
Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, the present study involves the participation of 85 Vietnamese English language teachers who were trained in either an overseas or a localised TESOL program. Two-thirds of the participants were working at public higher education institutions in Vietnam at the time of the study, and the rest were teachers of private educational organisations. An online survey was first delivered to all participants to garner data on their beliefs about TEIL, their perceptions toward autonomy in teaching practice, and their work satisfaction level. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were then carried out with 20 of them to obtain further clarifications and deeper information about the researched issues. Additionally, teaching observation sessions and retrospective interviews were conducted with three overseas-trained teachers to provide further evidence of their teaching autonomy.
In terms of teacher beliefs about aspects of TEIL, it was revealed that post-training, both overseas- and localised-trained teachers had an increased awareness of the pluricentricity of English, the importance of teaching both Anglophone and non-Anglophone cultures, and understanding of the larger social, cultural, and political context of teaching. The study also found that teacher education programs played a significant role in modifying teacher beliefs, such as strengthening, disproving, and reconstructing existing beliefs, or shaping new beliefs. It also uncovered aspects of TEIL where teacher education could exert more impact, such as the construct of language teacher proficiency, and the risk of over-relying on Western teaching methodologies.
Regarding autonomy in teaching practice, teachers in both program types demonstrated a medium level of autonomy in their teaching, with the level of autonomy in general aspects of teaching (e.g., deciding on teaching methods and learning activities) being greater than that of curricular aspects (e.g., selecting learning content and materials). Noticeably, teacher education programs were found to provide them with professional knowledge and ideas that they could use to innovate their everyday teaching activities, and to a certain extent allowed them to be autonomous learners. However, they did not seem to provide teachers with much assistance in dealing with curricular constraints, nor inspire them to create spaces for more teaching autonomy.
Finally, the teachers' level of satisfaction with their teaching job was found to vary depending on various aspects. They were most satisfied with intrinsic aspects of the job and the relationships with their students, colleagues, and supervisors, and were less satisfied with aspects related to institutional support (e.g., autonomy given to teachers, recognition of teaching accomplishments), and professional standing (e.g., promotion and salary). Influence of training seemed most evident in how the teachers were positively seen and welcomed by their supervisors, students, and colleagues when they returned, and, in the case of teachers taking overseas programs, how the overseas living and study experience added enjoyment and stimulation to their perception of the teaching profession.
These findings confirm the role of TESOL teacher education in enriching the overall professional lives of practising TESOL teachers. On the other hand, they reveal tensions resultant from mismatches between Inner-Circle-based curricula and training approaches and the local Vietnamese context where the teachers returned to teach. The research has important implications for stakeholders involved in the professional development of non-Inner-Circle TESOL teachers in the current globalised world.


Background: Head injury is a major matter of death and disability at a young or productive age. The prevalence of head injuries has occurred and increased. The incidence of head injuries in the world was reported 29,770 cases. A head injury produces intracranial haemorrhage, following the increased intracranial pressure. The increased intracranial pressure changes the hemodynamic status in the body. The treatment of increased intracranial pressure needs to be conducted immediately to avoid a bigger impact. Purpose: This review is to determine the handling management of intracranial pressure elevation for hemodynamic status in head injury patients. Method: The article adopted a systematic review. The identification of literature was performed by searching journal articles that have been published in 2009-2019 within databases such as Proquest, EBSCO, Science Direct, and Pubmed. The search was using keywords : nurse handling, intracranial pressure, hemodynamic status and, head injury. The selected articles that were decided by a combination of PRISMA flow diagrams with the Joana Brigg Institution (JBI) checklist obtained 16 corresponding articles. Result and Discussion: The management of intracranial pressure such as positioning, hypothermia management, and ventilation control as well as medical actions such as adequate oxygenation, drainage action, diuretic and hyperosmolar therapy, blood sugar control, and decompressive craniectomy. Conclusion: Management of increased intracranial pressure for hemodinamyc status in head injury patients consists of positioning, oxygenation, hyperventilation, drainage, diuretic therapy, hypothermia management, craniectomy.


Based on the non-planar vibration equations of a cable made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), the nonlinear behaviors of the cable are studied. The one-to-one internal resonance of the lowest in-plane and out-of-plane modes of the cable is investigated. Three different cases, namely, 1/3-order subharmonic resonance of the in-plane mode, 1/3-order subharmonic resonance of the out-of-plane mode and 1/3-order subharmonic resonance of both of the in-plane and out-of-plane modes are examined. The vibration equations of the cable are discretized by using Galerkin's method. In this way, the ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are obtained. The multiple time scale method is employed to solve the ODEs and the corresponding modulation equations are derived. Then, the response curves of the cable are obtained by using Newton-Raphson method and pseudo arclength algorithm. Meanwhile, the response curves of the CFRP cable are compared with those of the steel cable to explore the differences in nonlinear behaviors of the cables made of different materials. The results show that the CFRP cable has potential advantages over the steel cable from a nonlinear point of view.


Organizations that purchase packaged application software-for example, an Enterprise Resource Planning system-must make choices about customization. Packaged software vendors and practitioners recommend that organizations customize software as little as possible, and instead adapt their processes to meet the "best practices" of the software. However, organizations continue to exceed their budgets on implementing and maintaining customized software. This suggests that either these organizations are making poor decisions, or that the conventional wisdom about customization is incorrect. In this paper the author models the primary factors in the customization decision, most notably the "fit" between desired processes and the procedures inherent in the packaged software. The author then consider costs related to development, maintenance, and technical corrections due to poor integration and performance; and benefits related to increased fit, technical corrections, and user acceptance. This paper extends prior work by 1 modelling nonlinear relationships between the amount of time spent on custom development and the resulting benefits, 2 modelling nonlinear relationships between development costs and maintenance costs, and 3 modelling corrective development as a function of development related to fit and user acceptance. The author uses simulation techniques to illustrate the conditions under which customization is likely to provide value to the organization, as well as conditions under which customization should be avoided.


ABSTRACT. Electronystagmography (ENG) is a procedure used to evaluate patients with vertigo. Electrodes applied around the patient's eyes use the corneoretinal potential to record eye movements in response to numerous test maneuvers. Some of the portions of the ENG measure a patient's ability to track moving stimuli. Others monitor for the presence of nystagmus. Lastly, the lateral semicircular canals of the ear can be stimulated with warm and cool water or with air producing nystagmus. A comparison of the responses to stimulations of the left and right ears can demonstrate the relative sensitivities of the peripheral vestibular systems. Videonystamography (VNG) is similar to ENG in the data obtained. VNG uses infrared cameras to monitor eye position.


This study was performed to optimize the basic platform of a lateral flow immunoassay. Improvement of the limit of detection (LOD) was evaluated according to the width of a nitrocellulose membrane with varying concentrations of analyte. The analyte, neutravidin was detected based on the avidin-biotin interaction. The antibody-Au nanoparticle conjugation was mostly stabled in a PBS buffer of pH 7.3. The optimal widths of a nitrocellulose membrane were 4 and 6 ㎜ considering the sample flow rate and signal strength of the test line on the membrane. The LOD of neutravidin was 0.001 ㎎/ml in the optimum conditions.