We report density functional theory-based calculations of the electronic structure and Fermi surface properties of the intermetallic uranium compound UPt2Si2, which orders antiferromagnetically at TN=32 K with a total magnetic moment of 2μB/U-atom and exhibits a moderate mass enhancement in the specific-heat coefficient. Our investigation is carried out using relativistic, full-potential band-structure methods within the framework of the local spin density approximation (LSDA), the LSDA with orbital polarization correction (LSDA+OPC), and the LSDA supplemented with an additional Hubbard U (LSDA+U). We find that the LSDA+OPC scheme predicts the total magnetic moment in best agreement with experiment; from this we infer that the 5f electrons in UPt2Si2 are orbitally polarized, mostly itinerant, and exhibit only a slight tendency toward localization. Our total energy calculations predict UPt2Si2 to form in the CaBe2Si2 (P4/nmm) structure, in contrast to URu2Si2 (ThCr2Si2: I4/mmm). The theoretical Fermi surfaces are also studied for the nonmagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases with the employed computational schemes and are found to be quasi-two-dimensional. At the antiferromagnetic transition, the Fermi surface is found to become more two-dimensional with small regions of gapping.


Electrolysis of water is proposed as a method to couple the pH-responsive behavior of polymer brushes to an electrical stimulus. It is shown that an electrode in close proximity to a pH-responsive polymer brush can change the local solution pH, inducing either swelling or collapse of the polymer brush. By alternating the bias of the voltage applied to the electrode, either acidic or alkaline conditions can be generated, and reproducible cycles of polymer brush swelling and collapse can be achieved. It was found that the length of time which the electrical stimulus is applied to the electrodes can be as short as 10 s and that, once "switched", polymer brushes remain in the switched state for many minutes after the electrical stimulus is turned off. In other experiments, two electrodes were positioned 10 cm apart with a pH-responsive brush in between. Under these conditions waves of either acidic or alkaline solution pH could be generated which caused a coincident wave of polymer brush swelling or collapse. These waves originate from one electrode and travel across the brush surface toward the opposite electrode with a velocity of ~40 μm s(-1).


We present a technique to automatically generate search heuristics for dynamic symbolic execution. A key challenge in dynamic symbolic execution is how to effectively explore the program's execution paths to achieve high code coverage in a limited time budget. Dynamic symbolic execution employs a search heuristic to address this challenge, which favors exploring particular types of paths that are most likely to maximize the final coverage. However, manually designing a good search heuristic is nontrivial and typically ends up with suboptimal and unstable outcomes. The goal of this paper is to overcome this shortcoming of dynamic symbolic execution by automatically learning search heuristics. We define a class of search heuristics, namely a parametric search heuristic, and present an algorithm that efficiently finds an optimal heuristic for each subject program. Experimental results with industrial-strength symbolic execution tools (e.g., KLEE) show that our technique can successfully generate search heuristics that significantly outperform existing manually-crafted heuristics in terms of branch coverage and bug-finding.


The evolution of a convergent strategy that led to efficient, enantioselective syntheses of both natural (+)- and unnatural (-)-guanacastepene E and formal total syntheses of (+)- and (-)-guanacastepene A is described. A union of five- and six-membered ring intermediates by an efficient pi-allyl Stille cross-coupling reaction was followed by an intramolecular enone-olefin [2 + 2] photocycloaddition and a stereoelectronically controlled, reductive fragmentation of the resulting cyclobutyl ketone. The latter two transformations enabled controlled formation of the C-11 quaternary stereocenter and the central seven-membered ring of the guanacastepenes. An enantiospecific synthesis of the functionalized five-membered ring vinyl stannane from the monoterpene R-(-)-carvone featuring a carbon-carbon bond forming ring contraction was also developed.


Sir .—I read with interest the response by Eidelman and Schimmel 1 to the article by Leslie et al 2 on the differences between capillary and venous bilirubin levels. It is always interesting when two studies reach the opposite conclusions. Leslie et al and co-workers found that venous bilirubin levels were generally higher than capillary levels, whereas Eidelman and Schimmel found the opposite. Leslie and coworkers suggested that, because capillary levels appear to "underestimate venous bilirubin levels," it is "prudent to measure venous rather than capillary bilirubin levels when the total serum bilirubin level exceeds 170 μmol/L (10 mg/dL)," whereas Eidelman and Schimmel opined that "further studies are... needed... to ascertain the relationship of sample site and laboratory technique." Both of these statements require comment. The fact is that virtually every bilirubin level in the literature (on which we base current practice with regard to phototherapy and exchange transfusion for


The main function of the general hospital building is to provide medical facilities and service. However, damage to the non-structural elements such as architectural, medical, mechanical and other components will interrupt those functions after the earthquake. Especially, it is considered that, damage to the non-structural elements is a serious event because it is directly associated with the lives of patients. Therefore, this study evaluated whether the certain non-structural elements of general hospital building has the seismic performance to provide hospital medical services after the earthquake. The evaluation is conducted by selecting the non-structural elements used in general hospital which are sensitive to acceleration, such as cooling towers, air handler, MRI and CT. As a result, the non-structural elements located on the upper floor without suitable support method did not meet the performance objective. Therefore, adequate anchorage against the seismic event is required for such non-structural elements that are acceleration-sensitives.


This paper argues that SDRs should become a more relevant instrument of international monetary cooperation. This requires transforming them into a pure reserve asset and the IMF into a fully SDR-funded institution. SDRs would then be issued counter-cyclically and treated as deposits of countries in the IMF, which can in turn lend to countries. This approach would correct basic deficiencies of the current global monetary system. Complementary reforms include a substitution account for an orderly and smooth transition from major reserve currencies to SDRs, and the issuance of SDR-denominated bonds as an alternative to other major short-term assets.


Overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) is a chronic condition that has an impact on patients' daily activities and health‐related quality of life (HRQL). Anticholinergic therapy is often prescribed following insufficient results with behaviour modification alone; however, rates of treatment discontinuation are consistently high. This study systematically reviewed persistence and adherence data in patients with OAB treated with anticholinergic therapy. A search focused on the intersection of OAB, persistence/adherence, and anticholinergic therapy was conducted in MEDLINE and EMBASE. Articles published after 1998 were reviewed and selected for inclusion based on prespecified criteria. A total of 147 articles and two abstracts were included in the review. Results from 12‐week clinical trials showed high rates of discontinuation, ranging from 4% to 31% and 5% to 20% in treatment and placebo groups, respectively. Unsurprisingly, rates of discontinuation found in medical claims studies were substantially higher, with 43% to 83% of patients discontinuing medication within the first 30 days and rates continuing to rise over time. Findings from medical claims studies also suggest that over half of patients never refill their initial prescription and that adherence levels tend to be low, with mean/median medication possession ratio (MPR) values ranging from 0.30 to 0.83. The low levels of persistence and adherence documented in this review reveal cause for concern about the balance between the efficacy and tolerability of anticholinergic agents. Strategies should be identified to increase persistence and adherence. New agents and non‐pharmacologic alternatives with good efficacy and minimal side effects should be explored.


AIMS
The aim was to assess the current literature investigating health activism within nursing practice.

DESIGN
This was a scoping review of the literature utilizing the updated Levac et al.'s framework.

DATA SOURCE/REVIEW METHODS
A search of the CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Allied Health databases was conducted for peer-reviewed, English research published between January 2000 and April 2021.

RESULTS
Thirty-one articles met the criteria for inclusion in this study. The included research in nursing and health activism was heterogeneous in topic and method and primarily conducted in North America. Four themes resulted from the inductive thematic analysis: (1) Doing Health Activism, (2) Facilitators to Engaging in Health Activism, (3) Barriers to Health Activism Engagement and (4) Limited Education. Activism was not consistently defined and the term was used interchangeably with advocacy.

CONCLUSION
There is a gap between nursing scope of practice, and education and skills in health activism. There is limited research regarding health activism and what constitutes as health activism. There is an opportunity to improve health activism awareness and skills within the nursing profession and undergraduate education and to produce nursing research on health activism.

IMPACT
Health activism is integral to the nursing role, however, evidence suggests nurses lack confidence to engage in activism as practice. This is important for nurses across the world and in all care specialities.


The paper analysed the recurring election crisis under liberal democratic system and the threat it poses to national security in Nigeria. One of the major instruments for selecting political officeholders is election. It serves as means of ensuring accountability and mobilization of the citizenry for political participation. Yet, elections in Nigeria have always been characterized by mal-practices such as: election rigging, snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes, political intimidation and assassination prior to, during and after elections. This has often brought unpopular governments to power with the resultant legitimacy crisis, breakdown of law and order and general threat to security. The paper with the use of structure agency theory, argued that elections in which "the winner takes all" is unsuitable for a plural society like Nigeria. Adaptation of the liberal democratic system to suit the country's cultural values and peculiarities should lay the basis for people centered development strategies that will empower them to be active participants in policy making and implementation, under a political climate characterized by the rule of law and constitutionalism. Unless these categorical steps are taken, the country may experience another democratic breakdown that will spell doom for the nation-state.


It is well documented that small-for-gestational age (SGA) infants are at an increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity. In order to identify the major modifiable risk factors of SGA birth, a case-control study was launched in the area of Lódź voivodeship, Poland. The project was focused on the evaluation of the role of perinatal health services and avoidance of exposure to tobacco smoke in the prevention of SGA births. The study population consisted of mothers of 153 SGA infants (cases) and 93 mothers of control infants. SGA infants were identified as infants with body weight below 10th percentile for gestational age, using Ballarda scale. The controls were non-SGA infants delivered after 37 week of gestation. The infants from both groups were delivered in 26 maternity wards in the Lódź voivodeship within the period of June 1-November 1, 2003. One month after delivery, each mother of SGA and control infants was visited by an interviewer who collected information about her profile of use of perinatal health care and on active and passive exposure to tobacco smoke in pregnancy. Odds ratios and 95% confidence units (CU) were calculated using EpiInfo software developed by CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, US. Late booking for perinatal care (after 12 week of gestation) and less than 5 visits during pregnancy was found to be related to an increased risk of SGA, however, the OR values included unity. About 1/3 of mothers of SGA infants and "of the controls were served mainly by the private health sector. The use of private care was related to a lower risk of SGA: OR= 0.55 95% CI (0.31-0.96). This protective pattern was observed in the population of women aged 19-25 living in rural areas years and with only primary education. The preconception visits to obstetricians and contacts with health educators during pregnancy were also found to have some protective effect, however, the ORs were not statistically significant. The adverse effect of smoking during pregnancy was clearly confirmed in the study population, OR= 2.69 95%CI (1.37-5.33), while the role of passive smoking was difficult to assess due to the small number of nonsmoking women exposed to ETS. There are some indications that the poor use of perinatal health services may account for the elevated risk of SGA births in the Lódź voivodeship. The use of the private health sector is growing and seems to be related to a lower risk of SGA births. More effective tools to prevent maternal smoking have to be developed and implemented in routine perinatal care.


In recent years wireless body area network (WBAN) technology has been accelerated due to the demands that arise to provide solutions to the problems such as population aging, various chronic diseases monitoring and to facilitate data collection. This increasing demands and WBAN deployments always comes with the cost of various security and privacy related problems. Designing an efficient framework to ensure both security protection and reliability in all critical events with considerable energy efficiency is a difficult task to accomplish, due to the multi modal dynamics of the WBAN network topology. The performance of security mechanism and authentication measures has a direct impact on the attainable system performance. In this paper, we briefly introduce unique transformation and data protection schemes for end-to end secured WBAN systems. Here, we first present color variant and key driven QR pattern generation techniques, how they utilized and meets the requirements of security and privacy in WBAN and validated the performance metrics and efficiency of proposed pattern generation and analyzes in providing solution of security and privacy in WBAN.


GaN nanowires with diameters ranging between 50 and 500 nm were investigated by electrical and photoinduced current techniques to determine the influence of their size on the opto-electronic behavior of nanodevices. The conductivity, photoconductivity, and persistent photoconductivity behavior of GaN nanowires are observed to strongly depend on the wire diameter. In particular, by spectral photoconductivity measurements, three main sub-band-gap optoelectronic transitions were detected, ascribed to the localized states giving rise to the characteristic blue, green, and yellow bands of GaN. Photoconductivity with below-band-gap excitation varies orders of magnitude with the wire diameter, similarly to that observed for near-band-edge excitation. Moreover, yellow-band-related signal shows a superlinear behavior with respect to the band-edge signal, offering new information for the modeling of the carrier recombination mechanism along the nanowires. The photoconductivity results agree well with a model which takes into account a uniform distribution of the localized states inside the wire and their direct recombination with the electrons in the conduction band.


The structural change from wurtzite to rock salt in solid CdS has been observed both under static and dynamic conditions. A static change was reported also for powder samples. The phase transition is accompanied by a decrease in the specific volume and a drop of several orders of magnitude in electrical resistance. Using a powder gun, a manganin pressure gauge and measurements of electric resistance, the phase transition of porous CdS was found to begin at 24 kbar. The resistance drop obtained was about ten orders of magnitude. A single loading wave results in a two-wave structure in the porous material. It indicates that the compaction of pores is done along an incomplete compaction Hugoniot. Hence the volume change is less than that obtained by assuming a complete compaction at zero pressure.


This paper focuses on the perception of undergraduate geography and environmental science students of individual and group assessments, and compares this perception with their performance in these assessment types in practical classes. Results show that students may instinctively prefer individual assessment but they perform best, and achieve greatest perceived development of key skills, in group assessments. This paper suggests that a combination of individual and group assessment (linked to learning outcomes) can most effectively be used in the delivery, practice and testing of key skills. More innovative group tasks and clearer marking criteria will help develop the role of group work in practical classes.


Artiklen gennemgar gymnastikpaedagogens Niels Bukhs udenlandsrejser og internationale gennembrud, som det tog sig ud ud i 1930'erne, og fokuserer saerligt pa rejsen til Japan og Bukhgymnastikkens betydning for den japanske (skole)idraet. Sport and Politics – Niels Bukh in the East (1931) With his tour of the world in 1931, the Danish teacher of gymnastics, Niels Bukh, secured his reputation both at home and abroad as one of the great figures of his country, – a picture supported by the Danish Foreign Office regardless of the government's political alignment. Bukh's group was received by the highest ranking representatives of the Japanese occupying forces in Manchuria and Korea and became a part of Japanese propaganda in the region. The fact that Bukh's gymnasts performed in Shenyang, the capital of Manchuria, shortly before the invasion may have been a small contribution to the attempt on the part of the Japanese military to persuade the Chinese that all was quiet on that front. Niels Bukh's long performance tour of Japan was a triumph for him and undoubtedly also acted as a meeting point for a Japanese population which was looking for fellowship in the throes of the anxieties, not to say the passions, of war. The spread of Bukh's gymnastics in Japanese school P.E. programmes of the 1930's can be seen in the context of the government's view that they constituted an efficient form of P.E. in the militarisation of youth which culminated in the escalation of the war against China in 1937 and the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December, 1941. Japan was the country in which Niels Bukh's system of gymnastics became most widespread, – a fact which can be attested in Japan to this very day. Surprisingly enough, Danish gymnastics have probably made a greater quantitative contribution to Japanese physical culture than vice versa.


During pregnancy, an obstetrician takes care of both mother's and child's health. After birth, a paediatrician continues to care for the child and, if nothing serious and unexpected happens, most adolescents will be on their own without sanitary control until about their 5th–6th decade of age, where prevalent cardiovascular, respiratory and/or metabolic chronic diseases begin to emerge. This has been described as a "black box" period [1] which, interestingly, may be full of opportunities for prevention, early diagnosis, careful monitoring and, eventually, early intervention. Two recent observations support this possibility. First, between 4 and 12% of young adults (∼25 years of age) in the general population have low lung function and, importantly, they are at a higher risk of respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases later in life, and die prematurely [2, 3]. A better understanding of the factors that modulate the transition of lung function from infancy to adulthood is key to understanding adult respiratory health https://bit.ly/3k1mXA0


Introduction. Microstrip filters are widely used in a variety of radio-electronic systems, including telecommunications. Low frequency filters (LPFs) are constructed on the basis of quasi-lumped inductances and capacitances. Quasi-lumped capacitances are performed as microstrip sections with a wide signal conductor or open stubs. Traditional quasi-lumped elements are two-dimensional (2D). Three-dimensional (3D) quasi-lumped elements have 1.5 to 4 times greater reactivity values. The purpose of the paper is to analyze 3D-stubs charateristics. Capacitive 3D-stub transfer characteristic. The 3D-stub is a deaf metalized hole. In the presented paper hole is a square with rounded corners. Dependencies of 1D-model parameters of 3D-stub are shown. From a comparison of 3D- and 1D-transfer characteristics of the 3D-stub it is shown that the 3D-stub in the first approximation can be simulated by a 1D-model in the form of a long line stub. Influence of parasitic inductance on stub notch frequency. For a 1D-model, the stub notch frequency is determined by a quarter-wave condition of it's length. Stub's T-junction brings in parasitic reactivities. The parasitic inductance and stub form a series oscillatory circuit. The resonance frequency of this circuit is equal to stub notch frequency. Since traditionally this inductance is negative, the notch frequency increases and stub and LPF transfer characteristics slope decreases. In order to reduce the inductance influence for stub and line contact it is suggested to use a small contact pad. 3D-stub notch frequency and parasitic inductance dependences. The dependences of the notch frequency and parasitic inductance on the 3D-stub heterogeneity depth and contact pad length are analyzed. According to simulation results for a variant with a contact pad inductance values can be not only negative, but also positive. If inductance is positive, notch frequency is less than according to quarter-wave condition. In this case, stub and LPF transfer characteristics slope is higher compared to quarter-wave condition. Discussion of the results. With an increase of the 3D-stub heterogeneity depth from 0.5 to 1 mm, its wave impedance is less in 1.4 ... 3.5 times compared to 2D-stub, and the capacity is greater in 1.6 ... 4.1 times. Contact pad between the stub and line allows to optimize the stub parameters from the condition of the required transfer characteristics slope. Conclusion. 3D-stub has significantly better parameters than 2D-stub. Since the LPF requires the specified capacitance values, depending on the 3D-stub inhomogeneity depth, the area of the 3D-stub is less than 1.6 ... 4.1 times. The 1D-model of the 3D-stub allows to characterize the stub by equivalent wave impedance and relative dielectric permittivity and can be used as the first approximation model for the design and simulating of microstrip LPFs based on capacitive 3D-stubs.


The abundance of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) has decreased throughout their range. Managers often respond by considering improvements in harvest and habitat management practices, but this can be challenging if substantial uncertainty exists concerning the cause(s) of the decline. We were interested in how application of decision science could be used to help managers on a large, public management area in southwestern Florida where the bobwhite is a featured species and where abundance has severely declined. We conducted a workshop with managers and scientists to elicit management objectives, alternative hypotheses concerning population limitation in bobwhites, potential management actions, and predicted management outcomes. Using standard and robust approaches to decision making, we determined that improved water management and perhaps some changes in hunting practices would be expected to produce the best management outcomes in the face of uncertainty about what is limiting bobwhite abundance. We used a criterion called the expected value of perfect information to determine that a robust management strategy may perform nearly as well as an optimal management strategy (i.e., a strategy that is expected to perform best, given the relative importance of different management objectives) with all uncertainty resolved. We used the expected value of partial information to determine that management performance could be increased most by eliminating uncertainty over excessive-harvest and human-disturbance hypotheses. Beyond learning about the factors limiting bobwhites, adoption of a dynamic management strategy, which recognizes temporal changes in resource and environmental conditions, might produce the greatest management benefit. Our research demonstrates that robust approaches to decision making, combined with estimates of the value of information, can offer considerable insight into preferred management approaches when great uncertainty exists about system dynamics and the effects of management. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


We report on dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) and its transformation into a type of burst-like emission in a holmium-doped fiber (HDF) laser in the large normal dispersion regime. A nonlinear amplifying loop mirror incorporating ∼118  m large normal dispersion fiber acts as an artificial saturable absorber. To the best of our knowledge, the HDF laser has the largest net normal dispersion so far. As the pump power is increased from ∼1.72  W to ∼4.80  W, the produced single pulse linearly broadens from ∼6.7  ns to ∼68.0  ns, while the output pulse peak power is clamped around ∼180.5  mW due to the peak-power-clamping effect with DSR. The sharp spectral peak indicates that DSR is realized with a large normal dispersion. With further manipulation of the polarization state, DSR can evolve into a type of burst-like emission. It is further revealed that this burst-like emission could be caused by a type of peak-power-depressing effect, which results from the competition between DSR and soliton formation.


To reveal the influence of synergistic effect of non-covalent forces on the FET performance, two highly symmetrical "H"-shaped heteroarene derivatives anthra[2,1-b:3,4-b′:6,5-b′′:7,8-b′′′]tetra(benzothiophene) (ATBT) and anthra[2,1-b:3,4-b′:6,5-b′′:7,8-b′′′]tetra(benzofuran) (ATBF) as novel two-dimensional (2D) organic semiconductor materials were synthesized. The thermal, optical and electrochemical properties of ATBT and ATBF were investigated and high stability was confirmed. Single crystal XRD of ATBT confirmed the close π–π stacking due to the "wider" π-conjugation framework and four S atoms sited on both sides of each molecule could produce eight S⋯S contacts with neighbouring molecules. Mobility of up to 15.6 cm2 V−1 s−1 could be achieved for the single-crystalline field effect transistor, which was fabricated by the 'two-dimensional organic-ribbon mask' technique based on the individual ATBT microribbon. The strong anisotropy along different crystal axes is consistent with the molecular arrangement, which was evidenced by XRD, TEM and corresponding selected-area electron diffraction pattern. Moreover, the analogue ATBF shows lower FET performance due to lack of S⋯S contacts in comparison to that of ATBT, which reflects that the synergistic effect of non-covalent forces has an important influence on the molecular aggregation and electrical properties.


Extinction coefficient (ε) is a critical parameter for quantification of oxy-, deoxy-, and total-hemoglobin concentrations (Δ[HbO2], Δ[Hb], Δ[tHb]) from optical measurements of Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). There are several different ε data sets which were frequently used in NIRS quantification. A previous study reported that even a small variation in ε could cause a significant difference in hemodynamic measurements. Apparently the selection of an optimal ε data set is important for NIRS. We conducted oxygen-state-varied and blood-concentration-varied model experiments with 57 human blood samples to mimic tissue hemodynamic variations. Seven reported ε data sets were evaluated by comparisons between quantifications and assumed values. We found that the Moaveni et al (1970)' ε data set was the optimal one, the NIRS quantification varied significantly among different ε data sets and parameter Δ[tHb] was most sensitive to ε data sets selection.


Vespa velutina nigrithorax is an invasive alien organism that has raised concerns in all beekeeping communities of invaded countries including the Republic of Korea, European countries and Japan. Known also as the yellow-legged hornet (or the 'Asian hornet'), it is native to northern India, eastern Nepal, Bhutan and the People's Republic of China. Given its climatic and biological characteristics and the effects of climate change, some coastal areas of North America, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are also susceptible to invasion. Vespa velutina nigrithorax notably affects managed honey-bee colonies by predation on foragers and causing a reduction in the collection of food resources. Being a generalist predator, the yellow-legged hornet also preys on other managed and wild pollinators, and therefore its impacts are not limited to the beekeeping sector but also represent a biodiversity concern. The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of V. v. nigrithorax against the four criteria established in Chapter 1.2. of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code for the inclusion of a disease, infection or infestation in the OIE list. The work was requested by the OIE Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases and presented to this Commission and to the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Commission in September 2017. Owing to the lack of effective measures to prevent its spread, the fact that its legal situation in some countries is under the mandate of environmental authorities rather than Veterinary Services, and because it is not considered a disease or parasite, V. v. nigrithorax is not currently being proposed for inclusion in the OIE list. At the end of the text, the statements from the two commissions are included and discussed.


Ethylenediamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA) is a compound predominantly known for its chelating ability. It has also been found that in combination with antibacterial agents like benzakolium and chlorocresol, they were able to kill resistant bacteria. EDTA was used in combination with ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone, against Shigella sonnei. This was done by determining their respective and combined Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and using their obtained MIC in combination to obtain their fractional inhibitory concentration (F.I.C) in order to determine if their interaction is synergistic, antagonistic or additive. Results obtained using the checkerboard technique showed that combinations of EDTA with ciprofloxacin showed synergy at ratios of 9:1, 8:2, 7:3 and 6:4, and additive effect at ratios of 5:5, 4:6, 3:7 and 2:8.


Two matched samples of 245 patients were drawn from solo dental practices which contained both capitation and fee-for-service components. All services rendered to patients during their entire time under care of the practice were recorded and analyzed. Results indicate different styles of care under the two payment mechanisms. An improved preventive style was associated with capitation, as well as fewer fillings. Outcome measured by a modification of the DMF (decayed-missing-filled) Index was also more favorable under capitation.


Body weight and natality rate in ungulates can be useful indices to nutririon, bur they may also be influenced by genetic and climatic factors. Because caribou {Rangifer tarandus granti) are distributed as discrete populations of metapopulations (i.e., herds) that are usually reproductively isolated from each other for unknown periods, it is difficult to separate the influence of genetics and nutrition on body weight, especially where historical data are lacking. To help elucidate the influence of nutrition on potential variation in body weight and natality of caribou in Alaska, we reviewed data for body weight and natality in 5 populations which resulted from Transplants to previously ungrazed ranges, or to areas where reindeer and caribou had been absent for many decades. In 2 of 5 populations body weight increased significantly, and likely increased in the other 3 populations, but data were insufficient. Natality rate increased in all 5 populations, proportion of fecund yearlings was high and 3 of the 5 newly established herds increased at about the maximum biological potential for the species (lambda=1.35). In the Adak transplant, a lactating yearling was documented. These 5 transplanted populations provide additional evidence that body weight and natality rate in Alaskan caribou are sensitive to changes in population density and relatively short-term (i.e., 10 years) increases in grazing pressure independenr of climate and genetics.


A series of three lexical decision experiments showed that interlingual homographs may be recognized faster than, slower than, or as fast as monolingual control words depending on task requirements and language intermixing. In Experiment 1, Dutch bilingual participants performed an English lexical decision task including English/Dutch homographs, cognates, and purely English control words. Reaction times to interlingual homographs were unaffected by the frequency of the Dutch reading and did not differ from monolingual controls. In contrast, cognates were recognized faster than controls. In Experiment 2, Dutch participants again performed an English lexical decision task on homographs, but, apart from nonwords, Dutch words were included which required a "no" reaction. Strong inhibition effects were obtained which depended on the relative frequency difference of the two readings of the homograph. These turned into frequency-dependent facilitation effects in Experiment 3, where participants performed a general lexical decision task, responding "yes" if a word of either language was presented. It is argued that bilingual word recognition models can only account for the series of experiments if they explain how lexical processing is affected by task demands and stimulus list composition.


Eosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic antigen-mediated esophageal disease characterized by symptoms related to esophageal dysfunction and histologically by Th2 inflammation (at least15 eosinophils/high power field) when other secondary systemic and local causes of esophageal eosinophilia are excluded. Though this disease was initially ascribed to a delayed reaction to food allergens, emerging evidence suggests that aeroallergens may also play roles in his pathogenesis and evolution. Some studies support seasonal variation in Eosinophilic esophagitis diagnosis and disease exacerbations about the increase in aeroallergens to which patients are sensitized. It is also known that this disease can be generated after an extensive, identifiable aeroallergen exposure and after treatment with specific immunotherapy with food or aeroallergens. Recently, it has been postulated that treatment of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis may improve Eosinophilic esophagitis symptoms, though data is limited to case reports and small series. Currently, biomarkers and biologic therapies are not helpful for diagnosis or inducing clinical and histological remission of the disease. Although there are high hopes for dupilumab This review aims to give visibility to the involvement of aeroallergens in the triggering and exacerbation of eosinophilic esophagitis since many of them, in addition to being in the air and being able to inhale them, can also ingest them as part of the food. It is essential to highlight that we must try to discover the cause of the disease since it is crucial for its remission.


Summary: A carrier of hemoglobin Chesapeake, born of a normal mother, had a cord-blood hematocrit of 60%. The oxygen affinity of his blood was increased. Hemoglobin F-Chesapeake (α2Chesγ2), partially purified from the infant's blood, had oxygen affinity greater than that of hemoglobin A, but less than that of the adult form of the abnormal hemoglobin (α2Chesβ2). These findings suggest that the conformation of that part of the γ chain which contacts the site of amino acid substitution in Hb F-Chesapeake is similar to the analogous region of hemoglobpn F. They also support the hypothesis that regulation of erythropoiesis in late fetal life is similar to that of the adult, and is under fetal control.Speculation: The conformation of that part of the γ chain which contacts the site of amino acid substitution in hemoglobin F-Chesapeake is similar to the conformation of the analogous region of the γ chain of hemoglobin F. Erythropoiesis in late fetal life is determined by the oxygen affinity of fetal blood (as well as by placental blood flow and structure, fetal cardiac output, and tissue oxygen utilization), and probably is regulated by erythropoietin produced by the fetus.


Sandwich panels have been developed to either produce lighter structures capable of carrying prescribed loads or to increase the load-carrying capacity subject to limitations on the weight. The major load-carrying elements of a sandwich structure are its facings, while the core primarily serves to resist transverse shear loads, enhance local strength and stability of the facings, and combine two facings into a single structural system. The facings being subject to in-plane tensile/compressive loads and to in-plane shear, their strength and stiffness are paramount to the sandwich structure. In this article we elucidate potential advantages of so-called 'stepped' facings with geometry modified to locally enhance the strength and stiffness at strategically important locations with a minimum effect on the weight. Numerous examples presented in the article validate our suggestion that a combination of a relatively simple manufacturing process and improved structural response of sandwich panels with stepped facings may present a designer with an attractive alternative to conventional sandwich structures.


In Japan, evidence of the country's Westernization abounds, yet despite appearances, it has remained "uniquely" Japanese. For this reason, the uninformed Westerner doing business there may find it difficult and even frustrating to work with Japanese unless he or she gains a good understanding of Japan and its people. The author draws on his bilingual and bicultural experience to provide readers with an insightful look at many key aspects of doing business with Japan, ranging from initiating and maintaining business contacts, effective interpersonal communication, decision-making styles, negotiating tactics, presentational speaking, working with Japanese multinational companies and living and working in Japan.


Hyperspectral images provide abundant spatial and spectral information that is very valuable for material detection in diverse areas of practical science. The high-dimensions of data lead to many processing challenges that can be addressed via existent spatial and spectral redundancies. In this paper, a sparse modeling framework is proposed for hyperspectral image classification. Spectral blocks are introduced to be used along with spatial groups to jointly exploit spectral and spatial redundancies. To reduce the computational complexity of sparse modeling, spectral blocks are used to break the high-dimensional optimization problems into small-size sub-problems that are faster to solve. Furthermore, the proposed sparse structure enables to extract the most discriminative spectral blocks and further reduce the computational burden. Experiments on three benchmark datasets, i.e., Pavia University, Indian Pines and Salinas images verify that the proposed method leads to a robust sparse modeling of hyperspectral images and improves the classification accuracy compared to several state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, the experiments demonstrate that the proposed method requires less processing time.


During 2009, motorcyclists accounted for only 2% of road users in Grampian and yet 26% of those killed on the area's roads were motorcyclists, indicating the disproportionate vulnerability of this road user group. With a diverse range of issues associated with road safety, tackling the problem singularly would be resource intensive, potentially developed from a limited viewpoint and with limited scope in terms of deliverable interventions. Led by Road Safety Grampian (the Police and Fire and Rescue Services), Operation Zenith was therefore developed and launched in 2010 and sees the North East's Road Authorities (Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and The Moray Councils, and Bear Scotland) working in partnership with local motorcycle groups, Community Safety Partnerships and the North East Safety Camera Partnership towards the shared target of a 15% reduction in motorcycle casualties over a five year period. As a result of the multi-agency approach, Operation Zenith has successfully improved motorcycle safety by drawing together expertise from within the group to consider the four recognised strands of Education, Engagement, Engineering and Enforcement, with Evaluation being used to monitor progress. Amongst the innovative measures adopted have included bikesafe training courses, hard-hitting radio advertising, social media, new temporary bike specific safety signage on popular biker routes, trials of anti-skid manhole covers, targeted enforcement, and the organisation of Safer September Open Days as well as a free film night for bikers. Following its first full operating year in 2010, which saw engagement with over 4000 bikers and a 22% reduction in overall motorcycle casualties on the North East's roads achieved, the campaign picked up the Scottish Transport Award for Best Transport Team/Partnership. Spurred by this achievement, evidence has revealed that the 2011 campaign has been even more successful. This paper will detail the results from evaluation of the campaign to date, both in the form of accident analysis statistics and surveys with bikers, outline the factors that have been critical to its successful implementation, and discuss some of the new approaches helping to shape the 2012 campaign.


Blood plasma is one of the most widely used samples for cancer biomarker discovery research as well as clinical investigations for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. However, the plasma proteome is extremely complex due to its wide dynamic range of protein concentrations and the presence of high-abundance proteins. Here we have described an optimized, integrated quantitative proteomics pipeline combining the label-free and multiplexed-labeling-based (iTRAQ and TMT) plasma proteome profiling methods for biomarker discovery, followed by the targeted approaches for validation of the identified potential marker proteins. In this workflow, the targeted quantitation of proteins is carried out by multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) and parallel-reaction monitoring (PRM) mass spectrometry. Thus, our approach enables both unbiased screenings of biomarkers and their subsequent selective validation in human plasma. The overall procedure takes only ~2 days to complete, including the time for data acquisition (excluding database searching). This protocol is quick, flexible, and eliminates the need for a separate immunoassay-based validation workflow in blood cancer biomarker investigations. We anticipate that this plasma proteomics workflow will help to accelerate the cancer biomarker discovery program and provide a valuable resource to the cancer research community.


The relationship between the cyclist and the use of roadways and other spaces allocated for travel has a contested history. Pro-cycling advocates have argued from a number of positions for the rights of cyclists to use road space and changes in the location of responsibility for road safety. This paper examines how the widespread introduction of segregated cycle facilities in recent years, while having undoubted benefits can also be seen to raise significant problems for cycling in the context of broader travel behaviours. Bonham's (2006) exploration of the manner in which travel systems and patterns act as disciplinary regimes can be extended to further develop an understanding of the impact of segregated cycle facilities. Drawing on the insights of Michel Foucault, we have examined texts on cycleways in the United Kingdom and Australia, historical and contemporary, for the way in which cyclists are constituted and positioned. The findings are complex. Overall, recent texts produced within the health sciences begin to normalise cycling, while those produced within the field of transport position cyclists as disruptive or deviant travellers - albeit in different ways and with different outcomes depending on the broader context. In each case, the cycleway becomes a special space that enables and constrains cycling, while cycle practices are constituted as slow and disorderly, leisurely, often social and always requiring a 'quiet' (both in terms of traffic and noise) context. We conclude that the cycleway, by removing cyclists from road space, ultimately operates to maintain rather than challenge existing travel norms. We argue the consequences of this segregation may be profoundly at odds with the potential of cycling as a core component of sustainable mobility.


MUTHIA AZIZA. Indonesian document classification using Adaptive Classifier Combination (ACC). Supervised by JULIO ADISANTOSO. Search engine is a tool to find an information that match with user's request based on query or keywords. However, the query of search engine often shows irrelevance sites that didn't match with user's desire. Classification was developed to focused user's request on the information that they searched, so the result would be more accurate and less effort yet effective and efficient for the system. Adaptive Classifier Combination is one of many methods that can be used for text classification. This method is a combination between k-nearest neighbor classification and Naive Bayes classification to get a better result than using single method. The result of this research is an implementation of web-based application that developed using PHP language. The document is from horticulture reasearch journal from 2002 until 2009. From 340 documents, 300 document is used for data training and 40 documents is for testing. The accuracy of ACC is 80% and for Naive Bayes classification is 42.5%.


International student mobility from East to West has grown rapidly as the middle classes have sought to reproduce their advantage in the context of changing socioeconomic circumstances. Existing research shows that middle-class students and their parents are increasingly using overseas educational qualifications—an institutionalised form of cultural capital—to ensure that they stand out in the competition for lucrative employment. This paper makes two unique contributions to these debates. Firstly, it broadens the spatial frame away from East Asia to the emerging educational markets in post-Soviet Central Asia, and specifically Kazakhstan. This shift allows examination of similarities in students' accrual of cultural capital between regions, but also highlights spatial specificity in these flows. Secondly, it moves beyond narrowly class-based approaches to spotlight the importance of gender, sexuality, and religion in geographies of cultural capital. Middle-class social reproduction helps drive international student mobility, but class is experienced differently by young men and women in the context of locally specific forms of heterosexuality which in this case study reflect the cultural importance of Islam. Class matters, but to fully understand its importance in student mobility we must trace its intersections with other axes of social difference.


International environment protection initiatives have led to the intensification of research efforts on development of ozone and global warming safe refrigeration technology. In recent years, increasing attention is being given to the use of waste heat and solar energy in energizing refrigerating systems. Solar powered refrigeration and air conditioning have been very attractive during the last twenty years, since the availability of sunshine and the need for refrigeration both reach maximum levels in the same season. This paper is dedicated to the development of the thermally driven single effect, valveless adsorption refrigerator which uses activated carbon and methanol as adsorption pair driven by solar energy which is extremely portable. Where activated carbon and methanol is best suitable pair for the adsorption refrigeration process. Also refrigerant (methanol) has zero ozone depletion potential and very low global warming potential. Thus the refrigerator is eco-friendly. As there are no valves involved cost will be reduced. There are no moving parts involved in the system. Our goal is to develop an affordable, robust refrigerator that uses passive solar energy to maintain temperatures of water from 5°C to 10°C. COP of system is between 0.12 to 0.15. The refrigeration thus produced could be utilized for cooling water required for different domestic and industrial purposes. The mechanism, if extended, can produce further low temperatures also. Previous work on solar refrigerator has demonstrated the feasibility of the system. Work till date on such type of refrigerator shows various different pairs can be used as adsorbate-adsorbent for carrying out cooling effect but still so much scope is there for research. Because COP of such systems and temperature achieved by them is far away from the need of current era of refrigeration.


BACKGROUND
Coronary artery stents are used for the treatment of acute or threatening vessel occlusion complicating coronary angioplasty or for prevention of restenosis after angioplasty. The current randomized trial compared the procedural outcome and long-term patency of 2 different flexible stents in unselected lesion morphology.

METHODS
The study population consisted of consecutive patients undergoing coronary angioplasty for symptomatic coronary artery disease followed by high-pressure stent implantation. The poststent treatment consisted of antiplatelet therapy. The primary hypothesis was an assumed restenosis rate of 30% in the group receiving NIR stents (Boston Scientific Europe SPRL, Parc Industriel de Petit-Rechain, Belgium) and a reduction of the restenosis rate (defined as >50% vessel diameter at follow-up) by 50% in the group undergoing J&J Crown stent (Cordis, Johnson & Johnson Interventional Systems, Warren, NJ) implantation: the restenosis rate and minimal luminal diameter at follow-up. Follow-up angiography was performed 6 months after the initial procedure.

RESULTS
A total of 203 patients were randomized to receive either the J&J Crown stent (n = 103) or the NIR stent (n = 100). The procedural success was similar in both groups (96.1% vs 99% in the NIR stent group, respectively; P =.19). There were 4 cases of crossover from the J&J Crown to the NIR stent group. In one patient, stent implantation of either stent model did not succeed. One patient died from fulminant pulmonary embolism. Restenosis, defined as >50% diameter stenosis at follow-up 5.8 +/- 1.3 months after the initial procedure occurred in 19 patients (18.4%) in the J&J Crown stent group compared with 22 patients (22.0%) in the NIR stent group (P =.42). There was a significantly higher rate of crossover from the J&J Crown stent to the NIR stent (3.9% vs 0%, respectively, P =.047), whereas reverse crossover did not occur. The one lesion in which NIR stent implantation was not successful had an extremely tortuous proximal part. This patient underwent only balloon angioplasty. Clinical events were rare during 6 months of follow-up and the incidence did not differ between both groups (nonfatal myocardial infarction: J&J Crown stent 1.0% vs 0% in the NIR stent group, P =.32; all-cause mortality: J&J Crown stent 1.0% vs 0% in the NIR stent group, P =.32).

CONCLUSIONS
There were no significant angiographic and clinical differences between the J&J Crown and NIR stents. Both stents had a similar procedural success rate, although the implantation of NIR stents was successful even in vessels in which previous attempts at J&J Crown stent placement had failed.


This article establishes a historical context to the political conceptions and plots which led to the Brazilian imperial constitution of 1824, such context beginning with the notion of "civil empire" as it appeared at the time the Portuguese realm and empire were reorganized in their policies and administration in the eighteenth century. The text shows that, when Peter the first was crowned, a modern interpretation was made of an old institution, the religious consecration of kings, in order to establish political subordination on the basis of Men's universal reason. This study allows a better understanding of why independent Brazil was first of all an empire, not a kingdom, and also of the profound political and moral sense attributed to the poder moderador (a "power to moderate") given the emperor by the 1824 constitution.


This paper discusses how a decision maker should deal with uncertainty, both in the sense of a well-known probability distribution of different outcomes and as a situation where also the probability distribution is unknown. A simple baseline model is used throughout the paper, where the decision maker can invest in order to decrease the health risk. Since the investment is risky, the question concerns how much to invest. We derive and compare the optimal investment level for a number of different decision rules: a best guess rule, a maximin rule, an expected value rule, an expected utility rule, and three different rules that beyond risk aversion also reflect ambiguity aversion. Finally, these decision rules are evaluated more broadly.


The main goal of this paper is to show how the Delphi method works as a management tool when an initiative is planned to be developed and commercialized. The paper also provides insights how thin computing and open source can affect the future IT infrastructure development. The primary data was collected in a three round Delphi study. The chosen Delphi panellists' consist of the following interest groups: 1) Developers of open source thin computing, 2) Industrial experts, 3) Representatives of academic institutes. Results reveal that open source thin computing represents a promising alternative in the IT infrastructure development. The Delphi method represents a workable research tool in technology management field to capture multifaceted and enriched view about industry evolution.


In their thoughtful discussions of "A Dynamic Systems View of the Transformational Process of Mirroring," both Dr. Tessa Philips and Dr. Sandra Hershberg add to the conversation about the non-linear, dynamic, relational process of mirroring as illustrated by the case of "Molly." My response to their discussions elaborates several points brought up in their responses, including the increased sense of aliveness facilitated by the mirroring process through its evocation of the patient's experience of "mineness," In addition, I delineate the application of principles drawn from the article to the therapeutic process.


This essay re-examines the central foundations of the common law doctrine of restraint of trade. It advances four main arguments. First, there is a role for a scope test in restraint of trade law. The test's function is to identify — and thus subject to review — contractual obligations in which one or (preferably) more of three features exist: (a) the obligation is onerous; (b) there was a significant risk of cognitive error in the framing of the obligation; (c) the parties' self-interest was a weak safeguard against unreasonableness. Second, contracting parties may legitimately use restraints to protect investments necessary for the viability of a 'positive' endeavour. Third, substantive and procedural fairness, whether considered separately or together under the rubric of 'inequality of bargaining power', are strictly irrelevant to restraint of trade law — although a few specific procedural considerations have a limited evidentiary value and, in addition, there are independent reasons for caring about the substantive fairness of restrictive agreements. Finally, the public interest test should be eliminated. The stripped-down version of restraint of trade law which emerges from these recommendations is justified on first principles, internally consistent, and distinct from other legal doctrines. The reconstructed doctrine does not eliminate the difficult factual questions raised by restrictive covenants, but by focusing judicial attention on the proper concerns of restraint of trade law, it leaves judges in a better position to address these questions.


Keywords: Individus et societes ; Droit et technique ; Section SIE Reference EPFL-STUDENT-180781 Record created on 2012-08-16, modified on 2017-05-12


Flow through biological ion channel is understandably complex to support numerous and vital processes that promote life. To account for the biological evolution, mathematical

modelling that incorporates electrostatic interaction of ions and effects due to size exclusion has been studied, conceivably with element of difficulty and inaccuracy. In this

paper the Nernst-Planck(NP) equation for ion fluxes that uses Lennard Jonnes(LJ) potential to incorporate finite size effects in terms of hard sphere repulsion is examined.

To minimize emerging numerical intricacy, the LJ potential is modified by a band limit function with a cut-off length to eliminate troublesome high frequencies in the integral

function. This process is achieved through Fourier transform to simplify and hence render the mPNP equation solvable with precision. The resultant modified NP and Poisson

equation representing electrostatic potential are then coupled to form system of equation which describes a realistic transport phenomena in ion channel. Consequently,

to discretize the 2D steady system of equations, mixed finite element approach based on Taylor hood eight node square referenced elements is adopted. In the method,

Galerkin weighted residual approach help obtain sparse matrix and finally Picard Method applied to the nonlinear terms in the algebraic equations to linearize them and

improve rate of convergence. Iterative solution for the system of equations then obtained and concentration profiles of ion species under varied steric effects for mPNP are

computed and analysed


We present a unique case of frosted branch angiitis in one eye and impending central retinal vein occlusion in other eye of a pregnant woman, which could be an initial manifestation of Behçet's disease. A 28-year-old, 33 weeks pregnant woman presented with sudden diminution of vision in her right eye. Her best-corrected visual acuity was light perception in the right eye and 20/20 in her left eye. The fundus examination revealed frosted branch angiitis in the right eye and impending central retinal vein occlusion in the left eye. After a thorough initial examination, she was administered intravenous methyl prednisolone 1 g once a day for 3 days followed by oral steroids. All extensive work up to find the cause of frosted branch angiitis was negative except for positive human leukocyte antigen B51. Systemic work up was normal. On last follow-up at 6 months, the patient had visual acuity of 20/60 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. Her systemic work up was normal up to follow-up. She still remains a diagnostic dilemma, with Behçet's disease as the closest diagnosis.


Introduction: The immunosuppressive efficiency obtained in the last decades in kidney transplantation significantly improved graft survival. However, there is still a high risk and incidence of cancer in transplant patients strongly and directly related to the type of immunosuppression. An increasing body of evidence suggests that the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway may play a pivotal role in the development and progression of several neoplastic diseases. Case Presentation: We describe a 47-year-old male patient who received a cadaveric primary renal transplant in November 2008 developing a poorly differentiated infiltrating and ulcerated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) at the eye level. In this patient, the modification of an immunosuppressive regimen with introduction of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors and withdrawal of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) led to the resolution of this severe condition. Conclusion: The introduction of mTOR inhibitors and withdrawal of CNIs in kidney-transplanted patients with de novo eye SCC should be considered in this clinical setting.


When dealing with the issue at the heart of this chapter, a fundamental question has to be tackled in greater depth: is the right of access to the Internet a human right (or a fundamental right – below is my attempt to introduce a terminological clarification in this regard) which enjoys semantic, conceptual and constitutional autonomy? In other words, is access to the Internet an autonomous right or only a precondition for enjoying, among other rights, freedom of expression? Why does the classification as a free-standing or derived right matter? Does it carry normative implications or is it primarily a rhetorical tool?


We study theoretically the influence of an external magnetic field on the orientation of an ellipsoidal magnetic particle adsorbed at a liquid interface. Using the finite element program Surface Evolver, we calculate the equilibrium meniscus shape around the ellipsoidal particle and its equilibrium tilt angle with respect to the undeformed interface θt when a magnetic field B is applied perpendicular to the interface. We find that as we increase field strength, θt increases and at a critical magnetic field Bc1 and tilt angle θc1, the particle undergoes a discontinuous transition to the 'perpendicular' orientation (θt = 90°). Our results agree qualitatively with the simplified theory of Bresme and Faraudo [F. Bresme and J. Faraudo, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter, 2007, 19, 375110] which assumes that the liquid interface is flat, while they agree quantitatively with recent lattice-Boltzmann simulations of Davies et al. [G. Davies et al., Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 6742] which account for the deformation of the liquid meniscus. We also show for the first time that upon reducing the external magnetic field, at a critical magnetic field Bc2 < Bc1, the particle undergoes a second discontinuous transition from the perpendicular orientation to a finite tilt angle θc2 < θc1. In other words, for micron-sized particles where the thermal energy kBT is negligible compared to the interfacial energy, the tilt angle vs. magnetic field curve exhibits hysteresis behaviour. Due to the higher degree of accuracy of the Surface Evolver method, we are able to analyse the behaviour of the particles near these orientational transitions accurately and study how the critical quantities Bc1, Bc2, θc1 and θc2 vary with particle aspect ratio and contact angle.


Graph similarity measurement, which computes the distance/similarity between two graphs, arises in various graph-related tasks. Recent learning-based methods lack interpretability, as they directly transform interaction information between two graphs into one hidden vector and then map it to similarity. To cope with this problem, this study proposes a more interpretable end-to-end paradigm for graph similarity learning, named Similarity Computation via Maximum Common Subgraph Inference (INFMCS). Our critical insight into INFMCS is the strong correlation between similarity score and Maximum Common Subgraph (MCS). We implicitly infer MCS to obtain the normalized MCS size, with the supervision information being only the similarity score during training. To capture more global information, we also stack some vanilla transformer encoder layers with graph convolution layers and propose a novel permutation-invariant node Positional Encoding. The entire model is quite simple yet effective. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that INFMCS consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines for graph-graph classification and regression tasks. Ablation experiments verify the effectiveness of the proposed computation paradigm and other components. Also, visualization and statistics of results reveal the interpretability of INFMCS.


Overutilization of the emergency department (ED) is a significant problem in the United States (US), characterized mainly by patients with non-emergent conditions seeking care in a setting designed specifically for acute care. This has significantly increased healthcare costs in the US, a country with one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world. ED overutilization was also found to be high among people with Medicaid coverage, especially since the Affordable Care Act was enacted with an expansion in Medicaid coverage. Using the 2018 South Eastern Pennsylvania (SEPA) Household Health Survey, we identified a significant bivariate relationship between emergency department visits and the following predictor variables: sex, race, education, employment status, 150% poverty level, and Medicaid recipient. Using a multivariable logistic regression model, Medicaid recipients had higher odds of presenting to the ED than non-Medicaid recipients [odds ratio (OR): 2.863, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.164, 3.788]. Black people (OR: 1.647, 95% CI: 1.411, 1.923) and Native Americans (OR: 2.985, 95% CI: 1.536, 5.800) had higher odds than Whites. Respondents without a high school diploma had higher odds than college graduates (OR: 1.647, 95% CI: 1.96, 2.273). Respondents below the 150% poverty line had higher odds than those at or above the 150% poverty level (OR: 1.651, 95% CI: 1.386, 1.968). Unemployed respondents had higher odds than full-time employed respondents (OR: 1.703, 95% CI: 1.488, 1.953) or part-time (OR: 1.259, 95% CI: 1.036, 1.529). No difference was observed between the sexes. Addressing ED overutilization should take a multi-faceted approach with the ultimate goal of improving access to primary care.


This chapter contributes to a clearly important area of social capital research. The authors experimented and applied modern econometrics, including one of the instrumental variables, to derive results on causality. Social capital of the workplace reduces worker absences due to sickness and several causes.


In this paper we describe research relating to the potential use of quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols for secure underwater communications. We briefly summarize the BB84 QKD protocol, its implementation and use in free-space applications, and then describe recent theoretical considerations of its use in the maritime domain. We also consider alternatives to QKD that offer security and bandwidth utilization advantages when applicable.


Compelling evidence links the recently discovered hypothalamic peptides Hypocretin/Orexin (Hcrt/Orx) to rapid eye movement sleep (REM) control and the sleep disorder narcolepsy, yet how they influence sleep-related systems is not well understood. We investigated the action of Hcrt/Orx on mesopontine cholinergic (MPCh) neurons of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LDT), a target group whose function is altered in canine narcolepsy and appears pivotal for normal REM and wakefulness. Extracellular recordings from mouse brainstem slices revealed that Hcrt/Orx evoked prolonged firing of LDT neurons. Whole-cell recordings revealed that Hcrt/Orx had actions on both presynaptic neurons and at postsynaptic sites. Hcrt/Orx produced an increase in frequency and amplitude of spontaneous EPSCs without equivalent effect on IPSCs, by triggering action potentials and enhancing spike-evoked synaptic transmission in glutamatergic afferents. Postsynaptically, Hcrt/Orx produced an inward current and an increase in membrane current noise, which were accompanied by a conductance increase. These persisted in TTX, ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists, and low extracellular calcium. Both presynaptic and postsynaptic actions were specific because they were not mimicked by an Hcrt/Orx fragment, and both actions were observed for cholinergic and noncholinergic LDT neurons. Finally, extracellular recordings during postsynaptic potential blockade demonstrated that postsynaptic actions of Hcrt/Orx alone could evoke prolonged firing. In the context of other recent work, our findings suggest that Hcrt/Orx neurons may coordinate the activity of the entire reticular activating system during waking. Moreover, these findings address specific hypotheses regarding the cellular mechanisms underlying REM disregulation in narcolepsy.


In this paper we address the two-dimensional knapsack problem with unloading constraints: we have a bin B , and a list L of n rectangular items, each item with a class value in {1,...,C }. The problem is to pack a subset of L into B , maximizing the total profit of packed items, where the packing must satisfy the unloading constraint: while removing one item a , items with higher class values can not block a . We present a (4 + ϵ )-approximation algorithm when the bin is a square. We also present (3 + ϵ )-approximation algorithms for two special cases of this problem.


This study aimed at compare analyzing the trend of research in Korea and Other Country on Pain in Children, suggesting direction future pain research, and contributing to the use of pain intervention in nursing practice. Research studies on pain in children were selected from Korean Nures' Academic Society Journal, Korean Pediatric Nursing Academic Society Journal, dissertations, and contected using the MEDLINE between 1980 to April, 2002. The number of the 16 studies in Korea with 36 studies in other country. So, The number of the total studies were 52. There studies were analyzed for 1) the present condition of research studies 2) Research subject 3) Types of condition (Situation) in pain 4) Measurement Tools 5) Types of nursing interventions and 6) Research design. The findings of the analysis can be summerized as follows : 1) The number of the studies insufficient in Korea(16 studies) compare to other country (36 studies). 2) Research subjetcs were mostly patients and preschool, schoolage children(12 studies, 26 studies). 3) Types of condition(situation) in pain were First, related to injection(IM, IV, Blood Sampling)(6 studies, 14 studies) second, related to operation (4 studies, 11 studies) third, related to heelstick in neonates (3 studies, 6 studies). 4) As measurement tools for pain were mostly FPRS(facial pain rating scale) used to studies (9 studies, 11 studies), and more than two tools used. Mostly used to heart rate at studies. 5) Types of nursing intervention, Teaching and information were most popular intervention for pain in Korea(4 studies), and distraction was most popular intervention for pain in the other country(14 studies). 6) Research design, The experimental research were most popular studies in Korea and the other country. The following suggestions made based on the above findings : Need to researches about pain of children's chronic disease.


During gymnastic activities, the wrist is exposed to many different types of stresses, including repetitive motion, high impact loading, axial compression, torsional forces, and distraction in varying degrees of ulnar or radial deviation and hyperextension. Many of these stresses are increased during upper extremity weight-bearing and predispose the wrist to high rates of injury during gymnastics. Distal radius stress injuries are the most common and most documented gymnastic wrist conditions. Other conditions include scaphoid impaction syndrome, dorsal impingement, scaphoid fractures, scaphoid stress reactions/fractures, capitate avascular necrosis, ganglia, carpal instability, triangular fibrocartilage complex tears, ulnar impaction syndrome, and lunotriquetral impingement. It is important to diagnose quickly and accurately the specific injury to initiate expediently the proper treatment and limit the extent of injury. In addition, a gymnast's training regimen should also include elements of injury prevention.


Study objective-Control group characteristics as comorbidity and chronic psychosocial problems may play an important part in study outcomes. A primary care data base was used to quantify the effects of varying the case mix of participants. Design-Historical cohort study. Setting-Data were collected from 1967-1996 in four Dutch general practices performing the Continuous Morbidity Registration Nijmegen. Patients and controls-All newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients in the period 1967-1989 fulfilling the WHO criteria (n = 265); for each type 2 diabetic patient a control was matched for practice, sex, age, and social class; from these controls subgroups were selected based on the absence of different types of morbidity; these subgroups were also matched for practice, sex, age, and social class. Main results-The relative risk of mortality in type 2 diabetic patients in comparison with various subsets of controls ranged from 1.33 (95% CI 0.97, 1.81) to 2.16 (95% CI 1.46, 3.20). Conclusion-Control group characteristics as comorbidity and chronic psychosocial problems turned out to influence the risk estimation in a cohort study. General practice data enhance the study of these aspects.


Bands of dsRNA were detected in ®ve out of seven isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium ̄avoviride. The identity of these bands was proven by RNase and S1-nuclease treatments. The transference of dsRNA between isolates (from CG291 to CG442) was successfully carried out through forced heterokaryons. Isogenic strains, with or without dsRNA, were submitted to virulence tests against the grasshopper Rhammatocerus schistocercoides. In contrast to what has been found in some phytopathogenic fungi, these dsRNA fragments did not cause hypovirulence to M. ̄avoviride.


At electron scales, the power spectrum of solar-wind magnetic fluctuations can be highly variable and the dissipation mechanisms of the magnetic energy into the various particle species is under debate. In this paper, we investigate data from the Cluster mission's STAFF Search Coil magnetometer when the level of turbulence is sufficiently high that the morphology of the power spectrum at electron scales can be investigated. The Cluster spacecraft sample a disturbed interval of plasma where two streams of solar wind interact. Meanwhile, several discontinuities (coherent structures) are seen in the large-scale magnetic field, while at small scales several intermittent bursts of wave activity (whistler waves) are present. Several different morphologies of the power spectrum can be identified: (1) two power laws separated by a break, (2) an exponential cutoff near the Taylor shifted electron scales, and (3) strong spectral knees at the Taylor shifted electron scales. These different morphologies are investigated by using wavelet coherence, showing that, in this interval, a clear break and strong spectral knees are features that are associated with sporadic quasi parallel propagating whistler waves, even for short times. On the other hand, when no signatures of whistler waves at are present, a clear break is difficult to find and the spectrum is often more characteristic of a power law with an exponential cutoff.


Aromatase enzyme coded by the CYP19A1 gene catalyzes the final step of estrogen biosynthesis and is of major significance in endocrine regulation of breast cancer (BCa). Human CYP19A1 gene expression is regulated through the utilization of various non-translated tissue selective first exons, each controlled by unique sets of e.g. hormones and cytokines. Extragonadal expression pattern and regulation of human CYP19A1 gene is significantly different from that of rodents, which has been a major obstacle in studies focusing on regulation of aromatase gene expression in vivo. To study the tissue-selective regulation of human CYP19A1 gene in vivo, we have generated a transgenic reporter mouse model, hARO-Luc mouse, with a construct composing of a 100-kbp-long 5'-regulatory region of the human CYP19A1 gene attached to a luciferase (Luc) reporter gene. The aim of this study was to investigate human CYP19A1 gene expression in human BCa xenografts, to determine how the BCa cells regulate CYP19A1 gene expression in tumor associated stroma in vivo. In vitro, BCa cells have been shown to induce CYP19A1 gene expression in human breast derived fibroblasts. Furthermore, in order to study the regulation of the human CYP19A1 gene expression in hARO-Luc derived undifferentiated fibroblasts, mesenchymal stromal cells were isolated from bone marrow of female reporter mice. In these cells, human CYP19A1 gene expression was induced by dexamethasone ± TNFα, and PGE2 that are among factors known to drive aromatase gene expression in human mammary fibroblasts through promoters I.4 and I.3/PII. In order to investigate human CYP19A1 expression in BCa xenografts and tumor surrounding mammary gland, the hARO-Luc reporter mice were cross-bred with athymic nude mice. Estrogen-responsive MCF-7 or T47D cells or non-estrogen-responsive MDA-MB-231 cells were injected into inguino-abdominal mammary fat pads of athymic female hARO-Luc mice, and mice that received MCF-7 or T47D cells were also implanted s.c. with estradiol releasing pellet to induce the estrogen-dependent tumor growth. The reporter gene activity was measured from tissue homogenates. MCF-7 and T47D tumors had 5-10 -fold higher Luc activity as compared with the intact mammary gland, indicating a strong up-regulation of the reporter gene in host derived tumor stroma. In contrast, in MDA-MB-231 tumor bearing mice the reporter activity in tumors was only slightly higher as compared with the intact mammary gland. Furthermore, reporter gene activity in mammary gland surrounding MDA-MB-231 tumors was 2-fold higher than in the tumor itself. In conclusion, the data indicate that human BCa cells up-regulate expression of human aromatase gene in the tumor associated stroma in vivo. Citation Format: Paivi Jarvensivu, Leena Strauss, Sari Makela, Matti Poutanen, Niina Saarinen. A reporter mouse model reveals that human CYP19A1 (aromatase) gene expression is induced in breast cancer xenograft stroma and surrounding mammary gland by the cancer cells in vivo. [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 1402. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1402


Budgeting the total capital cost of a chemical engineering project is integral to its future financial success. It is often difficult to know beforehand how costly a project will be, but if the final price grows larger than an internal budget, problems can arise. The project may have to be prematurely cancelled, reflecting a large lost sunk cost. Alternatively, the project could be completed, but at the cost of shelving other pursuits. Neither result is desirable. Capping the total estimated capital cost of the project in preliminary optimisation studies could pre-emptively circumvent some of these problems. This work explores the challenge of integrating a capital cost budgeting constraint into a nonconvex, MIFP chemical process network unit production cost minimisation model, and introduces a novel solution strategy and algorithm to find the globally optimal solution. The algorithm incorporates an inexact parametric algorithm based on Newton's method with successive piecewise linear approximations and NLP subproblems to guarantee feasibility of the nonconvex objective function. The result is an MILP problem with NLP subproblems. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by minimising the unit production cost of a large chemical conversion network. The problem is solved with several general purpose MINLP solvers in addition to the proposed method. Computational results show that the proposed method shows promise to outperform general-purpose MINLP solvers when solving large MIFP network optimisation problems.


To determine the propagation parameters of high‐frequency radio waves, an accurate estimate of the ionosphere is desirable. Estimating the ionosphere, especially during geomagnetic storm times, is strongly dependent on perturbations in the neutral composition. Because of this coupling between the ionosphere and neutral atmospheric chemistry, accurate knowledge of the neutral atmospheric composition is critical in estimating the ionosphere. In the research presented here, a data assimilation system is constructed to optimally estimate the neutral composition, and the necessity for implementing an optimized filtering method, like the Kalman filter, is shown. To demonstrate the data assimilation system, an artificial "truth" thermosphere is created using a physical model. This thermosphere is sampled according to an instrument and satellite simulation algorithm, creating the measurement data set. Noise is then added to the measurement data, to represent observation errors. Data are assimilated, and noise from this data is reduced using a Kalman filter in combination with a state propagation model. Results show that the error in the estimate can be greatly reduced (usually to <6%), even if the observation errors are large (15%), by using a Kalman filter. Best results are obtained by using a Kalman filter together with an accurate physical model.


The energy imparted to the ions in the transfer ionization reaction He2+ + H- --> He+ + H+ + e has been measured in a merged beam experiment using two different techniques (magnetic analysis and time of flight). The result obtained in both cases is of the order of 6 eV and confirms that the transfer ionization proceeds in two steps: a single electron transfer at large internuclear separation followed by a resonant Penning ionization at small distances. With this view, a simple calculation of the cross section is presented, with results that are in good agreement with the available experimental data.


Approximately 23.6 million people in the United States are living with diabetes, a disease that is a leading cause of disabling conditions including blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart disease, and stroke. Although these complications of diabetes can be delayed or prevented through intensive diabetes self-management (DSM), maintaining control of the disease can be burdensome and negatively impact quality of life. Occupational therapy has a largely untapped potential to assist individuals who struggle with managing diabetes in the context of everyday life, yet there is little discussion of DSM in the occupational therapy literature. The author conducts a systematic review of the existing occupational therapy literature on diabetes, examines the current state of DSM interventions, and discusses a potential role for occupational therapy using programs such as Lifestyle Redesign®.


Offers guidance on introducing and developing writing skills with young learners. The book teaches the Roman alphabet, letter shapes and names, and word recognition, and provides a framework for developing writing skills at word, sentence and text level. It encourages the idea that words can be used creatively and that writing can be fun and provides opportunities for children to practise a wide range of writing skills.


(1) Let D be a triply connected domain in the complex plane with boundary components C1, C2, C3, none of which is degenerate to a point. Let R be the family of continua K c D with the property: among the components of D-K there are three doubly connected domains D1, D2, D3 such that Di has Ci as a boundary component (i = 1,2,3). Denoting by Mi = Mi(K) the modulus of D,, we shall investigate the following problems: Which triplets (M1,M2,M3) are possible when D is decomposed by continua K e SV? Which triplets are extremal under appropriate conditions? We will take for D the annulus A, = {z; 1 < IzI < r}, r > 1, minus the radial slit C2 = { z; xI < z < x<2 on the positive real axis, 1 < X1 < X2 < r. C1 is the unit circle, C3 is the remaining boundary circle of radius r of D = A, C2. Taking the double T of A, we obtain from D a torus minus two slits. On the universal covering surface T of T we choose as fundamental region A the rectangle in the c-plane with vertices 1 log r i7r, letting the right half of A correspond to D and the point r = 0 of A to the boundary point z = 1 of D. The slit C2 then corresponds to the segment %, 2] = [log xI, log x2] = r2; C1 corresponds to the segment F1 = [-iTr,iir] of the imaginary axis, and C3 corresponds to the segment r3 = [log r iir, log r + iir] on Re r = log r. (2) We consider the family a of meromorphic functions f on T, subject later to a normalization, with the properties


Many database applications need accountability and trace-ability that necessitate retaining previous database states. For a transaction-time database supporting this, the choice of times used to timestamp database records, to establish when records are or were current, needs to be consistent with a committed transaction serialization order. Previous solutions have chosen timestamps at commit time, selecting a time that agrees with commit order. However, SQL standard databases can require an earlier choice because a statement within a transaction may request "current time." Managing timestamps chosen before a serialization order is established is the challenging problem we solve here. By building on two-phase locking concurrency control, we can delay a transaction's choice of a timestamp, reducing the chance that transactions may need to be aborted in order keep timestamps consistent with a serialization order. Also, while timestamps stored with records in a transaction-time database make it possible to directly identify write-write and write-read conflicts, handling read-write conflicts requires more. Our simple auxiliary structure conservatively detects read-write conflicts, and hence provides transaction timestamps that are consistent with a serialization order.


In this paper, we discuss the issue of unicast routing in dynamic CR networks. The problem of our concern is: given a set of CR nodes with geographical positions and temporarily available channels, how to design a protocol so that the average number of transmissions per packet for a unicast transmission is minimized. We propose a novel distributed protocol where packets are transmitted through successively geographic closer intermediate destination nodes, until eventually destination is reached. The intermediate destination nodes are within a two-hop neighborhood and locally chosen by a heuristic algorithm we develop. A priority-based opportunistic routing method is adopted to forward the packets between two nearby intermediate destination nodes. Extensive simulations are conducted to show the performance of our protocol.


Social Media provide an exciting and novel view into social phenomena. The vast amounts of data that can be gathered from the Internet coupled with massively parallel supercomputers such as the Cray XMT open new vistas for research. Conclusions drawn from such analysis must recognize that social media are distinct from the underlying social reality. Rigorous validation is essential. This paper briefly presents results obtained from computational analysis of social media - utilizing both blog and twitter data. Validation of these results is discussed in the context of a framework of established methodologies from the social sciences. Finally, an outline for a set of supporting studies is proposed.


To demonstrate the importance of bone marrow iron stores, we examined the complete hemogram, serum iron (SI), serum iron-binding capacity (SIBC), transferrin saturation (TS), serum ferritin and bone-marrow-stored iron in 31 children with iron deficiency (ID). The ages of the patients ranged from one to 14 years (mean 3.7 +/- 3.9). Laboratory findings of the 31 patients were as follows: hemoglobin (Hb) 8.5 +/- 2.4 g/dl, hematocrit (Hct) 27.8 +/- 6.3 percent, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 58.6 +/- 8.6 fl, red blood cell count (RBC) 4 +/- 0.8 10(12)/L, red cell distribution width (RDW) 19.3 +/- 4.9, SI 17.2 +/- 9.3 microg/dl, SIBC 311 +/- 50.5 microg/dl, TS 5.5 +/- 2.8 percent and ferritin 6.7 +/- 7.3 ng/dl. In the bone marrow smears with iron stains, all patients' scores were zero for iron stores, which shows that bone-marrow-stored iron in childhood is easily affected. Because of the traumatic effect of bone marrow aspiration, it is recommended that it not be done routinely. The diagnosis of ID could be especially difficult in patients with low SI levels but normal SIBC levels and in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. In those conditions, illustration of bone marrow stores could be of particular assistance for diagnosis of iron deficiency.


The article presents the concepts of polintertainment inspired on an empirical study of Vota Brasil campaign promoted by the Superior Electoral Court, in Brazil, during the 2008 electoral process. The methodology adopted uses bibliographic survey, empirical study with analysis of propaganda broadcast on television and the interpretative reading of the campaign carried out by a focus group composed of voters with no party affiliation. It is emphasized that in Brazil, during the study period, there were municipal elections, in which 15,297 candidates have applied for mayors and 348,793 for city councils. In 5564 municipalities 128,806,592 citizens were able to vote. In Brazil, voting is mandatory and there is much misinformation about the functions of the public office, vote"s purchase and other ways of corruption. To encourage the conscious vote, the Superior Electoral Court broadcasted propaganda on national open radio and television network. Among the strategies adopted to draw the public"s attention, is the humour. The choice for the analysis of the campaigns is justified by the following reasons: social impact, originality and content of the messages. This paper is thus organized: firstly, reflects on political communication, television, creative strategies analysis and then the context and understanding by a focus group. So, we can propose the concept polintertainment because it is one of the strategies to make the public pay attention to the message.


In this paper, we present a novel integrable 80 V silicon lateral trench power MOSFET together with its circuit simulation model. The lateral trench power MOSFET exhibits a low figure of merit (Ron  times Qg) proving very attractive for high frequency switching applications. The lateral trench power MOSFET was initially simulated using the 2-D device simulator MEDICI, and an analytical model was developed and implemented in MAST HDL for use in circuit simulators such as SABER. Circuit simulations were performed using the model developed and high frequency switching performance of the proposed device is compared against a commercial device


[1] We have compared a new version of Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy Experiment (ATMOS) retrievals (version 3) of stratospheric and mesospheric water vapor with observations from shuttleborne, satelliteborne, balloonborne, and aircraftborne instruments. These retrievals show agreement to within 5% with the MkIV observations in the middle and lower stratosphere. ATMOS agrees with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Lyman-α hygrometer to within 5% except for features with spatial scales less than the vertical resolution of ATMOS (such as the lower stratospheric seasonal cycle). ATMOS observations are 10–16% lower than measurements from the Harvard Lyman-α hygrometer in the lower stratosphere and are 7–14% higher than those from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS; prototype version 0104) throughout most of the stratosphere. Agreement is within 7% with the Millimeter-Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS; version 20) in the middle and upper stratosphere, but differences are closer to 13% in the lower stratosphere. Throughout the stratosphere, agreement is within 8% with the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE; version 19). ATMOS data from 1994 show agreement with the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II; version 6) values to within 8% in the middle stratosphere, but ATMOS observations are systematically higher than those from SAGE II by as much as 41% in the lower stratosphere. In contrast, ATMOS 1985 values are systematically ∼50% lower than SAGE II values from sunset occultations in the lower stratosphere near 70 hPa but appear to be in better agreement with sunrise occultations. Version 3 retrievals in the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere are typically 5–10% lower than version 2 values between 1 and 0.05 hPa. This reduction improves agreement with HALOE, MAS, and MLS upper atmospheric observations, but ATMOS values still tend to be higher than values from these instruments in the middle mesosphere. Agreement among the instruments compared here (except for SAGE II) is generally within 15% in the middle to lower stratosphere and mesosphere and within 10% in the middle to upper stratosphere. At altitudes near 30 km, all instruments (including SAGE II) agree to within 10%.


Objective: To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of chest radiography in the detection of chest lymphadenopathy in children with clinically suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: Design: Prospective cross sectional study. Setting: A short stay ward in a children's hospital in South Africa. Patients: Consecutive children under 14 years of age admitted with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis. Diagnostic test: Antero-posterior and/or lateral chest x rays interpreted independently and blind to the reference standard by three primary care clinicians and three paediatricians, all with a special interest in tuberculosis. Reference standard: Spiral chest computed tomography (CT) with contrast injection. Results: One hundred children (median age 21.5 months) were enrolled. Lymphadenopathy was present in 46 of 100 reference CT scans and judged to be present in 47.1% of x ray assessments. Overall sensitivity was 67% and specificity 59%. Primary care clinicians were more sensitive (71.5% v 63.3%, p = 0.047) and less specific (49.8% v 68.9%, p<0.001) than paediatricians. Overall accuracy was higher for the paediatricians (diagnostic odds ratio 3.83 v 2.49, p = 0.008). The addition of a lateral to an antero-posterior view did not significantly increase accuracy (diagnostic odds ratio 3.09 v 3.73, p = 0.16). Chance adjusted inter-observer agreement (κ) varied widely between viewer pairs, but was around 30%. Conclusions: Detection of mediastinal lymphadenopathy on chest x ray to diagnose pulmonary tuberculosis in children must be interpreted with caution. Diagnostic accuracy might be improved by refining radiological criteria for lymphadenopathy.


This paper demonstrates, for the first time, an integrated radio frequency (RF) front-end module (FEM) with precision matching circuits in ultra-miniaturized glass substrates for LTE applications. Through full-wave electromagnetic (EM) simulations, electrical performance of these glass-based long term evolution (LTE) packages is compared with traditional RF modules with surface mount devices (SMDs), and organic laminates with embedded passives and actives. RF front-end modules with 3D or double-side thin film passive components on glass-based substrates are fabricated and characterized to correlate their performance with EM simulations.


Climate change is threatening cities all around the world and local governments are challenged to address climate extreme events that have a severe impact in human safety and well-being. Urban resilience and nature-based solutions are approaches based in ecological principles that are being introduced in urban climate governance and planning. The first one focuses on the ability of urban systems to recover, change, adapt and transform in response to stresses and strains, while the second one tries to increase the capacity of the urban system to provide ecosystem services related with climate change mitigation and adaptation. How do these two approaches address climate change? What connections and differences can be found? The aim of this paper is to answer these questions through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the scientific literature about methodologies to assess resilience to climate change and ecosystem services that contribute to mitigation and adaptation in urban areas. Our preliminary findings are: i) climate resilience mainly focuses on the capacity of the system to recover from climate related disasters while nature-based solutions include a broader spectrum of climate change impacts; ii) resilience assessments usually include infrastructure and social indicators but only a few introduce ecological aspects and; iii) mitigation and adaptation ecosystem services assessments rarely take into account social variables. We conclude that urban resilience and nature-based solutions offer complementary approaches to urban governance and planning and that governments can learn from both of them to reframe climate urban resilience strategies that better integrate the technological, ecological and social components of climate adaptation and mitigation.


The conformation and dynamics of a protein chain with hydrophobic and polar nodes are examined by the bond-fluctuation model using Monte Carlo simulations on a cubic lattice. The minimal (nearest neighbor) interaction leads to standard (self-avoiding walk) conformation, i.e., the scaling of the radius of gyration R(g) with the molecular weight N R(g) proportional, variant Ngamma with gamma approximately 3/5 . Specific interactions with longer range and higher strength are needed to approach the native globular conformations with gamma<3/5 . Relaxation into the globular ground state shows a weak power-law decay, i.e., R(g) proportional, variant t(-alpha) , alpha approximately 0.06-0.12 .