A novel scheme to multiply the repetition rate of a monolithic self‐mode‐locked laser for generating sub‐terahertz pulse sources is successfully demonstrated. A coated Yb:KGW crystal is designed to achieve a self‐mode‐locked operation at a repetition rate of 24 GHz with an average output power exceeding 1.0 W at a pump power of 4.8 W. A partially reflective mirror is utilized to combine with the output surface of the gain medium to constitute an external Fabry‐Perot cavity. It is theoretically and experimentally verified that adjusting the external cavity length to satisfy the commensurate condition can lead to the frequency spacing to be various order harmonics of the mode spacing of the monolithic cavity. The maximum pulse repetition rate of the laser output can be up to 216 GHz and the pulse duration is as short as 330 fs. More importantly, the overall characteristics of the first‐order temporal autocorrelation traces obtained by sequentially scanning the external cavity.length display an intriguing phenomenon of temporally fractional revivals, similar to the feature of spatial Talbot revivals.


Programmable Integrated Photonics (PIP) is a new paradigm that aims at designing common integrated optical hardware configurations, which by suitable programming can implement a variety of functionalities that, in turn, can be exploited as basic operations in many application fields. Programmability enables by means of external control signals both chip reconfiguration for multifunction operation as well as chip stabilization against non-ideal operation due to fluctuations in environmental conditions and fabrication errors. Programming also allows activating parts of the chip, which are not essential for the implementation of a given functionality but can be of help in reducing noise levels through the diversion of undesired reflections. After some years where the Application Specific Photonic Integrated Circuit (ASPIC) paradigm has completely dominated the field of integrated optics, there is an increasing interest in PIP justified by the surge of a number of emerging applications that are and will be calling for true flexibility, reconfigurability as well as low-cost, compact and low-power consuming devices. This book aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to this emergent field covering aspects that range from the basic aspects of technologies and building photonic component blocks to the design alternatives and principles of complex programmable photonics circuits, their limiting factors, techniques for characterization and performance monitoring/control and their salient applications both in the classical as well as in the quantum information fields. The book concentrates and focuses mainly on the distinctive features of programmable photonics as compared to more traditional ASPIC approaches.


this paper proposes a kind of hardware layer trusted channel model based on the trusted platform control module. Through being embedded into hardware equipment, measurement agent as well as control one constructs trusted computer system with hardware layer trusted channel model. This system can remove the malicious attacks such as data monitored, middleman fended off and tamper forgery .Finally, data transmission efficiency and security of hardware layer trusted channel module are found to be superior than those of application layer, and have better application value. KeywordsTPCM; trusted computing; trusted channel; CSP


The determination of the right number of servers in a multi-server queueing system is one of the most important problems in applied queueing theory. The problem becomes more complex in a system that consists of both cross-trained and specialized servers. Such queueing systems are readily found in the call centres (also called contact centres) of financial institutions, telemarketing companies and other organizations that provide services to customers in multiple languages. They are also found in computer network systems where some servers are dedicated and others are flexible enough to handle various clients' requests. Over-staffing of these systems causes increased labour costs for the underutilized pool of agents on duty, while under-staffing results in reduced revenue from lost customers and an increase in queue times. The efficient design and analysis of these systems helps management in making better staffing decisions. This thesis aims to develop models for establishing agent staffing levels in organizations with cross-trained and specialized staff with a view to minimizing cost and maintaining a desirable customer satisfaction. The work investigates the effect of various traffic loads on the number of agents required and the cost. It also considers how using specialized agents, flexible agents and a combination of both categories of agents affects the system. It uses a contact centre that has agents with monolingual, bilingual and trilingual (English, French and Spanish) capabilities to do the study.


This study assesses income-related health inequalities in self-assessed health (SAH) and its trend from 1998 to 2011 in Korea that covers important time periods of financial crisis and post-crisis. Data came from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1998 to 2011. A population-representative sample aged 46 years and older was analysed. SAH was used as an indicator of health status, with household equivalence income as a proxy for socio-economic position. Age-adjusted prevalence rates of SAH were analysed to estimate both absolute and relative measures of health inequalities and the trend over time by the relative index of inequality (RII) and the slope index of inequality (SII). Results indicated that the highest level of health inequalities was found among men aged 46–59 years, especially in 2001 and 2005. For men, there was no clear, consistent pattern of increase or decrease in the trend over time. On the other hand, increasing trends in the RII and SII were found for women, except for women aged 46–59 years who reported a decreasing trend in the SII. Trends in health inequalities over time were influenced by economic crisis, demonstrating the need for macro-level economic policies as well as health policies addressing health gaps.


This article reported on research, carried out by the author and Thomas Gilmore, on all traceable addicts in Dublinis male and female committal prisons and in its male juvenile detention centre in 1981. In all, 39 serious drug misusers were traced - 6.5% of the total population in the prisons at that time. Of these, 34 agreed to be interviewed for the purposes of the study. Of this group, there were 23 daily users of heroin, 5 daily users of other narcotic analgesics, 1 barbiturate addict and 5 regular users of LSD. Their average age was 22 years, and the majority had criminal convictions that pre-dated their drug addiction. The research revealed, in most cases, backgrounds of severe social, economic and educational disadvantage, along with almost inevitable parental neglect. Less than one third of the group had experienced continuous full-time employment for longer than one year. Drug use was mainly restricted to opiates, with heroin being the drug of choice in most cases.

The author suggested that fashion, conformity and peer pressure played crucial roles in the rapid spread of heroin use. He stated that, in his view, prison was not the most appropriate environment for treating drug misusers, since an important requirement for treatment was that the individual be in a position to make a real choice about whether or not to use drugs.


Abstract According to well-established case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the prohibition on expulsion resulting in ill-treatment under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights is 'absolute': it does not allow for balancing of interests. Analysis of the Court's case law, however, shows that the application of the provision involves various forms of balancing, for example when delimiting the burden of proof or qualifying an act as ill-treatment. The absolute character expresses a value judgement about the importance of the prohibition, and it serves as an argumentative tool applied to sustain wide or inclusive readings of Article 3 ECHR.


The book represents an important contribution presented by the authors concerning management of intellectual property protection. It presents an own point of view very well documented regarding theoretical and practical issues concerning management of intellectual property protection and management of intangible assets in the knowledge based economy and organisation. The modelling presented in the second part of the book regarding EVLIA method is a viable solution on viewing and evaluating intangible assets in a knowledge based organization and not only.


Coupling effects of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) induce changes in the wavelength, intensity, and linewidth of plasmonic modes. Here, inspired by coupling effects, we reveal an abrupt linewidth-shrinking effect in 2D gold nanohole arrays at the azimuthal angle of 45° arising from the interference of two degenerate SPR modes. We further demonstrate the biosensing capability under various excitation conditions for detecting the critical molecular biomarker of prostatic carcinoma, and achieve the maximum sensitivity at this angle. Our study not only enhances the understanding toward plasmonic resonance-linewidth shrinking, but also provides a promising strategy to greatly improve biosensing performance by light manipulation on plasmonic nanostructures.


Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is a fundamental and challenging problem in the analysis of biologic sequence. The MSA problem is hard to be solved directly, for it always results in exponential complexity with the scale of the problem. In this paper, we propose mutation-based binary particle swarm optimization (M-BPSO) for MSA solving. In the proposed M-BPSO algorithm, BPSO algorithm is conducted to provide alignments. Thereafter, mutation operator is performed to move out of local optima and speed up convergence. From simulation results of nucleic acid and amino acid sequences, it is shown that the proposed M-BPSO algorithm has superior performance when compared to other existing algorithms. Furthermore, this algorithm can be used quickly and efficiently for smaller and medium size sequences.


This paper presents an approach to tackle the re-identification problem. This is a challenging problem due to the large variation of pose, illumination or camera view. More and more datasets are available to train machine learning models for person re-identification. These datasets vary in conditions: cameras numbers, camera positions, location, season, in size, i.e. number of images, number of different identities. Finally in labeling: there are datasets annotated with attributes while others are not. To deal with this variety of datasets we present in this paper an approach to take information from different datasets to build a system which performs well on all of them. Our model is based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and trained using multitask learning. Several losses are used to extract the different information available in the different datasets. Our main task is learned with a classification loss. To reduce the intra-class variation we experiment with the center loss. Our paper ends with a performance evaluation in which we discuss the influence of the different losses on the global re-identification performance. We show that with our method, we are able to build a system that performs well on different datasets and simultaneously extracts attributes. We also show that our system outperforms recent re-identification works on two datasets.


Abstract Considering the increasing impact of the environmental concerns in the current worldwide policy, the application of biological processes, namely the bio-fixation of CO 2 by microalgae, represents a promising solution and an increasingly attractive strategy. Indeed, these photosynthetic microorganisms have the great capacity to fix and tolerate high CO 2 concentrations converting it to biomass and highly valuable molecules. Thus, modeling of microalgae growth represents an essential tool for the optimization of the carbon dioxide consumption in engineered systems such as photobioreactors. In this context, the main goal of this work is the identification of the growth model parameters of Chlorella vulgaris , the model organism used in this study. The growth model developed in this study takes into account the combined influence of light intensity and the total inorganic carbon available per cell. First, an experimental campaign of batch culture was carried out in a well-stirred lab-scale photobioreactor under optimal conditions. Finally, model results of biomass dynamics and total inorganic carbon evolution over time are compared with data of batch and continuous cultures, confirming the accuracy of the identified model parameters.


We have performed core level photoelectron spectroscopy on a W(110) single crystal with femtosecond XUV pulses from the free-electron laser at Hamburg (FLASH). We demonstrate experimentally and through theoretical modelling that for a suitable range of photon fluences per pulse, time-resolved photoemission experiments on solid surfaces are possible. Using FLASH pulses in combination with a synchronized optical laser, we have performed femtosecond time-resolved core-level photoelectron spectroscopy and observed sideband formation on the W 4f lines indicating a cross correlation between femtosecond optical and XUV pulses.


Objectives
To identify facilitating and limiting factors that could affect the potential impacts on maternal and child nutrition of the Ethiopian urban conditional cash transfer program.

Methods
An exploratory qualitative study was conducted among the beneficiaries of the Ethiopian urban conditional cash transfer program (urban Productive Safety Net Program, urban PSNP) and key informants (program administrators and stakeholders). Eight focus group discussions (FGD), seven in-depth interviews, and eleven key informant interviews were conducted in five sub-cities of Addis Ababa. Coding was facilitated by NVivo 12 software.

Results
A substantial number of pregnant, lactating, and women with children under five years of age are beneficiaries of the urban PSNP. Beneficiaries reported that the majority of the money received from the program was spent on food (mostly on staples) and rent. FGD participants and key informants believed that the amount of cash provided by the PSNP program was too small to improve maternal and child nutrition. The conditional urban PSNP involves working an assigned job and beneficiaries are required to save 20% of the cash from the PSNP program, but no nutrition-specific conditions are imposed. Household barriers identified by interviewees included: low autonomy among women to use the cash transferred, and the size of the cash transfer (based on a family of 4) relative to actual family size. Programmatic facilitating factors were: existing national nutrition initiatives (National Nutrition program) that could be linked with the urban PSNP, urban PSNP organizational structure (i.e., the existence of urban PSNP peer support groups) initiatives to engage the PSNP beneficiaries in nutrition-sensitive jobs (e.g., urban agriculture), and targeting the cash transfer to poor households having a child under five years of age.

Conclusions
If strengthened and modified, the urban PSNP has the potential to improve maternal and child nutrition in Ethiopia. This impact can be strengthened by collaborating with ongoing and planned nutrition programs (e.g., Ministry of Health). Further study of the effects and cost-effectiveness of including alternative maternal and child nutrition programs in the current urban PSNP is recommended.

Funding Sources
UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


A new adaptive equaliser for the minimisation of mean-square error has been developed for use over a wide range of transmission channels. The equaliser comprises a transversal filter (with variable tap gains) and a processor. Using the processor, the tap-gain-adjustment information is derived from blocks of samples taken from the channel output. The processor operates independently of the channel speed and can provide variable step size for adjusting the tap gains of the transversal filter and flexibility in the implementation of the equaliser in terms of the channel speed and the equaliser realisation. Analytical and computer-simulation results are presented showing the equaliser performance.


Abstract We consider the dynamics of expanding semigroups generated by finitely many rational maps on the Riemann sphere. We show that for an analytic family of such semigroups, the Bowen parameter function is real-analytic and plurisubharmonic. Combining this with a result obtained by the first author, we show that if each semigroup of such an analytic family of expanding semigroups satisfies the open set condition, then the Hausdorff dimension of the Julia set is a real-analytic and plurisubharmonic function of the parameter. Moreover, we provide an extensive collection of examples of analytic families of semigroups satisfying all of the above conditions and we analyze in detail the corresponding Bowen's parameters and Hausdorff dimension function.


Objectives: Melanoma is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and incidence is increasing. Survival after treatment is inversely related to the thickness of the tumour at diagnosis. Population screening has the potential to reduce mortality but there is no conclusive evidence of benefit. Such evidence can come best from a randomised trial. Here we describe the design of a community based randomised trial of a population screening programme for melanoma in Queensland, Australia and early results of the first phase of the trial. Methods: A total of 44 communities (aggregate population 560 000 adults aged 30 years or more) will be randomised to receive either a community based screening programme for 3 years or normal practice. The screening programme promotes thorough skin self examination and whole body skin examination by a doctor and provides open access skin cancer screening clinics. In its first phase, the trial is underway in nine intervention and nine control communities. The primary outcome measure is mortality from melanoma during 15 years of follow up. Results: The first phase of the trial has shown the feasibility of implementing a population skin screening programme including regular skin cancer screening clinics, and has shown the strong support of communities and doctors for the programme. There has been a significant 2.5-fold increase in participation in screening in the intervention communities in this first phase after the first 12 months of the trial and no significant increase in participation in screening in control communities during this period. Conclusions: The design of a community based randomised trial of screening for melanoma has been successfully peer reviewed and the intervention has been shown to be feasible in practice. This randomised trial may be one of the last opportunities to develop the evidence required for public health recommendations for population screening for melanoma.


The Eupatorium odoratum is included in sun flower family Asteraceae has many properties as anti-bacterial, anti-mycobacterial properties. It also contains many phytochemicals. It used as tea in many places. An ointment prepared from the leaves of Eupatorium odoratum is has been shown to promote the healing of soft tissue wounds by enhancing the proliferation and migration of fibroblast. It has been identified that the presence of antioxidants and other bioactive compounds might have helped the people to use the leaves and roots of this plant as natural medicine. It used as medicinal as well as ornamental plant. Successive extracts from dried flowers of Eupatorium odoratum were investigated for the presence of phytochemicals. Methanol extract was used for the phytochemical and antibacterial studies. Aqueous extracts of Eupatoriumodoratum was used for the insecticidal and larvicidal activity. As a result it was found that the plant flowers have insecticidal and larvicidal activity and a slight range of antibacterial activity. Aqueous extract exhibited the presence of enzyme polyphenol oxidase. The extract was subjected to ammonium sulfate precipitation and dialysis to precipitate proteins. It was then eluted out using ion exchange chromatography and partially purified. The PPO have a wide range of applications, it is an important natural component in dye industry, it is good for bioremediation as it cleaves phenol rings of many of the petroleum compounds which cause soil pollution.


Determining the stator slot design parameters of the alternator has a great importance to provide the desired magnetic flux distribution for a permanent magnet generator (PMG). The objective of this article was to investigate the optimum design parameters of PMG slot design for small-scale low-speed wind turbine generator by using the design of experiment techniques. The Maxwell simulations have been used for numerical experiments on geometric design variables of stator slots (Bs0, Bs1, Bs2, and Hs2) in order to evaluate the coefficients of second-order models for the responses. Efficiency, stator teeth flux density, stator yoke flux density, and air-gap flux density are determined as the responses that have to be optimized. A gradient search was used for optimization. The solution of this design problem shows how the experimental design method can be combined with the numerical simulation and how this approach is well adapted to the optimization process. As a result, the efficiency of the PMG is improved under the desired magnetic flux conditions.


Passenger Car Equivalent (PCE) is a conversion factor from various types of vehicles into passenger car units (pc). The PCE value in the 2014 Indonesian Road Capacity Guidelines called PKJI 2014 has a long period with the present. The purpose of this study is to prove that there is a change in current traffic characteristics with the traffic characteristics described in the PKJI 2014. To prove this, the study was conducted by comparing road performance using the PCE MC value according to the PKJI 2014 with research that has been done previously with the results of PCE MC using the modified average headway time method showing 0.17 results. The location of this research was carried out on the Rungkut Madya road (2/2 UD), Surabaya City, East Java, Indonesia. The results obtained from this study are the use of PCE MC according to the PKJI 2014, resulting in a theoretical speed value close to the actual speed value compared to using modified PCE MC. So that the calculation of the performance of the Rungkut Madya road or other roads with similar characteristics does not require modification of the PCE MC value.


occasion, the meals after exercise were not supplemented with extra calories, inducing a 350 kcal energy deficit (ED). Throughout the next day, subjects ate identical meals in both the EB and ED trials, and free-living glycemic control was compared between trials starting at 0800h. RESULTS: 3-hour post-prandial area under curve (AUC) was significantly lower after breakfast in ED compared with EB (27.5±3.5 vs. 29.3±4.0 mM•h , P=0.03), but not different after lunch (28.8±4.2 vs. 27.9±3.3 mM•hour, P=0.38), dinner (28.7±3.3 vs. 27.3±3.3 mM•hour, P=0.50), or evening snack (27.8±3.3 vs. 26.8±2.1 mM•hour, P=0.45). Similarly, average postprandial glucose (3-hour) was lower after breakfast in ED vs. EB (5.6±0.7 vs. 6.0±0.8 mM, P=0.02), and not different between trials after the other meals. Despite differences in the glycemic response to breakfast, average 24-hour glycemic response did not differ between ED and EB (24-hour AUC: 27.2±2.5 vs. 26.5±2.1 mM•h, respectively; P=0.2). CONCLUSION: Compared with eating meals that replenish the energy expended during exercise, an exercise-induced energy deficit lowered the glycemic response to breakfast the next day but this energy deficit did not impact total 24-hour glycemia the day after exercise. Supported by NIH GRANT# R01 DK077966


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Background: Gastric cancer is among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, notably in Asia. Though targeted therapies have been under clinical evaluation, the biological complexity of this cancer type may confer resistance to single-targeted therapies. Especially, scirrhous phenotype is known to be affected by multiple growth factors. To overcome this biological complexity, multi-targeted kinase inhibitors (MTKIs) have been clinically tested and were reported to be effective in a subset of patients. We wanted to elucidate the kinase activity signature of gastric cancer and to explore predictive biomarkers of MTKIs using gastric cancer cell lines by tyrosine kinase activity profiling.

Material and methods: The growth-inhibitory effect of the MTKIs sunitinib, sorafenib, pazopanib and the Akt inhibitor MK-2206 was evaluated by the MTT assay. 11 scirrhous and 14 non-scirrhous gastric cancer cell lines were grown until semi-confluent, lysed, aliquoted and stored at -80°C until use. The basal tyrosine kinase activity of the lysates was measured on PamChip® peptide micro-arrays, containing 144 peptides derived from known human phosphorylation sites. Quantification of peptide phosphorylation and data analysis were performed using BioNavigator and SIMCA P+ software.

Results: HSC-39, HSC-40A, KATO-III and HSC-43 scirrhous cells and SNU-16 non-scirrhous cells were sensitive to all three MTKIs with IC50 values < 1 μmol/L. Orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) of basal tyrosine kinase activity profiles showed a clear segregation between sensitive cell lines and insensitive cell lines. Levels of putative target proteins such as PDGFR, VEGFR, Raf and Kit did not correlate with the sensitivity. All sensitive cell lines turned out to harbor an FGFR2 amplification suggesting that FGFR2 amplification may be a predictive biomarker of response to MTKI treatment. Kinases such as EGFR, EPHA, FGFR, IGF1R, INSR and Src contributed to this segregation suggesting that these are relevant to the sensitivity to MTKIs. MET overexpressing cell lines were resistant to treatment with the four inhibitors. Scirrhous cells were segregated from non-scirrhous cells by OPLS-DA among cell lines with signet-ring cell carcinoma cytology with R2, 0.994; Q2, 0.615. EGFR, ERBB2, 3, 4, EPHAs, FAK, IGF1R, INSR, MAP2Ks, RET and SRC seemed to be responsible for the segregation suggesting that they play an important role in scirrhous gastric cancer biology.

Conclusions: Kinase activity profiles reflect the biological complexity of gastric cancer. FGFR2 status correlates with sensitivity to sunitinib, pazopanib and sorafenib, whereas MET status does not. These data imply that tyrosine kinase activity profiling with PamChip® peptide arrays can be utilized to identify molecular targets and predictive biomarkers in gastric cancer and this should be further explored.

Citation Format: Yasuhiro Koh, Masakuni Serizawa, Rik de Wijn, Riet Hilhorst, Takako Nakajima, Hirofumi Yasui, Kazuyoshi Yanagihara, Martijn Dankers, Rob Ruijtenbeek, Narikazu Boku. In vitro tyrosine kinase activity profiling to identify molecular targets and predictive biomarkers in gastric cancer cell lines. [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 4655. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4655


What is new in SLE and APS Over the past year, some important developments have taken place for the clinical approach to SLE. A multi-year large international initiative by the SLICC group resulted in the publication of a new set of classification criteria for SLE which, while not necessarily 'better' than the established ACR criteria, appear to have gained in face validity and seem to reflect some specific features of the diagnostic challenges surrounding this disease. In SLE therapeutics new analyses of the two phase III clinical trials with belimumab provided some guidance for clinicians as to which patients have the highest likelihood to benefit from this biologic. A large randomized trial of abatacept for lupus nephritis was reported as negative, but a post-hoc analysis demonstrated that the choice of endpoint in such trials can have a critical role in determining success or failure. Other biologics are currently in clinical trials, some with encouraging results. While progress in APS has not been as dramatic, some developments of interest have occurred. In this lecture I will review the past year's literature on SLE and APS with a primary focus on new findings that have immediate bearing on clinical practice when caring for such patients. Disclosure of Interest R. Van Vollenhoven Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, GSK, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, UCB, Consultant for: AbbVie, BMS, GSK, Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, UCB


This paper presents the three-dimensional flow investigations over the square cylinders placed in the tandem arrangement. Two different flow configurations were investigated in detail; one comprising of a single square cylinder and the other comprising of three square cylinders placed in a tandem arrangement with the spacing of six times the width (w) of each square cylinder. The Reynolds number based on the width of the square cylinder (w) and free stream velocity (Uo) is 22,000. The problem was solved numerically using an Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) based model and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) based model. Strouhal Number, lift, and drag coefficients were computed for each configuration. By comparing both the models using contour plots of pressure, velocity and vorticity it is found that the LES model is more accurate to capture the turbulence around single and tandem square cylinders. In the tandem arrangement, complex periodic vortex shedding was observed in the wake of each square cylinder. The production of turbulent kinetic energy was also investigated to understand the roles of stresses during flow over the cylinders. The analysis showed that the production of turbulence by normal stresses is higher than that of shear stresses. Furthermore, it was observed that the flow over the first cylinder arranged in tandem is quite identical to that of the single square cylinder. Moreover, the upstream cylinder experienced a higher lift in comparison to the downstream cylinders.


In this paper, we propose Posterior Sampling Reinforcement Learning for Zero-sum Stochastic Games (PSRL-ZSG), the first online learning algorithm that achieves Bayesian regret bound of $O(HS\sqrt{AT})$ in the infinite-horizon zero-sum stochastic games with average-reward criterion. Here $H$ is an upper bound on the span of the bias function, $S$ is the number of states, $A$ is the number of joint actions and $T$ is the horizon. We consider the online setting where the opponent can not be controlled and can take any arbitrary time-adaptive history-dependent strategy. This improves the best existing regret bound of $O(\sqrt[3]{DS^2AT^2})$ by Wei et. al., 2017 under the same assumption and matches the theoretical lower bound in $A$ and $T$.


In this paper an attempt has been made to review all those species of pelagic polychaetes that have been found in the Pacific Ocean, and to provide keys and illustrations to aid in their identification. Included in the keys are species that occur elsewhere but have not yet been recorded from the Pacific.


We propose a graph signal processing framework to overcome the computational burden of Tensor Robust PCA (TRPCA). Our framework also serves as a convex alternative to graph regularized tensor factorization methods. Our method is based on projecting a tensor onto a lower-dimensional graph basis and benefits from significantly smaller SVDs as compared to TRPCA. Qualitative and computational experiments on several 2D and 3D tensors reveal that for the same reconstruction quality, our method attains up to 100 times speed-up on a low-rank and sparse decomposition application.


Autistic and matched non-autistic retarded children were selected for their ability to recognize the correspondence between schematic drawings and videotaped scenes involving people. The subjects of both groups were able to choose schematic drawings of gestures for a person's gestures of emotion enacted on videotape. However, the autistic children were significantly impaired in choosing which of the drawings of gestures should 'go with' videotaped vocalizations and facial expressions characteristic of four emotional states. The results were found to be consistent with results from a previous, related study in which the same subjects had chosen drawn or photographed faces to indicate their judgements of the same videotapes of emotional expression. It is suggested that these findings reflect an important aspect of autistic children's social disability.


We have reported recently the first birth after intrauterine transfer of embryos obtained by injection of round spermatids into oocytes in cases of unexpected azoospermia. Here we provide a complete documentation of the series of 11 cases in which this novel method of infertility treatment was employed. In four of these cases, elongated spermatids were identified in the ejaculate, and it was decided to perform elongated spermatid injection (ELSI). In the other six cases, only round spermatids were present, and round spermatid injection (ROSI) was done. In one case, ROSI was given preference to ELSI because of a very poor viability status of elongated spermatids present in the ejaculate. Fertilization of at least one oocyte was achieved in 10 of the 11 treatment cycles; the fertilization rate in these 10 cycles ranged between 7 and 100% with a mean value of 45%. All of the two-pronucleated zygotes cleaved and were transferred to the patient's uterus. A singleton pregnancy was achieved in two ROSI cycles. Both pregnancies developed uneventfully and resulted in the birth of normal infants. These data show the intra-ooplasmic injection of spermatids obtained from the ejaculate may become the treatment of first choice in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia.


Background: A false-positive sweat test in patients with deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate-1-dehydrogenase (EC 188.8.131.52; G6PD) is repeatedly reported. Methods: Sweat chloride or conductivity was measured in 11 patients with G6PD deficiency. Results: Mean (SD) chloride level (n = 8, median age 9.2 years, range 1.9–48.5) was 18.8 (9.6 mmol/l) and, mean (SD) sodium level was 26.0 (10.0 mmol/l), respectively, and mean (SD) conductivity (n = 3, median age 6.6 years, range 1.9–40.5) was 34.3 (6.5 mmol/l). Conclusion: In sweat of 11 patients with G6PD deficiency we did not find any abnormality. The reason for alleged false-positive sweat test in patients with G6PD deficiency is not known and we were unable to identify any original reference. It appears that tables of putative false-positive sweat tests in several disease states have been directly "copied and pasted" from one paper or textbook to another without verifying the original literature, a phenomenon one can call "chain citation".


The aim of this study was to evaluate the bone transport technique using the Ilizarov external fixator for the treatment of the extensive segmental bone defect induced in the tibia of seven dogs. An Ilizarov frame assembled with one proximal half-ring, one middle ring and one distal ring, all connected to each other, was used. Thirty percent of the tibia and fibula were removed in the medium and distal parts of the diaphyses, between the medium and distal rings. The bone defect was reconstructed by bone transport using a bone segment developed by proximal subperiosteal osteotomy of the tibia between the half-ring and the middle ring. Bone transport started seven days after surgery (0.5mm every 12 hours). Compression was applied in the docking area. The neutral fixation frame period was 14 weeks. The frame was removed at the end of this period, and the dogs were observed for four more weeks. Complications such as intercalary segment deviation (2 dogs) during the trajectory, and nonunion (2 dogs) in the docking area were observed. The functional results were considered poor in the two, fair in three, good in one and excellent in the other dog. The bone transport allowed reconstruction of large segmental bone defect, however, it may have problems during the trajectory of the transport bone segment and in its healing in the docking area.


The apoptosis process in rat esophageal epithelium was investigated using enzyme-immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. As a result, Fas and Fas-L were expressed in the epithelial cell membrane and cytoplasm from the stratum spinosum (SS) to the stratum granulosum (SG). No TNF-R1 show immunopositivity in the cell membranes. TNF-α and caspase-8 were not observed in any layer. Caspase-10, cleaved caspase-3, XIAP and DNase-1 were found in the epithelial cytoplasm from the SS to the SG, whereas Bid, Apaf-1 and cleaved caspase-9 were detected only in the SG. Cytochrome c was observed as cytoplasmic granular positivity from the stratum basale (SB) and altered into homogeneous immunopositivity in the SG. Bcl-2 and Bcl-X immunopositivity was detected in cytoplasm from the SB to the SG. Immunoreactions of Bak in the cytoplasm and Bax beneath the cell membrane were observed from the upper portion of the SS with increasing intensity toward the SG. In the sites with the hyperproliferation of indigenous bacteria, TNF-R1, TNF-α and caspase-8 were detected in the SG and the immunopositive intensities of Bid, Apaf-1 and cleaved caspase-9 were altered to be strong. Prominently swollen cells and decreased mitochondria were ultrastructurally confirmed in the uppermost layers of stratum corneum. These findings suggest that the Fas-Fas-L-interaction initially induces apoptosis through a mitochondria-independent pathway and secondarily through a mitochondria-dependent pathway, leading to eventual epithelial cell death in the rat esophageal epithelium. The bacterial stimuli probably enhance the mitochondria-dependent pathway through the TNF-R1-TNF-α interaction.


AbstractThe number of the suicides is increasing all around the world. In this study, the cases autopsied between 2000 and 2007 in The Konya Branch of Forensic Medicine Council were retrospectively investigated. Fifty-seven shotgun suicides were determined. The cases were evaluated in terms of their demographic characters, site of entrance wound, the type of the cartridge used, shooting distance, the place of incident, the place of death, motive for suicide, and the presence of previous suicide attempts. The most preferred site of entrance wound was the head with 34 cases (59.7%). Of 34 cases in which the entrance wound was on the head, there was indirect mandibular fracture in 16 cases (47.1%). In 11 cases (19.3%), there observed small ecchymosed abrasions on the finger surfaces, which are thought to have resulted from the trigger kicking back during triggering or the finger having been stuck between the trigger and the trigger guard. It is concluded that there is a need for a legal regulation that makes obtaining of shotguns more difficult and the people who have them are to be educated not to keep them in easily accessible places.


OBJECTIVE
Transition from pediatric to adult care is a critical time for patients with congenital heart disease. Lapses in care can lead to poor outcomes, including increased mortality. Formal transition clinics have been implemented to improve success of transferring care from pediatric to adult providers; however, data regarding outcomes remain limited. We sought to evaluate outcomes of transfer within a dedicated transition clinic for young adult patients with congenital heart disease.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS
We performed a retrospective analysis of all 73 patients seen in a dedicated young adult congenital heart disease transition clinic from January 2012 to December 2015 within a single academic institution that delivered pediatric and adult care at separate children's and adult hospitals, respectively.

INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME MEASURES
Demographic characteristics including congenital heart disease severity, gender, age, presence of comorbidities, presence of cardiac implantable electronic devices, and type of insurance were correlated to success of transfer. Rate of successful transfer was evaluated, and multivariate analysis was performed to determine which demographic variables were favorably associated with transfer.

RESULTS
Thirty-nine percent of patients successfully transferred from pediatric to adult services during the study period. Severe congenital heart disease (OR 4.44, 95% CI 1.25-15.79, P = .02) and presence of a cardiac implantable electronic device (OR 4.93, 95% CI 1.18-20.58, P = .03) correlated with transfer. Trends favoring successful transfer with presence of comorbidities and private insurance were also noted.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite a dedicated transition clinic, successful transfer rates remained relatively low though comparable to previously published rates. Severity of disease and presence of implantable devices correlated with successful transfer. Other obstacles to transfer remain and require combined efforts from pediatric and adult care systems, insurance carriers, and policy makers to improve transfer outcomes.


In a network stability problem, the aim is to find stable configurations for a given network of Boolean gates. For general networks, the problem is known to be computationally hard. Mayr and Subramanian [22,23] introduced an interesting class of networks by imposing fanout restrictions at each gate, and showed that network stability on this class of networks is still sufficiently rich to express as special cases the well-known stable marriage and stable roommate problems.
In this paper we study the sequential and parallel complexity of network stability on networks with restricted fanout. Our approach builds on structural properties of these networks, and exposes close ties with the theory of retracts and isometric embeddings for product graphs. This structure gives then new efficient algorithms for questions of representation, enumeration and optimality in stable matching.


This paper examines the economic impact of swine research undertaken by Agriculture Canada from 1968 to 1984. The economic surplus approach is used to estimate the returns to this research and to determine the distribution of benefits between producers and consumers. The ex ante and ex post approaches to measuring changes in producers' surplus are compared. The impact of the marginal excess burden of taxes on measures of net benefits from research is examined J The internal rate of return of net benefits from research is examined J The internal rate of return to expenditures on swine research was found to be between 45% and 50% at the margin. About 85% of the benefits accrued to Canadian hog producers.


Chocolates produced from two cocoa fermentation types (heap' and tray') were analysed by GC-MS and GC-O to identify and detect important odorants. The most important odour in both types of chocolate was identified as 2/3-methyl butanal with a cocoa/chocolate attribute. One odour described as grassy/lettuce and which seemed to be important for the aroma of both types of chocolates remained unidentified. Two acids, 3-methyl butanoic acid with an unpleasant blue cheese odour and acetic acid with a sharp, vinegar odour were also identified as key odorants in the two types of chocolates. Differences were identified in the types of odorants important in the two types of chocolate and these are expected to cause sensory differences between the two types of chocolate.


Right brain damages can manifest deficits of communicative skills, which sometimes cause an important inability. The communication impairments following a right hemisphere damage are distinct from those in aphasia and may affect discursive, lexico-semantic, pragmatic, and prosodic components of communication. It is calculated that this troubles affect almost a 50% of this patients. However, these impairments have essentially been studied separately and their possible coexistence in a same individual is still unknown. Moreover, the clinical profiles of communication impairments following a right hemisphere damage, including their correlation with underlying cognitive deficits, are still unreported. The goal of this article is to offer an overview of the verbal communication deficits that can be found in right-hemisphere-damaged individuals. These deficits can interfere, at different levels, with prosody, the semantic processing of words and discourse and pragmatic abilities. In spite of the incapability that they produce, communicational impairments in right brain damaged are usually neglected. Probably, the sub-diagnostic is due to the lack of an appropriate classification or to the absent of adequate assessment tools. In fact, patients with right brain damages might present harsh communicational deficits but perform correctly on aphasia tests because the last ones are not designed to detect this kind of deficit but left brain damaged impairments. Increasing our knowledge about the role of the right-hemisphere in verbal communication will have major theoretical and clinical impacts; it could * Received: 18 February 2009, Revised: 19 May 2009, Accepted: 19 May 2009. © 2009 Associazione Oasi Maria SS. IRCCS / Città Aperta Edizioni 1 Universidad de Buenos Aires and Hospital Eva Perón Buenos Aires. 2 Université de Montréal and Centre de Recherche, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com 67 Life Span and Disability / XII, 1 (2009), 67-82 Communication Impairments in Patients with Right Hemisphere Damage Valeria Abusamra,1 Hélène Côté,2 Yves Joanette2 & Aldo Ferreres1 facilitate the diagnosis of right brain patients in the clinical circle and it will help to lay the foundations to elaborate methods and strategies of intervention.


Visual loss in birdshot retinochoroidopathy has been reported to be produced by cystoid macular edema, optic atrophy, epiretinal macular membranes and subretinal neovascularization. We present a patient with this syndrome in whom the visual loss was due to an acute anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. The possible common pathogenesis of both diseases is discussed.


Haul traffic on earthworks runways during construction works is an important factor of dust emission. Compacted soils surface become progressively degraded as the number of wheels passing increases. Fine particles are then segregated from the soil surface and lifted when the shear stress generated by the flow above the surface increases, leading to the worsening of air quality and reduction of visibility. Laboratory tests were performed to assess dust emissions on traffic degraded soils. Mixtures of kaolin clay and sand were compacted using a laboratory roller compactor and were degraded using a vehicle simulator. Models describing the evolutions of soil degradation and Particle Size Distribution (PSD) during traffic were established. Then, the velocity profiles above each soil sample were obtained in a wind tunnel. The experimental results were analyzed to determine the Reynolds shear stresses generated by the turbulence of the flow. PSD, degradation and stresses were implemented in the Convective Turbulent Dust Emission (CTDE) model to estimate the dust emission flux of the soils for several passes of the wheel. A comparison between results from the model and field measurements underlines that turbulence is not the main contributor to dust emissions when a vehicle is in motion.


Background: Mouse model is one of of the most widely used animal models for exploring the roles of human gut microbiota, a complex system involving in human immunity and metabolism. However, the structure of mouse gut bacterial community has not been explored at a large scale. To address this concern, the diversity and composition of the gut bacteria of 600 mice was characterized in this study. Results: The results showed that the bacteria belonging to 8 genera were found in the gut microbiota of all mouse individuals, indicating that the 8 bacteria were the core bacteria of mouse gut microbiota. The dominant genera of the mouse gut bacteria contained 15 bacterial genera. It was found that the bacteria in the gut microbiota were mainly involved in host's metabolisms via the collaborations between the gut bacteria. The further analysis demonstrated that the composition of mouse gut microbiota was similar to that of human gut microbiota. Conclusion: Our study presented a bacterial atlas of mouse gut microbiota, providing a solid basis for investing the bacterial communities of mouse gut microbiota.


This article addresses concerns raised by M. C. Neale (1999) in his commentary on the D. A. Bussell et al. (1999) Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development (NEAD) study. These concerns fall into two categories: (a) model assumptions and sample design and (b) testing of alternative models. The validity of the assumptions of quantitative genetic models is a concern for all researchers in this area. Discussion of those assumptions in this reply is brief and focuses on those most relevant to the NEAD sample. The two alternative models proposed by Neale were designed to provide alternatives to the large shared environmental effect found in the original report of Bussell et al. Because these alternative models did not provide a better fit, the appropriateness of Bussell et al.'s basic model and the importance of shared environmental influences for explaining the association among family subsystems are supported.


A T-cell attracting CXC chemokine phylogenetically related to MIG and SCYB10 was recently characterized and termed SCYB11 (alias βR1/H174/SCYB9B/I-TAC/IP-9/CXCL11). Here, we cloned the cDNA of the murine homologue of this protein, Scyb11, from interferon-γ/lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 mouse macrophage-like cells. The nucleotide sequence of Scyb11 shares 63% identity with its human counterpart. It encodes a 100 amino acid immature protein of 11,265 Da which contains a putative signal peptide of 21 amino acids. The molecular mass of the mature protein was calculated to be 9,113 Da. Sequence identity of the murine and human SCYB11 proteins is 68%. Phylogenetic tree analysis of mouse CXC chemokines places SCYB11 together with the murine homologues of MIG and SCYB10 (Crg-2/muIP-10) on an individual branch. A genomic sequence was obtained by genome walking and subcloning DNA fragments from a BAC clone containing Scyb11. Like human SCYB11, Scyb11 contains 4 exons with intron/exon boundaries at positions comparable to the human gene. Whereas introns 2 and 3 are of similar length in the murine and human genes, intron 1 of Scyb11 contains 1,260 bp more than intron 1 of the human gene. Intron 1 of Scyb11 is also characterized by a 201-bp stretch with repetitive sequences of high cryptic simplicity. Using a BAC clone containing Scyb11, this gene could be mapped to chromosome 5 at position 5E3. Since human SCYB11 is localized on 4q21.2, this result confirms the mouse/human homology of the two chromosome regions.


We present experimental and theoretical work on a monolithic electroacoustic system which exploits the interaction between a 1 GHz surface acoustic wave and electrons in a GaAs-AlGaAs resonant tunnelling structure. Non-annealed Ohmic contacts using in situ grown Al are employed to obtain stable dc operation. The microwave response of the system is explained, with features attributed to charge accumulation in the spacer layer adjacent to the quantum well. The influence of screening of the surface acoustic wave potential by the highly-doped substrate is also investigated, showing the need for a wide depletion layer. Potential applications for this system in signal processing and power microwave devices are discussed, along with a suggested mechanism for a non-dispersive surface acoustic wave transducer which relies on the nonlinear properties of the system.


This research is intended to know the kinds and classification of speech acts and the politeness implication in teaching and learning activities. The subject of this research was the sixth-semester EFL learners of STKIP PGRI Bandar Lampung. The object of this research was speech acts used by EFL learners. The researcher used the observation technique combined with noting technique in collecting the data. In this research, the researcher used the qualitative multiple study. The result of the study showed that speech acts used by EFL learners were direct and indirect speech acts. The speech acts were classified into the assertive, commissive, directive, and expressive. The politeness strategy acted by EFL learning included positive and negative politeness. The use of positive politeness creates a closeness among the teacher and the students, creates a pleasant classroom atmosphere, and increases the students' motivation. Meanwhile, the use of negative politeness reduces amount degree of friendliness among the students and the teacher and creates a formal learning situation. Theoretically, this research has implications for the development of scientific insights about pragmatics, especially speech acts, and practically it gives implication to EFL teachers and students in understanding, analyzing, and interpreting the use of speech acts in communication.


Currently, low oil prices pose a challenge to the financial state of the industry. Therefore, it is very important that companies optimize costs while maintaining or even increasing oil production. At the same time, with oil production declining due high water cuts and facility volume limitations in an offshore production system, it is necessary to look for solutions in order to maintain economic viability by increasing oil recovery in mature reservoirs. Among some alternatives, the subsea separator represents a good prospect for dealing with these challenges.
 This paper aims to describe a methodology to perform the technical feasibility study of deploying an Oil/Water Subsea Separator in Brazilian Offshore Field. The technical results were then used as part of an economic analysis which is outside the scope of the present paper.
 The study is comprised four wells that are linked to the manifold and the subsea separator. In the subsea separator, 70% of the produced water is separated and reinjected in a disposal well. Hence, the fluids which remains (oil, gas and 30% of water) flows up to the platform. Since this reinjected water volume is not flowing to the platform anymore, more fluid can be processed, allowing the wells to operate on larger potentials resulting in an increased cumulative oil production to the field. Computational simulation approach was followed by using the pore flow simulation, flow assurance simulation and a coupler that integrates both of these.


In this work we evaluate the performance of MMSE estimation with a media-specific FEC based on VQ replicas in comparison with MAP estimation and interleaving, both operating in a DSR system over a loss-prone packet switched network. Both schemes combine a sender-driven with a receiver-based technique and, as we show, clearly outperform the standard Aurora mitigation. However, as independent techniques, interleaving and FEC codes could be jointly applied. Although this would provide better results, a direct combination of FECs and interleaving involves a sum of the delays of both operations. In this work, we introduce a double stream-based strategy that avoids this sum of delays.


We present simulations of field emission from carbon nanotubes, using a transfer-matrix methodology. By repeating periodically a basic unit of the nanotubes in the region preceding that containing the extraction field, specific band-structure effects are included in the distribution of incident states, i.e. those entering the field region. The structures considered are the metallic (5,5) and the semiconducting (10,0) single-wall carbon nanotubes. The total-energy distributions of incident states show the gap of the (10,0) and the expected flat region for the (5,5) nanotube. The field-emitted electron energy distributions contain peaks, which are sharper for the (10,0) structure. Except for peaks associated with van Hove singularities in the distribution of incident states or with the Fermi level in the case of a metallic structure, all peaks are shifted to lower energies by the electric field.


Abstract : This study comprises a theoretical framework that is conducive to development and application of successful national security strategy. A national security strategy is the instrument which enables societies to partly influence and shape the conditions of the future in which they and their children will live. The national security strategy encompasses definitional underpinnings, characterization of strategy across levels of analysis, incorporating global trends, and understanding the basic goals of the state (security, prosperity and way of life) as all these factors span time from past, present, to future. Overall, the thesis reaches four major conclusions that have implications for national security strategy. First, national security strategy has no end but attempts to attain a continuing advantage across history. Second, strategy manages current and future change, which requires anticipation. Global trends fill this function. Third, national core values have great impact on national security strategy, both as boundaries for applied strategy and as historical enablers. Four, the strategy framework empowers national security with proactive potentials to reinforce opportunities and oppose and change threats before they come to full fruition.


Simple two‐state folding kinetics of many small single‐domain proteins are characterized by chevron plots with linear folding and unfolding arms consistent with an apparent two‐state description of equilibrium thermodynamics. This phenomenon is hereby recognized as a nontrivial heteropolymer property capable of providing fundamental insight into protein energetics. Many current protein chain models, including common lattice and continuum Gō models with explicit native biases, fail to reproduce this generic protein property. Here we show that simple two‐state kinetics is obtainable from models with a cooperative interplay between core burial and local conformational propensities or an extra strongly favorable energy for the native structure. These predictions suggest that intramolecular recognition in real two‐state proteins is more specific than that envisioned by common Gō‐like constructs with pairwise additive energies. The many‐body interactions in the present kinetically two‐state models lead to high thermodynamic cooperativity as measured by their van't Hoff to calorimetric enthalpy ratios, implying that the native and denatured conformational populations are well separated in enthalpy by a high free‐energy barrier. It has been observed experimentally that deviations from Arrhenius behavior are often more severe for folding than for unfolding. This asymmetry may be rationalized by one of the present modeling scenarios if the effective many‐body cooperative interactions stabilizing the native structure against unfolding is less dependent on temperature than the interactions that drive the folding kinetics. Proteins 2003;52:510–523. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Reading through the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for the first time, one may think that the criteria used to measure proficiency in second language (L2) listening, speaking, reading, and writing seem to make a lot of sense. One could assume that from the Novice level through the Intermediate level, then to the Advanced level and beyond, a learner would begin to acquire a L2 by first learning isolated words, often starting with cognates or borrowed words similar to those from the first language (L1). After having acquired many isolated points, the learner would then start to connect these points together to form lines and make comprehensible sentences. After that, the learner would learn to consider cultural context and the pragmatic aspects of language use, expanding the existing dimensions of context-independent lines to form a multi-dimensional knowledge base, working toward becoming more native-like in using the L2.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) has led to improved detection of clinically significant prostate cancer and is now increasingly used in active surveillance (AS) patients. However, most AS cohorts in the literature were described prior to widespread use of mpMRI. Our investigation compares outcomes in AS in the pre- and post-MRI era at our institution. METHODS: We used an institutional database of 1295 men who started AS between September 1996 to December 2016. The cohort was divided into pre- and post-MRI era with the cutoff in January 2014, when mpMRI was routinely incorporated into our AS protocol. Clinical outcomes were compared using Wilcoxon rank sum and Chi-square tests. Treatment-free survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier plots. RESULTS: All patients (251) in the post-MRI era had at least one mpMRI performed compared to 5.3% (55/1044) of those enrolled earlier. There was no significant difference in baseline PSA (p=0.36) or Gleason Score (GS) (p=0.395). Mean time to follow-up in the post-MRI era was 3.0±0.9 years compared to 8.0±5.1 years in the pre-MRI era. At 2 years, 21.8% of patients in the post-MRI era were treated as compared 15.7% in the pre-MRI era. By Kaplan-Meier, patients in the post-MRI group had a shorter time to treatment (1.5 vs 2.8 years, P<0.001) (Figure 1). Among those treated, 288 underwent radical prostatectomy (RP). On surgical pathology, 4.2% of patients in the pre-MRI group had GS 8 or 9 disease, 59.0% had GS 7, and 36.8% had GS 6 disease. This is compared to 0%, 75.0% and 25.0%, respectively, in the post-MRI group. There was no difference in pathologic T stage, N stage and positive margin rates. CONCLUSIONS: With widespread utilization of mpMRI, patients on AS are treated earlier. However, further follow up will be needed to see if this earlier identification and treatment of clinically significant disease ultimately results in a plateau in long-term treatment free survival. Figure. No caption available. Source of Funding: none


Purpose
In this study, the mediating effects of perceived behavior control and attitudes toward being an entrepreneur were investigated in the relationship between family business experience and entrepreneurial intentions of university students. First, the variables of perceived behavioral control and attitude toward being an entrepreneur were defined as the mediators used in explaining the entrepreneurial intention. Then, the process of investigating the mediation effects with the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach in two cases with one and two mediating latent variables is explained.

Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the process of investigating the mediation effects in two situations where there is one and two mediating latent variables by SEM is presented. In addition, the decomposition of the effects for the model consisting of two mediating latent variables is given in detail with matrix notation.

Findings
It has been determined that the latent variable of perceived behavior control functions as a "full mediator" in the relationship between the family ownership story and the entrepreneurial intention. The study also revealed that students whose family's business ownership score is high and who are self-confident in the process of becoming an entrepreneur have stronger entrepreneurial intentions.

Originality/value
In the research, the distinction between the model used in determining the entrepreneurial intentions of university students and their mediation and indirect effects is explained in detail with matrix notations with the SEM approach.


Interruptions divert attention from a task, whereas distractions occur in the background or alongside a task and can be ignored. Both can disrupt working memory (WM). However, little is known about the effects of emotive interruptions and distractions which is surprising given that they occur in many every-day and workplace settings. Take the example of a nurse suspending the programming of a drug-infusion pump for one patient (primary task) to tend to a distressing emergency involving another patient (emotive interruption). Post-interruption errors such as forgetting the suspended task step and/or entering incorrect information could have catastrophic consequences. In the current laboratory experiments, participants performed word recall primary tasks. In one experiment, to-be-remembered words were non-emotive, and trials were interrupted by emotive images varying in valence (positive versus negative scenes) and valence strength (low to high). In another experiment, to-be-remembered words were valent (positive or negative) and participants were distracted instead of interrupted by emotive images. Negative valent interruptions impaired memory recall; markedly when high in valance and positioned at task points with a high WM load. Positive valent interrupting images were also disruptive, but the degree of disruption did not depend upon WM load when interrupted. Negative valent distractions disrupted the ability to maintain WM representations of neutral, positive, and negative valent words whereas positive valent distractions were not disruptive when paired with positive valent words. Findings are discussed in relation to theories of WM, attentional capture, and attentional inhibition. Future work will employ EEG to measure differences in ERPs when interrupted and distracted by emotive stimuli.


In this work, we reanalyzed 11 years of spectral data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) of currently observed starburst galaxies (SBGs) and star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We used a one-zone model provided by NAIMA and the hadronic origin to explain the GeV observation data of the SBGs and SFGs. We found that a protonic distribution of a power-law form with an exponential cutoff can explain the spectra of most SBGs and SFGs. However, it cannot explain the spectral hardening components of NGC 1068 and NGC 4945 in the GeV energy band. Therefore, we considered the two-zone model to well explain these phenomena. We summarized the features of two model parameters, including the spectral index, cutoff energy, and proton energy budget. Similar to the evolution of supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Milky Way, we estimated the protonic acceleration limitation inside the SBGs to be the order of 102 TeV using the one-zone model; this is close to those of SNRs in the Milky Way.


This paper investigates whether, and how, the devolution of revenue raising responsibilities to municipalities enhances access to public services and contributes to reducing poverty in Cote d'Ivoire. The analysis uses a local government' revenue and expenditure dataset from 2001 to 2011 for 115 municipalities in 35 departments. An adjusted multidimensional poverty index and a headcount poverty index are calculated at the local level using the Household Living Standard Survey. The empirical analysis uses a grouped fixed effect approach, combined with a two-stage least squares methodology with panel corrected standard errors clustered by department, to address both time-varying heterogeneity and local revenue endogeneity.
The results suggest that increased local revenue positively affects access to public services and reduces poverty. However, there is evidence that fiscal decentralization has a more robust effect on access to public service, than on poverty. This effect seems to work mainly through enhancing access to education more than access to health, water, and sanitation services. Contrary to existing literature, our results indicate that municipalities are more likely to improve access to public services in less ethnically diverse localities and in rural zones. The study provides evidence that the effect of the conflict experienced by the country has been limited statistically.


The present study aims at investigating the profile of nursing professionals assisted by the multidisciplinary mental health team. This is a quantitative study with 385 records of workers who were attended the university medical service by a team of mental health from July 2009 to December 2010, the averages were calculated using the chi-square test and with level of significance of 5% (p<0.05). It was observed that nursing professionals had, in the average, lower age (47.5±9.7), more absences (5.15±3.29) and were more days away from work (191.8±168.5) compared to other categories, respectively (53.7±12.7), (2.18±2.8) and (138±163). The majority was diagnosed with affective and mood disorders (65%) and they were prescribed controlled medicine (96.8%), the differences were statistically significant in relation to other professionals. Although younger, the nursing staff stayed away longer, more frequently and had more mental health problems


The present study examined the home range and microhabitat selection by Tiliqua rugosa and Egernia napoleonis in the jarrah forest of southwest Western Australia. The aim of the study was to compare the microhabitats used by T. rugosa with the microhabitats used by E. napoleonis and discuss why T. rugosa was located in rehabilitated bauxite mined areas, whereas E. napoleonis was not. The overall objective of the present study was to identify methods which may be incorporated into the management of rehabilitated bauxite mined areas operated by Alcoa World Alumina Australia, to accelerate the return of T. rugosa and E. napoleonis.

A total of five Tiliqua rugosa and eight Egernia napoleonis were radio tracked from October 2005 until January 2006. The 100% home range average of T. rugosa was significantly larger than that of E. napoleonis. There was no significant difference in 50% Core home range average between the two species. The home range of T. rugosa was made up of native jarrah forest and rehabilitated mined areas. E. napoleonis were only found in native jarrah forest.

The microhabitats significantly selected by Tiliqua rugosa in the native jarrah forest and rehabilitated mined areas were shrubs and leaf litter. In the native jarrah forest spikey and dome-shaped shrubs were significantly selected, but when in the rehabilitated mined areas spikey shrubs were significantly selected, which was probably due to the scarcity of dome-shaped shrubs in the rehabilitated areas. The selected microhabitats of Egernia napoleonis were logs and trees.

The Eucalyptus marginata logs selected by Egernia napoleonis had a mean diameter of 42 ± 2lcm, whilst the Corymbia calophylla logs had a mean diameter of 48 ± 6cm. E. napoleonis did not differentiate between tree species of log. Common characteristics of logs selected by E. napoleonis were the presence of cracks, hollows, and some degree of fire damage. In the present study no logs were located in rehabilitated mined areas.

The trees selected by Egernia napoleonis were significantly larger than a random selection of those found in native jarrah forest or those found in rehabilitated mined areas. Eucalyptus marginata selected by E. napoleonis had an average diameter at breast height of 73 ± 16cm whilst Corymbia calophylla had an average diameter at breast height of 58± 15cm. Species of tree were not differentiated by E. napoleonis.

Both microhabitat structures (logs and large trees) selected by Egernia napoleonis were unable to be located in rehabilitated mined areas. The spikey shrubs and leaf litter microhabitats selected by Tiliqua rugosa were present in native jarrah forest and rehabilitated mined areas. The present study has shown that a lack of suitable microhabitats was reducing the occurrence of E. napoleonis in rehabilitated mined areas. Methods to help rectify this problem are discussed.


The controversy concerning the limit of residents' work time to 80 hours a week has generated unprecedented dismay for many involved in graduate medical education, particularly surgeons. The author maintains that 80 hours a week is too short a time for surgery residents to provide excellent care and that this new rule undercuts the importance of continuity of care, a principle highly valued by surgeons. General surgeons and those specialty surgeons most closely associated with them think of themselves as the last "compleat physicians," who should and can take care of the entire patient, and that when difficulties arise, they should not transfer the patient to another physician but instead ask someone else to help them continue to care for the patient. The author traces the arbitrary choice of an 80-hour work week (instead of a 92-hour one) to several sources, including the leadership of internal medicine, which he feels has largely de-emphasized patient contact for many years and has become focused on research and/or administration. He also maintains that the issue of moonlighting has also driven the push for an 80-hour work week, and that the view of moonlighting by surgical residencies (i.e., that it is almost always counterproductive) is different from that of other residencies. He concludes by acknowledging that the 80-hour work week and the abandonment of the principle of continuity of care are societal decisions, and have occurred because surgeons and other physicians did not make their case strongly enough or in time.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Following the 2009 pandemic, reports of an association between an AS03 adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine and narcolepsy were published. Besides determining background incidence rates for narcolepsy in Germany this study aimed at investigating whether there was a change in incidence rates of narcolepsy between the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and the post-pandemic period on the population level.

DESIGN
Retrospective epidemiological study on the incidence of narcolepsy with additional capture-recapture analysis.

SETTING
German sleep centers.

PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS
Eligible were patients with an initial diagnosis of narcolepsy (ICD10 Code G47.4) within the period from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011.

INTERVENTIONS
None; observational study.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
A total of 342 sleep centers were invited to participate in the study. Adequate and suitable data were provided by 233 sleep centers (68.1%). A total of 1,198 patients with an initial diagnosis of narcolepsy within the observed period were included, of whom 106 (8.8%) were children and adolescents under the age of 18 years and 1,092 (91.2%) were adults. In children and adolescents, the age-standardized adjusted incidence rate significantly increased from 0.14/100,000 person-years in the pre-pandemic period to 0.50/100,000 person-years in the post-pandemic period (incidence density ratio, IDR 3.57; 95% CI 1.94-7.00). In adults, no significant change was detectable. This increase started in spring 2009.

CONCLUSIONS
For the years 2007-2011, valid estimates for the incidence of narcolepsy in Germany were provided. In individuals under 18, the incidence rates continuously increased from spring 2009.


The technology of three-dimensional (3-D) scene reconstruction is expected as applications of simulation, navigation, walk-through and so on. Besides, Segway®, a two-wheeled self-balancing electric vehicle, is being used in public facilities (e.g. airports, shopping centers, event sites). Therefore, it is beneficial to study applications using Segway. In this paper, we propose a method of 3-D scene reconstruction using Segway equipped with a stereo camera and a laser range finder (LRF). Our method estimates the location of Segway by a LRF and reconstruct 3-D environments by integrating 3-D shape information calculated by stereo vision. As the results of the experiments, the rough 3-D scene reconstruction results were obtained.


The objectives of this study are: (1) to explore the personal value systems of Jordanian managers; (2) to examine the relationship between the personal values of Jordanian managers and their behavior (i.e., decision making); and (3) to compare the personal value systems of Jordanian and American managers. To achieve the first and the second objectives, England's (1967) Personal Value Questionnaire (PVQ) and the Behavioral Measurement Questionnaire have been respectively utilized. To achieve the final objective, the behavioral relevance scores derived from this study are compared with those in England's (1975) study. Finally, demographic and organizational data are used to describe the characteristics of Jordanian managers and serve as covariates in the statistical analysis. In reference to the statistical techniques, England's scoring methodology, factor analysis and multiple regression, are used to determine the relationship between the personal value systems of Jordanian managers and their behavior (i.e., decisionmaking). England's (1975) "rule of thumb" (adjusted to 15 percent difference) and the Chisguare test are used to test the significant differences between the personal value systems of the Jordanian and American respondents. The findings of this study are as follows: 1. The primary value orientation of Jordanian managers responding to this study is moralistic in nature, while their secondary value orientation is pragmatic. Concerning the value profile, Jordanian managers have 34, 3, 8, and 21 concepts of the PVQ as operative, intended, adopted, and weak values respectively. Behavior relevance analysis indicates that Jordanian managers have emphasized certain value concepts which reflect their perception of economic need and their social value structure. 2. According to England's procedure, there is a qualified relationship between the personal values of Jordanian managers and their reported behavior, while there is a partial relationship according to factor analysis and multiple regression. 3. There are similarities and/or differences between the personal value systems of the two managerial groups linally, a summary of the findings, along with conclusions, implications, and suggestions are offered for individuals and organizations doing business in Jordan.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: A major target of aldosterone is the distal tubule of the kidney, acting through mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) on the epithelial cells of the renal tubules. MRs have recently been reported to exist in vascular endothelium and cardiac muscle, meaning that aldosterone would also act directly on those organs and potentially provoke cardiovascular pathologies. This study therefore evaluated the incidence of cardiac hypofunction and low ejection fraction (EF) among patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), and the influence of laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LADX) on improvement of EF in patients with PA. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated patients who underwent LADX for unilateral PA in our hospital between August 2008 and July 2017. Background characteristics, perioperative blood biochemical data and echocardiographic data were evaluated to elucidate incidence of low EF (< 60%) and factors contributing to low EF among PA patients. EF was determined by echocardiogram as: EF = stroke volume (left ventricular end-diastolic dimension - left ventricular end-systolic dimension) à· left ventricular end-diastolic dimension. RESULTS: Among the 241 patients who underwent LADX for unilateral PA during the study period, we identified 24 (10%) with low EF. Median age was 53 years, and 19 were male (79%). Median EF improved significantly from 54% (range, 20.8-59%) to 67% (range, 50-71%) after LADX (P<0.0012). As a reason for this improvement, increased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension was demonstrated on echocardiography in all of 24 patients after LADX (Table). Univariate analysis indicated that male sex and excessive serum aldosterone were important factors contributing to preoperative low EF in PA patients. Normalization of serum aldosterone appeared to improve cardiac function in PA patients, because all patients with low EF had been taking anti-MR agents such as spironolactone and/or eplerenone preoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that excessive serum aldosterone could contribute to low EF, especially among male patients with PA. However, we found that the improvement of cardiac function in those patients is achieved by LADX to normalize serum aldosterone. Source of Funding: none


Background: The prevalence of vertebral fractures (VF) and their association with clinical risk factors and outcomes are poorly documented in chronic kidney disease (CKD) cohorts. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of VF in patients with non-dialysis dependent CKD (NDD-CKD), their value in predicting mortality and its correlation with parameters of bone mineral metabolism and vascular calcification. Materials and Methods: 612 NDD 3‒5 stage CKD patients participating in the OSERCE-2 study, a prospective, multicenter, cohort study, were prospectively evaluated and categorized into two groups according to presence or absence of VF at enrollment. VF were assessed with lateral radiographs and Genant semi-quantitative method was applied. Three radiologists specialized in musculoskeletal radiology performed consensual reading of individual images obtained using a Raim DICOM Viewer and a Canon EOS 350 camera to measure with Java Image software in those who had traditional acetate X-ray. Factors related to VF were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Association between VF and death over a 3-year follow-up was assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox-proportional hazard models. Results: VF were detected in 110 patients (18%). Serum phosphate levels (OR 0.719, 95% CI 0.532 to 0.972, p = 0.032), ankle-brachial index < 0.9 (OR 1.694, 95% CI 1.056‒2.717, p = 0.029) and treatment with bisphosphonates (OR 5.636, 95% CI 1.876‒16.930, p = 0.002) were independently related to the presence of VF. After a median follow-up of 35 months (IQR: 17‒37 months), 62 patients (10%) died. The causes of death were cardiovascular (n = 21, 34%) and infectious (n = 11, 18%). In the crude analysis, fractured patients group had poorer survival (log-rank test, p = 0.02). After multivariate adjustment for age, MDRD, albumin, diabetes mellitus, comorbidity, Adragao Score > 3 and serum phosphate, the presence of VF (HR 1.983, 95% CI 1.009‒3.898, p = 0.047) were an independent predictor of all-cause mortality. Conclusions: In our study 18% of patients with NDD-CKD have VF. Factors associated with VF were age, low serum phosphate levels and peripheral vascular disease. The presence of VF was an independent risk factor for mortality in stages 3‒5 NDD-CKD patients. Clinical trials are needed to confirm whether this relationship is causal and reversible with treatment for osteoporosis.


Diabetes in whites of European descent with hemochromatosis was first attributed to pancreatic siderosis. Later observations revealed that the pathogenesis of diabetes in HFE hemochromatosis is multifactorial and its clinical manifestations are heterogeneous. Increased type 2 diabetes risk in HFE hemochromatosis is associated with one or more factors, including abnormal iron homeostasis and iron overload, decreased insulin secretion, cirrhosis, diabetes in first-degree relatives, increased body mass index, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. In p.C282Y homozygotes, serum ferritin, usually elevated at hemochromatosis diagnosis, largely reflects body iron stores but not diabetes risk. In persons with diabetes type 2 without hemochromatosis diagnoses, serum ferritin levels are higher than those of persons without diabetes, but most values are within the reference range. Phlebotomy therapy to achieve iron depletion does not improve diabetes control in all persons with HFE hemochromatosis. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes diagnosed today in whites of European descent with and without HFE hemochromatosis is similar. Routine iron phenotyping or HFE genotyping of patients with type 2 diabetes is not recommended. Herein, we review diabetes in HFE hemochromatosis and the role of iron in diabetes pathogenesis in whites of European descent with and without HFE hemochromatosis.


Background: The purpose of this study was to identify the reasons why metformin prescribing is suboptimal. Methods: Two semi-structured focus groups with attitudinal questionnaires and a brief educational presentation were held in two US cities. Participants included providers (physicians, pharmacists, midlevel practitioners) caring for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in an ambulatory setting. Outcome measures included provider attitudes, behaviors and opinions regarding the use of metformin. Results: Participants identified three main themes influencing the use of metformin, including the appropriate timing of metformin initiation, known risks associated with metformin, and procedures to manage safety concerns and mitigate adverse effects associated with metformin. Participant prescribing behaviors of metformin were not consistent with the best available evidence in the settings of renal insufficiency, heart failure, hepatic dysfunction, alcohol use, and lactic acidosis. With minimal education, provider prescribing behaviors appeared to change by the end of the focus group to align more closely with the best available evidence. Conclusions: Provider attitudes, behaviors and opinions regarding the use of metformin for T2DM reveals the need for further education to improve appropriate use of metformin. Educational interventions should target prescribing behaviors and opinions identified to be inconsistent with the evidence.


ISO 26262 - "Road vehicles-Functional Safety" is a standard for the automotive industry, administered in an attempt to prevent potential accidents due to systematic and random failures in the Electrical/Electronic-system. In general, requirements in industry is often of poor quality and considering the strong emphasis on requirements management in ISO 26262, we believe that there is a strong need for guidance and experience-sharing on the speci cation of requirements in practice. We therefore present a reference example on the application of ISO 26262 in practice, where we perform a breakdown of a Safety Goal of an industrial system down to Software Safety Requirements on the C-code implementation. As a basis for structuring and formulating the requirements, we use the concepts of contracts and port variables.


As wireless networks evolve to deal with increasing traffic demand and an increasing number of users, energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important. Area power consumption, defined as the ratio of total radio access network power consumption to the area covered, is a key metric for comparing the energy efficiency of different network designs. This paper examines the optimization of an LTE type cell for energy efficiency by minimizing the area power consumption (APC) subject to user coverage and capacity constraints. First we show that operating the base station at the maximum transmit power (and cell size) which services all users optimizes APC. Next we show that APC is optimum when the base station operates with the minimum bandwidth necessary to service all users. Finally we show that a modified admission scheme (which increases the minimum SINR at which a user will be serviced) improves APC by increasing the maximum capacity and size of cells that can be supported. In addition to improving energy efficiency, the modified scheme requires fewer cells in new or overlay deployments and may potentially permit removal of cells from an existing network.


This book is a practical resource for language teachers of any level or skill. Wright begins this text with a rationale for using pictures for language learning. In this foundational discussion, he suggests criteria for assessing the value of any classroom activity, whether or not it includes the use of pictures. Wright then devotes the majority of his volume to providing innovative examples of the use of pictures for both productive and receptive language skills. These examples focus on the communication challenges and opportunities that can be facilitated through the use of pictures. Through such examples, Wright convincingly demonstrates that pictures can effectively stimulate meaningful interaction in the classroom. Wright concludes his volume with practical suggestions for finding, selecting, storing, and filing pictures.


Abstract Recent referendums show that autocratic regimes consult voters even if the outcome is a foregone conclusion. They have been doing so with increasing frequency since Napoleon consulted French citizens in 1800. Why and when do dictatorial regimes hold referendums they are certain they will win? Analysing the 162 referendums held in autocratic and non-free states in the period 1800–2012, the article shows that referendums with a 99% yes-vote tend to occur in autocracies with high ethnic fractionalization and, in part, in sultanistic (tinpot or tyrannical) regimes, but generally not in communist (totalitarian) states. An explanation is proposed for this variation.


In this paper, models for the transient simulation of a 2 stream plate fin heat exchanger (PFHE) with offset strip fins (OSF) have been formulated based on unsteady mass and energy conservation equations. The behaviour of a PFHE during start up, cool down and during a ramp change in the inlet temperature of one of the fluids have been studied with the help of these models. Initially, a simplified model considering constant helium properties is developed. This model is further evolved to take into account the temperature dependence of helium properties in the cryogenic temperature domain, along with axial heat conduction (AHC) and thermal capacity of the metal separating plate. Computer codes based on the models have been developed to simulate PFHE behaviour. Experiments at room temperature have been carried out for code validation. It has been found that the model based on constant helium properties is sufficient to predict behaviour of the heat exchanger under room temperature conditions.


We analyzed the effect of glucocorticoid on bone regeneration after bone marrow ablation in tibiae of 8‐week‐old rats. Methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) was injected intramuscularly at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 3 days. Tibiae on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, and 14 after ablation were subjected to tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase staining, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and measurement of the volume of newly‐formed bone and the osteoclast number. MPSS significantly decreased the newly‐formed bone volume on day 7, and immature bone still remained on day 10 in the MPSS‐treated group. The volume of this bone was significantly higher than that in the control group. However, there were no differences between the groups in the osteoclast number, the expression of mRNAs for osteoblast differentiation markers, and alkaline phosphatase and cathepsin K judged by immunohistochemistry. TEM findings showed no difference in the form of osteoblasts, whereas osteoclasts in the MPSS‐treated group had less developed ruffled borders, compared to those in the control group. These results suggest that MPSS treatment affects neither the differentiation nor the shape of osteoblasts, and does not change the osteoclast number or the cathepsin K level. However, high dose MPSS inhibits both bone formation and resorption during bone regeneration after rat tibial bone marrow ablation, and inhibits ruffled border formation in osteoclasts. These data will be useful to develop bone regenerative therapies for bone diseases due to high dose steroid administration. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Novel Telemedicine Device for Diagnosis of Corneal Abrasions and Ulcers in Resource-Poor Settings Corneal ulcers are a significant cause of corneal blindness worldwide.1 Normally, traumatic corneal damage and secondary infections are diagnosed by an ophthalmologist via slitlamp examination. However, limited health care resources in developing regions may delay diagnosis and treatment, increasing the risk of vision loss.2 Mobile phones are widely available even in resource-limited settings and therefore could potentially be used to aid in diagnosis of corneal pathology.3 Herein, we describe and test a custom-made smartphone attachment that allows diagnosis of corneal epithelial defects with a smartphone.


Analogue materials and collage are fundamental to my research and practice. They assist in examining and peeling off layers embedded within the printed image. The human body represents power, and an image featuring a privileged male body is a representation of that power (Brauer and Callen, 2008). Photographs and visual presentations of these bodies are bound by codes set by a culture in a certain space and time. These codes have limitations, and at the same time possibilities, manufactured by media and technology within which they function and refer. New presentations are effectually re-presentations, partially echoing previous utterances of power (Barthes, 1977). As a result, the image of a body becomes an archive, a discursive document covered in layers, and the analysis of that image lays bare its textuality, and collage helps investigate this multi-layered corporeal object— a palimpsestuous weaving of ocular representation through discourse, culture, and technology, to reveal its meanings and semiotic signs. This way, collage becomes an appropriate practice method to disentangle and highlight, and at the same time to manipulate and disrupt— an effective methodology to peel and strip the embedded meanings and significations within an image.


The infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is one of the most important Coronaviridae viruses, infecting the upper
respiratory tract of chickens and leading to considerable losses in the poultry industry across the globe. Many
outbreaks have recently occurred among IBV-vaccinated chicken farms in the Diyala Governorate of Iraq
resulting in significant economic losses. As a result, the purpose of the present study was to investigate
whether IBV can be a source of infection spread in IBV-vaccinated commercial broiler flock farms in Diyala
Governorate. In this regard, ELISA was used as a serological test and RT-PCR as a molecular detection
technique. Serum samples were collected from chickens suspected of IBV at 16 and 23 days of age. The
results showed a significant increase of IgG antibodies in such serum samples at days 16 and 23 of age
indicating the infections of the broilers with IBV. However, at the age of 2-3 weeks, the samples of kidney,
liver, trachea, and lungs were collected from clinically and sub-clinically infected flocks, and also postmortem
samples were sampled from all farms. Two sets of previously reported primers were created for this purpose in
the S1-protein gene region. According to the findings of the present investigation, IBV was found in 83% of
samples. Finally, despite immunization with IB4/91, IBV was prevalent in broiler chicken farms in the study
area confirmed by serology and molecular biology tests. This finding indicates the possibility of genetic
difference between the locally discovered IBV and the administered IBV vaccine. A study on the production
of local vaccines can be useful in controlling IBV infection


There is perhaps no political topic that has been given such relentlessly comparative treatment as the American labor movement. It is rare to read any comprehensive political or historical study of organized labor that is not cast, implicitly or explicitly, against the greater class consciousness of European counterparts. The explanations advanced for the uniqueness or the lack of vigor in the American strain—abundance of land, immigration, early suffrage, a revolutionary heritage of "republicanism"—constitute most of what exists in the way of theories about American labor politics.


I analysed geographic variation in advertisement call of tetraploid forms of Neobatrachus. Comparing five regional samples spanning the range of N. kunapalari, there was significant geographic variation in pulses per call but not in dominant frequency, pulse rate, pulse duration or percentage rise time. The call of N. kunapalari was significantly different from four other samples covering the geographic range of tetraploid forms across Australia in all but percentage rise time. Calls of frogs from Mt Magnet in Western Australia (WA) differed from calls from Port Hedland (WA) in pulse duration and in multivariate descriptions but were similar in pulse rate. Pulse rates of calls from N. centralis on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia (SA) were distinct from all other populations sampled but in multivariate space these calls were similar to calls of N. sudellifrom eastern Australia. There may be an eastwest cline in call from N. sudelli to calls of N. aquilonius and N. centralis in WA. Call data support the recognition of two tetraploid species: N. kunapalari and N. sudelli. N. sudelli exhibits geographic variation in call, but the status of N. aquilonius and N. centralis as possible synonyms of N. sudelli was not resolved.