We present a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), namely an Echo State Network (ESN), that performs sentence comprehension and can be used for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The RNN is trained to map sentence structures to meanings (i.e. predicates). We have previously shown that this ESN is able to generalize to unknown sentence structures in English and French. The flexibility of the predicates it can learn to produce enables one to use the model to explore language acquisition in a developmental approach. This RNN has been encapsulated in a ROS module which enables one to use it in a cognitive robotic architecture. Here, for the first time, we show that it can be trained to learn to parse sentences related to home scenarios with higly flexible predicate representations and variable sentence structures. Moreover we apply it to various languages, including some languages that were never tried with the architecture before, namely German and Spanish. We conclude that the representations are not limited to predicates, other type of representations can be used.


In this study, the effect of melt quality and quenching temperature on the mechanical properties of 2024, 6063 and 7075 was investigated. The alloys were produced by Strain Induced Melt Activated (SIMA) method. T6 heat treatment was carried out by quenching in two different temperatures: 20 °C and 80 °C. Scanning electron microscope analyses were carried out on the fracture surfaces. In addition, reduced pressure tests were carried out to correlate the mechanical test results with metal quality. The results were analysed by Weibull statistics. It was found that samples quenched at 80 °C showed better mechanical properties and there was a good correlation between bifilm index and Weibull distributions.


The study's objective was to assess the effect of a cognitive behavioral group intervention on the pregnancy rates of patients submitted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques or to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The study was conducted on 188 patients, 93 who participated in a group of psychological intervention before the IVF and ICSI procedures and 95 patients submitted to IVF and ICSI during the same period of time, who did not participate in the intervention (control group). Clinical pregnancy was the outcome measure. Demographic and clinical variables were compared between groups in order to assess the group's homogeneity. Participants in the psychological intervention obtained a pregnancy rate of 39.8%, significantly higher than the 23.2% rate of nonparticipants (χ2 = 6.03, p = .01, odds ratio of 22 (CI: 1.16–4.13). The data suggest that group psychological intervention before IVF and ICSI in order to control stress seems to increase the rate of success of these procedures.


Abstract Background: Admittance to specialized palliative care (SPC) has been discussed in the literature, but previous studies examined exclusively those admitted, not those with an assessed need for SPC but not admitted. The aim was to investigate whether admittance to SPC for referred adult patients with cancer was related to sex, age, diagnosis, geographic region or referral unit. Material and methods: A register-based study with data from the Danish Palliative Care Database (DPD). From DPD we identified all adult patients with cancer, who died in 2010–2012 and who were referred to and assessed to have a need for SPC (N = 21,597).The associations were investigated using logistic regression models, which also evaluated whether time from referral to death influenced the associations. Results: In the adjusted analysis, we found that admittance was higher for younger patients [e.g., 50–59 versus 80 + years: odds ratio (OR) = 2.03; 1.78–2.33]. There was lower odds of admittance for patients with hematological malignancies and patients from two regions: Capital Region of Denmark and Region of Southern Denmark. Lower admittance among men and patients referred from hospital departments was explained by later referral. Conclusions: In this first nationwide study of admittance to SPC among patients with a SPC need, we found difference in admittance according to age, diagnosis and region. This indicates that prioritization of the limited resources means that certain subgroups with a documented need have reduced likelihood of admission to SPC.


Yield of the soybean (Glycine max) cultivar Hartwig with resistance to all races of Heterodera glycines was compared to that of the susceptible cultivar, Deltapine 105, in a field infested with race 2 of this pathogen. The field had previously been in a cropping sequence experiment that provided a range of H. glycines population densities affording the opportunity to evaluate yield potential of resistant and susceptible cultivars in the presence of different levels of soybean cyst nematode in 1992. Plots were planted again in 1993 with the two cultivars in sequences that included Hartwig following Hartwig or Deltapine 105, and Deltapine 105 following Hartwig or Deltapine 105. The yield of Hartwig was inferior to Deltapine 105 at low population densities of H. glycines, but Hartwig yielded more than Deltapine 105 at high population densities. Hartwig was effective in suppressing H. glycines population density compared to susceptible Deltapine 105. The seed yield of Hartwig following Deltapine 105 or Hartwig, and Deltapine 105 following Hartwig yielded more than Deltapine 105 grown for 2 years.


The Ivrea zone consists of continental crust made up of amphibolitic to granulitic metasediments and metavolcanics intruded by a mafic-ultramafic complex which is divided into five parts: the peridotite massifs of Balmuccia, Baldissero, and Finero that are interpreted as fragments of upper mantle, the cyclic units consisting of a layered series of peridotites, pyroxenites, and gabbros, the main gabbro, the ultramafic sill of La Balma-Monte Capio, and a series of ultramafic pipes.Small-sized deposits of Ni-Cu sulfides with associated platinum-group minerals are found in all units of the mafic-ultramafic complex of the Ivrea zone except the mantle fragments. Distinct types of ores are associated with different units of the complex. In the cyclic units the sulfide concentrations mostly occur in pyroxenite layers close to, or in contact with metasediments. In the main gabbro, the sulfides are associated with pyroxenite layers close to the base. In the La Balma-Monte Capio sill, sulfides occur close to the base of the intrusion in contact with metasediments and also well inside the ultramafic sequence. In the ultramafic pipes, nodular aggregates of sulfide typically associated with hydrous silicate minerals are the most common type of mineralization.Deposits in the cyclic units have low overall concentrations of platinum-group elements (Pt CN 0.05; Ir CN 0.005), low Ni and Cu (1-2 and 0.1-0.5 wt %, respectively, in massive sulfides), and low Ni/Co ratios close to or below 10. The average is (Rh/Ir) CN = 6.5 and (Os/ Ir) CN = 2.2. The platinum-group element concentrations in the Sella Bassa deposit, located in the main gabbro, are approximately an order of magnitude higher than those in the cyclic units, and (Os/Ir) CN ratios range from 0.48 to 0.65 in contrast to ratios of close to or greater than 2 found elsewhere. In addition, the Pd/Pt ratio and Ni content of sulfides (3.5-4.5 wt%) is much higher. Platinum-group element profiles of deposits within the La Balma-Monte Capio intrusion resemble those of the cyclic units, although levels of both Ir and Os are distinctly higher, resulting in an average (Rh/Ir) CN ratio of about 2.9 instead of 6.5, and levels of Ni and Cu are also distinctly higher. Deposits at the base of the intrusion have generally very low concentrations of Ni, Cu, and Co in addition to low levels of platinum-group elements. The richer pipes have considerably higher concentrations of Os, Ir, and Ru (0.15 X chondritic abundance) than all other deposits from the Ivrea zone and have Pt and Pd concentrations on the order of those at Sella Bassa.The low platinum-group element values of the deposits of the cyclic units are attributed to these having experienced a low R value (magma/sulfide ratio) during their segregation. Contrasts between the La Balma-Monte Capio deposit and those of the cyclic units are attributed to variable fractionation of a similar magma. The main gabbro hosting the Sella Bassa deposit appears to have been deficient in platinum-group elements and to represent a different magma.


This paper presents zero crossing point(ZCP) estimation methods considering discretization error for a high speed brushless DC(BLDC) motor drive. The ZCP is estimated by detecting the change of back-EMF polarity for the BLDC sensorless drive, and the discretization error exist on the estimated ZCP. The discretization error of the ZCP is a cause of the delay of a commutation timing of current and increment of a current ripple factor. Besides a delay of a ZCP estimation brings on the limitation of a speed range for the BLDC sensorless drive. The compensation method based on the error analysis with probability theory for reducing the effects of the discretization error of the ZCP is proposed. Also a ZCP estimation method according to the Back-EMF patterns is proposed to widen the speed range for the BLDC sensorless drive. The proposed methods are verified by the experiment.


The Northeast United States spring is indicative of major meteorological and biological change though the seasonal boundaries are difficult to define and may even be changing with global climate warming. This research aims to obtain a synoptic meteorological definition of the spring season through an assessment of air mass frequency over the past 60 years. The validity of recent speculations that the onset and termination of spring have changed in recent decades with global change is also examined. The Spatial Synoptic Classification is utilized to define daily air masses over the region. Annual and seasonal baseline frequencies are identified and their differences are acquired to characterize the season. Seasonal frequency departures of the early and late segments of the period of record are calculated and examined for practical and statistical significance. The daily boundaries of early and late spring are also isolated and assessed across the period of record to identify important changes in the season's initiation and termination through time. Results indicate that the Northeast spring season is dominated by dry air masses, mainly the Dry Moderate and Dry Polar types. Prior to 1975, more polar air masses are detected while after 1975 more moderate and tropical types are identified. Late spring is characterized by increased variability in all moist air mass frequencies. These findings indicate that, from a synoptic perspective, the season is dry through time but modern springs are also warmer than those of past decades and the initiation of the season is likely arriving earlier. The end of the season represents more variable day-to-day air mass conditions in modern times than detected in past decades.


As the requirement that students pass three Keystone Exams to graduate from high school was set to take effect, a new round of criticisms arose over the adoption of this assessment system. While the Keystone Exams better align with the new Pennsylvania Core Standards as compared to their predecessor, the Pennsylvania System of Student Achievement, low passage rates especially among low-income and minority students have been cited as a reason to delay implementation of the graduation requirement. This work uses OLS regression analysis to explain which factors are most predictive of school-level performance on the Algebra I, Biology, and Literature Keystone Exams. It finds that race, socioeconomic status, and a school's English Language Learner and special education populations drive performance on the exams. The work concludes by discussing possible policy interventions for the Keystone Exam program going forward.


2041 Vincristine sulfate is a cell-cycle specific anti-mitotic agent used in the treatment of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Its encapsulation into liposomes extends the systemic circulation of the drug and mediates prolonged exposure of the drug to tumour sites. Prolonged exposure of cell-cycle specific anti-mitotic drugs such as vincristine would benefit from liposomal drug delivery. Vincristine Sulfate Liposomes Injection (VSLI) is vincristine encapsulated in sphingomyelin/ cholesterol liposomes. In these studies, a single iv bolus dose of VSLI or VCR was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats at 2.0 mg/m2. Blood, tissues, urine and bile/feces samples were collected at specific time points and analyzed by LSC. Following VSLI administration, total vincristine concentrations in plasma exhibits mono-exponential decline whereas the corresponding profile in VCR-treated rats exhibit bi-exponential decline with a rapid initial phase followed by a slower elimination phase. The volume of distribution and clearance of total vincristine in VSLI-treated rats was significantly less than that of the free drug resulting in radically greater AUC. Tissue distribution data show that liposomal vincristine accumulated preferentially in tissues of the RES (e.g., liver, spleen) as demonstrated by higher tissue AUC in VSLI-treated rats. Despite the differences in plasma PK and tissue distribution in VSLI- vs VCR-treated rats, the major route of vincristine elimination is the same (i.e. biliary excretion); however vincristine excretion was delayed in VSLI-treated rats. In conclusion, VSLI increases circulation longevity of vincristine and causes preferential accumulation of liposomal drug in tissues with permeable vasculature including tumour.


Background: To ascertain the current trends of breast reconstruction (BR) for breast cancer patients in China, we conducted a retrospective study in Committee of Breast Cancer Society, Chinese Anti-Cancer Association. Methods: We designed a questionnaire for this study, and it included questions on surgeon demographics, number of mastectomy and BR, type and timing of BR, reconstructive choices in the setting of preoperative or postoperative radiotherapy (RT) or chemotherapy, complication, oncoplastic surgery, fat grafting, physician and patient satisfaction, etc. All data were collected until 2012. Questionnaires were sent to 52 members of Committee of Breast Cancer Society by e-mail. By Jun-2013, 30 questionnaires (response rate 57.7%) had been returned. Among all, 3 were excluded for not performing BR. Finally, 27 respondents were included. Results: All but one of these 27 hospitals were Class Three Grade A hospitals in China. A total of 402 surgeons worked in the general surgery or oncological surgery department, among them, only 84 (20.9%) were able to perform BR. Surgeons from 10 hospitals would also choose to cooperate with the plastic department to finish the complicated reconstructive procedure. In 2012, 21026 mastectomies were performed; among them, 679 (3.2%) received immediate BR, 102 (0.5%) received delayed BR while 192 (0.9%) received delayed-immediate one. At the same time, 414 (2.0%) had their breast reconstructed by implant while 393 (1.9%) chose the autologous ones, the choices of reconstructive type were not recorded for other 166 (0.8%) cases. According to these 27 respondents, 88.9% predominantly performed prosthetic (1265 cases in all) or latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap (LDMF) with or without an implant (1571 cases in all) BR from the time of their first BR operation to the end of 2012. During the same period, 327 pedicled transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) BR were performed in 20 hospitals, while 169 free TRAM BR, which requiring technique of microsurgery, were carried out in 9 hospitals (68.6% were performed by a single surgeon from Nov-2006). The overall complication rate of BR was 12.4%. As RT had low to medium effect on increasing the operational difficulties and influencing the esthetic outcomes of BR, about 75% surgeons would choose delayed autologous BR in patients who had previous RT. Autologous flaps were also recommended for patients who need postoperative RT, but the timing still remained controversial. The overall cosmetic outcomes of the reconstructed breasts satisfied the majority of physicians and patients. Conclusion: With the growing number of breast cancer patients who need to undergo mastectomy, more and more BR are needed to improve the quality of life for them, but the ratio is still low in China, partially because of the lack of qualified plastic surgeons. As free flap BR requiring microsurgical techniques seems still complicated for most surgeons, implant and LDMF BR are the most common choices for patients nowadays in China. In addition, the effect of radiotherapy will be an important consideration when deciding the type and timing of BR. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P2-19-07.


Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is increasingly being recognized as an important infection in critically ill patients who do not have the classic risk factors of immunodeficiency. Background pulmonary disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the administration of corticosteroids, even in the short term, may be the most important risk factors in this population. The diagnosis of IPA is extremely difficult in critically ill patients because standard guidelines for the diagnosis of IPA had been developed for immunocompromised patients and have not been validated in immunocompetent critically ill patients. A new algorithm for the diagnosis of IPA has been validated in critically ill patients, which may be useful, but is not without limitations. A high index of suspicion is therefore required. The detection of IPA on the basis of serum galactomannan antigen and the b-Dglucan assay is of little value in non-neutropenic critically ill patients. However, the lateral-flow device test may be a useful diagnostic test in critically ill patients for the diagnosis of IPA. Voriconazole remains the first-line treatment of suspected IPA and should be administered even without confirmed histologic diagnosis, which is usually not possible in critically ill patients due to the overall status of such patients.


History. —J. McC, a white boy, aged 4 months, whose family history was negative, had had rhinitis two or three times. He was breast fed for three months, then he was fed on whole milk mixtures until his death. He did not have any gastro-intestinal disturbances. He was a first born child. The labor had been normal. His present illness dated from the day after his birth when his mother noticed that his breathing was more noisy than normal. He was not cyanotic and did not seem to be in distress. This noisy breathing became more and more pronounced. He had been cyanotic only once, for about five minutes, when he seemed to strangle. His appetite was good. Breathing was always more difficult after a meal or when crying. Physical Examination. —This showed a malnourished, white, male infant, lying quietly in bed; no distress; sensorium clear; skin rather dry and


traditional cultural connotation of traditional Chinese literary works. At the same time, teachers ' understanding of students ' vocational skills is too narrow, ignoring the cultivation of traditional cultural quality, which will lead to the students ' comprehensive literacy ability cannot be greatly improved in the short term. The teaching of ancient Chinese literature proposed in the study can alleviate the mental health problems of college students, and can improve the teaching contents and teaching methods of Chinese language majors.


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study examined racial/ethnic differences in health and life insurance denial due to cancer among cancer survivors after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

METHODS
A cross sectional study was conducted using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 2012 through 2020. The dependent variable asked: "Were you ever denied health insurance or life insurance coverage because of your cancer?" Cancer survivors were included if they were diagnosed with cancer after the Affordable Care Act (N=14,815). Descriptive statistics using weighted percentages summarized the results. Logistic regressions provided odds of insurance denial due to cancer across racial/ethnic groups: Non-Hispanic White, Black, and Other/mixed race; and Hispanic. Models adjusted for age, sex, income, and employment status. Interaction terms for age, sex, income, and employment were included in regression models to assess for effect modification.

RESULTS
Weighted chi-squares identified statistically significant differences (p<0.05) between those who were denied or not denied insurance across sex, age, race/ethnicity, income, and employment. Adjusted weighted logistic regressions found significantly higher odds of insurance denial for Blacks (OR:3.01, 95%CI:1.78, 5.08), Other/mixed race (OR:2.10, 95%CI: 1.13, 3.90), and Hispanics (OR:2.16, 95%CI:1.05, 4.46) compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. Sex, income, and employment status were significant effect modifiers. Compared to White women, Black women were significantly more likely to be denied health and life insurance. Compared to Whites with incomes >$25K to <$50K and >$50K to <$75K, Blacks were more likely to be denied insurance (OR:3.50, 95%CI:1.42, 8.66 and OR:7.72, 95%CI: 2.40, 24.81).

CONCLUSIONS
Despite health insurance denial for pre-existing conditions being illegal under the ACA, cancer survivors report racial/ethnic disparities in health and life insurance denial due to their cancer diagnosis. This denial may be particularly harmful for people of color who are already financially vulnerable due to their cancer diagnosis and exacerbate racial/ethnic cancer disparities.


Air traffic system generates huge amounts of data, most of them being only partly exploited. One important issue is the functional nature of the samples that consist mainly in curves. Analyzing this kind of highly structured data requires dedicated tools. Most of the time, the functions considered are expanded on a truncated Hilbert basis then usual multivariate statistics tools are applied on them. When additional constraints are put on the curves, like in applications related to air traffic where operational considerations are to be taken into account, this approach is no longer applicable. The present article surveys some recent results obtained by the authors using a new framework where curves are represented as regularized currents. The question of high dimensional data with intrinsic
redundancy is also discussed and a possible extension of the already obtained results is sketched.


The latest and newest discoveries for advanced and metastatic hormone receptor-positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer are the three cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) in association with endocrine therapy (ET). However, even if this treatment revolutionized the world and continued to be the first-line treatment choice for these patients, it also has its limitations, caused by de novo or acquired drug resistance which leads to inevitable progression after some time. Thus, an understanding of the overview of the targeted therapy which represents the gold therapy for this subtype of cancer is essential. The full potential of CDK4/6i is yet to be known, with many trials ongoing to expand their utility to other breast cancer subtypes, such as early breast cancer, and even to other cancers. Our research establishes the important idea that resistance to combined therapy (CDK4/6i + ET) can be due to resistance to endocrine therapy, to treatment with CDK4/6i, or to both. Individuals' responses to treatment are based mostly on genetic features and molecular markers, as well as the tumor's hallmarks; therefore, a future perspective is represented by personalized treatment based on the development of new biomarkers, and strategies to overcome drug resistance to combinations of ET and CDK4/6 inhibitors. The aim of our study was to centralize the mechanisms of resistance, and we believe that our work will have utility for everyone in the medical field who wants to deepen their knowledge about ET + CDK4/6 inhibitors resistance.


Fivefree-livingwomen (ages 28-38 y) and fivewomen (ages 23-44 y) residingin a metabolicunit and eating a constant diet were assessed for variationin indicesrelatedto mineral nutrition. Blood was sampled once a month for five months, once a week for five weeks, and once a day for five days to assessanalyticaland biological vanability.Analyticalvanabil-ity was determined by using concurrently run duplicate controlsamples prepared from plasma or serum pools. Of the measured indices,serum fen'itinvaried most, with intra-individual variance of 4.72% to 18.0%. Much of thisvariance may have been because of changes in iron status or in the analytical technique used. Intra-individual month-to-month variance for other indices ranged from 17% for superoxide dismutase(EC 126.96.36.199) to 1.5% for calcium. Correction for long-term analytical variation indicated that most of the variance was associated with the biological component. The higherbiologicalvariabilitiesof some indices, including fern-tin or superoxide dismutase, need to be considered when nutritionalstatus is being evaluated or when serial observa-tionsare made over a protractedperiod in clinicalstudiesor trials. AddItIonal Keyphrases: transferrin ' ferritin ceruloplasmin superoxide dismutase alkaline phosphatase. biological and analytical variation ' trace elements Evaluation of long-term serial changes in results of laboratory tests requires an appreciation of the biochemical variation in a healthy individual as a result of normal physiological fluctuations and inter-individual variation, and of the analytical variation. Several studies have examined this variation in components more commonly measured in serum (1-6). Only a few limited studies have addressed short-term inter-or intra-individual variability of mineral elements (1). Generally, these studies have described the variability components of a free-living reference population with variable dietary intakes that could affect the component being measured. There have been no long-term studies that compare the inter-and intra-individual variations of nutritional status indices between subjects fed a constant diet and those of general reference population with more variable dietary intakes. Here we describe the daily, weekly, and monthly components of variation of indices of mineral nutrition in young women living in a metabolic unit, and fed a constant diet adequate in all nutrients. These are compared with components of variation of the same indices measured in a reference population of women living in the community and following their usual dietary practices. Subjects: Two groups of women between the ages of 23 and 44 were studied. Five women, termed free-living (FL), lived in the community and followed their usual dietary practices.2 Five women, termed constant diet (CD), were maintained in a metabolic unit for …


The fully loaded factory test of the CW251B12 45 MW class industrial gas turbine is described in this paper. This gas turbine is the latest uprating of the W251 series of engines. The main objectives of the factory test were the verification of the performance and the mechanical integrity of the new engine model. A brief description of the main features of the engine, the application of the first unit, the test facility, and the engine instrumentation used in the test is included. Details of the engine performance test results, telemetry test data results, and the hot end component metal temperature measurements are provided.


Understanding the importance of touristic attribu tes in contributing to attractiveness of a tourism destination is always a search not only by tourism managers and practitioners, but also by research sc holars. Using a structured questionnaire survey with 418 respondents in 3 prov inces of Central region, Vietnam, this study examines the use of the context ual approach for measuring tourism destinaton attractiveness by incorporating three different types of vacation experience in the specific context of immature tour ism destinations. The study found that different attributes of tourism destinat ion can be perceived and evaluated differently depending on the context in which the j udgment is made. The relevant methodological and managerial implications are disc ussed for further research and development in tourism destination management.


The Cruciferae (also known as the Brassicaceae) are the family of plants that include the various familiar members of the species Brassica oleracea (e.g., broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts) as well as many other plants that are widely consumed in various parts of the world. Forage and root brassicas are widely used as winter feeds for cattle and sheep. A striking and characteristic chemical property of cruciferous plants is their high content of glucosinolates (more than 120 types), which often approaches 1% or more of their dry weight. The interest devoted to this group of natural products is caused by the appreciable biological effects of both the intact glucosinolates (GSLs) and especially the complex group of glucosinolate transformation products produced in non-enzymatic and enzymatic reactions. Depending on the concentration and structural types of these compounds, their biological effects can be toxic, anti-nutritional or beneficial to health. Most serious economic problems in livestock seem to result from rapeseed meal; arising from GSLs or their breakdown products. In contrast, GSLs and their isothiocyanate (ITC) hydrolysis products are reportedly well-known protectors against carcinogenesis. GSLs play further protective and evolutionarily important roles in plants. These include allelopathy (suppression of growth of neighboring plants), specific positive and negative feeding cues for some insects and broad antibiotic properties including nematocidal, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiprotozoal and insecticidal activities. The controversy in the referred actions contributed to crucifers' phytochemicals has been exclusively discussed.


Critical metaphor analysis is a new research paradigm in critical discourse analysis.As a corpus-based methodology,CMA probes into metaphor both pragmatically and cognitively so as to reveal beliefs,attitudes and emotions of a discourse community.Based on this framework,the present paper conducts an analysis of typical gender metaphors in advertisement,with an aim to reveal the ideology behind gender metaphors and how the advertisers promote sells by using such metaphors.


Background and objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) stands out among the most important public health problems worldwide since it represents a high burden on health systems and is associated with higher hospitalization rates, and a higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Amputations are among the most common complications, leading to disability and increasing care costs. This research aims to analyze the prevalence of DM-related amputations, comorbidities and associated risk factors in the diabetic population residing in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Materials and Methods: This is a quantitative, exploratory, cross-sectional study with a time series design and the use of secondary data registered and followed by the system of Registration and Monitoring of Hypertension and Diabetes—SisHiperdia. Results: The sample consisted of 64,196 diabetic patients, out of them, 3.9% had type 1 DM, 10.9% with type 2 DM, and 85.2% with DM coexisting with hypertension. Most were female (66.6%), aged 40 to 59 years (45.6%), and 60 years and older (45.2%). The prevalence of DM-related amputations in the analyzed sample was 1.2% in type 1 DM, 1.5% in type 2 DM, and 2.2% in concomitant DM and hypertension. Higher amputation rates were observed in males in the age group above 60 years in type 1 DM and type 2 DM and were slightly higher in the age groups up to 29 years in DM with hypertension. A higher prevalence of amputation was related to smoking, physical inactivity, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and diabetic foot (DF) in all types of DM. Conclusions: The present study showed a significant prevalence of DM-related amputations. An increased prevalence was evidenced when correlated with smoking, physical inactivity, AMI, stroke, CKD, and DF with significant statistical associations, except for a sedentary lifestyle in type 1 DM.


A tuning technique is proposed for the location of hot spots in proteins using a bandpass notch (BPN) digital filter. The technique involves tuning the notch frequency of the filter over a small frequency range. To facilitate tuning, a user-friendly graphical interface has been implemented using MATLAB. Simulations have shown that the use of the tuning technique leads to improved hot-spot predictions compared to results obtained using untuned BPN filters.


Due to the rapid development of precision manufacturing technology, much research has been conducted in the field of multisensor measurement and data fusion technology with a goal of enhancing monitoring capabilities in terms of measurement accuracy and information richness, thereby improving the efficiency and precision of manufacturing. In a multisensor system, each sensor independently measures certain parameters. Then, the system uses a relevant signal-processing algorithm to combine all of the independent measurements into a comprehensive set of measurement results. The purpose of this paper is to describe multisensor measurement and data fusion technology and its applications in precision monitoring systems. The architecture of multisensor measurement systems is reviewed, and some implementations in manufacturing systems are presented. In addition to the multisensor measurement system, related data fusion methods and algorithms are summarized. Further perspectives on multisensor monitoring and data fusion technology are included at the end of this paper.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the value of automatic photography in the observation of results of Schistosoma japonicum miracidium hatching experiments.

METHODS
Some fresh S. japonicum eggs were added into cow feces, and the samples of feces were divided into a low infested experimental group and a high infested group (40 samples each group). In addition, there was a negative control group with 40 samples of cow feces without S. japonicum eggs. The conventional nylon bag S. japonicum miracidium hatching experiments were performed. The process was observed with the method of flashlight and magnifying glass combined with automatic video (automatic photography method), and, at the same time, with the naked eye observation method. The results were compared.

RESULTS
In the low infested group, the miracidium positive detection rates were 57.5% and 85.0% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively (χ2 = 11.723, P < 0.05). In the high infested group, the positive detection rates were 97.5% and 100% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively (χ2 = 1.253, P > 0.05). In the two infested groups, the average positive detection rates were 77.5% and 92.5% by the naked eye observation method and automatic photography method, respectively (χ2 = 6.894, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The automatic photography can effectively improve the positive detection rate in the S. japonicum miracidium hatching experiments.


A 43-year-old man visiting Texas from Hawaii sought care at our dermatology clinic for nonpruritic erythematous plaques on his chest, back, and extremities. The patient reported occasional numbness in his fingers and feet, but denied constitutional symptoms. The patient, who'd had these symptoms for a year, had been previously diagnosed with chronic urticaria and treated with oral antihistamines. He reported that the lesions were never particularly pruritic and he had not responded to previous treatments. An avid outdoorsman, our patient was born and raised in Texas and had been living in Hawaii. His past medical history was significant for severe hand eczema and when asked about medications he was taking, he listed cetirizine, doxepin, and hydroxyzine. On physical examination the patient had multiple pink to red, nonscaly to minimally scaly flat plaques on his forehead, chest, proximal upper extremities, lower back, and distal lower extremities. A 4-mm punch biopsy was taken from a lesion on his lower back and sent for histologic evaluation. The patient's erythrocyte sedimentation rate, rapid plasma reagin, and complete blood count were all within normal limits. What is your diagnosis? How would you treat this patient?


The purpose of this research is understanding how positive emotion on extraordinary teachers. Subjects consist of three Bina Siwi extraordinary school teachers who already taught more than one year.
This research used qualitative methods with phenomenological approach. Data collection in this research used observation and interview. This research used interactive analysis of Miles and Huberman's.
The results of this research show that positive emotions generate motivation to provide services for children with special needs. Factors affecting the positive emotions that become the new findings in this research are patience and spirituality. Positive emotions make people more open to new experiences that expand the personal resources, both cognitive, social, and physical resources.


This paper presents a new generation of compliant piezoelectric microconveyors for microobjects based on the cooperation of arrayed direct-drive standing wave ultrasonic actuators. A method using an equivalent electromechanical circuit is proposed for estimating and analysing the optimum driving force. On the basis of the proposed method, the friction drive optimization of the microrobot is performed through the implementation of an electromagnetic field-based preload controller. Preliminary experiments were also performed in order to demonstrate the proposed control method.


Effects of changrolin (4-{3',5'-bis [N-pyrrolidinyl methyl]-4'-hydroxyanilino} quinazoline) on the normal fast action potential and evoked slow response of ventricular cells in vitro were studied by intracellular capillary glass electrode. The amplitude and maximal depolarization rate of phase O (Vmax) of fast action potential were lowered, the duration of action potential shortened, the effective refractory period prolonged, and the excitability decreased, but the resting potential remained practically unchanged. For slow response, the amplitude, depolarization rate of action potential and particularly the effective refractory period were increased, the duration of action potential was prolonged both for APD50 and APD100 after changrolin 30 min (from 43±15 to 67±17 ms and 69±19 to 96±19 ms, respectively). It is considered that changrolin may be a new type of anti-arrhythmic drug.


We simulate room temperature capacitance-voltage characteristics of silicon (Si) nanowire gate-all-around MOS structures with radius les 10 nm using a self-consistent Schrodinger- Poisson solver in cylindrical coordinates with full treatment of the transverse quantum confinement. In this paper, we compare our simulation results with the latest capacitance measurements on single Si nanowire pMOS and nMOS devices in the subfemtofarad range. We also propose to probe the density-of-states features of the Si channel from the capacitance-voltage characteristics at room temperature measurements using dC/dV dependence and illustrate the idea by employing the latest measurements, our quantum and Medici (Synopsys) simulations, as well as a simplified analytical model.


The ambient conditions surrounding liquid droplets determine their growth or shrinkage. However, the precise fate of a liquid droplet expelled from a respiratory puff as dictated by its surroundings and the puff itself has not yet been fully quantified. From the view of airborne disease transmission, such as SARS-CoV-2, knowledge of such dependencies are critical. Here we employ direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a turbulent respiratory vapour puff and account for the mass and temperature exchange with respiratory droplets and aerosols. In particular, we investigate how droplets respond to different ambient temperatures and relative humidity (RH) by tracking their Lagrangian statistics. We reveal and quantify that in cold and humid environments, as there the respiratory puff is supersaturated, expelled droplets can first experience significant growth, and only later followed by shrinkage, in contrast to the monotonic shrinkage of droplets as expected from the classical view by William F. Wells (1934). Indeed, cold and humid environments diminish the ability of air to hold water vapour, thus causing the respiratory vapour puff to super-saturate. Consequently, the super-saturated vapour field drives the growth of droplets that are caught and transported within the humid puff. To analytically predict the likelihood for droplet growth, we propose a model for the axial RH based on the assumption of a quasi-stationary jet. Our model correctly predicts super-saturated RH conditions and is in good quantitative agreement with our DNS. Our results culminate in a temperature-RH map that can be employed as an indicator for droplet growth or shrinkage.


Julius Otto Kaiser (1968–1927) was a special librarian and indexer who, at the turn of the twentieth century, designed an innovative, category-based indexing system known as "systematic indexing." Although he is regarded as a pioneer of indexing and classification, little is known about his life. This essay seeks to fill in some gaps in Kaiser's biography by reviewing what is known of his life prior to his entry into information work: namely, his birth, childhood, and education in Germany; his early career as a musician and teacher in Australia; and his sojourn as a teacher in Chile. It is argued that Kaiser's early experiences equipped him with linguistic skills and a commercial outlook that smoothed his path into the world of business information and left traces in his thought about indexing and information work.


We developed efficient and accurate methods for sampling snags and large trees important to wildlife. These methods are described in detail in a recent Forest Service publication, which also includes spreadsheets, macros, and instructions to conduct surveys and analyses to estimate densities and distributions of snags and large trees on a landscape. These methods focus on optimizing sampling effort by choosing a plot size appropriate for specific forest conditions encountered. Two methods for assessing density are available. Method I requires sampling until a desired precision is obtained for a density estimate. Method II is designed to test for differences in observed snag density versus a desired target density. After collecting a minimum of 60 samples under method II, one may test for a significant difference between the observed and targeted densities. In addition, data can be used to calculate a distribution index. The value obtained from the distribution index helps managers assess whether the current distribution of snags and large trees across a subwatershed is adequate to meet the habitat needs of territorial cavity-nesters and other wildlife species. Wildlife use of snags and large trees may also be evaluated.


Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) is a person-centered method commonly used in organizational research to identify homogeneous subpopulations of employees within a heterogeneous population. However, in the case of nested data structures, e.g., employees nested in work departments, multilevel techniques are needed. Multilevel LPA (MLPA) enables adequate modeling of subpopulations in hierarchical datasets. MLPA enables investigation of variability in the proportions of Level 1 profiles across Level 2 units, and of Level 2 latent classes based on the proportions of Level 1 latent profiles and Level 1 ratings, and the extent to which covariates drawn from the different hierarchical levels of the data affect the probability of a membership of a particular profile. We demonstrate the use of MLPA by investigating job characteristics profiles based on the Job Demand-Control-Support (JDCS) model using data from 1,958 university employees clustered in 78 work departments. The implications of the results for organizational research are discussed, together with several issues related to the potential of MLPA for wider application.


ABSTRACT The PfRH protein family of Plasmodium falciparum is implicated in erythrocyte invasion. Here we report variations in the sequence, transcription, and protein expression of four different members of this family in three parasite lines, 3D7, T996, and FCB1. There are sequence polymorphisms in PfRH1, PfRH2a, PfRH2b, and PfRH3, ranging from variations across repeat regions to a 585-bp deletion in the 3′ end of PfRH2b in T996. Not all the genes are transcribed: although all members of the family are transcribed in 3D7 and T996, PfRH2a and PfRH2b are not transcribed in FCB1. The PfRH1, PfRH2a, and PfRH2b proteins are expressed in late schizonts and merozoites and are located in apical organelles and on the apical surface. However, the PfRH1 protein does not appear to be correctly targeted to the apex in 3D7 and T996. In contrast, the PfRH1 protein is present at the apical end of FCB1 merozoites, but the PfRH2a and PfRH2b proteins are undetectable. The apparent redundancy in the PfRH family of proteins at the level of gene number and sequence and the variations in transcription and protein expression may allow the parasite to use alternative invasion pathways.


The efficacy and safety of co-transplantation of unrelated donor peripheral blood stem cells (UD-PBSCs) combined with umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) in refractory severe aplastic anemia-Ⅱ(RSAA-Ⅱ) were analyzed retrospectively. Fifteen patients with RSAA-Ⅱ underwent UD-PBSCs and UC-MSCs co-transplantation, among whom 14 cases had hematopoietic reconstitution without severe graft versus-host disease (GVHD). The 5-year overall survival rate was 78.57%. Combination of UD-PBSCs and UC-MSCs transplantation could be a safe and effective option for RSAA-Ⅱ.


Due to the intensive use of power converters and other non-linear loads in industry and by consumers in general, it can be observed an increasing deterioration of the power quality. The presence of harmonics in power lines results in greater power losses in the distribution system, interference problems in communication systems and, sometimes, operation failures of electronic equipments. Owing to these problems, active filters are used for harmonic elimination and they need a reliable identification method to operate efficiently. Many algorithms have been developed to estimate the harmonic parameters such as magnitude and phase. In this work, it is reported a comparison of identification techniques for single-phase systems, moreover, improvements on these methods and a new algorithm based on correlators are proposed. This comparison can guide in choosing a suitable technique in each application. Simulation and experimental results (obtained with digital signal processor TMS320C6713) validate the proposed comparison


The innovative combination of conventional fixed series capacitors and thyristor-controlled reactors as a flexible AC transmission (FACTS) device commenced commercial operation in 1992. This advanced series compensation (ASC) system offers several advantages in comparison with conventional fixed series capacitors. This new technology achieves additional system flexibility by direct power flow control, continuous control of the compensation level and improved capacitor bank protection. Further advantages include control of transmission line overload conditions, and subsynchronous resonances (SSR) mitigation. Intensive transient network analyser and field tests proved the ASC behaviour predicted by digital studies.


Medicinal plants and herbal healing are the new emerging routes of the health care system. The minerals and nutritional values of many plants have been reported to vary, which depending on generic background, location, environmental condition, and cultivation methods. In this article, the phytochemical screening, proximate and elemental analysis have been carried out for the Careya arborea Roxb (CAR) plant's root, which was collected from Pamgarh Tehsil, District Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh, India by using the standard methods. The proximate composition of CAR showed the percentage of the extract including moisture content (18.37%), ash content (17.23%), carbohydrate content (43.76%), nitrogen content (12.52%), crude protein (14.81%), crude fiber (19.43%), crude fat (6.93%) and total available energy (347.32%). The elemental analysis of the CAR root indicates the presence of various minerals, mainly including elements Na (11.93%), K (14.72%), Ca (12.41%) and Mg (9.76%); trace elements, Fe (22.82%), Cr (0.83%), Mn (1.67%), Co (1.31%), Cu (7.39%), Zn (8.68%) and Se (1.21%), and toxic heavy metals Pb (0.08%), Cd (0.06%), Hg (0.05%) and As (0.03%). The outcome is to validate the potential use of CAR as a plant with an appreciable medicinal agent


Playing is a joyful activity and an inherent need for children so that children may learn many skills in pleasure without any pressure. Trough play, children will be well prepared for their environment and be ready on their next educational levels. Children's intelligence is not only determined by a single score based on an intelligence test which measures the verbal, linguistic, and logical mathematical competence. Children also have an intelligence which is called multiple intelligences. This research held in order to apply play model "ASYIK" based on the multiple intelligences theory in science learning process for early childhood ages between 5-6 years old at Bekasi (South Bekasi, North Bekasi, East Bekasi and Musika Jaya). The location of this research was in several early childhood institutions, they are; PAUD An-Nursyihab Tambun, PAUD Al-Ikhlas Mustika Jaya, PAUD El-Kasysyaf Kayuringin Jaya and PAUD Cempaka Pekayon. This research held in almost 10 months from February until November 2014. The R&D Method was used for this research. It contains of 3 stages: method pre-development, method development and method application. This research concluded that none of the early childhood institution was using ASYIK method, especially in Bekasi. That's why this method became the newest innovation of science learning process in the early childhood institution.


BPS, the Bayesian Problem Solver, applies probabilistic inference and decision-theoretic control to flexible, resource-constrained problem-solving. This paper focuses on the Bayesian inference mechanism in BPS, and contrasts it with those of traditional heuristic search techniques. By performing sound inference, BPS can outperform traditional techniques with significantly less computational effort. Empirical tests on the Eight Puzzle show that after only a few hundred node expansions, BPS makes better decisions than does the best existing algorithm after several million node expansions


In this article, the use of proverbs in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is analyzed and compared to the use of proverbs by J. R. R. Tolkien. The use of proverbs is especially interesting in fantasy contexts such as these because of the inherent juxtaposition that occurs between the familiar and traditional language of the proverb and the "otherness" of the created fantasy world. One important function of proverbs in fantasy literature, then, may be to provide the reader with a familiar link to the unfamiliar world, often while simultaneously distinguishing between that world and the reader's everyday life. But proverbs may also serve two other functions, both of which could occur in other forms of literature as well. First, proverb use may be a mechanism by which authors reveal their characters' personalities, attitudes, and views of the world. Second, authors may also draw on proverbs to help communicate the themes of the works. This article explores the ways that Tolkien and Rowling use proverbs to these ends.


Convergent evidence indicates that individuals with symptoms of depression exhibit altered functional connectivity (FC) of the amygdala, which is a key brain region in processing emotions. At present, the characteristics of amygdala functional circuits in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with and without depression are not clear. The current study examined the features of amygdala FC in patients with MCI with depression symptoms (D-MCI) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 16 patients with D-MCI, 18 patients with MCI with no depression (nD-MCI), and 20 healthy controls (HCs) using a 3T scanner and compared the strength of amygdala FC between the three groups. Patients with D-MCI exhibited significant FC differences in the amygdala–medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala–sensorimotor networks. These results suggest that the dysfunction of the amygdala–medial prefrontal cortex network and the amygdala–sensorimotor network might be involved in the neural mechanism underlying depression in MCI.


In recent years the importance of heredity in ankylosing spondylitis has been more widely accepted. Increasing evidence, which substantiates the theory that a susceptibility to the disease is influenced by a genetic factor, is found in families in which parent and offspring, sib pairs, and both members of monozygotic twins have been involved. Most of the reported cases have been brought together in an excellent review by Hersh, Stecher, Solomon, Wolpaw, and Hauser (1950). One of the most interesting family histories is that recorded by Riecker, Neel, and Test (1950), in which five proven cases of spondylitis were found in two generations, and evidence was obtained that the disease was also


Regions are increasingly competing indirectly because of the increasing mobility of populations. According to OECD (2005) figures, interregional commuting rates are high. Intraregional commuting rates are even higher and steadily increasing. Commuting has a significant influence on the income of municipal populations and so also tax revenues of local governments in Estonia, but this phenomenon has not yet been deeply studied. This paper aims to study the scope of commuting and the resulting effects relating to personal income tax on municipal budget revenues in Estonia, on the basis of data from the Estonian Tax and Custom Board. Based on the findings, it can be said that commuting is a very important factor in municipal development, as net income from commuting accounts for up to 80% of local government revenues from personal income tax.


Abstract A 62-year-old woman had developed polymyositis 12 years previously and had taken oral steroids. Chest and abdominal computed tomography showed pneumomediastinum and free air in the abdominal cavity. Although a colon perforation was suspected, the perforation site could not be identified on the image. In addition, a diagnosis of oesophageal rupture could not be excluded from the findings of pneumomediastinum. After general anaesthesia, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed before surgery. Because there was no obvious perforation in the oesophagus, a laparotomy approach was used. A perforation was found on the mesentery side of the sigmoid colon, and a perforation of the sigmoid colon's diverticulum towards the mesentery was diagnosed. A Hartmann's procedure was performed. Colon perforations are rarely associated with pneumomediastinum. Preoperative endoscopy is useful to help diagnose and determine the surgical procedure if an obvious perforation cannot be identified.


Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) allows for detection and identification of molecular vibrational fingerprints in minute sample quantities. The SERS process can be also exploited for optical manipulation of molecular vibrations. We present a quantum description of Surface-Enhanced Resonant Raman scattering (SERRS), in analogy to hybrid cavity optomechanics, and compare the resonant situation with the off-resonant SERS. Our model predicts the existence of a regime of coherent interaction between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom of a molecule, mediated by a plasmonic nanocavity. This coherent mechanism can be achieved by parametrically tuning the frequency and intensity of the incident pumping laser and is related to the optomechanical pumping of molecular vibrations. We find that vibrational pumping is able to selectively activate a particular vibrational mode, thus providing a mechanism to control its population and drive plasmon-assisted chemistry.


This paper discusses the effect of flaws created by impact damage on the strength of graphite/epoxy panels that were tested as sandwich beams and as skin panels on box beams. A majority of the panels were exposed to random spectrum fatigue loads prior to failing them under static loading conditions. The maximum loads in the fatigue spectrum were scaled to provide a strain equal to the B-basis matrix failure strain for the resin system used. Box beam skin panels were designed to fail by compressive panel buckling in order to evaluate the effect of the impact damage on the buckling strength of the panels. All testing was conducted at room temperature on panels with no moisture conditioning. Marginally visible damage was found to cause a strength loss up to 35 percent in compression but less in tension. Acoustic C-scan inspections showed that none of the impact damage sizes grew during spectrum loading. Panel stability was unaffected by localized impact damage. The most severe impact damage caused strength losses comparable to drilled fastener holes.


This qualitative interview study explores selected industry professionals' opinions on what variables are most important in forming and maintaining DPO competence. The purpose of the study was to identify different perspectives on what parameters are of value when forming a future framework for DPO training and competence assessment and assurance. Seven respondents from different segments of the offshore industry, including ship operators and non-governmental organizations, participated. The Authors found a general consensus among the respondents that a DPO competence framework that is unified and mandated by a governing body, was sought after. The key components such a framework should address are, according to the respondents; competence assessment, competence assurance and DPO training. Furthermore, the respondents discuss other perspectives on what such a framework could address, such as DP time logging, on-board training and supervision, manual ship handling and training scheme improvements. To conclude the study, the Authors discussed the discrepancy between the ISM Code's requirement that shipping companies should ensure that each ship is manned with qualified seafarers and that the industry wishes for a specific framework that aids in achieving DPO competence. Furthermore, the Authors also discussed and presents some ideas on how to address the concern of ensuring all DPOs' ability to control their vessels manually in all conditions.


Adversarial examples pose severe threats to Android malware detection because they can render the machine learning based detection systems useless. How to effectively detect Android malware under various adversarial example attacks becomes an essential but very challenging issue. Existing adversarial example defense mechanisms usually rely heavily on the instances or the knowledge of adversarial examples, and thus their usability and effectiveness are significantly limited because they often cannot resist the unseen-type adversarial examples. In this paper, we propose a novel robust Android malware detection approach that can resist adversarial examples without requiring their instances or knowledge by jointly investigating malware detection and adversarial example defenses. More precisely, our approach employs a new VAE (variational autoencoder) and an MLP (multi-layer perceptron) to detect malware, and combines their detection outcomes to make the final decision. In particular, we share a feature extraction network between the VAE and the MLP to reduce model complexity and design a new loss function to disentangle the features of different classes, hence improving detection performance. Extensive experiments confirm our model's advantage in accuracy and robustness. Our method outperforms 11 state-of-the-art robust Android malware detection models when resisting 7 kinds of adversarial example attacks.


Cellular biochemical parameters can be used to reveal the physiological and functional information of various cells. Due to demonstrated high accuracy and non-invasiveness, electrochemical detection methods have been used for cell-based investigation. When combined with improved biosensor design and advanced measurement systems, the on-line biochemical analysis of living cells in vitro has been applied for biological mechanism study, drug screening and even environmental monitoring. In recent decades, new types of miniaturized electrochemical biosensor are emerging with the development of microfabrication technology. This review aims to give an overview of the microfabricated electrochemical cell-based biosensors, such as microelectrode arrays (MEA), the electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technique, and the light addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS). The details in their working principles, measurement systems, and applications in cell monitoring are covered. Driven by the need for high throughput and multi-parameter detection proposed by biomedicine, the development trends of electrochemical cell-based biosensors are also introduced, including newly developed integrated biosensors, and the application of nanotechnology and microfluidic technology.


We report a case of a female patient with a picture of "atypical appendicitis," with 3 days of abdominal pain, localized to the right lower quadrant with no nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or anorexia. On examination she was febrile to 38.4 degrees C, had tenderness at McBurney's point, and a leukocyte count of 11,200. A computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan was obtained showing changes consistent with appendicitis. On laparoscopic exploration the patient was found to have cecal masses. Definitive surgical treatment was deferred until after adequate evaluation of the colon. Postoperative colonoscopy demonstrated cecal diverticulitis. Management of cecal diverticulitis found during laparotomy for presumed appendicitis has included right hemicolectomy, ileocolic resection or appendectomy, and conservative treatment with antibiotics. The laparoscopic approach in a patient with an equivocal history and physical examination allows for definitive workup of inflammatory cecal masses found during surgery for appendicitis.


With millions of people suffering from dementia worldwide, the global prevalence of this condition has a significant impact on the global economy. As well, its prevalence has a negative impact on patients' lives and their caregivers' physical and emotional states. Dementia can be developed as a result of some risk factors as well as it has many forms whose signs are sometimes similar. While there is currently no cure for dementia, effective early diagnosis is essential in managing it. Early diagnosis helps people in finding suitable therapies that reduce or even prevent further deterioration of cognitive abilities, and in taking control of their conditions and planning for the future. Furthermore, it also facilitates the research efforts to understand causes and signs of dementia. Early diagnosis is based on the classification of features extracted from three-dimensional brain images. The features have to accurately capture main dementia-related anatomical variations of brain structures, such as hippocampus size, gray and white matter tissues' volumes, and brain volume. In recent years, numerous researchers have been seeking the development of new or improved Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) technologies to accurately detect dementia. The CAD approaches aim to assist radiologists in increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis and reducing false positives. However, there is a number of limitations and open issues in the state-of-the-art, that need to be addressed. These limitations include that literature iii to date has focused on differentiating multi-stage of Alzheimer's disease severity ignoring other dementia types that can be as devastating or even more. Furthermore, the high dimensionality of neuroimages, as well as the complexity of dementia biomarkers, can hinder classification performance. Moreover, the augmentation of neuroimaging analysis with contextual information has received limited attention to-date due to the discrepancies and irregularities of the various forms of data. This work focuses on addressing the need for differentiating between multiple types of dementia in early stages. The objective of this thesis is to automatically discriminate normal controls from patients with various types of dementia in early phases of the disease. This thesis proposes a novel CAD approach, integrating a stacked sparse auto-encoder (SSAE) with a twodimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) for early identification of multiple types of dementia based on using the discriminant features, extracted from neuroimages, incorporated with the context information. By applying SSAE to intensities extracted from magnetic resonance (MR) neuroimages, SSAE can reduce the high dimensionality of neuroimages and learn changes, exploiting important discrimination features for classification. This research work also proposes to integrate features extracted from MR neuroimages with patients' contextual information through fusing multi-classifier to enhance the early prediction of various types of dementia. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated on OASIS dataset using five iv different relevant performance metrics, including accuracy, f1-score, sensitivity, specificity, and precision-recall curve. Across a cohort of 4000 MR neuroimages (176 × 176) as well as the contextual information, and clinical diagnosis of patients serving as the ground truth, the proposed CAD approach was shown to have an improved F-measure of 93% and an average area under Precision-Recall curve of 94%. The proposed method provides a significant improvement in classification output, resulted in high and reproducible accuracy rates of 95% with a sensitivity of 93%, and a specificity of 88%.


This study focuses on exploring the status and contribution of inter- linkage relationship between service center and rural hinterland. The study was conducted in Bima and Darbang Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Myagdi district. This paper has used rural development perspective. The respondents were from 63 sample households including producers, consumers and service providers selected by using probability and non probability sampling methods. The primary data were collected through survey questionnaire, key informant interview, participant observation and focus group discussion whereas secondary data were generated from published and unpublished books, articles, journals, profile of VDCs and DDC. The study has revealed with various types of linkage between service center and rural hinterland i.e. service delivery, spatial or physical, administrative, economic, technological, financial and socio-cultural, educational and health service linkage. The study also highlighted productive role of remittance, international experience and adaptation of modern agriculture technology that has been positively affecting socio-economic life of the rural people. Further, joint efforts of public and private sectors' and local stakeholders' can be applied for developing and promoting service delivery opportunities and marketing facilities to the local people. The finding of the study has very strong implications to the local stakeholders for formulation of short run and long run local development plan in a similar situation.


The proved probiotic effects of boza consummation prompted the increasing interest in the microflora taking part in its fermentation. Boza is a rich source of probiotic lactic acid bacteria that are able to produce bacteriocins active against a number of pathogens. In the present study, three strains – Lactobacillus paracasei B41, Lactobacillus plantarum Bom 816, and Lactobacillus pentosus N3, isolated from boza and possessing significant amylolytic activity, were studied for their ability to repress the growth of common foodborne pathogens. All strains demonstrated antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Vibrio cholerae and Bacillus subtilis. The results indicated possible bacteriocin production and made the strains desirable starters with application in cereals processing. None of the tested lactobacilli inhibited the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Pichia strains, suggesting the existence of stable microbial community of yeasts and lactobacilli in boza starters.


Background Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease affecting primarily preterm and very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Despite the advances in perinatal care, BPD remains a major clinical and costly complication in premature infants. The pathogenesis of BPD is complex and multifactorial. Prematurity, mechanical ventilation, oxidative stress, and inflammation are recognized as major interrelated contributing factors. Recently, some candidate genes involved in angiogenesis and alveolarization regulating mechanisms have been associated to BPD risk development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphisms on BPD onset in VLBW newborns. Methods Eighty-two VLBW infants, without major anomalies, were consecutively enrolled: 33 developed BPD (BPD group) and 49 infants without BPD served as controls (control group). In all infants, two polymorphisms, respectively (VEGF receptor) VEGFR1-710 C/T and VEGF +936 C/T, were determined through salivary brush. Genomic DNA was extracted and purified from saliva samples by using the MasterAmp Buccal Swab DNA Extraction Kit (Tebu-bio, Milan, Italy). Results Significant statistic differences were found between BPD newborns and controls with regard to gestational age, birth weight, mechanical ventilation, duration of oxygen therapy, maternal preeclampsia, and chorioamnionitis. No differences were detected between genotypic and allelic levels regarding VEGFR1 and VEGF molecular polymorphisms. Conclusions Two single nucleotide polymorphisms within VEGF and VEGFR1 genes are not associated with BPD. Further researches are needed to reveal gene polymorphisms involved in vascular development as contributors to the onset of BPD.


Ring-in-ring complexation is a novel topological structure in supramolecular chemistry.Two macrocyclic compounds with intramolecular donor-acceptor interactions were designed and synthesized with 4,4′-bipyridinium,2,6-dinaphthol and 2,7-dinaphthol as building blocks.Their associations with cucurbit [8] uril were investigated by means of UV-Vis and 1H NMR.The spectra results show that intramolecular charge transfer(CT) interaction exsits in aqueous solution of these two macrocycles,and cucurbit [8] uril can bind the two macrocycles.The binding result in the increase of charge transfer(CT) absorption strength and red shift of CT absorption peak,indicating the formation of stable ring-in-ring complexes.These ring-in-ring complexes are new topological structures for cucurbit [8] uril.


The framework of the Affective Decision Making Engine outlined here provides a blueprint for creating software agents that emulate psychological affect when making decisions in complex and dynamic problem environments. The influence of affect on the agent's decisions is mimicked by measuring the correlation of feature values, possessed by objects and/or events in the environment, against the outcome of goals that are set for measuring the agent's overall performance. The use of correlation in the Affective Decision Making Engine provides a statistical justification for preference when prioritizing goals, particularly when it is not possible to realize all agent goals. The simplification of the agent algorithm retains the function of affect for summarizing feature-rich dynamic environments during decision making. Keywords: Affective decision making, correlative adaptation, affective agents


This paper deals with the very great changes in X–ray crystallographic techniques and apparatus over a period of approximately the last 60 years. This is not a general history; it is a personal account of the developments with which I have been directly involved; it is, therefore, biased towards apparatus developments in the field of macromolecular crystallography in which I have worked during most of this period. The bias needs little excuse: many of the new techniques of X–ray crystallography were devised initially for large–molecule structure determinations which had most need of such advances in order to be feasible at all. Among them are the uses of computers in calculating electron density maps, the construction of automatic diffractometers and microdensitometers, the introduction of rotating-anode X–ray generators and of microfocus X–ray tubes, the development of electronic X–ray area detectors, the pioneering work on the use of synchrotron radiation for diffraction studies, the building of three–dimensional atomic models by computer and the complete automation of the mounting, selection and alignment of crystals on the diffractometer.


Black women scholars have and continue to make significant contributions to the social work profession; however, their experiences within the profession are mostly absent in the literature. In general, Black women face numerous challenges within schools of social work. Black women scholars endure a compound form of anti-Blackness in higher education known as gendered anti-Blackness due to their multiple marginalized statuses associated with race and gender. This study examined the phenomenon of gendered anti-Blackness as experienced in academia by a diverse group of Black and mixed Black faculty and PhD students. We intentionally utilized a new methodology, Black Feminist Polyethnography, to provide an affirming and communal space for us to dialogically reflect on our collective experiences of gendered anti-Blackness in predominantly white schools of social work. Our findings uncovered six Black woman-centered proverbs that symbolize the ways we collectively thrive as scholars despite gendered anti-Blackness.


Most of digital forgeries are created by Adobe Photoshopreg. Detecting digital forgery is one of most important emerging technology to solve digital forgery of digital images taken by a digital camera. This paper proposes a new method for detecting digital forgery using an image interpolation technique from digital images. When digital forgery is produced from digital images, it always includes the interpolated image between the images. Our approach is to compute the interpolated coefficient for the images using expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. We demonstrate detecting the forgery images used to each filter for the tool of Adobe Photoshopreg and show a ratio of detecting the forgery images.


Background Police officers are grouped among the most at-risk population for HIV. Most police officers who are mobile related to work behavior might be at risk of HIV for themselves and/or the main source of infection in transmitting the disease to the police members. So the basic aim of this study was to determine the magnitude of condom use and associated factors among police force riot control in Addis Ababa in September 2015. Materials and Methods An institutional-based cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among a sample of 400 police officers. The sample size was calculated using a single size proportion formula by considering 52% prevalence of multiple sexual partners. A systematic random sampling technique was used to get study subjects from the institution. A pretested structured questionnaire was employed to obtain the necessary information after getting both written and verbal consent from the concerned body and study subjects. The collected data were checked for completeness and consistency and was coded before data entry. Data were entered and cleaned analyzed using SPSS statistical package. Results Some 379 individuals provided data. Most of the respondents 348 (95.3%) had been sexually active during the past 12 months and 280 (84.1%) of them had more than one sexual partner. Seventy-five (19.8%) of the sexually active respondents used condoms consistently in the last 12 months. Had sex after drinking alcohol (adjusted OR=2.23; 95% CI (1.08, 4.61)),ever used substance (adjusted OR=4.37; 95% CI (1.18, 16.27)), had sex after consuming substance (Adjusted OR=4.37; 95% CI (1.18, 16.27)) and less education status (adjusted OR=0.38; 95% CI (0.16, 0.93)) were significantly associated with inconsistent condom use. Conclusion There is a high inconsistency of condom use among federal police riot control. This indicates that the study populations are at higher risk of acquiring HIV infection. Substance use like khat, consuming alcohol, and low educational status was the significant predictor of inconsistent condom use among federal police riot control.


The capability to innovate and thus to renew the commercial offer, is becoming the mission of several companies in order to dramatically increase the customer satisfaction. To this aim, the design activities should be effectively supported, paying specific attention to the earliest phase of design, i.e. product planning, in which the designers have to identify the user needs and translate them in product requirements. In the last decades, there have been some attempts to systematically support this critical design activity. The authors undertook an analysis of these methods, highlighting how they support the product planning phase, their strengths and weaknesses. The comparison of the collected contributions shows a plurality of viable research directions, poorly investigated up to now, in order to effectively support the task of product planning. The paper suggests new functionalities to be introduced in the methodologies proposed so far and stresses the attention on performing further tests to increase the reliability of a great amount of poorly validated, although promising, design approaches.


Macrophyte net primary productivity (NPP) is a significant but understudied component of the carbon budget in large Amazonian floodplains. Annual NPP is determined by the interaction between stem elongation (vertical growth) and plant cover changes (horizontal expansion), each affected differently by flood duration and amplitude. Therefore, hydrological changes as predicted for the Amazon basin could result in significant changes in annual macrophyte NPP. This study investigates the responses of macrophyte horizontal expansion and vertical growth to flooding variability, and its possible effects on the contribution of macrophytes to the carbon budget of Amazonian floodplains. Monthly macrophyte cover was estimated using satellite imagery for the 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 hydrological years, and biomass was measured in situ between 2003 and 2004. Regression models between macrophyte variables and river‐stage data were used to build a semiempirical model of macrophyte NPP as a function of water level. Historical river‐stage records (1970–2011) were used to simulate variations in NPP, as a function of annual flooding. Vertical growth varied by a factor of ca. 2 over the simulated years, whereas minimum and maximum annual cover varied by ca. 3.5 and 1.5, respectively. Results suggest that these processes act in opposite directions to determine macrophyte NPP, with larger sensitivity to changes in vertical growth, and thus maximum flooding levels. Years with uncommonly large flooding amplitude resulted in the highest NPP values, as both horizontal expansion and vertical growth were enhanced under these conditions. Over the simulated period, annual NPP varied by ca. 1.5 (1.06–1.63 TgC yr−1). A small increasing trend in flooding amplitude, and by extension NPP, was observed for the studied period. Variability in growth rates caused by local biotic and abiotic factors, and the lack of knowledge on macrophyte physiological responses to extreme hydrological conditions remain the major sources of uncertainty.


Gross anatomy, histology and morphometry of the digestive tract in the fish Pterophyllum scalare (Perciformes: Cichlidae). Introduction: Ornamental Angel fish (Pterophyllum scalare) is one of the main commercialized species from South America, with an important number of national and international dealers. Objective: To make a histological and morphometric description of P. scalare digestive tract. Methods: Nineteen adult individuals were used. Intestinal coefficient values were obtained, and a macroscopic and microscopic description of esophagus, stomach, and intestine (anterior, middle and posterior) was carried out. Samples were processed for paraffin embedding, and 5 μm sections were stained with H&E and P.A.S. Positive P.A.S. cells were counted. Lumen area and tissue area were measured in representative digitalized sections from each region. Results: P. scalare exhibited a short esophagus, followed by a blind bag shaped, scarcely muscular stomach, and a short intestine (intestinal coefficient 1.66 +/0.52). Four constitutive tissue layers were identified: mucosa, submucosa, muscular and in some areas also a serosa layer. Esophagus exhibit abundant globet P.A.S. + cells and shows the larger tisular area was observed. Luminal area and perimeter are larger in anterior intestinal region. Conclusions: the intestinal coefficient value (1.66 +/0.52), and the histological and morphometric characteristics of the evaluated organs, suggest that P. scalare is omnivorous with soft prey preferences.


Background:Accurately estimating rates of disease progression is of central importance in developing mathematical models used to project outcomes and guide resource allocation decisions. Our objective was to specify a multivariate regression model to estimate changes in disease progression among individuals on highly active antiretroviral treatment in British Columbia, Canada, 1996–2011. Methods:We used population-level data on disease progression and antiretroviral treatment utilization from the BC HIV Drug Treatment Program. Disease progression was captured using longitudinal CD4 and plasma viral load testing data, linked with data on antiretroviral treatment. The study outcome was categorized into (CD4 count ≥ 500, 500–350, 350–200, <200 cells/mm3, and mortality). A 5-state continuous-time Markov model was used to estimate covariate-specific probabilities of CD4 progression, focusing on temporal changes during the study period. Results:A total of 210,083 CD4 measurements among 7421 individuals with HIV/AIDS were included in the study. Results of the multivariate model suggested that current highly active antiretroviral treatment at baseline, lower baseline CD4 (<200 cells/mm3), and extended durations of elevated plasma viral load were each associated with accelerated progression. Immunological improvement was accelerated significantly from 2004 onward, with 23% and 46% increases in the probability of CD4 improvement from the fourth CD4 stratum (CD4 < 200) in 2004–2008 and 2008–2011, respectively. Conclusion:Our results demonstrate the impact of innovations in antiretroviral treatment and treatment delivery at the population level. These results can be used to estimate a transition probability matrix flexible to changes in the observed mix of clients in different clinical stages and treatment regimens over time.


Phenotypic plasticity is central to the persistence of populations and a key element in the evolution of species and ecological interactions, but its mechanistic basis is poorly understood. This article examines the hypothesis that epigenetic variation caused by changes in DNA methylation are related to phenotypic plasticity in a heterophyllous tree producing two contrasting leaf types. The relationship between mammalian browsing and the production of prickly leaves was studied in a population of Ilex aquifolium (Aquifoliaceae). DNA methylation profiles of contiguous prickly and nonprickly leaves on heterophyllous branchlets were compared using a methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP) method. Browsing and the production of prickly leaves were correlated across trees. Within heterophyllous branchlets, pairs of contiguous prickly and nonprickly leaves differed in genome-wide DNA methylation. The mean per-marker probability of methylation declined significantly from nonprickly to prickly leaves. Methylation differences between leaf types did not occur randomly across the genome, but affected predominantly certain specific markers. The results of this study, although correlative in nature, support the emerging three-way link between herbivory, phenotypic plasticity and epigenetic changes in plants, and also contribute to the crystallization of the consensus that epigenetic variation can complement genetic variation as a source of phenotypic variation in natural plant populations. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London


Premise of the study Standardization of plant names is a critical step in various fields of biology including biodiversity, biogeography and vegetation research. WorldFlora matches lists of plant names with a static copy from World Flora Online (WFO), an ongoing global effort of completing an online flora of all known vascular plants and bryophytes by 2020. Methods and results Based on direct and fuzzy matching, WorldFlora inserts matching cases from the WFO to a submitted data set of with taxa. Results of selecting the expected best single matches are presented for four data sets, including a working list of commercial timber tree species, a subset from GlobalTreeSearch and 2 data sets used in previous comparisons of software tools for correcting taxon names. The success rate of credible matches varied from 94.7 (568 taxa) to 99.9 (1740 taxa) percent. Conclusions WorldFlora offers a straightforward pipeline for semi-automatic plant name checking.


In terms of its idea، the research is based on highlighting the importance of the grammatical work، or the idea of the grammatical factor، and shows the extent to which factor theory is related to the reality of grammatical language; Because the grammatical work is the orbit on which the structure of the vocabulary is based and made into useful sentences in the Arabic language، the sentence is built on the basis of the connection of two things or more، namely the predicate and the predicate، and this is equally between the two types of the sentence، whether it is nominal or de facto، because this connection occurs because of the existence of work between them; Because the subject of the predicate is the subject، i.e. the syntactic effect - which is the action - is caused by the subject، as well as in the actual sentence; The affixer of the subject is the verb، and this connection in the action، in turn، extends to the meaning; From the point of view of the meaning، it is not correct to omit one of the parties to the action; There is no predicate without the subject، and there is no subject without the verb، and the opposite is also true. The research touched on many views through which it shows the importance of the factor theory، and how grammar، since its inception، was originally based on the idea of work. Like Dr. Fadel Al-Samarrai، may God protect him.The research came to put a position in opposition to the voices that called for the denial and abolition of the factor theory، which was in its first appearance at the hands of Ibn Mada (d. 592 AH)، and other modernists who believed that the renewal of grammar is by canceling the factor theory and eliminating the causes; Because it is one of the things that brought Arabic grammar into a stalemate phase. Our research takes a different view of denying the idea of work. Rather، it stresses the importance of its existence and the impossibility of dispensing with it in the grammar lesson; Simply because it is one of the pillars of Arabic grammar. As for the scientific material on which the research is based، it is the book (Al-Masas' al-Osatiya) by Abu Ali al-Farsi (d. 377 AH); Because in this book there are many grammatical issues through which the Persian interest in the idea of the grammatical factor appears; Therefore، it is correct that these issues that Al-Farsi put in place are a clear model for the research vision.


Ferromagnetic SrRuO3 thin films are deposited on the ab surface of single crystals of the spin-triplet superconductor (TSC) Sr2RuO4 as substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The films are under a severe in-plane compressive strain. Nevertheless, the films exhibit ferromagnetic order with the easy axis along the c-direction below the Curie temperature of 158 K. The electrical transport reveals that the SrRuO3/Sr2RuO4 interface is highly conducting, in contrast with the interface between other normal metals and the ab surface of Sr2RuO4. Our results stimulate investigations on proximity effects between a ferromagnet and a TSC.


In this letter, we propose a mechanism to extend the spectral range of a waveguided free electron laser (FEL) oscillator driven by a rf LINAC toward significantly longer wavelengths without changing the undulator or accelerator design parameters. This mechanism involves selective amplification of a lower-frequency branch supported in a FEL due to the waveguide dispersion. Based on simulations performed for the terahertz FEL under construction at the Radboud University Nijmegen, we conclude that these long wavelengths can be efficiently amplified via stimulated super-radiance as the electron bunches are shorter than the radiation wavelength.


Ancestors of the modern chicken were domesticated from members of the Gallus genus probably 7 to 8 thousand years ago in southeastern Asia. Subsequently, they spread globally for meat and egg production. In the chicken egg, there is a balance of numerous, high-quality nutrients, many of which are highly bioavailable. The egg confers a multitude of health benefits to consumers emphasizing its classification as a functional food. Current global per capita egg consumption estimates approach 9 kg annually but vary greatly on a regional basis. This review deals with global production, consumption, and management aspects such as hygiene, feeding, and housing. Management aspects play key roles in the composition, quality, food safety, and visual (consumer) appeal of the egg. Also the manipulation of egg nutrients and value for human health is discussed.


Objectives To determine if the polymorphism encoding the Arg206Cys substitution in DNASE1L3 explains the association of the DNASE1L3/PXK gene locus with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to examine the effect of the Arg206Cys sequence change on DNASE1L3 protein function. Methods Conditional analysis for rs35677470 was performed on cases and controls with European ancestry from the SLE Immunochip study, and genotype and haplotype frequencies were compared. DNASE1L3 protein levels were measured in cells and supernatants of HEK293 cells and monocyte-derived dendritic cells expressing recombinant and endogenous 206Arg and 206Cys protein variants. Results Conditional analysis on rs35677470 eliminated the SLE risk association signal for lead single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs180977001 and rs73081554, which are found to tag the same risk haplotype as rs35677470. The modest effect sizes of the SLE risk genotypes (heterozygous risk OR=1.14 and homozygous risk allele OR=1.68) suggest some DNASE1L3 endonuclease enzyme function is retained. An SLE protective signal in PXK (lead SNP rs11130643) remained following conditioning on rs35677470. The DNASE1L3 206Cys risk variant maintained enzymatic activity, but secretion of the artificial and endogenous DNASE1L3 206Cys protein was substantially reduced. Conclusions SLE risk association in the DNASE1L3 locus is dependent on the missense SNP rs35677470, which confers a reduction in DNASE1L3 protein secretion but does not eliminate its DNase enzyme function.


In some animal models of autoimmune diseases the roles of exogenous and endogenous retroviruses are clearly defined. In ungulates caprine arthritis encephalitis virus, equine infectious anemia virus or Maedi-Visna virus infections cause a well-defined autoimmune disease and the appearance of seropositivity of the animals is of diagnostic value. Likewise, in MRL lpr/lpr mice insertion of a retrotransposon into the fas gene could clearly be shown to cause survival of autoreactive lymphocytes. Despite intensive research in this field over a long period of time, molecular data on retroviral involvement in either etiology or pathology of human SLE and other autoimmune rheumatic diseases remain rather scarce. However, the analysis of retroviral antibodies and antigens in human autoimmune disease is undoubtedly important with regard to the search for retroviruses as disease-causing agents.


Service cloud integrates the concepts of cloud and service-oriented computing, providing users with tremendous opportunities for composing a large variety of services to achieve desired tasks. At the same time, rapid development in mobile devices has made it a typical instrument for accessing service clouds. However, the limited battery power can greatly impact the usage of mobile devices and their availability for accessing service clouds. Power management has long been an important issue for mobile devices. When considering accessing service clouds, power and QoS have to be considered together. For example, tasks may be delegated to the cloud to save the energy on mobile devices as long as the QoS constraints are satisfied. Current research has not considered these issues in an integrated view. In this paper, we propose a framework for handling QoS and power management for mobile devices in the service cloud environment. In this framework, the service QoS profiles capturing the services' QoS and power behaviors and user profiles capturing users' service usage patterns are defined. Based on the information, service QoS behaviors and power consumption patterns can be predicted to facilitate decisions regarding whether to run a service locally or remotely and how to configure the mobile device such that the power usage can be minimized without violating QoS requirements. Moreover, service migration technology is used to minimize the communication cost such that the latency can be minimized in case the user decides to invoke a remote service.


Maximization of the rate distortion function (RDF) of a class of memoryless sources constrained by moments is transformed to a minimax problem. Kuhn-Tucker conditions for determining channel capacity and an RDF are solved simultaneously by a linear program. Special cases include the maximum entropy method, Gaussian densities, and spherical invariance. >


The accurate non-invasive quantification of cardiac flow volumes is an important goal in clinical cardiology. Computation of laminar volume flow through the ventricular outflow tracts would allow direct measurement of stroke volume and cardiac output. Grading of valvar regurgitation and follow up of patients with regurgitant lesions may be more accurately performed through calculation of regurgitant volume and fraction, and regurgitant orifice area. While estimates of these parameters can be made by conventional two dimensional (2D) echocardiographic techniques, these methods may be unreliable when applied to complex, dynamic, three dimensional (3D) flow events (table1).1-13

View this table:

Table 1
Conventional 2D echo-Doppler cardiac flow quantification methods

The advent of three dimensional echocardiography (3DE) provides a solution to this basic limitation. 3DE generates a scan volume (as opposed to a two dimensional scan sector) which produces a three dimensional dataset containing entire cardiac structures.14 15

Surface rendering may then be performed to produce an image with feature contours and depth perspective. Such an approach has proved useful in the representation of complex cardiac structural pathology and in the generation of images which reflect typical "surgeon's eye" views of the heart.16 In addition, the 3D dataset may be transected by cut planes orientated in any direction within the volume ("anyplane imaging"). As the entire structure under study is encompassed in the dataset, volume calculations may be made without the need to make geometric assumptions regarding its morphology. A number of studies have confirmed the accuracy of 3D echocardiography for the calculation of cardiac chamber volumes.17-20 3D flow quantitation methods are currently under development and it seems reasonable to assume that these will be superior to the 2D methods listed in table 1. We review these new approaches to the quantification of cardiac flow events and indicate how they may ultimately …


The frequency of surgical procedures in the office setting is increasing, and patient safety in this setting now has an expanded focus. Methods and strategies, including Ambulatory Patient Safety Guidelines, results tracking, communication, and risk management principles, will be reviewed in this chapter.