Study Design. Finite element study. Objective. To investigate intradiscal pressure, shear strain between anulus and adjacent endplates, and fiber strain in the anulus under pure and combined moments. Summary of Background Data. Concerning anulus failures such as fissures and disc prolapses, the mechanical response of the intervertebral disc during combined load situations is still not well understood. Methods. A 3-dimensional, nonlinear finite element model of a lumbar spinal segment L4–L5 was used. Pure unconstraint moments of 7.5 Nm in all anatomic planes with and without an axial preload of 500 N were applied to the upper vertebral body. The load direction was incrementally changed with an angle of 15° between the 3 anatomic planes to realize not only moments in the principle motion planes but also moment combinations. Results. Intradiscal pressure was highest in flexion and lowest in lateral bending. Load combinations did not increase the pressure. A combination of lateral bending plus flexion or lateral bending plus extension strongly increased the maximum shear strains. Lateral bending plus axial rotation yielded the highest increase in fiber strains, followed by axial rotation plus flexion or axial rotation plus extension. The highest shear and fiber strains were both located posterolaterally. An additional axial preload tended to increase the pressure, the shear, and fiber strains essentially for all load scenarios. Conclusions. Combined moments seem to lead to higher stresses in the disc, especially posterolaterally. This region might be more susceptible to disc failure and prolapses. These results may help clinicians better understand the mechanical causes of disc prolapses and may also be valuable in developing preventive clinical strategies and postoperative treatments.


We derive the scaling function for the one-dimensional noisy Burgers equation in the two-soliton approximation within the weak-noise canonical phase space approach. The result is in agreement with an earlier heuristic expression and exhibits the correct scaling properties. The calculation presents the first step in a many-body treatment of the correlations in the Burgers equation.


B169 The RET proto-oncogene, which is located on the long arm of chromosome 10 (10q11.2), comprises 21 exons, encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor and is activated by its physiological ligands, members of the GDNF- family. The activation of this gene contributes to the development of human cancers.
 Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the RET proto-oncogene have been described in the general population as well as in patients with endocrine tumors, papillary thyroid carcinoma, familial and sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), and Hirschsprung disease (HSCR). However, there is no report about the SNPs of the RET in lung cancer. In view of these, we investigated the SNPs of the promoter region of the RET proto-oncogene in Korean lung cancer patients and normal population. And we examined whether the SNPs of the RET proto-oncogene were associated with the risk of lung cancer in a Korean population.
 The 11 SNPs of RET promoter region were examined by direct sequencing method in the preliminary study. Two SNPs (-527 C/A; rs3097561,-1260 C/T; Novel) out of the 11 candidate polymorphisms showed more than 5% of minor allele frequency (MAF). To analyze the genotype of the RET gene for the 409 Korean lung cancer patients and 409 normal subjects, a polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used. The relationships with lung cancer and the genotypic and allelic frequency of the 2 SNPs were analyzed using SPSS 10.0 program. In the analysis, the SNP of the RET promoter region (-527 C/A) did not show statistically significant differences between lung cancer patients and normal subjects. However, the allelic and genotypic frequency of the novel SNP of the RET promoter region (-1260 C/T) showed statistically significant differences between lung cancer patients and normal subjects. In particular, risk of lung cancer was increased in patients with dominant (CT+TT, OR=1.427; 95%CI,1.083-1.881) of this SNP region. This dominant genotype was associated with increased risk for lung cancer in the cases of male (CT+TT, OR=1.621; 95%CI,1.174-2.238), smoking (CT+TT, OR=1.695; 95%CI,1.132-2.537), alcohol drinking (CT+TT, OR=1.687; 95%CI,1.091-2.609) and older than 60 years old (CT+TT, OR=1.462; 95%CI,1.024-2.086) lung cancer patients in the subgroup analysis. In conclusion, we described novel RET polymorphism in lung cancer and confirmed a relation between the RET promoter polymorphisms and lung cancer risk. Our results suggest that the polymorphisms of RET are associated with the risk of lung cancer in a Korea population.(This study was supported by a grant of the Korea Health 21 R&D project, the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea.(A010250))


The paper deals with the description of some components for cognitive-methodological construct considered in the context of state culture policy tools as factor of strengthening of cultural security in the system of national security of the modern Russia.The construct presents the possibilities to accumulate through state cultural policytools a powerful protecting potential of culture in Russia in social formation and strengthening of the state viability.


We investigate experimentally and theoretically the power consumption of a notch filter using a thermooptic long-period grating, which is induced by a heater array consisting of periodic heaters and pads made of metal thin-film. Since the power consumed by the heater array is converted to joule heat that generates the thermooptic long-period grating, the characteristics of the notch filter are dynamically controlled by adjusting it. The power necessary for appropriate coupling efficiency depends on the parameters of the heater array, which are the width and length of a heater, pad width, and the thickness of the thin-film. To analyze the dependence, we fabricated several notch filters with different heater lengths and pad widths. In addition, we simulated the influence of the parameters on the power consumption using some approximation and assumptions. Through the experiment and the simulation, it is shown that the experimentally obtained changes of the consumed power depending on the parameters follow a trend achieved theoretically. Moreover, the experimental results show that the consumed power decreases by more than 50% as the heater length is reduced from 500 to 50 mum. Finally, we suggest a few guidelines on the parameters required to reduce the power consumption.


Black and Latino men who have sex with men (BLMSM) are disproportionately infected with HIV; they comprised 66% of HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States in 2015. Risk factors for HIV infection among BLMSM include a high community prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV/STDs, and dense sex partner networks. Perceptions of HIV risk among BLMSM were explored to inform HIV prevention efforts. During 2011–2012, semistructured interviews were conducted with BLMSM in New York City. Using computer-assisted thematic analyses (NVivo), transcribed interview responses to questions regarding HIV risk for main themes were examined. Interview data were available for 108 BLMSM: 86% Black, 13% Latino, 26% aged 18–24 years, 59% self-identified as "gay," and 33% self-identified as "bisexual." The main emergent theme was stigma. Subthemes related to stigma included: (a) homophobia in the Black and Latino community, (b) fear of losing support from family and friends, and (c) lack of support leading to low self-esteem. Addressing the stigma felt by BLMSM may be an important strategy to facilitate improved HIV prevention efforts, HIV care and treatment, and to decrease HIV-related disparities.


This article discusses the four dimensions generating fiscal illusion through a survey answered by a sample of the population of the northern region of Portugal. The surveyed dimensions were (1) bias in the taxpayers' perception of the costs and benefits of public programs; (2) ignorance or inattention about the fiscal reality (like about tax structure or associated collection); (3) taking advantage of the taxpayer's timing and expectations for an optimized tax collection; and (4) association of the surrounding socioeconomic reality with the tax structure. The results show that the most serious dimension present among the analyzed Portuguese taxpayers is the relative lack of attention to fiscal reality. Through an analysis using appropriate tests, it was observed that some dimensions, such as education and taxpayer income, significantly influence the individual risk of fiscal illusion.


Digital image forensics has lately become one of the very important applications to identify the characteristics and the originality of the digital devices. This paper studies the recent developments in the field of image source identification. Proposed techniques in the literature are categorized into five primary areas based on source model identification: Metadata, Image Features, CFA and Demosaicing Artifacts, Lens Distortions and Wavelet Transforms. The main idea of the proposed approaches in each category is described in detail, and reported results are discussed to evaluate the potential of the methods.


Two depositional sequences related to sea level changes are described and dated for two
neighborough beaches in Cantabria ( Northern Spain), The oldest unit is a beach sequence consisting of
basal gravels, clays and eolian sands. The aminoacid racemization analisis of two types of moluscs show
a discrepant age (71 570 + 13 400 and 21 140 ± 9 400 Y BP). Outcrop data and general sea stages
arrangement, however, allows us to support a preglaciar age for this beach level. The second unit
incises at least three meters in the older one and consists of peat deposits with tree stems and organic
matter rich clays, representing an estuarine plaine. Radiocarbon dating gives an age of at least 6 210 ±
85 y BP for it and can be interpreted as the postglacial sea rise level.


We present a novel remote memory access based approach to the parallelization of a coupled Molecular Dynamics-Finite Element (MD/FE) code and its implementation. Such multiscale simulation codes can be used for, e.g., the simulation of localized nonlinear phenomena as fracture in solids. Caused by the dynamic data distribution of MD codes this requires non-standard communication mechanisms. We investigate different implementation options for realizing the scale transfer between MD and FE in parallel. We present benchmark results obtained on three different parallel architectures which give interesting insights into the performance of our new approach. Additionally, we study the scaling of a full coupled code. To the best of our knowledge, these results are the first available scaling results for this kind of heterogeneous code.


The liver plays a pivotal role in substrate metabolism during fasting and exercise. Chances in the hepatic uptake or release of metabolites regulate the hepatic energy supply for other organs. Here we evaluated substrate flow over the hepato-splanchnic bed by assessing arterial-to-venous differences based on UPLC and CE-MS metabolomics analysis at rest and during exercise. Catheterized healthy young male subjects (n = 10) performed 2 h of ergometer cycling followed by 4 h of recovery. In response to exercise there was pronounced hepatic uptake of lactate, pyruvate, various amino acids and dicarboxylic acids, indicating high demand for gluconeogenic substrates and increase in anaplerotic reactions of the citric acid cycle. Medium chain fatty acids e.g., caproic acid showed a clear hepatic uptake during exercise, underlining their potential role as regulators of gluconeogenesis and mitochondrial substrate oxidation. While most long chain fatty acids showed increased hepatic uptake, saturated fatty acids with carbon chain > 18 were released. In contrast to other amino acids, branched chain amino acids were not taken up or released from the liver at any time point. Notably, the hepato-splanchnic bed showed pronounced uptake of oxygen and release of CO 2 during exercise indicating up-regulation of energy consuming metabolic processes. In conclusion, the data provide novel insight in the regulation of hepatic metabolism at rest and during exercise. Disclosure P. Plomgaard: None. C. Hu: None. J.S. Hansen: Employee; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. X. Zhao: None. M. Hoene: None. X. Wang: None. N. Secher: None. H. Haering: None. R. Lehmann: None. G. Xu: None. C. Weigert: None.


We present new radio observations of the large-separation gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1004+4112, taken in a total of 6 hr of observations with the Expanded Very Large Array. The maps reach a thermal noise level of approximately 4 μJy. We detect four of the five lensed images at the 15–35 μJy level, representing a source of intrinsic flux density, after allowing for lensing magnification, of about 1 μJy, intrinsically probably the faintest radio source yet detected. This reinforces the utility of gravitational lensing in potentially allowing us to study nJy-level sources before the advent of the Square Kilometre Array. In an optical observation taken three months after the radio observation, image C is the brightest image, whereas the radio map shows flux density ratios consistent with previous optical observations. Future observations separated by a time delay will give the intrinsic flux ratios of the images in this source.


Background—Recurrence of ventricular tachycardia (VT) after ablation in patients with previous myocardial infarction is associated with adverse prognosis. However, the impact of the timing of VT recurrence on outcomes is unclear. Methods and Results—We analyzed data from a multicenter collaborative database of patients who underwent catheter ablation for infarct-related VT. Multivariable Cox regression analyses investigated the effect of the timing of VT recurrence on the composite outcome of death or heart transplantation using VT recurrence as a time-varying covariate. A total of 1412 patients were included (92% men; age: 66.7±10.7 years), and 605 patients (42.8%) had a recurrence after median 116 days (188 [31.1%] within 1 month, 239 [39.5%] between 1 and 12 months, and 178 [29.4%] after 12 months). At median follow-up of 670 days, 375 patients (26.6%) experienced death or heart transplantation. The median time from recurrence to death or heart transplantation was 65 and 198.5 days in patients with recurrence ⩽30 days and >30 days post ablation, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for the effect of VT recurrence occurring immediately post ablation on death or heart transplantation was 3.45 (2.33–5.11) in reference to no recurrence. However, the magnitude of this effect decreased statistically significantly (P<0.001) as recurrence occurred later in the follow-up period. The respective risk estimates for VT recurrence at 30 days, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years were 3.36 (2.29–4.93), 2.94 (2.09–4.14), 2.50 (1.85–3.37), and 1.81 (1.37–2.40). Conclusions—VT recurrence post ablation is associated with a mortality risk that is highest soon after the ablation and decreases gradually thereafter.


How a support provider responds to disclosure of sexual victimization has important implications for the process of recovery. The present study examines the associations between various positive and negative social reactions to sexual assault disclosure and psychological distress, coping behavior, social support, and self-esteem in a sample of college women (N = 374). Social reactions to assault disclosure that attempted to control the survivor's decisions were associated with increased symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety and lower perceptions of reassurance of worth from others. Blaming social reactions were associated with less self-esteem and engagement in coping via problem solving. Social reactions that provided emotional support to the survivor were associated with increased coping by seeking emotional support. Contrary to expectations, social reactions that treated the survivor differently were associated with higher self-esteem. Implications are discussed.


It is shown that in the Earth's atmosphere, due to influence of the gravitational field, coefficient of thermal expansion depends on altitude. The altitude intervals for individual gases for which the laws of ideal gases can be applied have been determined and it has been established that they are dependent on the adiabatic index and molar mass of these gases.


Nonlinear intersymbol interference is often present in communication and digital storage channels. Decision-feedback equalizers (DFEs) can decrease this nonlinear effect by including appropriate nonlinear feedback filters. Although various applications of these types of equalizers have been published in the literature, the analysis of their stability and error recovery has not appeared. We consider a DFE with a nonlinear feedback filter based on a discrete Volterra series. We extend error propagation, error probability, stability, and error recovery time results for Nth order nonlinear channels.


The potato-processing industry has developed methods for providing effective removal of settleable and dissolved solids from potato-processing wastes. Potato pulp is a waste product when potato starch is produced. It consists of potato peel, remnants of the cell walls, traces of starch and 85 to 90 percent water with dissolved mineral salts. Usually, most of the potato pulp is used as cattle feed. We developed approaches that demonstrate potato pulp has, in addition, some technical potentials. Addition of dried potato pulp granules to the mass (woodchips) used for the production of particle boards (e.g. components of furniture such as wardrobe closets) results in a drastic reduction of the amount of formaldehyde or isocyanate usually applied as a "glue" for mechanically stable particle boards. A variation is the treatment of potato pulp by pressure release resulting in a fine powder, after drying process. It can be emulsified in water and then be used as a glue replacing conventional glues for paper products, provided heat and pressure are applied for a proper function.


In this paper, a fishery model for African catfish and Nile tilapia is formulated. This model is used to compare financial profit and biomass outtakes in a two-species system versus single species systems. We consider a stage-structured fish population model consisting of the aforementioned fish species together with two food resources. The model dynamics include cannibalism, predator-prey, feeding, reproduction, maturation, development, mortality, and harvesting. We prove consistency of the model in the sense that the solutions will stay bounded and nonnegative over time. Conditions for local stability of fish-free equilibrium point are established. The simulation results reveal asymptotically stable solutions with coexistence of African catfish, Nile tilapia, and two food resources. The major conclusion from our findings is that fisheries should culture both species to maximize the biomass outtake and financial profit.


This work presents a novel approach for monocular dense depth map estimation. The surface to be estimated is represented as a picewise planar surface, defined as a group of surfels each having as parameters its position and normal. This parameters are then directly estimated from the raw camera pixels measurements, by a Gauss-Newton iterative process. As far as the author knows, this is the first time this approach is used for monocular depth estimation. The representation of the surface as a group of surfels has several advantages. It allows the recovery of robust and accurate pixel depths, without the need to use a computationally demanding depth regularization schema. This has the further advantage of avoiding the use of a physically unlikely surface smoothness prior. New surfels can be correctly initialized from the information present in nearby surfels, avoiding also the need to use an expensive initialization routine commonly needed in Gauss-Newton methods. The method was tested against several datasets, showing both its depth and normal estimation correctness, and its scene reconstruction quality. The results presented here showcase the usefulness of the more physically grounded piecewise planar scene depth prior, instead of the more commonly pixel depth independence and smoothness prior.


Structural and optical properties of stable glasses in the Y2O3–CaO–B2O3 system, containing the same Y/Ca ratio as the YCa4O(BO3)3 (YCOB) crystal, were determined from Raman and reflectance infrared spectroscopy. Changes in optical functions with composition are associated with an increase in the number of non-bridging oxygen and to calcium/yttrium oxides content. Refractive indexes values (from 1.597 to 1.627 at λ=2 μm) are in good agreement with those of the YCOB crystal, an indication that these glasses are potential candidates for optical applications due to their ease of shaping as large bulk samples or fibers.


Linear diffusion is an established model for spatial spread in biological systems, including movement of cell populations. However, for interacting, closely packed cell populations, simple diffusion is inappropriate, because different cell populations will not move through one another: rather, a cell will stop moving when it encounters another cell. In this paper, I introduce a nonlinear diffusion term that reflects this phenomenon, known as contact inhibition of migration. I study this term in the context of two competing cell populations, one of which has a proliferative advantage over the other; this is motivated by the very early stages of solid tumour growth. I focus in particular on travelling–wave solutions, corresponding to moving interfaces between the two cell populations. Numerical simulations indicate that there are wavefront solutions for wave speeds above a critical minimum value, and I present linear analysis that explains the selection of wave speeds by initial conditions. I obtain an approximation to the shape of these waves for high speeds, and show that the minimum speed arises via quite new behaviour in the travelling–wave equations, with the proportion of cells of each type approaching a step function as the wave speed decreases towards the minimum. Exploiting this structure, I use singular perturbation theory to investigate the wave shape for speeds close to the minimum.


A WDM photodetector for fiberoptic communication systems using a wavelengths around 1.55 /spl mu/m has earlier been proposed as a tuneable Fabry-Perot interferometer micromachined on InP and integrated with a photodiode. The interferometer consists of a mirror suspended on beams and is tuned by electrostatic attraction. The size of the mirror is 30 /spl mu/m/spl times/30 /spl mu/m. In order to maintain the filter performance, the mirror must be kept so flat that the maximum bending deflection of the mirror surface is below 1 nm. Four alternative filter geometries are considered. A mathematical model describing the influence of system parameters, including tuning voltage and the sizes of the filter components, is developed. The upper and lower bounds of the natural frequency of mechanical vibrations are also calculated analytically. With finite-element analysis (FEA) the response to electrostatic actuation is calculated and the flatness of the mirror surface during tuning and at changed ambient temperature conditions is investigated. The dynamic behavior is also studied using modal analysis. The results of the analytic and FEA modeling are compared and found to agree.


Abstract. The rapid adjustment, or semi–direct effect, of marine stratocumulus clouds to elevated layers of absorbing aerosols may enhance or dampen the radiative effect of aerosol–radiation interactions. Here we use large eddy simulations to investigate the sensitivity of stratocumulus clouds to the properties of an absorbing aerosol layer located above the inversion layer. The sign of the daily mean semi–direct effect depends on the properties of the aerosol layer, the properties of the boundary layer, and the model setup. Diurnal variations in the cloud response mean that an instantaneous semi–direct effect is unrepresentative of the daily mean, and that observational studies may under– or over–estimate semi–direct effects depending on the observed time of day. The observed role of the distance between the cloud top and the absorbing layer in modulating the strength of the cloud and radiative response is reproduced by the large eddy simulations. Both cloud response and semi–direct effect increase for thinner, denser, layers of absorbing aerosol located nearer the cloud layer. The cloud response is particularly sensitive to the mixing state of the boundary layer: well-mixed boundary layers generally result in a negative daily mean semi–direct effect, and poorly mixed boundary layers result in a positive daily mean semi–direct effect. Properties of the boundary layer and model setup, particularly the sea surface temperature, precipitation, and properties of the air entrained from the free troposphere, also impact the magnitude of the semi–direct effect and the timescale of adjustment. These results suggest that the semi–direct effect simulated by coarse-resolution models may be erroneous because the cloud response is sensitive to small-scale processes, especially the sources and sinks of buoyancy.


This article explores a new paradigm or model for the professional social worker: The poet/practitioner. The training and practice of the poet are congruent with many aspects of social work practice. An examination of the practice of the poet, and the congruence of these practices to social work, reveals a paradigm with the capacity to focus social workers on the essential values of our profession. This paradigm, which highlights the humanistic, creative, and socially conscience role of the social work practitioner, may be particularly important today given the medicalization of social problems and the conservitization of society.


Polycythemia vera (PV) is a condition that originates from stem cells and this disorder is affiliated with chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). It is highlighted by malignant neoplastic proliferation of the trilineage elements of bone marrow. Even though it is insufficient of establishing a definitive diagnosis, it is distinguished from other myeloproliferative neoplasms by increased red blood cell mass. Since the course of this disease is insidious and usually picked up incidentally, prompt diagnosis and proper management reduce the risks of fatal sequelae. The goal of this study is to review the literature and enhance the understanding and awareness of polycythemia. We reviewed the literature for polycythemia; clinical manifestations and approach to diagnosis. Articles were chosen from the PubMed database, and selected studies were subjected to a thorough review. Because of its gradual onset, polycythemia Vera is difficult to diagnose, however, it should be suspected in people having an increased red blood cell mass. Abnormally high hemoglobin or hematocrit, combined with a clinical presentation like splenomegaly, thrombocytosis, and leukocytosis, highly suggests it. As quickly as possible, a referral to a hematologist for bone marrow aspiration and therapy should be arranged. Consequently, with correct therapy and monitoring, the risk of thromboembolism can be reduced.


Establishing new refinement strategies in laboratory animal science is a central goal in fulfilling the requirements of Directive 2010/63/EU. Previous research determined a profound impact of gentle handling protocols on the well-being of laboratory mice. By introducing clicker training to the keeping of mice, not only do we promote the amicable treatment of mice, but we also enable them to experience cognitive enrichment. Clicker training is a form of positive reinforcement training using a conditioned secondary reinforcer, the "click" sound of a clicker, which serves as a time bridge between the strengthened behavior and an upcoming reward. The effective implementation of the clicker training protocol with a cohort of 12 BALB/c inbred mice of each sex proved to be uncomplicated. The mice learned rather quickly when challenged with tasks of the clicker training protocol, and almost all trained mice overcame the challenges they were given (100% of female mice and 83% of male mice). This study has identified that clicker training for mice strongly correlates with reduced fear in the mice during human-mice interactions, as shown by reduced anxiety-related behaviors (e.g., defecation, vocalization, and urination) and fewer depression-like behaviors (e.g., floating). By developing a reliable protocol that can be easily integrated into the daily routine of the keeping of laboratory mice, the lifetime experience of welfare in the mice can be improved substantially.


The value of comprehensive rationale for documenting a design has long been recognized. However, designers rarely produce detailed rationale in practice because of the substantial time investment required. Efforts to support the acquisition of rationale information have focused on languages and tools for structuring the acquisition process, but still require substantial involvement on the part of the designer. This paper describes an experimental system, the Rationale Construction Framework (RCF), that acquires rationale information for the detailed design process without disrupting a designer's normal activities. The underlying approach involves monitoring designer interactions with a commercial CAD tool to produce a rich process history. This history is subsequently structured and interpreted relative to a background theory of design metaphors that enable explanation of certain aspects of the design process. The framework provides an environment that can acquire rich, meaningful rationale information in a time-and cost-effective manner, with minimal disruption to the designer.


Abstract Over the last two decades, levels of childhood overweight and obesity have increased considerably in Malaysia, such that the country now has the highest prevalence of obesity in Asia. The preschool years are a key time for establishing healthy behaviours; hence, there is a need for effective interventions aimed at early childhood. The ToyBox Study is an intervention to prevent obesity in preschoolers that has previously been conducted successfully in six different countries but to date not outside Europe. Therefore, we conducted a feasibility study to determine whether the ToyBox Study methodology could be successfully adapted and applied in Malaysia. The ToyBox Study Malaysia was conducted in 15 kindergartens in Kuala Lumpur and suburbs in Selangor and 7 kindergartens in Sarawak (Borneo), Malaysia. All participating kindergartens were funded by Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS), the Community Development Department, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development.The existing ToyBox resources and questionnaires were translated into Bahasa Malaysia and the materials were adapted to suit local culture. Theory of change workshops and focus groups were conducted with parents, caregivers, teachers, cooks and government officers in order to help develop the implementation model. Train-the-trainer and teacher training sessions were organised before the study commenced. The study was a randomised controlled trial that compared the ToyBox Study with kindergarten usual practice, over a period of one year. The ToyBox Study specifically targeted four energy balance related behaviours, namely; eating healthy snacks and meals, making water the preferred drink, increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour. Food frequency questionnaires were used to assess food intake. Accelerometry was used to measure physical activity. Weight, height and waist circumference were also measured. All measurements were made at baseline and post-intervention. Equipment such as soft mats and drinking water stations were supplied where needed. Parents, caregivers and teachers were provided with relevant materials, newsletters and tip cards and encouraged to participate and act as role models. They also completed project evaluation surveys. If successful, it is envisaged that the ToyBox Study Malaysia will be adopted by other kindergartens in Malaysia, with the intention of helping Malaysian children and their families to achieve healthy energy balance related behaviours that will benefit their health and reduce obesity risk in the long-term.


[1] Cyclonic circulation dominates flow in the Bering Sea basin. The eastward flowing Aleutian North Slope Current (ANSC) flows along the north slope of the Aleutian Islands, turning northwestward in the southeast corner of the basin to form the Bering Slope Current (BSC). During the period 1997 to 2007, a pair of hydrographic lines was occupied 14 times in the southeastern portion of the basin. One transect was across the ANSC, and the second was across the BSC. In addition, a series of five yearlong moorings was deployed in a water depth of 1000 m in the ANSC, and a single yearlong mooring was deployed to the northeast in a water depth of 2200 m. At the primary mooring site, strong variability in temperature and salinity occurred at fortnightly and annual periods, while strong variability in the currents occurred at fortnightly and semiannual periods. The mean geostrophic flow relative to 1500 m, calculated from the 14 occupations of the hydrographic lines, was 3.1 10 m s 1 in the ANSC and 3.3 10 m s 1 in the BSC. A significant barotropic component, measured by the current meters, adds 3 10 m s 1 to the transport.


Surface engineering is of importance to reduce the reaction barrier of oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, the NiFe Prussian blue analogue (NiFe-PBA)-F catalyst with a multilevel structure was obtained from NiFe-PBAs via a fluorination strategy, which presents an ultralow OER overpotential of 190 mV at 10 mA cm-2 in alkaline solution, with a small Tafel slope of 57 mV dec-1 and excellent stability. Interestingly, surface fluorination engineering could achieve a controllable removal of ligands of the cyan group, contributing to keep the framework structure of NiFe-PBAs. Particularly, NiFe-PBAs-F undergoes a dramatic reconstruction with the dynamic migration of F ions, which creates more active sites of F-doped NiFeOOH and affords more favorable adsorption of oxygen intermediates. Density functional theory calculations suggest that F doping increases the state density of Ni 3d orbital around the Fermi level, thus improving the conductivity of NiFeOOH. Furthermore, based on our experimental results, the lattice oxygen oxidation mechanism for NiFe-PBAs-F was proposed. Our work not only provides a new pathway to realize the controllable pyrolysis of NiFe-PBAs but also gives more insights into the reconstruction and the mechanism for the OER process.


PURPOSE
To evaluate and compare the surgically induced astigmatism in myopic eyes undergoing conventional and wavefront-guided LASIK.

METHODS
A retrospective review was performed of the charts of 200 myopic eyes of 121 patients who underwent either custom or conventional treatments via the VISX S4 or LADARVision4000 platforms (50 consecutive eyes in each of the four groups). The primary outcome measure was manifest refraction, which was evaluated preoperatively and at 3 months postoperatively. The magnitude and axis of the unintended surgically induced astigmatism were calculated using vector analysis. The Student t test was used to compare the magnitudes of the surgically induced astigmatism and the absolute angle of error.

RESULTS
The mean preoperative manifest cylinder was 0.66 +/- 0.38 diopters (D) for conventional VISX S4 and 0.68 +/- 0.39 D for VISX CustomVue (P = .795), and 0.76 +/- 0.56 D for LADARVision and 0.61 +/- 0.36 D for LADAR CustomCornea (P = .114). The success index was 0.19 +/- 0.41 for VISX S4 and 0.49 +/- 0.49 for VISX CustomVue (P = .0013), and 0.25 +/- 0.47 for LADARVision and 0.20 +/- 0.39 for LADAR CustomCornea (P = .5721). The absolute mean angle of error was 4.4 +/- 13.9 degrees for VISX S4 versus 14.9 +/- 23.9 degrees for VISX CustomVue (P = .0085), and 6.1 +/- 12.30 for LADARVision versus 3.9 +/- 11.1 degrees for LADAR CustomCornea (P = .3501). Of the VISX CustomVue eyes, 32% had an absolute angle of error > 10 degrees, as compared to 10% for both the VISX S4 and LADAR CustomCornea eyes (P = .013), and 16% for the LADARVision group (P = .056).

CONCLUSIONS
Wavefront-guided ablation is associated with higher surgically induced astigmatism and larger astigmatic axis shift on the VISX platform as compared to the LADAR CustomCornea and the LADAR and VISX conventional platforms. Care should be emphasized mainly during registration/alignment to minimize surgically induced astigmatism in wavefront-guided LASIK.


The parallel factor (PARAFAC) kernel matrix to analyze a sample system stimulated by more than one type of perturbation is described. PARAFAC kernel is a quantitative representation of the synchronicity and asynchronicity observed within the PARAFAC score matrices generated by carrying out two-dimensional (2D) correlation analyses. Thus, kernel matrix representation provides more intuitively understandable interpretation to the conventional PARAFAC trilinear model. In this study, the utility of PARAFAC kernel is demonstrated by the study of poly(lactic acid)-nanocomposite undergoing a structural change depending on the temperature as well as the clay content in the sample. Seemingly complicated variation of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra induced by the change in the temperature and clay content are readily analyzed by the multiple-perturbation 2D correlation spectroscopy and PARAFAC kernel. PARAFAC kernel revealed that crystalline and amorphous structures of the PLA substantially undergo thermal deformation, and these variations are also influenced by the presence of the clay.


Abstract The long list of classical sources that were apparently used for the Old English version of Orosius's History of the World, some time around the year 900, raises important questions. Many of the sources are otherwise unknown in Anglo-Saxon England, and the period around 900 is thought to have been a low point in knowledge of Latin and of Latin literature in England. The generally low estimation of the translator's knowledge and abilities in modern studies adds to the anomaly. The article argues that detailed comparison with glossed copies of Orosius, and analysis of glossaries drawn from lost copies, indicates that the translator drew primarily on a heavily glossed copy of Orosius rather than classical sources, and that that copy is likely to have come from the East Frankish kingdom late in the ninth century. At the same time, the translator's skill and imagination in using the resources available to him and adapting Orosius's history to his own purposes suggests a more positive view of his abilities.


This study, first of all, investigates several different approaches to nature of the conceptualization of time as well as three fundamental cognitive models of temporality, based on movement metaphorically. The researcher of this study is exploring the possibility of determination of direction of temporal movement in Russian worldview to reach our ultimate aim. The present problem is solved by analysis of temporal metaphoric expression of modern Russian. Consequently, the problem of defining the direction of temporal movement in Russian is confined to a separate fraction of time that is in a state of movement or located in a space. In the metaphorical model of temporal movement, the future to the past and vice versa, both of the directions of temporal movement are taken into account in reference to Russian worldview. Nonetheless, of the two, the former(from the future to the past) direction of temporal movement can be considered more dominant. The direction of temporal movement depends on movement subjects, i.e. Time, Person(Observer), or Time(Person) to move with person(time). Thus the principle to separate directional models of temporal movement according to movement subjects consists in a mode of the conceptualization of time designed by a language user, who, engaging the world through his thoughts and views, forges a relationship between ego and the world around him, and interprets it on his own cultural background.


Knowing the affinity of boron aqueous species for cis-diol organic groups, five different hybrid materials have been prepared by anchoring glucose groups onto the surface of silica matrices with a different surface topology: UVM-7 bimodal mesoporous silica, UVM-11 unimodal non-templated mesoporous silica, commercial silica fume and two silica xerogels with pores within the mesoporous range (13–50 nm). After optimizing the experimental conditions, a comparison was made of the boron adsorption capacities in water. The relationship of the structural and functionalization parameters is discussed and the importance of the surface topology in the final adsorption behaviour is revealed. Hence, despite the UVM-7 based material being the best boron adsorbent, the solid based on one of the xerogels is seen to be a good candidate for preparing low-cost boron adsorbents.


We report discordant imaging findings of a small persistent type II endoleak in a 72-year-old man who had undergone endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Although the aneurysm was growing in size digital subtraction angiography could not detect an endoleak, but time-resolved CT-angiography and contrast enhanced ultrasound did detect a small type II endoleak.


In 2002 the Urban Master Plan(UMP) was vested with new roles and importance as the city planning range was extended into rural areas, also serving as base for all city planning decisions. In order to use UMP as base for city planning decisions, from now on, some problems must be tackled about the 'making' of UMP's. The UMP must contain general goals, objective, policies and implementation programs for municipal planning and development decisions to be feasible. All UMP elements must have consistency and be expressed in easy ways to be understood. Actual UMP analysis results are: It is not internally consistent; each element drawn up independently, and appeared not too clear.


Mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene have been detected in affected members of some families with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. To evaluate the possibility of a shared genetic defect in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, the SOD1 gene was sequenced in index patients with familial Parkinson's disease from 23 families. No changes were detected.


This study measured the magnitude of Covid-19's impact on the casino gaming industry in Macau, analyzed the current Asian gaming market, and provided an overview of the industry outlook in the post-Covid era. Using the Time Series analysis techniques, statistically significant decreases in all sections of the industry have been identified and quantified. In addition, quarterly gaming revenue for the future three years were forecasted. Based on current market conditions and the results of data analyses, this study suggests that: 1) a more diversified tourism and gaming service portfolio is needed; 2) collaborations with surrounding areas need to be established; 3) Macau's gaming industry will need to explore new markets for future sustainable growth; 4) the rebound of Macau's gaming industry in the near future will largely depend on China's COVID policy.


ABSTRACT The importance of ocean shipping for international trade forecasting is growing due to the specialization and evolution of industrial sectors around the world. Classic approaches for cargo volume forecasting, such as time series and casual methods, may have poor performances if the data size is small with large fluctuations. This study proposes a hybrid forecasting model based on the Grey forecasting models and an industry share transformation technique. The hybrid model is particular useful for problems when there are dynamic changes in the industry share and the sample size in historical dataset is small. Using a case study of cargo export and import by industry between Taiwan and North American, the proposed model shows good forecasting performances. The findings can be useful for the marine carriers in responding to the dynamic industrial changes.


The literary and experimental data on the structure and properties of cardiac and skeletal muscle troponin are reviewed. The cation--binding sites of cardiac and skeletal muscle troponin C are distinguished by specificity; the sites localized in the C-terminal part of the protein molecule can bind both Ca2+ and Mg2+, whereas the sites localized at the N-end specifically bind Ca2+. The use of bifunctional reagents revealed a number of helical sites within the structure of cardiac troponin C (residues 84-92 and 150-158) and of skeletal muscle troponin C (residues 90-98 and 125-136). A comparison of experimental data with the results of an X-ray analysis testifies to the presence in the central part of the troponin C molecule of a long alpha-helical sequence responsible for troponin C interaction with the inhibiting peptide of troponin I. The efficiency of interaction of troponin components depends on Ca2+ concentration; the integrity of the overall troponin complex is mainly provided for by troponin C interaction with troponin I and by troponin I interaction with troponin T. The interaction between troponins T and C is relatively weak, especially in the case of cardiac troponin components. Both skeletal and cardiac muscles synthesize several troponin T isoforms differing in length and amino acid composition of N-terminal 40-60 member peptides. Troponin T isoforms can undergo phosphorylation by several protein kinases. The single site of troponin T which exists in a phosphorylated state in vivo (residue Ser-1) undergoes phosphorylation by specific protein kinase (troponin T kinase) related to casein kinases II. It was assumed that the phosphorylation of Ser-1 residue of troponin T as well as the synthesis of troponin T isoforms differing in the structure of the N-terminal peptide, provides for the regulation of interaction between two neighbouring tropomyosin molecules.


The popularity of e-commerce platforms continues to grow. Being able to understand, and predict customer behavior is essential for customizing the user experience through personalized result presentations, recommendations, and special offers. Previous work has considered a broad range of prediction models as well as features inferred from clickstream data to record session characteristics, and features inferred from user data to record customer characteristics. So far, most previous work in the area of purchase prediction has focused on known customers, largely ignoring anonymous sessions, i.e., sessions initiated by a non-logged-in or unrecognized customer. However, in the de-identified data from a large European e-commerce platform available to us, more than 50% of the sessions start as anonymous sessions. In this paper, we focus on purchase prediction for both anonymous and identified sessions on an e-commerce platform. We start with a descriptive analysis of purchase vs. non-purchase sessions. This analysis informs the definition of a feature-based model for purchase prediction for anonymous sessions and identified sessions; our models consider a range of session-based features for anonymous sessions, such as the channel type, the number of visited pages, and the device type. For identified user sessions, our analysis points to customer history data as a valuable discriminator between purchase and non-purchase sessions. Based on our analysis, we build two types of predictors: (1) a predictor for anonymous that beats a production-ready predictor by over 17.54% F1; and (2) a predictor for identified customers that uses session data as well as customer history and achieves an F1 of 96.20%. Finally, we discuss the broader practical implications of our findings.


Abstract The Southern Hemisphere contains many monotypic taxa, for which phylogenetic relationships are important to illuminate biogeographical history. The monotypic genus Lyallia is endemic to the sub-Antarctic Iles Kerguelen. A close relationship with another monotypic taxon, the New Zealand endemic Hectorella, was proposed. They share a dense cushion growth habit with small coriaceous leaves that lack stipules. The solitary flowers are bicarpellate with two sepals, 4–5 petals, 3–5 stamens and a bifid style. The fruit is an indehiscent capsule with 1–5 seeds. The flowers of Lyallia kerguelensis are hermaphroditic with four petals and three stamens whereas the flowers of Hectorella caespitosa are female, male or hermaphroditic, with five petals and five stamens. Lyallia kerguelensis is rare on Kerguelen, whereas Hectorella caespitosa is confined to the South Island of New Zealand. Our phylogenetic analysis of trnK/matK intergenic spacer and rbcL sequences provides evidence supporting a close relationship between Lyallia and Hectorella. The two species form a well-supported clade that is nested within the Portulacaceae. Divergence estimates suggest they shared a common ancestor during the late Tertiary long after the fragmentation of Gondwana. Such relationships underscore the importance of transoceanic dispersal and extinctions for plant evolution in the Southern Hemisphere.


The main objectives of Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices are to increase the transmission capacity of lines and to control thepower flow over designated transmission system. FACTS devices can perform all objectives of reactive power control and voltage control required for transmission and lines. Several schemes of flexible AC transmission systems FACTSare in use today. One of the most important FACTS devices is the Unified PowerFlow Controller (UPFC),which is used for series voltage injection in desired phase as shown in Fig 1. The UPFC is a combination of a static Compensator (STATCOM) and a static synchronous series compensator (SSSC), which are coupled via a common DC link. 'Department of Electrical Engineering NJET, Gr. Noida Introduction The UPFC is a device, which can control simultaneously all the three parameters of line power flow which are line impedance, voltage and phase angle. The UPFC improves terminal voltage regulation, series capacitor compensation and transmission angle regulation. This paper explains the control scheme and comprehensive analysis of a unified power flow controller (UPFC). A MATlAS program using SIMULI N K/SI M POWER SYSTEMS toolboxes is developed for simulation of UPFC. This developed simulation technique is found to be very effective and it enables us to study and investigate how the UPFC can affect the transmission system using the series voltage and shunt current injection. It is possible to demonstrate with this simulation that the UPFC can improve the system characteristics and give the best transient and dynamic stability. It also improves the power factor. Some cases are investigated and studied such as the application of the UPFC to control voltage and power flow. These cases are tested for a power system with varying active and reactive power requirements of load. In all cases, the performance of the system was analyzed, tested and studied to indicate voltages, currents and power performance and shown to be satisfactory. Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is a generalized Synchronous Voltage Source(SVS), represented at the fundamental (power system) frequency by voltage phasor Vpq as shown in fig 2 with controllable """"~ •..••


Four heteroleptic platinum complexes (FPtXND) bearing 4-hydroxy-1,5-naphthyridine derivatives functionalized with dimethyl (X = mm), phenoxy (X = OPh), piperidine (X = pp), or carbazole (X = Cz) units as one ligand (XND) and 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine as the other common ligand (F) were newly synthesized and characterized. The crystal structures of FPtOPhND and FPtCzND were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography. Although they have a short plane-to-plane packing distance of 3.62 and 3.39 A, respectively, both platinum complexes have different molecular packing patterns, which affect their photoluminescence (PL) in solution and electroluminescence (EL) in the solid state. Due to the contribution from both monomers and excimers/aggregates, all of the platinum complexes exhibited broad and red-shifted PL in concentrated solutions as well as in doped thin films. In the monochromatic organic lighting diode (OLED) testing, FPtXND doped in 4,4′-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-1,1′-biphenyl (CBP) exhibited greenish yellow or orange yellow EL, of which FPtOPhND has the highest EL efficiency mainly due to its high solution PL quantum yield of 21%. Hybrid white OLEDs were first achieved with a single emitting layer configuration, of which highly fluorescent blue N,N′-di-1-naphthalenyl-N,N′-diphenyl-[1,1′:4′,1′′:4′′,1′′′-quaterphenyl]-4,4′′′-diamine (4P-NPD) was used as the host material for all four platinum complexes. To improve the performance of the FPtOPhND-based hybrid white OLEDs, double emitting layer configurations were adopted with CBP and 4P-NPD as the host material. Virtually voltage independent, a white EL having CIEx,y (0.33, 0.31) and a CRI as high as 91 was obtained. The maximum EL efficiency of 11.8%, 25.9 cd A−1, or 11.6 lm W−1 was acquired with FPtOPhND doped in the double emitting layer configuration of an OLED.


Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory disease of the colon with an unmet need for therapeutic targets. Ethyl gallate (EG) is a natural small molecule for UC treatment, but its cellular target is unknown. By labelling EG with a diazirine photocrosslinker and a click chemistry handle, we identified phosphatidyl-ethanolamine binding protein1 (PEBP1) as a direct cellular target of EG by forming hydrogen bonds with Asp70 and Tyr120. In particular, hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry indicated that EG induced the sequence (residues 141-153) embedding to inhibit S153 phosphorylation of PEBP1. Additionally, the EG-mediated sequence (residues 108-122) exposure significantly enhanced PEBP1-Raf-1 interaction to block the downstream NF-κB inflammatory pathway in macrophages. Moreover, PEBP1 siRNA substantially reversed the EG-dependent down-regulation of the phosphorylation of IKKβ, IκBα and NF-κB, demonstrating that the NF-κB signal functioned as an essential anti-inflammation mechanism of PEBP1. Collectively, we revealed PEBP1 as a previously undescribed cellular target in macrophages for UC therapy and identified a new allosteric site for PEBP1 biology study using EG as a chemical probe.


Reciprocal cross-stadia experimental infections were used to demonstrate stadium specificity within the gregarine assemblage parasitizing Tenebrio molitor, the yellow mealworm. Gregarina cuneata, Gregarina polymorpha, and Gregarina steini are characteristic parasites of larval T. molitor. Gregarina niphandrodes is a characteristic parasite of adult T. molitor. Experimental infections were produced in all homologous host-parasite combinations. No infection was produced in heterologous or cross-stadia combinations. This study introduces the concept of separate, distinct parasite niches corresponding to separate life cycle stages and established by known, predictable life cycle events within a single host species.


H. Leung and L. White (1990) introduced the firewall concept for control flow in regression testing. In order to define this firewall, they assumed that unit testing and integration testing are both reliable. The paper continues to assume that unit testing can be carried out in an entirely reliable fashion, while integration testing may not be reliable. The paper is designed to fulfill the following objectives: identify the error cases that the testing process may have missed, making integration testing unreliable; attempt to solve the problems that make integration testing unreliable, designing procedures to improve reliability; and determine the effects of unreliable integration testing on the firewall, indicating how the firewall construction should subsequently change.


Summary Intravenous γ-immunoglobulin (IVIg) is commonly used in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory vascular disorders to prevent thrombotic complications. The mechanism of action of IVIg is, however, not yet elucidated. In view of this, we investigated the ability of IVIg to modulate i) Ca2+ signals of fura-2 loaded endothelial cells, and ii) the associated release of nitric oxide (NO) and von Willebrand factor (vWf). NO was measured either indirectly by radioimmunoassay of cGMP in unstimulated cells or directly by electrochemistry at the surface of stimulated endothelial cells from human umbilical cord veins (HUVEC). Short-term treatment of unstimulated HUVEC with intact IVIg decreased the basal cytosolic Ca2+ concentration by 20% while it activated the NO/cGMP synthesis. Following IVIg treatment of HUVEC, the Ca2+ liberation from internal stores and the vWf secretion induced by ATP, thrombin or histamine were significantly reduced by 38 and 60 %, respectively. The effects on Ca2+ signals were observed with intact IVIg as well as with the F(ab')2 or the Fc fragments indicating that both portions are involved in the mechanism of action. The IVIg treatment of HUVECs had no effect on the NO release induced by thrombin or histamine. By contrast, the IVIg treatment increased the ATP-activated NO release by amplifying the Ser1177-eNOS phosphorylation. The IVIg also activated the NO-dependent cGMP release in resting and collagen-stimulated platelets. Since NO is a potent inhibitor of platelet activation and vWF is a platelet adhesion cofactor, the beneficial effects of therapeutic IVIg may lie in the inhibition of platelet adhesion to damaged endothelium.


A new method for reconstruction of coronal magnetic fields as force-free fields (FFFs) is presented. Our method employs poloidal and toroidal functions to describe divergence-free magnetic fields. This magnetic field representation naturally enables us to implement the boundary conditions at the photospheric boundary, i.e., the normal magnetic field and the normal current density there, in a straightforward manner. At the upper boundary of the corona, a source surface condition can be employed, which accommodates magnetic flux imbalance at the bottom boundary. Although our iteration algorithm is inspired by extant variational methods, it is nonvariational and requires far fewer iteration steps than most others. The computational code based on our new method is tested against the analytical FFF solutions by Titov & Démoulin. It is found to excel in reproducing a tightly wound flux rope, a bald patch, and quasi-separatrix layers with a hyperbolic flux tube.


This study used spectroscopic methods to investigate the fate and dynamics of natural organic matter (NOM) as it traverses the treatment train at three water treatment plants (WTPs) in South Africa. The character, quantity, and removability of NOM at specific treatment stages was investigated by measuring changes in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, specific ultra-violet absorbance, UV absorbance, various spectroscopic indices, and maximum fluorescence intensity levels. A novel method of identifying and quantifying fluorescent fractions by combining synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) and Gaussian peak fitting is presented. The dynamics of NOM removal were modeled using 2D-SFS correlation spectroscopy. Humic and fulvic substances dominated coastal plants and were the most amenable for removal by coagulation as shown by Hermanus WTP (plant H), which had a 42% DOC removal at the coagulation stage. Tyrosine-like, tryptophan-like and microbial humic-like substances were degraded or transformed concurrently at plant Flag Bushiole (FB) whereas, at plant H, fulvic-like matter was transformed first followed by tyrosine-like then humic-like matter. Through 2D-SFS, this study revealed that NOM transformation was varied as a consequence of NOM character, the type and dosage of treatment chemicals used, and WTPs operational parameters.


Rene Descartes's motto challenges his would-be historians: "He lives well who hides well." He hid even in the Discourse on Method, where he professed to recount the story of his "entire life, " but said almost nothing about his childhood and youth. He mentioned neither family nor friends, and he boasted a total freedom from irrational passions. In the Discourse, which presented a new way of achieving certain truth through mathematical reason, Descartes stressed just one event, a day of thinking at the beginning of winter, 1619. Tucked away in an unpublished notebook, however, Descartes also left the Olympica, which documented the wildly irrational dreams he had the night of November 10, 1619, and gave his own enthusiastic interpretations. Embarrassed scholars have tried to reason away this record and even the dreams themselves. Adapting clinical methods to historical research, John Cole offers the first systematic interpretation of the Olympian dreams. He argues that they expressed and masked Descartes's unresolved conflicts: his guilt at having rejected the law career for which he had been trained and which his lawyer father had wanted him to pursue, and his shame over early failures to satisfy the high expectations of his friend and mentor, Isaac Beeckman. Cole shows us how a critical historian can make sense of such irrational material and lets us see the creation of an egocentric and rationalist philosophy.


The purpose of this research is to introduce a qualitative sustainability performance assessment framework for food supply networks, based on the perception of their key stakeholders' upper management. Moreover, the paper provides industry insights by exemplifying the value of the proposed framework for the UK food industry. A critical review on the most acknowledged sustainability assessment methodologies and tools resulted in the synthesis of the proposed framework. An illustrative application follows, based on data from semi-structured interviews with C-level executives from key players of the UK poultry sector. The results demonstrate an easy-to-use approach, with a comprehensive and sharp outcome on supply chain sustainability performance assessment. Industry insights demonstrate an adequate sustainability performance with respect to the entire supply chain. A detailed view on different echelons reveals specific areas that could be improved, such as the environmental performance at both farming (production) and processing levels. This work extends the scope of current sustainability performance assessment tools by providing a tangible triple bottom-line overview, as well as echelon-specific and indicator-specific details, in a user-friendly, yet straightforward, way. UK food industry insights are valuable for practitioners and academics. The illustration is based exclusively on C-level executives' viewpoint; thus, any generalization of the results should be considered to this effect. Supply chain stakeholders, policy-makers, and researchers could perform a quick and reliable supply network sustainability performance assessment.


For every official registered Romanian migrant in Italy there are between one and three illegal, unregistered migrants. This article examines the informal forms of self-organization that arise among the migrants in order to manage the challenges migrants face under a system that needs their labor but refuses to acknowledge this need publicly or institutionalize it openly. Semi-tolerated illegality determines the forms of networks both in the organization of the migration and in the forms of its integration into the labor and housing markets. This strictly ethnographic and qualitative presentation focuses on informal solutions to housing and the creation of informal labor markets and the consequences for the migrants of this enforced informality. It shows how the Italian state is caught between toleration and repression, arbitrarily switching from one mode to the other.


This article examines genderqueer writer/director Ester Martin Bergsmark's film Something Must Break (2014) and the trans gaze created through the film's disjunctive imagery. I argue the film's aestheticization of polluted environments and trans bodies posits a queer alliance between transness and trash. Similarly, Something Must Break's repeated imagery of urination and body fluids representationally relates transness, waste, and transgressive sexuality to a politics of marginality, which Bergsmark employs in Something Must Break to express these relationalities as sites for creative difference and possibilities of being that exist outside of heterosexual norms. I use post-structuralist and queer interpretations of perversion to reimagine the film's polluted environments and abject fluids as sites/sights of creation and liveability for trans bodies. I find in the refractions of polluted waters, blood, saliva, and urine in Something Must Break the same cinematic fissures that Eliza Steinbock argues allows for a uniquely trans gaze in their theory of shimmering. In considering a cinematic transgender gaze, Steinbock describes a cinema that eschews the visual reveal and instead portrays a lived trans experience not defined by dualities, but by disjunctions; thus, the unsettled, the (un)becoming, the "shimmering" aesthetics of trans embodiment. I argue Bergsmark achieves a cinematic trans gaze in their imagining of a queer space where pollution, trash, urine, and blood are not symbols of abjection and shame, but embody an opening-up, a vulnerability: a becoming that molds new forms of relationships, new forms of love, and new forms of creation.


• Five patients had varying degrees of obsessive-compulsive behavior, deep-seated hostility, and periods of depression in addition to chronic ulcerative colitis of such long standing and severity that colectomy was deemed inadvisable. These patients were selected for lobotomy because medical and psychiatric management had both failed. In three cases the effects on the colon were strikingly beneficial; the frequency of defecations became normal, and the patients gained weight. In a fourth case a second operation for more exten sive division of the white matter had only temporary benefits, and a colectomy undertaken as a last resort was followed by a fatal septicemia. In the fifth case, the lobotomy was followed by the appearance of a voracious appetite, and intestinal obstruction with perforation ended in death a week later. Chronic colitis can result in irremediable fibrosis and loss of sphincter control, after which lobotomy cannot afford complete relief. The indications for this operation were persistent bloody diarrhea despite intensive medical management, weight loss exceeding 25% of the normal, and psychiatric symptoms that proved refractory to treatment. In three patients selected by these criteria, lobotomy was followed by complete remission of their colitis.


Some properties of near-Toeplitz tridiagonal matrices with specific perturbations in the first and last main diagonal entries are considered. Applying the relation between the determinant and Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind, we first give the explicit expressions of determinant and characteristic polynomial, then eigenvalues are shown by finding the roots of the characteristic polynomial, which is due to the zeros of Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind, and the eigenvectors are obtained by solving symmetric tridiagonal linear systems in terms of Chebyshev polynomial of the third kind or the fourth kind. By constructing the inverse of the transformation matrices, we give the spectral decomposition of this kind of tridiagonal matrices. Furthermore, the inverse (if the matrix is invertible), powers and a square root are also determined. Key–Words: Tridiagonal matrices, Spectral decomposition, Powers, Inverses, Chebyshev polynomials


Conventional method of cell–based assays in life science and medical application can be difficult to duplicate in vivo situation. Microfluidics is an emerging technology with potential to provide integrated environments for cell maintenance, continuous perfusion, and monitoring. In this paper, we introduce possibility of microfluidics to become a novel cell–based assay system with its concept. Then, we show a chip–based coculture system for cytotoxicity test, as our continuous effort to develop a multi–functional micro culture system realized by integration of fluidic control and detection functionalities. The culture zone in the chip was divided into two compartments separated by a microporous membrane through which substances in culture medium can freely come-and-go to induce the mutual interactions between the cells cultured at each compartment. Performances of the chip were examined 1) monitoring of polarized transport activity of intestinal tissue models, 2) cytotoxicity model through oral intake by coculture. As a result, we conclude that microfluidics may have applications in toxicity test and drug screening.


The effectiveness of maternal serum alpha‐fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol, and human chorionic gonadotrophin in screening for Down's syndrome (DS) was evaluated on 840 women who underwent amniocentesis for fetal karyotype on account of their age. The risk of a DS pregnancy was established using the method of Wald et al. (1988b), which combines the age‐specific risk with that indicated by the levels of the three serum markers. In women over 35, at cut‐off risk levels of 1:250 and 1:380, the false‐positive rate was 24 and 34 per cent, respectively. In all nine cases of DS, the estimated risk was higher than 1:250. The best screening strategy with the lowest false‐positive rate was obtained by combining the three serum markers. The results suggest that this kind of screening can be proposed during genetic counselling for women under 35 and older women wishing to avoid the risk of miscarriage induced by amniocentesis.


We describe how aggregation is handled in the Trio system for uncertain and probabilistic data. Because "exact" aggregation in uncertain databases can produce exponentially sized results, we provide three alternatives: a low bound on the aggregate value, a high bound on the value, and the expected value. These variants return a single result instead of a set of possible results, and they are generally efficient to compute for both full-table and grouped aggregation queries. We provide formal definitions and semantics and a description of our open source implementation for single-table aggregation queries. We study the performance and scalability of our algorithms through experiments over a large synthetic data set. We also provide some preliminary results on aggregations over joins.


ABSTRACT Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Igloolik, Nunavut. Located on an island of the same name off the northeastern coast of Melville Peninsula, extensive ice formation occurs in Fury and Hecla Strait. This creates an important travel and hunting platform, and enables access to Baffin Island, the mainland, moving ice, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Igloolik since February 2004, we present the results of 24 semi-directed interviews and 4 sea ice trips to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, tidal cracks, floe edge, and moving ice), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, and break-up), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation and movement), and, current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Igloolik that are not captured in regional scale studies of Foxe Basin and/or Fury and Hecla Strait. Results have the potential to inform future research efforts on local/regional sea ice monitoring, the relationship between Inuit knowledge, language, and the environment, and addressing community interests through targeted studies.


ABSTRACT Despite the steps taken to improve support in universities, many students and graduates with autism face a substantial employment gap when completing university as compared to any other student group with disabilities. The literature shows that often students with autism do not have appropriate support to prepare them for entering the workforce. Therefore, it is imperative that this under-researched topic be studied. Utilising a participatory approach, in this article, we sought to investigate perceptions of students and graduates with autism about the employment support they received when preparing for university-to-work transition. The study involved semi-structured interviews with 30 university students and graduates with autism from Finland, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Data were analysed using an inductive content analysis approach. Findings indicate that organisational enablers consisting of career-focused support and internships and practicums facilitated preparation for employment. Supportive and caring relationships emerged as forms of support that included mentors, committed and caring academics, and family members. Further, the findings indicated the aspiration for individualisation that consists of improving work and academic support, and awareness and understanding. These findings have also important practical implications.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the implementation and use of the Value Scorecard in a university library. The Value Scorecard seeks to articulate the full value of a library through a four dimensional matrix populated with data, evidence and narrative. Design/methodology/approach – The study covers two years of collection of data and evidence to populate the Value Scorecard at the University of York, UK. This is action research and development. Findings – The paper describes the success of the implementation of the framework across a broad university service including library, archives and IT services. The reporting template is outlined and the availability of relevant measures for populating each dimension are discussed, together with developments in the concepts of each dimension since the original paper on the scorecard. The paper reflects on the advances in the understanding and practice of performance measurement and assessment in libraries that the Value Scorecard offers. The strengths and omissions of other pre-existing frameworks, including the Balanced Scorecard, are discussed and absorbed into the value framework. The application of the Value Scorecard offers a practical and successful framework for library performance measurement and advocacy in a dynamic and changing landscape. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the research are those generally applying to a single case experience. Practical implications – Nothing arises from the study to suggest that other libraries could not apply this framework, as it encompasses other previous frameworks and allows for local variations and circumstances. Some elements of the framework lack full measurement methods, and this is discussed. Originality/value – The originality and value of the paper is that it provides a unique framework for measurement of all dimensions of activity and value in an academic research library, and one that can be tailored to local requirements.


Central venous catheterization is a critical component of management for the critically ill patient in the operating room and intensive care unit. When using ultrasound techniques for central venous access, access is achieved with fewer attempts, a reduced incidence of carotid artery punctures or 'hits', an increased success rate, and a decreased duration of procedure compared to the traditional landmark approach.


This chapter deals with the oeuvre of Okinawan filmmaker Takamine Gō and video artist Yamashiro Chikako, with an emphasis on the former's feature Queer Fish Lane ( Hengyoro , 2016). Taking as a point of departure Gilles Deleuze's framework of time-image, which underpins his explication of modern political cinema, this chapter examines how Takamine has experimented with textual strategies and forms of expression in configuring the 'stratigraphic image' apropos of Okinawa, wherein the boundaries between the actual and the virtual and between the real and the imagined are blurred. Meanwhile, I also turn to Yamashiro Chikako's recent narrative-oriented video works that have been intricately connected to the legacies of the Battle of Okinawa and the current waves of protests against the US military bases on the islands.


Low-noise, low dc power dissipation GaAs monolithic amplifiers have been developed for use in VHF-UHF mobile radio systems. The developed amplifiers have two-stage constuction, where gate width for the first stage is 1000 µm, and for the second stage is 500 pm. Using this circuit configuration, both noise figure and bandwidth have been improved. To maintain the uniformity for the ion-implanted active layers and to reduce gate-source resistance R/sub S/ and gate-drain resistance R/sub D/, the "closely spaced electrode FET" was adopted. The FET enables low drain voltage operation, resulting in low dc power dissipation. The developed amplifier for the FET threshold voltage VT= --0.6 V provides a 3-dB noise figure, less than 170-mW dc power dissipation, 9-MHz-3.9-GHz bandwidth with 16-dB gain. It can operate under a unipolar power source. When external choke inductors were introduced for the amplifier, 120-mW dc power dissipation has been achieved. It has also been demonstrated that the amplifier for V/sub T/= --0.6V, which is inferior to the amplifier for VT= -2.7V regarding gain-bandwidth product and power efficiency under the same dc power dissipation, however, has an acceptable performance for use in the mobile radio systems.


Introduction: Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018 representing 6.6% of all female cancers. Approximately 90% of deaths from cervical cancer occurred in low-and middle-income countries. The high mortality rate from cervical cancer globally could be reduced through a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early diagnosis, effective screening and treatment programmes. Objective: To find out Signs, Symptoms changes and such -P/V discharge, P/V bleeding, pelvic pain, Fever with Chemo-Radiotherapy and Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Cervical Cancer. Methods and Materials: The study had conducted in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Enam Medical College Hospital, Savar, Dhaka & in the department of Radiation Oncology, National Institute of Cancer Research & Hospital (NICRH), Dhaka from July 2018 to June 2019. Experimental study- Randomized Control Clinical Trail. Patients with carcinoma cervix attained at the Radiation Oncology Department of EMCH & NICRH during the study period had included in the study according to inclusion an exclusion criterion. Patients- Clinically diagnosed and histologically proved squamous cell cervical carcinoma. Results: A total of 80 patients (40 patients in side A & 40 patients in side B) who have biopsy proven cervical carcinoma with no history of previous treatment were selected from the Department of radiotherapy Enam Medical College Hospital, Savar, Dhaka and in the department of Radiation Oncology, National Institute of Cancer Research & Hospital. All patients in both side received external beam radiation with 50Gy in 25 daily fractions over five weeks. Distribution of study population according to presence of symptoms. Bar chart showed distribution of study population according to presence of symptoms. Almost all the study population had presented with P/V watery discharge with pelvic pain. Majority of the patient presented with P/V bleeding, fever and anorexia. A significant symptomatic improvement was found in side-A, after treatment than side-B. Mildly increases in 2 nd week of treatment then decline gradually. Overall treatment related toxicity was more in side-A than side-B. In Grade-I nausea/vomiting and skin reaction in Grade-II were more in side-A. Leukopenia and anaemia II also more in side-A Grade-I and II respectively. Data was analyzed by using chi-square test and result was not significant in nausea/vomiting and skin reaction and significant in leukopenia at p<0.05. Conclusion: In this study it was observed that patients of carcinoma cervix treated with concurrent chemo radiotherapy was effective for symptomatic improvement and suitable with acceptable toxicity for advanced cancer of the uterine cervix than those with radiation only.


AIM
To describe and understand the experiences of Chinese family members of terminally ill patients during the end of life process in a palliative care unit.

BACKGROUND
Palliative care aims to provide care to dying patients and their family members. Skillful interventions are necessary to help family members cope with the impending death of the patient and maintain their emotional equilibrium. Hence, it is important to understand the experiences of family members of palliative care.

DESIGN
A phenomenological study was conducted. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews. We interviewed a purposive sample of 20 family members of terminally ill patients in a palliative care unit in Hong Kong. The data were analysed following Colaizzi's phenomenological methodology.

RESULTS
Family members experienced anticipatory grief, with reactions that included anger, unease, sadness and helplessness. This was particularly acute when the patient was first admitted to the palliative care unit. However, the family members quickly accepted the reality and committed themselves to the care of the patient, seeking informational and emotional support from the nurses. The families wanted to be assured that the patient had been offered good care and suffered no pain. It was considered important to be with the patient during the dying process.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrated that Chinese family members were committed to the care of the patients in the palliative care unit. Cultural beliefs played a part in influencing family emotions and concerns.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
This study offers a direction for family interventions that acknowledge the reactions of family members to the admission of a patient to a palliative care unit. It highlights that families need active informational and emotional support from nurses.


In the last twenty years, data series similarity search has emerged as a fundamental operation at the core of several analysis tasks and applications related to data series collections. Many solutions to different mining problems work by means of similarity search. In this regard, all the proposed solutions require the prior knowledge of the series length on which similarity search is performed. In several cases, the choice of the length is critical and sensibly influences the quality of the expected outcome. Unfortunately, the obvious brute-force solution, which provides an outcome for all lengths within a given range is computationally untenable. In this Ph.D. work, we present the first solutions that inherently support scalable and variable-length similarity search in data series, applied to sequence/subsequences matching, motif and discord discovery problems.The experimental results show that our approaches are up to orders of magnitude faster than the alternatives. They also demonstrate that we can remove the unrealistic constraint of performing analytics using a predefined length, leading to more intuitive and actionable results, which would have otherwise been missed.


The obesity epidemic has become global meriting the term of "globesity". At the heart of it lies our increasing sedentary lifestyle together with detrimental dietary habits. The genetic background, in particular, our "thrifty genes" also take part of the responsibility for this pandemia. Interestingly, mounting epidemiological evidence links obesity with increases in intrauterine influences, epigenetics, viruses, microbiota, climate changes, sleep debt, and xenobiotics including endocrine disruptors, among others. In this re spect, it may be worthwhile to consider that all these factors, that conform our lifelong exposure profile or "exposome", may be partly contributing to the global obesity epidemic. Consequently, an exposomic approach underlines the need for biomonitoring of xenobiotics accumulation in human body, particularly in adipose tissue. It may be time to try to better identify these potential drivers and stimulate analysis on the impact of the "exposome" in light of the increasing overweight and obesity trends. Adipobiology 2012; 4: xx-xx.


The 'Exploring Masculinities' (EM) programme was piloted in 22 Irish single‐sex boys' post‐primary schools during the late 1990s. Following objections from some influential journalists and an organisation representing parents whose sons attended Catholic secondary schools, the Minister for Education and Science put the planned dissemination of the programme on hold. The concerns of the objectors included the proposed treatment of sexual orientation and homophobia in the context of the school curriculum. The authors researched the views of a national sample of the parents of young men regarding the inclusion of social and personal education issues on the school curriculum. The vast majority of parents would welcome the inclusion of all EM topics including sexual orientation and homophobia, the focus of the current paper, on the school curriculum. However, parents did express concerns in relation to the adequacy of teacher development for dealing with such sensitive topics and possible conflict between school and parental values.


There is a trend of increasing size of web sites and increasing complexity of web pages by dynamic content in recent years. Currently available web navigation modeling tools are unable to cope with the need of modeling these contemporary web sites, especially those with dynamic content. This need is analyzed in this paper and a web navigation model based on statechart is proposed to meet the requirements. The model will serve as a tool for the modeling and analyzing navigation of complex and dynamic web sites.


Background: Endovascular aneurysm coiling is a minimally invasive method to manage intracranial aneurysms. However, aneurysm coiling may fail in very small aneurysms (VSAs); thus, flow diverter (FD) is recommended as an alternative in these difficult aneurysms. Herein, we report our experience and outcomes of FD to treat VSA of the internal carotid artery (ICA). Methods: Over a 3-year period, a total of 70 patients with 87 unruptured VSAs of the ICA were managed by FD. There were 54 men and 16 women, with a mean age of 57 (range, 41–75) years. We retrospectively assessed the clinical data, aneurysm characteristics, and angiographic as well as clinical outcomes of patients treated by FD and compared with larger aneurysms. Results: Fifty aneurysms (58%) were located in the supraclinoid ICA, followed by paraclinoid ICA (n = 31, 36%) and cavernous ICA (n = 6, 7%). Most aneurysms (n = 72, 83%) were between 2 and 3 mm in size. The mean aneurysm size was 2.3 mm (range, 1.5–3 mm). Follow-up angiographic data (mean, 13 months) were available in 54 patients with 68 aneurysms. Successful FD deployment in an ideal position to bride aneurysm was achieved in 86 of 87 aneurysms (99%). Complete obliteration (CO) was achieved in 63 aneurysms (93%). Compared with larger aneurysms (>3 mm), VSAs had the tendency to achieve CO (p < 0.05) in a midterm follow-up. Two patients (2.8%) had intraprocedural complications, including in-stent thrombosis (n = 1) and distal embolism (n = 1). One patient (1.4%) suffered from mild limb weakness. Conclusion: The use of FD to manage VSA was technically feasible, and the procedure was simpler than those of larger aneurysms. FD stenting of VSAs was confirmed to be effective and safe and had higher CO rate than those in larger aneurysms in a midterm angiographic follow-up.


Existing solutions for exchange flow through straits rely upon the decomposition of the flow into a finite number of layers which have constant density. In this paper we provide a solution to inviscid steady exchange flow between continuously stratified reservoirs, where it is assumed that the flow in each direction is independently self-similar. The solution requires knowledge only of the two reservoir stratifications and an imposed net barotropic throughflow. The solution includes regions of stagnant fluid which separate two counter-flowing, stably stratified layers, with the provision that the two active layers may touch at no more than one point. Comparison of the theoretical solution with numerical simulations indicates that the assumption of self-similarity is reasonable, and that the disparity between the theoretical and simulated flows can be attributed to the inclusion of diffusion and viscosity in the numerical model.


Abstract The cognitive domains of language and memory are intrinsically connected and work together during language processing. This relationship is especially apparent in the area of semantics. Several disciplines have contributed to a rich store of data about semantic organization and processing, and several semantic treatments for aphasic word and sentence production impairments have been based on these data. This article reviews the relationships between semantics and memory as they relate to word and sentence production, describes the aphasic language impairments that result from deficits in these areas, and summarizes treatment approaches that capitalize on what we have learned about these domains and how they work together.


Since 1986 I have hardly spent a month without teaching at least one object technology class, to groups large and small. I draw from this experience to suggest a few rules for effective object training in industrial environments. A mOOzak effect is caused by the omnipresence of OO this and OO that in the computer press. The words flow so continuously as to cause a general dilution of the concepts. The words are familiar, but are the concepts understood? Often they are not. The trainer must convince the trainees that they do not yet know everything, because no one can learn a subject he thinks he already knows. The only strategy guaranteed to overcome the mOOzak effect is to present the initial training course; have the students try their hand at OO development; and present the initial training course. Initial training should focus on implementation and design. Do not limit yourself to introductory courses, however. Reserve at least 50 percent of your training budget for advanced courses. Finally, do not train developers only. A training curriculum should include courses for managers as well as software developers.


Background: Drug induced liver injury (DILI) refers to the presence of Acute Liver Damage caused by exposure to a drug or non-infectious toxic agents excluding other causes of liver damage and represents about 50% of cases of acute liver failure in developed countries.
Case presentation: A 32 year old Mexican man was referred for evaluation of new onset of jaundice, nausea, fatigue and dark urine with a>10 fold increase in his transaminase, >50 fold increase in his Bilirubin with elevated alkaline phosphatase with a R factor for Liver Injury of 3.8 (Mixed Pattern). The patient had received a prescription for Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus) due to Chronic Fatigue approximately 12 weeks prior his evaluation. Hepatic evaluation revealed negative results for acute viral hepatitis, autoimmune disease, metabolic or neoplastic disease. The result of the liver biopsy showed marked centrilobular cholestasis without fibrosis determining a Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) of 8 points making the diagnosis of DILI secondary to Greater Celandine. The patient was treated with antihistamines, ursodiol and discontinuation of the Homeopathic Drug. His liver enzymes and synthetic function practically normalized 4 weeks after discontinuation of the Greater Celandine.
Conclusion: This case describes the association between a homeopathic drug (Chelidonium majus) and DILI in Mexico. Drug induced liver injury may be difficult to diagnosis since Homeopathic Drugs are not considered a dangerous drugs by patients and its consumption can be omitted by them, so the diagnosis is based on an adequate clinical suspicion, diagnostic tools including the ACG algorithms, causative assessment scales, imaging and histological findings.


The massive increases in women's labour participation and the return of families with children to the city are often overlooked in understanding contemporary views on urban planning, despite decades of feminist urban theory. This article proposes to understand what is termed the 'urban gender revolution' through looking closely at the celebration of Jane Jacobs as the planning hero of the day. Zooming in on the city of Amsterdam, this article offers a case study of the popularity of Jane Jacobs to investigate the production of space for post-Fordist gender notions – genderfication – and to ask the question what new forms of exclusions are the result of this perhaps less sexist city (when compared to the modernist patriarchal ideal that Jacobs rallied against). In addition, it posits that the genderfication-project may help to overcome inequalities along gender lines; it underlines those along class lines.


Land-cover (LC) and land-use (LU) change information is important due to its practical uses in various applications. Increasing the geometrical resolution of remote sensing images makes the change detection (CD) process to be complicated. In this paper, An enhanced framework based on the spatial context information of multitemporal adaptive regions homogeneous both in spatial and temporal domain (parcels) is presented to detect the semantic changes in the very high resolution (VHR) remote sensing multitemporal images. The proposed framework uses the absolute difference between {red, green, blue and hue} layers instead of the use of change vector analysis proposed by Lorenzo Bruzzone and Francesca Bovolo in 2013. Two experiments are performed to test the performance of the proposed framework. The first experiment shows that the proposed framework gives 72.8 % CD accuracy while the published framework gives 18.69 %. The second experiment shows that the proposed framework gives overall accuracy, while the published framework gives The results indicate that the proposed framework detects % had been changed from the total area and the published framework gives 10.41%


Materials and Methods: Sixty-four patients with large hernia ASA III, mean age 69 8, weight 89 9, height 171 8 were randomized in two equal groups to receive combined-spinal anesthesia either 8 mg (Group S) or 12 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine (Group L) with a 27G Whitacre needle at the L1–L2 level followed 20 mg epidural bupivacaine. Sensory block was tested by pinprick and motor block was tested at the level of the thigh by using a fourpoint Bromage scale.


The principal goal of this child restraint survey has always been to estimate compliance with the relevant statutes in place at the time. Each summer, data were collected in the four metropolitan areas of Virginia (northern, eastern, central, and western) at the same sites, on the same day of the week, and at the same hour of the day. In 1997, sites in three mid-size cities with a population between 50,000 and 100,000 were added, as was data collection on safety belt use by occupants under 16 years of age. In 2002, additional sites in the existing mid-size cities were added to increase the sample size and a new mid-size city, Harrisonburg, was added. In addition, in 2002, the age categories used in the survey were changed to (1) infants and toddlers 0 through 3 years old, (2) preschoolers 4 through 5 years old, and (3) children 6 through 15 years old. These categories allowed the investigators to continue to analyze the longitudinal restraint use data and to evaluate the impact of the legislative changes made in 2002. A total of 2,823 children were observed during the 2002 survey of child restraint and safety belt use among persons under 16 years of age: 594 children under age 4 and 2,229 children aged 4 through 15. In 2002, total child safety seat use for metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 93.2% and correct use was 70.8%. Total seat belt use among 4 through 15 year olds in metropolitan areas and mid-size cities combined was 65.6%, and correct use was 55.4%.