Tourism is the sources of income which is influenced by customer satisfaction. One way to know customer satisfaction is feedback, one of which is a review using an application. One of the feedback applications is Google Review. Such applications are have been widely used, for example in this study in this case study, Summarecon Mal Bekasi, can reach 60,000 comments. To find out the sentiment of the large number of comments, it is necessary to use computational tools. The current research applies sentiment analysis using the Naïve Bayes method and the Support Vector Machine. Data retrieval is done by web scrapping technique. Furthermore, the comment data is processed by pre-processing and labelling using the Lexicon dictionary. The process of applying sentiment analysis is carried out to determine whether the comments are positive or negative. In this study, the accuracy of the Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine methods in conducting sentiment analysis on the Summarecon Mal Bekasi review with a data of 2,143 comments with an accuracy for Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine 80.95% and 100% respectively. A Jason-style application is built to show the implementation in Flask framework.

Keywords:


In the paper reliability structure of the Vessel Traffi c Services Gulf of Gdansk system is described. Four diff erent functional subsystems are distinguished. Some defi nitions of the diff erent kinds of structures are also presented


Abstract In a recent study, the combined use of 4-Posters and Maxforce TMS bait boxes along with a barrier application of deltamethrin resulted in accelerated control of Ixodes scapularis Say by sequentially attacking each postembryonic life stage. We report the results of a follow-up study to test the ability of 4-Posters used alone to sustain the high levels of control achieved through the integrated tick management (ITM) approach after withdrawal of the bait boxes. In the first year after withdrawal, we observed declines in the level of control of larvae on small mammals, as well as of numbers of host-seeking larvae in the treatment area. There was no difference in the level of control of host-seeking adults in the treatment area after 2 yr. Within 2 yr, we observed a decline in control of subadult ticks infesting small mammals, but continued to see significant control of both host-seeking nymphs (85.9%) and larvae (89.0%) in the treatment area. The inconsistency that we observed between the apparent ability of 4-Posters to sustain high levels of control of host-seeking ticks, although having less effect on tick burdens on small mammal hosts, may be explained by the host-seeking ecology of immature I. scapularis.


Sampling scheme is crucial in diffusion MRI data acquisition and reconstruction. A good sampling scheme can obtain good reconstruction results with less number of samples in diffusion q-space. It has been showed that for the diffusion data obtained from single shell (single b value), the uniform sampling scheme has good performance in a general case because it does not assume a preferred direction. In last decade, two kinds of uniform single shell sampling schemes are widely used in diffusion MRI field, i.e. the sphere tessellation and electrostatic energy minimization introduced in dMRI by Jones [1] However sphere tessellation cannot handle arbitrary number of samples, and electrostatic energy minimization lacks its physical meaning related to reconstructions in dMRI. It is still unclear that why electrostatic energy matters in diffusion data reconstruction? We hope the samples in sphere have large angular difference such that the "angular resolution" in reconstruction can be as large as possible, so mathematically a more natural way is to define a uniform sampling scheme $\{u_i\}$ such that the minimal angular difference can be as large as possible, which is essentially the Spherical Code (SC) problem [2]. Some optimal configurations for sphere $S^2$ for different number K have been collected in [3]. Although the solutions in [3] can be directly used in dMRI, they have two main limitations. 1) They are for single sphere, not for multi-shell schemes. 2) For real applications in dMRI, sometimes we need to find one or several sets of "uniform" schemes from a given set of sampling scheme, which is the "discretized" SC problem. In this paper, we propose a general Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) framework to design "uniform" sampling schemes for both single and multi-shell dMRI. Although some recent works proposed to generalized electrostatic energy minimization uniform method to single/multi-shell multi-shell case sampling [4], to our scheme knowledge, this paper is the first work to design single/multi-shell sampling scheme using SC formulation.


In breast cancer, the primary tumor is usually not lethal, while metastatic spread to other organs is a frequent cause of death. Up to 20% of breast cancer diagnoses are triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) makes and late stage metastatic TNBC can have a 5-year survival as low as 11%. TNBC is unresponsive to hormonal and targeted therapies of other types of breast cancer. Surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy are effective treatment options for early stage disease, but there are very few therapeutic options for advanced metastatic TNBC spread. For metastasis to occur, circulating tumor cells (CTCs) must cross the endothelial barrier twice: first to migrate away from the primary tumor and enter systemic circulation (intravasation), and then to exit circulation to colonize other tissues (extravasation). We are currently exploring the role of Jagged-1 (Jag1), a Serrate class Notch ligand, in the metastatic process. Jag1 is expressed in many human TNBC cell lines and its expression is associated with a worse prognosis in the clinic. Our data suggest that Jag1 presented on tumor cells promotes extravasation behavior, particularly TNBC binding to endothelium and subsequent transendothelial migration (TEM). Our preliminary studies have blocked Jag1 function with the Notch decoy N110-24, which utilizes EGF-like repeats of the Notch1 receptor that unproductively bind Jag1. Treatment with N110-24 reduces the ability of D3H2LN cells, a Jag1high derivative of the MDA-MB-231, to attach endothelial cells in vitro. Treatment with N110-24 also impedes the ability of these highly metastatic human TNBC cells to migrate across a monolayer of human primary endothelial cells. We therefore conclude that Jag1-Notch signaling inhibition via N110-24 suppresses activities required for TEM of TNBC cells. However, the mechanistic role of Jag1, however, is not understood in TEM. Both TNBC and endothelial cells express Jag1, and the aforementioned secreted decoys may target Jag1 signaling either within TNBC cells, within endothelial cells, or between cell types. We hypothesize that tumor expression of Jag1 is critical for metastasis. In order to explore the effects of tumor-derived Jag1 on tumor-intrinsic signaling, we have knocked out Jag1 in D3H2LN cells and generated multiple Jag1KO clonal lines, which have been interrogated for downstream transcriptional changes related to TEM. To explore the effects of tumor-derived Jag1 on neighboring endothelium, we are studying the extravasation capabilities of Jag1KO clonal lines using dynamic systems that will track TNBC adhesion, rolling, and TEM under dynamic flow in vitro as well as characterizing their metastatic potential in vivo. Our studies are elucidating a mechanism of Jag1-mediated metastasis via endothelial interactions. Citation Format: Benjamin Gordon, Reyhaan A Chaudhri, Tim Sargis, LA Naiche, Jan K Kitajewski. The study of jag1-notch in the extravasation of triple negative breast cancer cells in metastasis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS19-12.


After Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) all following stage magicians borrowed his aspect, elegance, and gesture. Even his name became iconic, as the most famous and very talented Hungarian illusionist Erik Weisz (1874-1926) paid homage to his famous predecessor, adopting the pseudonym of Harry Houdini. Also, the comics illusionist, Mandrake the Magician, has the elegance, detachment, and manners of Robert-Houdini. The success of the comic character was large in the United States, and all over the world, featuring the same skills of the in the flesh stage wizards. Mandrake the Magician was a mental superhero without physical powers who can have extraordinary adventures fighting evil with the force of his mind. In a media discourse, the illusionism of Mandrake the Magician is as real as that of Bobert-Houdin when stopped the revolt of Marabouts in Algeria, and even when he was in a theater to perform his famous ethereal suspension. The comic stories of the elegant American magician were credible within the media discourse but also because in the real world something similar did happen.


The Retail and Wholesale Trade sector (NACE 51, 52 according to the European Statistical Nomenclature) traditionally is considered as a poor innovator. Innovation is seen as driven mostly by applications of information and communication technology (ICT). This report adopts a more comprehensive definition of innovation than the traditional one, taking into account both ICT-driven technological innovation and non-technological innovation. The report emphasizes the changing concept of the retail and wholesale trade sector which not just acts as a delivery channel of products to the customer, but forms a critical part of the producer value chain shaping producer business strategies. Furthermore, the sector is a provider of customer services connected with the products sold (e.g. warehousing, financial services) and embodies the client interface where customer preferences are shaped and expressed. Innovations mostly have the character of process and service innovations, for example new ways of selling, marketing, logistics and firm operations. The ongoing transformation of the sector is demonstrated by blurring distinctions between wholesale and retail, by diversity across horizontal branches, and by a diversity of organizational and strategic concepts. In this transformation, ICT (in particular e-commerce) as well as new organizational concepts fulfil an enabling role through facilitating the formation of client perceptions, desires and needs.


E the influence of genetic or environmental factors in longitudinal data has been challenging genetic studies. While some researchers have modeled sequenced data with a few data points as repeated measurements in which covariance is incorporated with certain time series structures, to date, not much research has been done to address the issue of how genetic factors or environmental factors affect the underlying behavior of the data with multiple measurements. In this study, we aim to build a statistical framework to model the anticipated association between the development of a disease and hypothesized genetic or environmental factors. The longitudinal phenotype data we modeled consists of three parts – the incubation period, the onset, and the disease appearing period. Assuming the disease onset is missing, we propose a mixture model to model the longitudinal phenotype such as blood pressure with association to the genotype or environmental factors. An EM based approach is used to estimate the distribution of the onset, which might be related to either genotype or environmental factors. To estimate the onset distribution, a solution for a weighed logistic regression under which weights on the outcome variables are proposed. A log likelihood ratio test is used to judge the significance of the association between the distribution of the onset and the genotype or environmental factors. We conducted extensive simulation studies to evaluate the model performance and gave desirable Type I error rates and the power of the proposed test.


BACKGROUND
Antibiotic prophylaxis is a key component of the prevention of surgical site infection (SSI). Failure to manage antibiotic prophylaxis effectively may increase the risk of SSI. This study aimed to examine the effects of antibiotic prophylaxis on SSI risk.

METHODS
A retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients having general surgery between May 2012 and June 2015 at the University of Washington Medical Center. Peri-operative data extracted from hospital databases included patient and operation characteristics, intra-operative medication and fluid administration, and survival outcome. The effects of antibiotic prophylaxis and potential factors on SSI risk were estimated using multiple logistic regression and were expressed as risk ratios (RRs).

RESULTS
A total of 4,078 patients were eligible for analysis. Of these, 180 had an SSI. Mortality rates within and after 30 days were 0.8% and 0.3%, respectively. Improper antibiotic redosing increased the risk of SSI (RR 4.61; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33-15.91). Other risk factors were in-patient status (RR 4.05; 95% CI 1.69-9.66), smoking (RR 1.63; 95% CI 1.03-2.55), emergency surgery (RR 1.97; 95% CI 1.26-3.08), colectomy (RR 3.31; 95% CI 1.19-9.23), pancreatectomy (RR 4.52; 95% CI 1.53-13.39), proctectomy (RR 5.02; 95% CI 1.72-14.67), small bowel surgery (RR 6.16; 95% CI 2.13-17.79), intra-operative blood transfusion >500 mL (RR 2.76; 95% CI 1.45-5.26), and multiple procedures (RR 1.40; 95% CI 1.01-1.95).

CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrate that failure to redose prophylactic antibiotic during long operations increases the risk of SSI. Strengthening a collaborative surgical quality improvement program may help to eradicate this risk.


Introduction: Urinary tract infection is more common in women than men and the susceptibility increases further during pregnancy. Higher incidence of UTI in women can be attributed to factors like shortness of urethra, close proximity of urethra to anus, sexual intercourse pregnancy and catheters. The detection of bacteriuria allows an approach to be made for the prevention of chronic UTI and avoid complications in pregnancy at an early stage. Bacteria adhere to the surfaces, initially in a reversible association and then through irreversible attachment, and eventually develop into an adherent biofilm of highly structured and cooperative consortia .The presence of biofilms also explains the nature of chronic infections that keep recurring after antibiotic treatment ceases. Clearly, biofilm infections in urogenital tissue are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Materials & Methods: A total of 100 midstream urine samples from pregnant females were collected aseptically. The samples were cultured on MacConkey agar and incubated at 370C for 24 hrs. Urine culture yielding colony counts of>105organisms/ml, along with >10pus cells/HPF of a centrifuged urine sample were interpreted as diagnostic of bacteriuria. Identification of isolates was performed by colony morphology, gram staining and standard biochemical tests. Antibiotic sensitivity testing against commonly used antibiotics was done by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Extended spectrum Beta lactamase (ESBL) producers were detected by disc potentiation method. Detection of biofilms was done by the Tissue Culture Plate assay described by Christensen et al considered as standard test for detection of biofilm formation. Optical density (OD) of stained adherent bacteria was determined with a micro ELISA auto reader at wavelength of 570 nm. These OD values were considered as an index of bacteria adhering to surface and forming biofilms. Results: Out of 100 pregnant females investigated for UTI 30 (30%) had significant bacteriuria. Out of 30% showing significant growth 23 (23%) were symptomatic and 7 (7%) were asymptomatic. Out of 30 urine samples showing significant growth of organisms E.coli was the predominant isolate 18 (60%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae 7(23.3%), Enterococcus 2 (6.6%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa2 (6.6%) and Staphylococcus aureus1 (3.33%). Out of 27 gram negative isolates 14(51.8%) were resistant to Amoxicillin, 11(40.7%) to Norfloxacin, 9(33.3%) to Cotrimoxazole, 6(22.2%) to Nitrofurantoin, 4 (14.8%) to Ciprofloxacin, 4 (14.8%) to Nalidixic acid & 2 (7.4%) to Amoxicillin clavulanic acid. Biofilm production among uropathogens was detected by Tissue culture plate method in 9 of 27 isolates mainly from E.coli, Pseudomonas and Klebsiella. Conclusion: Significant correlation between Biofilm production and multidrug resistance was seen in the study. It is therefore recommended that routine microbiological analysis, antibiotic sensitivity test of midstream urine samples and biofilm detection of pregnant females whether symptomatic or asymptomatic should be carried out so as enhance in the administration of drugs for the treatment and management of UTI in pregnancy and prevent further complications.


According to the understanding herein implied, progressive deafness is a condition in which the organ of hearing gradually becomes more deficient in its capacity to perceive and to convey sounds to the brain. It is caused by some constitutional abnormality and therefore may also be termed "constitutional" deafness. It occurs more frequently in women than in men. It may begin at any age, but it more commonly has its onset during late adolescence or early adult life. Its onset is insidious, the patient not experiencing its presence until a fairly large portion of the hearing ability has been incapacitated. One of the first symptoms is tinnitus, which is annoying. Dizziness may be an early or late symptom, but it is not common. Paracusis is a frequent experience. Those who have no inflammation of the middle ear have normal drums and patent eustachian tubes. At times, a pink zone is seen


Biopsies from normal and malignant human oral epithelium were studied electron histochemically using lanthanum nitrate for a selective demonstration of junctional complexes at the plasma membrane of adjacent cells. The heavy metal complex was found to settle irregularly, sometimes in intimate proximity to the epithelial cell, in areas corresponding to the glycocalyx, gap junctions, desmosomes and nonspecific contact areas. Tight junctions were rarely seen. The lack of these morphological adhesive areas, the desosomal detachment seen between cancer cells and the increased lanthanum-positive cell surface may be possible factors responsible for the dissociation of oral malignant cells.


ABSTRACT. Examining the role of environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) in child growth requires noninvasive, field-appropriate biomarkers. Alternatives to the traditionally used lactulose:mannitol (L:M) test have been explored, but few studies have compared the L:M test to host fecal mRNA transcripts. The objectives of this study were to examine whether 1) host fecal mRNA transcripts could predict presence and severity of EED, measured using the L:M test, and 2) EED modifies the effect of specialized nutritious foods (SNFs) on recovery from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). This substudy was nested within a cluster randomized trial comparing four SNFs in the treatment of MAM among children 6 to 59 months in Sierra Leone. EED was assessed at enrollment using the L:M test and 15 host fecal mRNA transcripts on 522 children. Recovery from MAM was defined as achieving mid-upper arm circumference ≥ 12.5 cm within 12 weeks of supplementation. Random forest classification models were used to examine prediction of presence and severity of EED by host fecal mRNA transcripts. Logistic regression was used to test for effect modification by L:M test variables including % lactulose excreted (%L). Eight host fecal mRNA transcripts (AQP9, REG3A, IFI30, DECR1, BIRC3, SELL, PIK3AP1, DEFA6) identified EED (%L ≥ 0.2) and severe EED (%L ≥ 0.45) with high sensitivity and specificity. The L:M test variables did not modify the effect of SNFs on recovery from MAM. In this study, we found host fecal mRNA transcripts that could be biomarkers of EED but did not find EED to modify the effect of SNFs on MAM treatment.


Sprayed concrete differs from ordinary concrete through the application technique and the additions of accelerators that gives immediate stiffening. The bond between sprayed concrete and rock is an important property. This work has investigated the development of the microstructure in the interfacial zone and strength of the bond. The results show that the bond strength is related to the strength gain of the concrete. Before the acceleration period of the cement hydration the bond strength is very low. As regard the early development of the interfacial zone, it is in SEM possible to observe changes over time both before and after proper cement hydration.


The nursing home industry is facing a crisis that appears to only get worse as each year progresses. The issue at hand is attracting and retaining qualified nursing home administrators to run efficient nursing homes. There is an overwhelming amount of data that highlights the devastating effects of job burnout on professionals. Job burnout has been found to impact the longevity of professionals. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of job burnout among Georgia's nursing home administrators. Participants in the study were licensed nursing home administrators (N= 363) who are employed in the state of Georgia. I received 141 completed surveys for a response rate of 38%. This study found that nursing home administrators show moderate levels emotional exhaustion, low cynicism, and high professional efficacy.


The possibility exists for real time accountancy and assay of nuclear materials as they move through a reprocessing facility. This project aims to establish working parameters and local figures of merit to identify possible diversion in real time with minimal operational impact. Factors such as pH, NOX gas concentration, flow speeds and radiation fields are rarely taken into account in safeguards methodologies and will be included to increase the confidence of location and assay of nuclear materials. An adaptable, real data model is being created of the contactors of the Advanced Fuel Cycle Facility and will be analyzed using the appropriate modeling codes. This model will then be subjected to three, diversion scenarios and a figure of merit methodology will be utilized to create the operational parameters under which these diversion scenarios would be detected. This analysis for figure of merit methodology will include statistical fluctuations, operator error, and a rudimentary analysis of transient conditions. The long term goal of the project includes expansion universally over the plant, methods of detection without requiring access to proprietary information, and an evaluation of the requirements for future figure of merit methodologies.


Phishing is one of the major threats in this internet era. Phishing is a smart process where a legitimate website is cloned and victims are lured to the fake website to provide their personal as well as confidential information, sometimes it proves to be costly. Though most of the websites will give a disclaimer warning to the users about phishing, users tend to neglect it. It is not a fully responsible action by the websites also and there is not much that the websites could really do about it. Since phishing has been in persistence for a long time, many approaches have been proposed in past that can detect phishing websites but very few or none of them detect the target websites for these phishing attacks, accurately. Our proposed method is novel and an extension to our previous work, where we identify phishing websites using a combined approach by constructing Resource Description Framework (RDF) models and using ensemble learning algorithms for the classification of websites. Our approach uses supervised learning techniques to train our system. This approach has a promising true positive rate of 98.8%, which is definitely appreciable. As we have used random forest classifier that can handle missing values in dataset, we were able to reduce the false positive rate of the system to an extent of 1.5%. As our system explores the strength of RDF and ensemble learning methods and both these approaches work hand in hand, a highly promising accuracy rate of


OBGYN.net is planning a new section for our web site. We are dedicating a section to both the wellness of women and to general topics of special interest to women. We are starting to develop these new topics here on the Women's Home Page in preparation for the new section, which should be online this summer.


The theory of continuous distributions of dislocations is applied to discuss the geometrical features of the twisting of a cylindrical crystal deforming by single glide. It is first assumed that the strains are small, and that the dislocations arrange themselves so as to produce no far-reaching stress, and explicit expressions for the shape changes, lattice rotations and dislocation distribution are derived. The theory is in reasonable agreement with the observations of Whapham & Wilman (1956) when the angle of twist per unit length is not too large. The expression for the shape of the glide surfaces is much simpler than that derived by Whapham & Wilman, who also applied a small strain approximation, but not consistently. It is shown that the consistent reduction of the complicated expression of these authors leads to the simple one of the present theory. Further, the correct shape of the glide surfaces for large strains is also derived using the boundary conditions employed by Whapham & Wilman. This predicts an asymmetry of the type observed in a severely twisted crystal before correction of the observations for macroscopic bending, although the predicted asymmetry is rather too large.


Because of the limited number of strong-motion stations in the Kobe area at the time of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, information about the characteristics of the near-fault ground-motion acceleration in bedrock is sparse. In this study we estimated the near-fault ground motion and derived characteristics of its attenuation on rock, using an hybrid broadband technique and a source model that have been validated against data. We found that at high frequencies the near-fault ground motion produced by the Kobe earthquake was of the same level as that predicted by the empirical attenuation relation for Japanese crustal earthquakes. The areas with the largest peak horizontal acceleration are located at the extremities of the fault and include most of the Kobe city.


UNLABELLED
We present the first Peruvian pediatric case of induction of remission and maintenance of Crohn's disease with infliximab.

CASE
9-year old female who presented with perianal fistulas, intermittent diarrhea and poor weight gain since 8 months of age. Due to lack of improvement with medical therapy she had a colostomy at 4 years of age. A surgical biopsy showed chronic colitis with inflammation extending to the muscularis mucosae, with areas of glandular atrophy. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease was made. She received prednisone, sulfasalazine and antibiotics without significant improvement. She became undernourished, stunted, and anemic. Consequently, at 8 years of age we started infliximab, 100 mg per doses (5.5 mg/kg/doses). After 4 infusions her perianal fistulas closed. However, after 8 months of treatment she had a disease exacerbation with abdominal pain and diarrhea. Therefore, we added azathioprine (2 mg/kg/d PO) and shortened maintenance infliximab infusions from every 8 to every 4 weeks. Gastrointestinal symptoms resolved. So far the patient has had no adverse events secondary to therapy.

CONCLUSION
This patient has a rare early onset and aggressive form of Crohn's disease that responded to infliximab, who needed the addition of azathioprine to maintain remission.


One of the problems that many engineering graduates face when looking for their first job is: Do you have experience? Employers prefer graduates with relevant experience to those without. Why is experience so important to employers? Can students accumulate "working" experience while studying in college? This paper discusses the use of design projects inside and outside of classrooms to help students gain "working" experience and skills through hands-on design activities that simulate the actual design activities that occur in the industry. Faculty members from the Mechanical Engineering Technology and Computer Engineering Technology departments were involved in creating multidisciplinary design projects. The design projects give students new insights into what they learn in their coursework and provide students the valuable experiences in analytical skills, concurrent engineering approach, people skills, and management skills needed for the students when looking for employment.


Introduction: The Maxillofacial Surgery Service at Juan Manuel Marquez Children's University Hospital in Havana did not have a standardized informed consent procedure. Another purpose was to analyze the opinions of valid representatives about the information to be provided by such informed consent. Methods: A study was conducted of the 32 members of the multidisciplinary team and 9 valid representatives of the patients to verify their awareness of the principles of medical ethics and bioethics. Results: Most showed low awareness of medical ethics, and medium to high awareness of bioethics. Valid representatives showed a low level of awareness. Acknowledgement of the importance of and need for informed consent was confirmed, but the medical team admitted that they do not use it appropriately. A methodological proposal was developed for the process of informed consent. Conclusions: Awareness of the principles of medical ethics and bioethics by professionals was not consistent with their perception of such principles or their implementation. Key words: doctor-patient relationship, informed consent, autonomy


ABSTRACT This article is based on knowledge gained through more than two decades of established ways of working by Imkaan, a Black feminist ending-violence against women and girls organisation based in London. At the time of writing, both authors were employed at Imkaan. Imkaan's work and existence is clearly grounded in 'those who came before us': in the herstories, activist struggles, and resistance movements of Black feminists across the globe. Our arguments and insights here are based on discussions and experience of feminists working in Imkaan and more widely in feminist movements in the UK and other countries and regions. From these, we distil lessons that are valuable to current discussions relating to re-imagining development. We critique the notion of 'development' itself, asking who and what is being 'developed', and by whom? We argue that an intersectional understanding of development is predicated upon 'truth-telling'. This involves engaging with discomfort, being honest about our histories, understanding one's positionality and power, and thinking about why we do the work that we do.


Leaf stoichiometry (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and N:P ratio) is not only important for studying nutrient composition in forests, but also reflects plant biochemical adaptation to geographic and climate conditions. However, patterns of leaf stoichiometry and controlling factors are still unclear for most species. In this study, we determined leaf N and P stoichiometry and their relationship with soil properties, geographic and climate variables for Cyclocarya paliurus based on a nation-wide dataset from 30 natural populations in China. The mean values of N and P concentrations and N:P ratios were 9.57 mg g−1, 0.91 mg g−1 and 10.51, respectively, indicating that both leaf N and P concentrations in C. paliurus forests were lower than those of China and the global flora, and almost all populations were limited in N concentration. We found significant differences in leaf N and P concentrations and N:P ratios among the sampled C. paliurus populations. However, there were no significant correlations between soil properties (including organic C, total N and P concentrations) and leaf stoichiometry. The pattern of variation in leaf N concentration across the populations was positively correlated with latitude (24.46° N–32.42° N), but negatively correlated with mean annual temperature (MAT); meanwhile, leaf N concentration and N:P ratios were negatively correlated with mean temperature in January (MTmin) and mean annual frost-free period (MAF). Together, these results suggested that temperature-physiological stoichiometry with a latitudinal trend hold true at both global and regional levels. In addition, the relationships between leaf stoichiometry and climate variables provided information on how leaf stoichiometry of this species may respond to climate change.


The temporary staffing industry has experienced significant growth in recent decades across many countries and sectors. The particular characteristics of the temporary staffing industry are influenced by the national institutional context in which they are embedded. This article presents empirical findings to investigate the concept of a national temporary staffing industry using two case studies, the UK and Germany. Through analysis of two national markets for temporary staffing, the article discusses the importance of investigating the wider institutional environment in which an industry is embedded, the interactions and interdependencies between the actors involved, and the relationships and activities through which an industry is co-created and constituted. Theoretically, this article seeks to stress the importance of considering how institutional systems change, rather than focusing on characteristics used to categorise socio-economic systems. Empirically, this article reveals the features and developments of two national temporary staffing industries within Europe. This advances our understanding of changes in the temporary staffing industry in two European settings, and also highlights the importance of considering geographically specific national varieties of economic systems as dynamic institutional ecologies.


Traits such as disease resistance are costly to evaluate and slow to improve using current methods. Analysis of gene expression profiles (e.g. DNA microarrays) has potential for predicting such phenotypes and has been used in an analogous way to classify cancer types in human patients. However, doubts have been raised regarding the use of classification methods with microarray data for this purpose. Here we propose a method using random regression with cross validation, which accounts for the distribution of variation in the trait and utilises different subsets of patients or animals to perform a complete validation of predictive ability. Published breast tumour data were used to test the method. Despite the small dataset (n < 100), the new approach resulted in a moderate but significant correlation between the predicted and actual phenotypes (0.32). Binary classification of the predicted phenotypes yielded similar classification error rates to those found by other authors (35%). Unlike other methods, the new method gave a quantitative estimate of phenotype that could be used to rank animals and select those with extreme phenotypic performance. Use of the method in an optimal way using larger sample sizes, and combining DNA microarrays and other testing platforms, is recommended.


Biochemistry in Clinical Practicehas a subtitle that reveals the guiding principle behind its organization and content: "Scientific Foundations of Clinical Biochemistry." There is a preface written by Dr Alan Schecter of the National Institutes of Health, but no authors' preface indicating the principles that guided them in its preparation. Fifty-three authors, mostly British and principally from departments of biochemistry and chemical pathology, have written 43 chapters. Although the book is in principle about the biochemistry and physiology of man, it is not a textbook of biochemistry. There are 11 sections, beginning with disorders of fluid and electrolyte balance and concluding with the clinical biochemistry of pregnancy and the neonatal period. In most of the sections and in many of the chapters, there is an introduction in which the fundamental biochemistry and, where appropriate, physiology are described. Then, each section and chapter proceeds to a discussion of the variations in


In recent decades a significant amount of literature has been produced concerned with establishing a link between production efficiency and environmental efficiency with respect to quantitative modelling. This has been mainly addressed by focusing on the incorporation of undesirable outputs or the incorporation of environmentally detrimental inputs. However, while the debate with respect to linear programming based DEA modelling is already at an advanced stage the corresponding one with respect to stochastic frontier modelling still needs considerable efforts. This contribution focuses on the case of biodiversity and the appropriate incorporation in stochastic frontier models to achieve more realistic measures of production efficiency. We use the empirical example of tobacco production drawing from as well as affecting species diversity in the surrounding forests. We apply a shadow profit distance function approach as well as a fixed effects non-radial technique to reveal input specific allocative and output oriented technical efficiency measures as well as measures of environmental efficiency. We also consider functional consistency by imposing convexity on the translog profit function model. Based on a biologically defined species diversity index we incorporate biodiversity either as a desirable output or biodiversity loss as a detrimental input. Beside quantitative shadow price measures the main contribution of the work is the evidence that parametric scores of environmental efficiency are not sensitive to the modelling approach chosen but to the imposition of theoretical consistency on the estimation model. In contrast to earlier stochastic approaches on the producer level our approach can be applied by using any first or second order flexible functional form.


The use of benzodiazepines for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a safe and effective treatment; however, their potential to produce dependence and impair psychomotor and cognitive functions is a drawback. In this study the efficacy and safety of alpidem, a nonbenzodiazepine, was assessed. Thirty patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for GAD were randomized to either alpidem (225 mg), lorazepam (4.5 mg), or placebo. The primary efficacy measure was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences in HAM-A scores over time. The results showed a trend for alpidem to be more effective. Half of the alpidem group had a decrease of 50 percent or greater in their HAM-A scores with an almost equal effect on psychic and somatic symptoms. The most common side effects with alpidem and lorazepam were lightheadedness, drowsiness, and daytime tiredness. Moreover, treatment with alpidem did not manifest any withdrawal symptoms. Thus nonbenzodiazepine treatments are effective and safe for GAD.


Terrorism isn't new to the country; in its history, France has experienced a significant number of attacks. In 1995, the GIA-affiliated terrorist network of which Khaled Kelkal was part conducted several attacks, as did the Al Qaida-affiliated gang de Roubaix one year later; but until Mohammed Merah's murders in 2012 in Toulouse and Montauban, terrorist attacks were treated as political violence in the context of anti-colonial struggles or connected to other kinds of violent conflicts abroad, such as the Bosnian War, rather than as religiously inspired or connected to social, societal and/or political issues within the country, or as some sort of atypical pathology. Terrorist perpetrators, their networks and milieus were met with repressive instruments – a wider angle of analysis which would have allowed to tackle the threat from a more holistic perspective had not been incorporated in a counter-terrorism policy design.


The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) total amount situation of China as the second world economy entity is analyzed in the paper. As a developing fast growing country, China has its own characteristics. With the rapid development of internet, the traditional business model is compared to future business model development in the paper. As a part of national strategies of China, internet is becoming one of most important tools for both business increasing and marketing developing with its users fast growing. China economy development will be related to internet tightly in current time and future.


Our study was designed to evaluate the complication rate of cochlear implantation (CI) and to compare two different surgical approaches that are currently being used for implantations in our department. This retrospective study was conducted on the patients who underwent CI in our center between 1989 and 2003 and who were followed-up for at least 18 months. The patients were divided into two groups according to the surgical technique that had been used for the implantation: the mastoidectomy with posterior tympanotomy approach and the suprameatal approach (without mastoidectomy). The incidence of complications following CI was compared between the two groups and between children and adults. Facial nerve paralysis, electrode misplacement, injury to the chorda tympani nerve and mastoiditis occurred only in the mastoidectomy with posterior tympanotomy approach group. Acute middle ear infection with or without mastoiditis emerged as the most common complication in both groups, followed by vestibular and wound problems. Disequilibrium was significantly more common among the adults than among the children (p < 0.0001). The suprameatal approach was demonstrated as being a good alternative technique to the classical surgery for CI.


Prompt-based learning has shown its effectiveness in few-shot text classification. One important factor in its success is a verbalizer, which translates output from a language model into a predicted class. Notably, the simplest and widely acknowledged verbalizer employs manual labels to represent the classes. However, manual selection does not guarantee the optimality of the selected words when conditioned on the chosen language model. Therefore, we propose Label-Aware Automatic Verbalizer (LAAV), effectively augmenting the manual labels to achieve better few-shot classification results. Specifically, we use the manual labels along with the conjunction"and"to induce the model to generate more effective words for the verbalizer. The experimental results on five datasets across five languages demonstrate that LAAV significantly outperforms existing verbalizers. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that LAAV suggests more relevant words compared to similar approaches, especially in mid-to-low resource languages.


In this paper, we demonstrated that wooden chips ash can be further processed and selected products of its treatment can be used as additives in magnesium phosphate cement composites. Wooden chips ash, as well as obtained products, were analysed by XRF, XRD, SEM, EDS, STA. Also, the particle size of the obtained fractions was analysed using laser diffraction. Basic structural properties, bulk density, specific density, total open porosity and pore size distribution of prepared composite material in comparison to the reference were measured. In addition, mechanical properties were also tested. The newly developed composite with incorporated fractions of wood chips ash showed acceptable structural and mechanical properties that were almost unchanged compared to the reference sample without any biomass-based additives.


Multimedia data transmission over sensor networks is crucial in monitoring and surveillance applications, such as object tracking. In these applications, several sensor nodes are equipped with cameras, and placed on pre-selected locations. When an event occurs, cameras around event capture images and transfer them to the sink over a multi hop path. Since sensor nodes operate with limited CPU, memory and bandwidth, resource utilization is needed for feasible processing and transmission of useful parts in an image. In this study, we provide network performance trade-offs for an object tracking application. In our experimental setup, the application utilizes cost-effective coding of image macro-blocks into "high" and "low" classes based on the object information they contain. We then investigate resource trade-offs for achieving the highest object transmission rate when only "high" blocks are injected into the service differentiated network. We conclude with some remarks on the tuning of network buffer length and retransmission count parameters, for the optimization of macro-block reliability in the given object tracking scenario.


Displacement estimation is a fundamental problem in Real-time video image processing. It can be typically approached by theories based on features in spatial domain. This paper presents an algorithm which improves the theory for estimating the moving object's displacement in spatial domain by its Fourier transform frequency spectrum. Because of the characters of Fourier transform, the result is based on all the features in the image. Utilizing shift theorem of Fourier transform and auto-registration, the algorithm employs the phase spectrum difference in polar coordinate of two frame images sequence with the moving target.The method needn't transform frequency spectrum to spatial domain after calculation comparing with the traditional algorithm which has to search Direc peak, and it reduces processing time. Since the technique proposed uses all the image information, including all the white noise in the image especially, and it's hard to overcome the aliasing from noises, but the technique can be an effective way to analyze the result in little white noise by the different characters between high and low frequency bands. It can give the displacement of moving target within 1 pixel of accuracy. Experimental evidence of this performance is presented, and the mathematical reasons behind these characteristics are explained in depth. It is proved that the algorithm is fast and simple and can be used in image tracking and video image processing.


Background and Purpose— Few recent studies have investigated the rates and predictors of early and late stroke recurrence using prospective population–based methodology. We investigated recurrent stroke at 2 years in the North Dublin Population Stroke Study (NDPSS). Methods— Patients were ascertained from December 2005 to 2006 from overlapping community and hospital sources using hot and cold pursuit. Stroke recurrence, survival, and functional outcome were ascertained at 72 hours, 7 days, 28 days, 90 days, 1 year, and 2 years. Results— Of 567 patients, cumulative 2-year stroke recurrence rate was 10.8% and case fatality was 38.6%. Recurrence subtype was associated with initial stroke subtype (P<0.001). On multivariable Cox regression, hyperlipidemia (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.32; P=0.005) and prior stroke (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.92; P=0.01) were independent predictors of 2-year recurrence in 28-day survivors. Conclusions— Despite rigorous ascertainment, recurrent stroke rates were lower in current study than in earlier studies. Our data suggest that large sample sizes may be needed for future secondary prevention trials in patients treated with modern preventive medications.


Global warming is one of the most serious problems which faced by civil engineers in this century. Because a wood can store carbon within itself, the utilization of wood in the construction projects may contribute to the mitigation of global warming. The technique of ground improvement by installing logs into loose sand layer as a countermeasure against soil liquefaction was proposed in this study. The logs had been used as pile foundation until 1950's in Japan. However, as the wood has high possibility of a decrease in strength by decay, the utilization of wood become minority in the construction projects. First, since a lot of former wooden piles were found at the riverbed of the Asuwa River in Japan in 2005, the soundness of wood was evaluated. From the test results, it was confirmed that the level of decay was extremely low and the compression strength exceeded the allowable stress of wood pile, though they were buried under the riverbed for 59 years. Second, small scale shaking table tests in a 1-g gravity field were carried out using a composite ground which was made of loose saturated sand layer and the improved ground by piling with logs. It was clarified that the logs installed in liquefiable soil layer could increase the resistance of ground against liquefaction and decrease the settlement of structure.


How many know that the legendary creator of Mary Poppins was a brilliant, mysterious woman with many other accomplishments? That she found deep poems in the silence of the bush, played Shakespearean roles in the Australian outback, crossed the world to plunge barefoot through Irish bogs and come under the tutelage of W B Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, received a secret name from Navajo elders, dined with G I Gurdjieff, raked sand gardens in Japan, and that Celtic literary genius A E (George Russell) was virtually a second father to her? Pamela L Travers passionately celebrated story, fairytale, and mythic image. She co-founded and was a guiding light for Parabola magazine for many years. Now friends and colleagues celebrate her on the centennial of her birth (1899). These tributes, stories, interviews, and analyses of her work -- all from people who knew her -- recount delightful facets of one of the 20th century's most creative and memorable minds.


Purpose of review Lower respiratory tract infections remain one of the leading causes of death in the world. Recently, the introduction of molecular methods based on DNA sequencing and microarrays for the identification of nonculturable microorganisms and subspecies variations has challenged the previous 'one bug – one disease' paradigm, providing us with a broader view on human microbial communities and their role in the development of infectious diseases. The purpose of this review is to describe recent understanding of the role of microbiome and bacterial biofilm in the development of lung infections, and, at the same time, to present new areas of research opportunities. Recent findings The review describes recent literature in cystic fibrosis patients, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients, and literature in mechanically ventilated patients that helped to elucidate the role of microbiome and biofilm formation in the development of pneumonia. Summary The characterization of the human microbiome and biofilms has changed our understanding of lower respiratory tract infections. More comprehensive, sensitive, and fast methods for bacterial, fungal, and viral detection are warranted to establish the colonization of the lower respiratory tract in healthy individuals and sick patients. Future research might explore the global bacterial, fungal, and viral pulmonary ecosystems and their interdependence to target novel preventive approaches and therapeutic strategies in chronic and acute lung infections.


The requisite endpoint of mammalian oocyte maturation, whether in vivo or in vitro, is a metaphase II oocyte which is able to be fertilized and which can eventually support normal embryonic development. Oocytes which have been matured in vivo basically fulfill these criteria. On the other hand, a completely different situation exists when these cells are isolated from the ovaries and cultured in vitro. If they are too small (growing oocytes), they do not undergo maturation, or, if more advanced, will mature only to the metaphase I stage. Even in fully grown oocytes which are able to mature to metaphase II, the developmental potential after fertilization is disappointingly low, for reasons which remain unknown. The complexity of certain factors (nuclear, cytoplasmic or arising from our current culture systems) undoubtedly influences both the ability of oocytes to mature fully, as well as their developmental potential after fertilization.


There have been few studies related to ELISA for mackerel. In this study we developed a sandwich ELISA for mackerel in processed foods using rabbit polyclonal antibodies against mackerel parvalbumin, the major allergen of mackerel and heat-stable protein. The parvalbumin was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-50 column chromatography. From the standard ELISA curves, the detection limit of parvalbumin was 3 ng/mL and the detection range of mackerel was 5-5,000 μg/mL. We further investigated the cross-reactivity of the antibodies toward mackerel, mackerel pike, salmon, flatfish, armorclad rockfish, cod fish, squid, shrimp, blue crab, and lobster. The antibodies were specific for mackerel only. The mean assay recoveries in cooked cream soup, baby food, sausage, and sauce spiked with 0.01 to 0.3% mackerel were 104, 101, 54, and 0%, respectively. In sample tests of 16 commercial items, the qualitative coincidence ratio of assay result and indication was 75%.


Aim. To review and discuss recent literature on the specific nature of COVID-19 in children and adolescents compared to the adult population. Background. The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to the health and well-being of all people around the world. A significant proportion of adults require hospitalization, some developing severe life-threatening complications. However, although children can carry and transmit the virus, they typically do not develop severe disease, and the incidence is lower compared to adults. Design. An integrative literature review, prepared using the PRISMA-ScR reporting checklist. Methods. Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework, relevant databases were searched for articles published in English since the pandemic onset in March 2020 through August 2020. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and selected articles were thematically analyzed. Results. Four themes were identified and discussed relating to the potential care implications for children and adolescents: 1) the differing immune system in children, 2) the presentation of COVID-19 in children and adolescents, 3) vascular disease as a response to COVID-19, and 4) global policy changes relevant to COVID-19 in children and adolescents. Conclusion. The incidence, severity, and presentation of COVID-19 in young children differs to that of adults. Less is known about the disease pattern in adolescence. A new condition named as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) has emerged, about which we are still learning globally. Although perhaps not affected severely, children may still be vulnerable to the secondary consequences of policy changes (e.g., school closures, social distancing). Relevance to clinical practice. It is vital to address the significant global issues and contribute a pediatric and adolescent nursing perspective to the rapidly emerging body of evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowledge and understanding of the disease impact in children and adolescents are essential to offering optimum support and care to this patient group.


Social work education is rapidly developing in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and it is facing new challenges as it blends the historical, political and cultural influences. This article reviews and compares the historical and recent developments of social work in Canada and Vietnam. Canadian social work developed in Euro-western culture and its values, whereas, Vietnam suffered under French colonialism, a 30 year war of independence and then economic depression. For many years, social work remained nebulous but in recent years, the country has seen a rebirth of social work. Field education is the link from theory to practice and is often where differences between the two countries become evident. The article concludes with a discussion on the professionalization of social work and its future contribution to the emerging "new" Vietnam.


Higher metabolic cost of propulsion leads to quicker depletion of muscle phosphagens and accumulation of lactic acid while sprinting and uneconomical metabolic cost leading to quicker fatigue while running long distances. Larger foot dimensions need more propulsive force. This study analysed correlation among the forefoot area, length and breadth of forefoot and maintenance of top sprinting speed and distance running capacity of individuals. Timings for last 40 m in 100 m run to understand sprint maintenance and 1500 m to understand distance run were correlated. Foot area of the subjects was measured by graph weighing method. Zero, first and second order partial correlations were applied to analyse results. Significant zero order positive correlations were found between foot area and sprint maintenance (r= 0.355) and distance running (r=0.225) at 0.05 level of significance. The positive correlations between fore foot area and the sprint maintenance timing (r2 = 0.336) and fore foot area and distance running timing (r2 = 0.213) were significant (at df 200; r=0.132) when the effect of fore foot length and breadth were removed by second order correlation. First order correlations also were significant between forefoot area and sprint maintenance (r1 =0.345 and r1 = 0.336, length and breadth effect removed, respectively) and distance running (r1 = 0.224 and r1 = 0.213, respectively). It appears the sprint maintenance ability during the last 40 m of 100 m and distance running capacity decreases with the increase in the area of the fore foot.


The aim of this paper is to study and analyze the possibility of adapting the production of biodiesel in West African countries, in agreement with required standards, using local vegetable oils, for particular use in rural or remote regions. To achieve this study, an original approach based on Komers and Nourreddini theories is proposed, in order to identify the optimal conditions and parameters to produce high quality of biodiesel. Then, a pilot of transesterification is developed. The optimums obtained from theoretical simulations are used to synthetize biodiesels of various vegetable oils. Quantification in order to estimate the transesterification yield and the performance of the pilot is done. Different analytical methods for biodiesel characterization are used to determine main fuel properties including viscosity, density, water content, etc. The obtained values are then compared with international standards. This quality control is completed with gas chromatography for the quantification of tri-, di-, monoglycerides, free and total glycerol, which compose the final mixture of the various biodiesels produced. Good correlation between the results obtained and international standards values are found.


In this communication, two color-based methods for detecting faces in various scenes are compared and improved in terms of detection speed and/or accuracy. The first method according to Y. Raja et al. (1998) consists in automatically calculating a face color model by using the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm in the Hue Saturation (HS) subspace. Pixels with the color of the face are used by the EM algorithm to find the location of the face(s). The second method consists in using the histogram backprojection method for calculating the face color probability for every pixel in the image according to J.B. Martinkauppi and M.N. Soriano (2001), J.B. Martinkauppi et al. (2001) and M.N. Soriano et al. (2000), the location of the face(s) being then determined from this information.


This editorial comments on the important study by Going et al. published in the present issue of the Journal 1 . Using a molecular genetic assay based on the X‐chromosome inactivation principle, they found that 4 out of 12 breast carcinomas examined exhibited what the authors call 'clonal mosaicism' that is, two or more monoclonal samples were mosaic (polyclonal) in respect of X chromosome inactivation between separate, morphologically homogeneous tumour areas. Theauthors very carefully discuss potential methodological errors that could have led to this surprising finding, which seems to run counter to the almost unanimously held conviction that carcinomas are monoclonal in origin, but none of these potential erros would explain the results. As often in such situations, the authors prudently state that further studies using independent analytical techniques are necessary to find out whether a significant proportion of mammary carcinomas are indeed polyclonal. However, there already exists a substantial body of evidence from cytogenetic studies of breast cancers indicating that many of them are polyclonal. Although there is still room for interpretation and some doubt remains as to exactly which role should be ascribed to the observed clonal heterogeneity in our models of carcinogenesis, it seems obvious that more attention than before ought to be paid to this now well documented fact. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A consolidated mathematical formulation of the spherically symmetric mass transfer problem is presented, with the quasi-stationary approximating equations derived from a perturbation point of view for the leading-order effect. For the diffusion-controlled quasi-stationary process, a mathematically complete set of the exact analytical solutions is obtained in implicit forms to cover the entire parameter range. Furthermore, accurate explicit formulas for the particle radius as a function of time are also constructed semi-empirically for convenience in engineering practice. Both dissolution of a particle in a solvent and growth of it by precipitation in a supersaturated environment are considered in the present work.


Background: Though many studies are conducted during attention process, it is still not clear how brain deals with attention. So we conducted a study to find out the electroencephalographic changes during selective attention. Methods: Thirty healthy right handed male students aged 23.1±2.8 yrs were asked to read congruent (red printed in red ink) and incongruent (red printed in blue ink) words printed in cards. EEG was recorded for ninety seconds during baseline (eye open) and reading of both cards. EEG epoch was analyzed by fast fourier transformation. Friedman test was used to compare EEG power spectra among baseline, congruent and incongruent reading followed by Wilcoxon's Sign Rank Test.  Data were expressed as median with inter-quartile range. Results: Compared to congruent test during incongruent test there was selective increment of theta power at Fz [36.04 (28.30-46.19) vs. 47.89 (31.65-48.1)], Cz[36.13 (27.20-46.41) vs. 45.66 (37.15-49.4)] and C4 [25.11 (19.14-30.06) vs.  30.16 (21.43-33.8)] sites but it decreased at F7 [17.88 (14.49-20.93) vs. 11.31(8.96-15.975)] and F8 [19.23 (13.61-25.79) vs. 13.95 (10.40-16.67) sites. Also during incongruent card reading, alpha1 power significantly decreased in F8 [3.39(2.63-4.63) to 2.75 (1.93-4.7)] and alpha 2 power significantly decreased in P3 6.84 [(4.88-10.46) to 5.74 (4.78-19.95)] sites. Conclusion: During selective attention, theta gets synchronized at fronto-central regions and alpha2 desynchronized at parietal regions.  The theta and alpha1 at inferior frontal regions were also desynchronized in selective attention. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v6i2.11122 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.6(2) 2015 52-57


Abstract The use of radiation therapy after mastectomy (PMRT) has been limited to those patients who are at significant risk of cancer recurring in the chest wall or in the nodal basins. The use of PMRT has been widely accepted for patients with four or more positive lymph nodes, [1],[2] but there is still controversy regarding the value of PMRT for those with one to three positive nodes. This expert group used data from published literature, practical experience and opinion of a large group of academic oncologists to arrive at these practical consensus recommendations for the benefit of community oncologists.


| Under physiological conditions, nitric oxide (NO) is produced in the vasculature mainly by the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Endothelial NO relaxes blood vessels, inhibits platelet activity, and protects against atherosclerosis. Under pathological conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia, eNOS may become uncoupled. Uncoupled eNOS generates superoxide at the expense of NO and contributes substantially to oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction. Major mechanisms of eNOS uncoupling include deficiency of the eNOS cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin, deficiency of the eNOS substrate Larginine, and eNOS S-glutathionylation. Reversal of eNOS uncoupling may represent a feasible strategy for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.


Large-scale cross-sectional and cohort studies have transformed our understanding of the genetic and environmental determinants of health outcomes. However, the representativeness of these samples may be limited – either through selection into studies, or by attrition from studies over time. Here we explore the potential impact of this selection bias on results obtained from these studies, from the perspective that this amounts to conditioning on a collider (i.e., a form of collider bias). While it is acknowledged that selection bias will have a strong effect on representativeness and prevalence estimates, it is often assumed that it should not have a strong impact on estimates of associations. We argue that because selection can induce collider bias (which occurs when two variables independently influence a third variable, and that third variable is conditioned upon), selection can lead to substantially biased estimates of associations. In particular, selection related to phenotypes can bias associations with genetic variants associated with those phenotypes. In simulations, we show that even modest influences on selection into, or attrition from, a study can generate biased and potentially misleading estimates of both phenotypic and genotypic associations. Our results highlight the value of knowing which population your study sample is representative of. If the factors influencing selection and attrition are known, they can be adjusted for. For example, having DNA available on most participants in a birth cohort study offers the possibility of investigating the extent to which polygenic scores predict subsequent participation, which in turn would enable sensitivity analyses of the extent to which bias might distort estimates. Key Messages Selection bias (including selective attrition) may limit the representativeness of large-scale cross-sectional and cohort studies. This selection bias may induce collider bias (which occurs when two variables independently influence a third variable, and that variable is conditioned upon). This may lead to substantially biased estimates of associations, including of genetic associations, even when selection / attrition is relatively modest.


When light passes through a small irregular droplet of water on a glass surface the envelopes of the refracted rays form a system of caustic surfaces. The caustics have been examined experimentally, and interpreted theoretically with the aid of Thom's theorem. The main feature of interest is a unique plane of focus which contains typically several tens of elliptic umbilic catastrophes. These unfold and interact by beak-to-beak events and swallowtail catastrophes to give the many-cusped figures observed close to the drop and in the far field. The primary generic events produced by an irregular drop are analysed by considering them as the unfoldings of a symmetrical case having four control parameters and containing two elliptic umbilics and two butterfly catastrophes.


The authors studied the effect of components of crude glycerol (potassium and sodium salts, ethanol, methanol) - the by-products of biodiesel production on formation of surfactants (surface-active substances, SAS) by Nocardia vaccinii K-8, as well as possibility to intensify the SAS synthesis by the strain K-8 on crude glycerol in the presence ofbiosynthesis precursors (glucose, sun-flower oil, organic substances). It has been established that the introduction of potassium (sodium) chloride in concentration 2.5 % and ethanol (methanol) in concentration 0.3 % into the medium with refined glycerol (1 %) was accompanied by the 14-1.7-fold increase of conditional SAS concentration as compared with indices on the medium without adding salts and alcohols. Under cultivation conditions of strain K-8 on the medium with crude glycerol the conditional SAS concentration was 3-fold higher than on the medium with refined substrate. Introduction of glucose (0.05 %), sun-flower oil (0.05 %), fumarate and citrate (0.1 %) during the stationary growth phase of N. vaccinii K-8 into the medium with crude glycerol (2.2%) was accompanied by the increase in the amount of synthesized SAS h by 17-44 % compared with cultivation of bacteria on the medium without precursors.


One of the challenges associated with metabolome profiling in complex biological samples is to generate quantitative information on the metabolites of interest. In this work, a targeted metabolome analysis strategy is presented for the quantification of amine-containing metabolites. A dimethylation reaction is used to introduce a stable isotopic tag onto amine-containing metabolites followed by LC-ESI MS analysis. This labeling reaction employs a common reagent, formaldehyde, to label globally the amine groups through reductive amination. The performance of this strategy was investigated in the analysis of 20 amino acids and 15 amines by LC-ESI MS. It is shown that the labeling chemistry is simple, fast (<10-min reaction time), specific, and provides high yields under mild reaction conditions. The issue of isotopic effects of the labeled amines on reversed-phase (RP) and hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) LC separations was examined. It was found that deuterium labeling causes an isotope effect on the elution of labeled amines on RPLC but has no effect on HILIC LC. However, 13C-dimethylation does not show any isotope effect on either RPLC or HILIC LC, indicating that 13C-labeling is a preferred approach for relative quantification of amine-containing metabolites in different samples. The isotopically labeled 35 amine-containing analogues were found to be stable and proved to be effective in overcoming matrix effects in both relative and absolute quantification of these analytes present in a complicated sample, human urine. Finally, the characteristic mass difference provides additional structural information that reveals the existence of primary or secondary amine functional groups in amine-containing metabolites. As an example, for a human urine sample, a total of 438 pairs of different amine-containing metabolites were detected, at signal-to-noise ratios of greater than 10, by using the labeling strategy in conjunction with RP LC-ESI Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance MS.


Abstract Despite the high prevalence of psychiatric illness in hospitalised dermatology patients, characterisation of psychiatric comorbidities on an inpatient dermatology consultation service in the United States has yet to be performed. To fill this gap in knowledge, we investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with psychiatric illness on the inpatient dermatology consultation service at the University of Southern California. Of the 429 patients seen by the dermatology consultation service between June 2021 to July 2022, 147 (34%) had psychiatric illness (defined as having at least 1 psychiatric diagnosis). Increasing age was associated with a decreased likelihood of psychiatric illness, while housing instability, chronic dermatologic disease, drug reaction, and pruritus without rash were associated with an increased likelihood of psychiatric illness. The high prevalence of psychiatric illness observed in hospitalised dermatology patients emphasises the importance of collaboration between consultant dermatologists and mental health specialists, particularly when specific sociodemographic or disease factors are present.


The use of Ground-Penetration Radar (GPR) in an extended number of applications for many years is well known nevertheless it still needs much development either numerical or experimental. This is illustrated by the COST Action TU1208 \enquote{Civil Engineering Application of Ground Penetrating Radar} which \enquote{focuses on the exchange of scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) techniques in Civil Engineering (CE) [\ldots] within the frame of a unique approach based on the integrated contribution of University researchers, software developers, geophysics experts, Non-Destructive Testing equipment designers and producers, and users from private companies and public agencies.}In this work, a Discontinuous Galerkin Time-Domain (DGTD) method is used to model some printed antennas as widely used for GPR and study a complete electromagnetic scenario of GPR system. Many different numerical methods are implemented in time domain for GPR studies, such as Finite Element Method (FEM) and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD). Each of these methods has several pros and cons. The DGTD is a powerful approach for solving conservative form of PDE combining FEM and FVM (Finite Volume Method) tools. Its ability, efficiency and accuracy in electromagnetic fields for antenna modeling are recently proved notably on simulation of GPR system with ideal point sources. Its capability to deal with unstructured meshes provides a significant interest. Our approach is validated by comparison with results provided by a commercial software (CST Microwave Studio) and with experimental data acquired in a controlled laboratory experiment. The scenario of GPR system is composed of a bistatic couple of antennas, a sandbox and one or several metallic/dielectric objects buried in it. The antennas are moved along a line while measuring to obtain the time domain response and radargram. The experimental data are obtained through the measurement carried out in the same configuration in the anechoic chamber. A good agreement between the results of DGTD, CST and measurements is obtained. Comparison of different radargrams (DGTD, CST, measurement) of the complete scenario validates the DGTD modeling. Such quantitative comparisons are also achieved by using the time- and frequency-domain response signals. From such analysis the DGTD method is given to be efficient and accurate for modeling both GPR antennas and GPR scenarios.


This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a method of multiple path distribution of traffic based on delay-jitter. Multiple path communication is designed to conform to the speed and reliability of wireless communication through the simultaneous use of multiple Internet link mobile hosts and by dispersing the traffic between mobile hosts and a correspondent host. The performance of the SHAring multiple path procedure for a cluster networK Environment (SHAKE) decreases due to out-of-order packets caused by delay-jitter. We implemented the mechanism to avoid decreasing performance by not using paths with large amounts of delay-jitter


Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria play a relevant role in the marine microbial food web, but little is known about their long-term seasonal dynamics. Using Illumina amplicon sequencing of the pufM gene coupled with multivariate, time series and co-occurrence analyses we examined their temporal dynamics over a decade at the Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory (NW Mediterranean). Phylogroup K (Gammaproteobacteria) was the most abundant over all seasons, with phylogroups E and G (Alphaproteobacteria) being often abundant in spring. A clear seasonal trend was observed in diversity, with maximum values in winter. Multivariate analyses showed sample clustering by season, with a relevant proportion of the variance (38%) explained by day length, temperature, salinity, phototrophic nanoflagellate abundance and phosphate concentration. Time series analysis showed that only 42% of the Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASVs) analyzed presented marked seasonality but these represented most of the abundance (92%). Interestingly, distinct temporal dynamics were observed within the same phylogroup and even within different ASVs conforming the same Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU). Likewise, co-occurrence analysis highlighted negative associations between various ASVs within the same phylogroup. Altogether our results picture the AAP assemblage as highly seasonal, containing ecotypes with distinctive niche partitioning rather than being a cohesive functional group.


The standard theory for photoreceiver noise unrealistically defines the system transfer function solely in terms of the input and output pulse shapes, based on the assumption that equalization is provided at the receiver output. Most photoreceivers reported in the literature, however, are only front ends and do not include equalizers, making direct application of the conventional noise expressions inappropriate. Even if equalization is provided, a signal-dependent definition of the transfer function will be accurate only under certain limited conditions. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to assume a given pulse shape at the input. In this paper we consider the effect of incorporating a more realistic transfer function into the conventional noise theory. We choose the transimpedance amplifier for our analysis due to its widespread popularity; however, our approach is general and can he applied to a broad class of photoreceivers. Since our transfer function is based on a physical circuit, our results can be used to estimate photoreceiver noise performance without making any assumptions on the input or output pulse shapes. >


A multirod solar laser approach is here proposed to attain uniform and stable multibeam emission under non-continuous solar tracking. A Fresnel lens was used as the primary concentrator. The laser head was composed of a second-stage aspherical lens with a light-guide homogenizer and a third-stage conical pump cavity with six Nd:YAG rods. The solar laser system was optimized through numerical analysis in both Zemax® and LASCAD™ software to obtain six 1064 nm laser beams of similar multimode power. To investigate the effect of the homogenizer on the laser performance, the laser head was compared with a similar one that only used the aspherical lens in the second stage. The approach with the light guide attained a slightly lower efficiency than the one without the light guide; however, the tracking error width at 10% laser power loss was higher and, most importantly, only a 2.17% coefficient of variation of the laser power emitted by the six rods at the tracking error angle of ±0.5° was obtained. This is 4.2 times better than the 52.31% obtained with the laser head without the homogenizer and 76 times better than that of the previous numerical work. The light guide is thus essential to ensure uniform and stable solar laser power extraction from all rods even under non-continuous solar tracking, making this prototype the ideal for multibeam laser applications where uniformity and stability of the laser power are indispensable. This renewable multibeam solar laser may replace the classical lamp- and diode-pumped lasers, therefore ensuring a sustainable laser power production pattern for both space and terrestrial applications.


A Kwatha, decoction, is one of the most used classical Ayurvedic dosage forms. It is a liquid preparation to be freshly consumed. For this preparation the raw material, mostly herbs or a group of herbs are extracted in water by boiling them for a specific time span. This is second part of the review paper on Ayurvedic Kwatha - herbal decoction to review and consider various approaches and their outcomes for the standardization. It provides information and reference data for the standardization of decoction across conventional methods and new techniques and explains how this classical process has evolved within new pharmaceutical developments. Many Ayurvedic production units appear to have adapted to newer manufacturing technologies including fermentation techniques. This paper explores the scope for application of newer technologies for the purpose of better standardization and novel product applications. Application of Kwatha's nano-drug delivery systems have a promising potential to enhance operation and resolve issues related to classical dosage forms. In order to tackle further chronic diseases, the incorporation of nano-carriers as NDDS in the conventional medicine system is necessary. This review examines the benefits of the nano-drug delivery system, its properties, its drawbacks, forms of nanoparticles, their preparation methods, and various herbal nano medicines. This review further explores how therapeutic benefits can be improved by reducing toxicity and increasing bioavailability.


Video coding algorithms tries to model the significant commonality that exists within a video sequence. This role is even more critical in 360-degree video sequences given the associated enormous amount of data that need be stored and communicated. Moreover, in such sequences the captured video signal from omnidirectional cameras are projected onto a plane; hence they exhibit different characteristics compared to traditional video frames. Therefore the conventional block-based and translational motion modeling approach employed by modern video coding standards, such as HEVC, may not provide an efficient compression of 360-degree video data. The edge position difference (EPD) measure based motion modeling (EPD-MM) has shown good motion compensation capabilities for traditional video sequences. The EPD-MM technique is underpinned by the fact that from one frame to the next one, edges map to edges and such mapping can be captured by an appropriate motion model. Since the 360-degree frames contain significant edge information, in this paper, for motion compensation an edge aware commonality modeling technique is adopted. In particular, the EPD-MM based motion compensated prediction of the current 360-degree frame is generated using the already coded reference frame. Experimental results show that if this predicted frame is used as an additional reference frame, bit rate savings can be obtained over an anchor HEVC encoder.


Most biomechanical research has focused on level-ground walking giving less attention to other conditions. As a result, most lower limb prosthesis studies have focused on sagittal plane movements. In this paper, an ESR foot is presented, of which five different stiffnesses were optimized for as many weight categories of users. It is characterized by a spherical ankle joint, with which, combined with the elastic elements, the authors wanted to create a prosthesis that gives the desired stiffness in the sagittal plane but at the same time, gives flexibility in the other planes to allow the adaptation of the foot prosthesis to the ground conditions. The ESR foot was preliminarily tested by participants with transfemoral amputation. After a brief familiarization with the device, each participant was asked to wear markers and to walk on a sensorized treadmill to measure their kinematics and kinetics. Then, each participant was asked to leave feedback via an evaluation questionnaire. The measurements and feedback allowed us to evaluate the performance of the prosthesis quantitatively and qualitatively. Although there were no significant improvements on the symmetry of the gait, due also to very limited familiarization time, the participants perceived an improvement brought by the spherical ankle joint.


A method has been developed for simultaneous determination of pool sizes and fractional turnover rates (FTR) of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and cholic acid (CA) in man by 13C/12C isotope ratio measurements of bile acids in serum after oral administration of 20-50 mg of [24-13C]-labeled bile acids. 13C/12C isotope ratio measurements were performed by capillary gas-liquid chromatography/electron impact mass spectrometry. CA and CDCA kinetics in serum measured by this method exhibited first order kinetics and permitted calculation of pool size and FTR of CA and CDCA. The validity of the measurements in serum was tested by simultaneous measurements in bile in three healthy volunteers and in five patients with various hepatobiliary disorders (three patients with cirrhosis, one with cholecystectomy and sphincterotomy, and one with sphincterotomy only). No consistent differences were found between the pool sizes and FTR's obtained from serum and bile. In a total of five healthy volunteers bile acid kinetics were measured in serum. The values found for the pool sizes and FTR's of CA and CDCA in these subjects were in excellent agreement with data reported in the literature based on 14C or 3H measurements in bile. The pool sizes (mean +/- SD) of CDCA and CA were 32.6 +/- 9.9 and 31.8 +/- 16.0 mumol X kg-1, respectively. The corresponding values for the FTR's were 0.24 +/- 0.13 and 0.48 +/- 0.22 d-1. These data demonstrate that pool sizes and fractional turnover rates of cholic and chenodeoxycholic acid can be measured simultaneously by blood sampling after oral administration of the respective 13C-labeled bile acids.


The insecticidal activity is the result of a series of complex interactions between toxic substances as ligands and insect's enzymes as targets. Actually, synthetic insecticides used in pest control programs are harmful to the environment and may affect non-target organisms; thus, the use of natural products as pest control agents can be very attractive. In the present work, the toxic effect of aniseed (Pimpinella anisum L.) essential oil (EO) and its nanoemulsion (NE) against the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, has been evaluated. To assess the EO mode of action, the impact of sub-lethal concentrations of aniseed EO and NE was evaluated on enzymatic and macromolecular parameters of the beetles, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total protein, total lipids and glucose. Finally, a molecular docking study was conducted to predict the mode of action of the major EO and NE components namely E-anethole, Limonene, alpha-himalachalene, trans-Verbenol and Linalool at binding site of the enzymes AST and ALT. Herein, the binding location of the main compounds in both proteins are discussed suggesting the possible interactions between the considered enzymes and ligands. The obtained results open new horizons to understand the evolution and response of insect-plant compounds interactions and their effect predicted at the molecular levels and side effects of both animal and human.


We investigate the feasibility of using Massive MIMO to support URLLC in both coherence interval based and 3GPP compliant pilot settings. We consider grant-free uplink transmission with MMSE receiver and adopt 3GPP channel models. In the coherence interval based pilot setting, by extensive system level simulations, we find that using a Massive MIMO base station with 128 antennas and MMSE receiver, URLLC requirements can be achieved in Urban Macro (UMa) Non-Line of Sight (NLoS) with orthogonal pilots and Neyman-Pearson detector. However, in the 3GPP compliant pilot setting, even by using the covariance matrix of Physical Resource Block (PRB) subcarriers for active UE detection and channel estimation as well as open-loop power control, we find that URLLC requirements are still challenging to achieve due to the insufficient pilot length and pilot symbol location regulations in a PRB.


The antifungal polyene macrolide natamycin was evaluated as a postharvest biopesticide for citrus fruits. Aqueous spray applications with 1000 µg/ml were moderately to highly effective against green mold after inoculation but did not reduce sporulation of Penicillium digitatum on infected fruits. Treatments with natamycin were significantly more effective against green mold on grapefruit and lemons than on oranges and mandarins with 92.9%, 88.5%, 57.5%, and 60.9% reductions in decay as compared with the control, respectively. The biofungicide was compatible with a storage fruit coating but was less effective when applied in a packing coating. However, when either fruit coating was applied following an aqueous natamycin treatment (i.e., staged applications) the incidence of decay was reduced to ≤10.7% as compared to the untreated control with 81.9%. The incidence of sour rot of lemons and mandarins was also significantly reduced from the untreated control by natamycin (1000 µg/ml), but propiconazole (540 µg/ml) and propiconazole + natamycin (540 + 500 µg/ml) mixtures generally were significantly more effective than natamycin alone when using a severe inoculation procedure. Experimental and commercial packingline studies demonstrated that natamycin-fludioxonil or -propiconazole mixtures applied in a storage fruit coating or as an aqueous flooder treatment were highly effective and typically resulted in a >85.0% reduction of green mold and sour rot. Resistance to natamycin has never been documented in filamentous fungi. Thus, the use of natamycin, in contrast to other registered postharvest fungicides for citrus, can be an anti-resistance strategy and an effective treatment in mixtures with other fungicides for the management of major postharvest decays of citrus.


The paper studies the notion of Stepanov almost periodicity (or S2-almost periodicity) for stochastic processes, which is weaker than the no- tion of quadratic-mean almost periodicity. Next, we make extensive use of the so-called Acquistapace and Terreni conditions to prove the existence and uniqueness of a Stepanov (quadratic-mean) almost periodic solution to a class of nonautonomous stochastic evolution equations on a separable real Hilbert space. Our abstract results will then be applied to study Stepanov (quadratic- mean) almost periodic solutions to a class of n-dimensional stochastic parabolic partial differential equations.


Low cycle fatigue tests were carried out using cruciform specimens of Type 304 stainless steel under fully ranged multiaxial strain states at 823K. Strain paths employed in the tests were not only proportional strain histories but also severe strain histories including out-of-phase strain in order to examine the effect of stain history on multiaxial fatigue life. The crack mode was also discussed by observing the crack direction on specimen surface. For the cruciform specimen, the principal strain axes are always fixed but the maximum principal strain direction is changed into the one of three principal strain axes due to the severe strain histories. The change in direction of the maximum principal strain from one principal axis to the others had no effect on fatigue life because the additional interaction between slip systems did not occur resulting in no large additional hardening. Only the strain multiaxiality influenced the fatigue life which can be predicted as well as the multiaxial fatigue life under proportional strain histories. The strain history also did not influence the mode of crack initiation.


The purpose of this paper was to assess the evolution of sports coverage regarding gender in online newspapers in two western societies Spain and the United States, in a period of ten years (2004 vs. 2014). A total of 2,951 articles with athletic content from the online newspapers usatoday.com and elmundo.es were analyzed. The variables registered were gender, placement in the newspaper, word count, inclusion of photographs, and the sports disciplines. The results show a significant reduction in sports articles in the two online newspapers for both genders. This reduction resulted in a decrease in the variability of sports articles. Further, there was a significant imbalance in sports news between the two genders. There was a significant reduction in the proportion of sports articles in both online newspapers for women, significantly reducing the accessibility of articles about women's sports. The gender imbalance was higher in the Spanish newspaper than in the U.S. newspaper. The gender imbalance was higher in the Spanish newspaper than in the U.S. newspaper. Both online newspapers showed an image of sport that is male-orientated, focused on elite-level sport and with an overall low number of sport disciplines.


ABSTRACT: Over the last decade, Brazil registered a 10.56% increase in the number of poultry slaughtered in establishments registered under the "Serviço de Inspeção Federal" (SIF - Federal Inspection Service), as a result of technological advances in management, health and genetics applied to national aviculture. At slaughter, during post-mortem inspection, carcasses can be totally or partially condemned for various reasons, including ascitic syndrome. This syndrome has economic implications for the industry, in addition to being a problem for the health and welfare of poultry. The objective of this work was to evaluate the historical series (2010-2019) of partial and total condemnations of poultry carcasses due to ascitic syndrome in slaughterhouses registered under the SIF and located in the main poultry-producing states. Through official data, the condemnation occurrence index (COI) and the adjusted seasonal index (ASI) were calculated. The condemnation rate was 1,140 carcasses condemned, totally or partially, for ascitic syndrome for every 1,000,000 poultry slaughtered. The smallest and largest COIs were found in São Paulo (February 2010) and in Goiás (January 2017), respectively. The occurrence of condemnations for this syndrome was cyclical throughout the historical series, showing peaks of condemnation in all years evaluated, with the highest ASIs in July, August and September, and with rates varying between 1.24 and 1.54 in these months. Considering the period of pre-slaughter housing, the highest ASIs coincide with the coldest period of the year (May to August) for all analyzed states. The results show that ascitic syndrome is a growing problem in Brazil, with greater occurrence during the coldest months of the year, having a negative impact on animal health and the profitability of producers and industries in the poultry production chain.


Sampling is of vital importance in biogeochemical investigations. In particular:

(1) Only organs of the same age should be compared.

(2) Preferably that organ of a tree which responds best to the element being investigated should be selected.

(3) Second-year twigs give more reproducible results than do first-year twigs.

(4) Lower and top branches may not contain the same amounts of a metal.

(5) A few specific elements are concentrated in larger amounts in particular plants: where practicable the use of these accumulator plants simplifies operations and provides better contrast between normal and anomalous samples.

(6) Anomalies are better detected when results are expressed in p.p.m. of ash rather than of dry plant.

Analyses of plants collected on the property of the Graham Bosquet Mines near Vancouver, B. C. graphically illustrate some of the above points.


In an analysis of 36 central lung, 54 mediastinal, and 10 central pleural masses, features were sought that would allow accurate localization of the mass by CT. The mass-lung interface was the most useful feature; with few exceptions a mass with a spiculated, nodular, or irregular edge was in the lung, and a mass with a smooth edge was in the mediastinum. In the superior mediastinal, supraazygos, and supraaortic regions lung masses were lateral to the great vessels, and mediastinal masses were medial to the great vessels. Anterior mediastinal masses were typically positioned between the sternum and great vessels; some were more laterally positioned, however, and could only be distinguished from lung masses by the mass-lung interface. In the infraazygos, infraaortic, and paraspinal areas, lung and mediastinal masses were best differentiated by the mass-lung interface. The angles formed between the mass and lung were occasionally helpful in localizing the mass. Central pleural masses were characterized by a lack of intimate mediastinal effect, obtuse angles between the mass and lung, a smooth mass-lung interface, and characteristic association with other similar areas of involvement in the pleural space. These criteria were used for the correct localization of 99 of 100 masses; therefore, they can simplify and focus the work-up of most central thoracic masses.


It is a difficult task to avoid the "smart systems" topic when discussing smart prevention and, similarly, it is a difficult task to address smart systems without focusing their ability to learn. Following the same line of thought, in the current reality, it seems a Herculean task (or an irreparable omission) to approach the topic of certified occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) without discussing the integrated management systems (IMSs). The available data suggest that seldom are the OHSMS operating as the single management system (MS) in a company so, any statement concerning OHSMS should mainly be interpreted from an integrated perspective. A major distinction between generic systems can be drawn between those that learn, i.e. , those systems that have "memory" and those that have not. These former systems are often depicted as adaptive since they take into account past events to deal with novel, similar and future events modifying their structure to enable success in its environment. Often, these systems, present a nonlinear behavior and a huge uncertainty related to the forecasting of some events. This paper seeks to portray, for the first time as we were able to find out, the IMSs as complex adaptive systems (CASs) by listing their properties and dissecting the features that enable them to evolve and self-organize in order to, holistically, fulfil the requirements from different stakeholders and thus thrive by assuring the successful sustainability of a company. Based on the revision of literature carried out, this is the first time that IMSs are pointed out as CASs which may develop fruitful synergies both for the MSs and for CASs communities. By performing a thorough revision of literature and based on some concepts embedded in the "DNA" of the subsystems implementation standards it is intended, specifically, to identify, determine and discuss the properties of a generic IMS that should be considered to classify it as a CAS.