Abstract
Purpose
The general aim of this chapter is to scrutinize implicit assumptions regarding leadership in the public sector entailed in the normative concept of "good governance." We draw on the concepts of leadership substitution (Kerr & Jermier, 1977), managerial leadership activities (e.g., Bass & Avolio, 1994), and demands for leadership (Blom & Alvesson, 2014). In our empirical study, we explore fine-grained processes of leadership in several local government organizations, including everyday decision-making and social interactions.

Methodology/approach
A qualitative study was conducted on the basis of 21 interviews with middle- and lower level managers and their subordinates in five municipal departments in Germany and three in Lithuania.

Findings
The results suggest that everyday leadership processes can be considered as the coexistence of leadership substitutes and leadership interventions, initiated by the leaders and their subordinates. Such leadership substitutes like routines, laws, and instructions turned out as particular important constituents of leadership processes.

Research Implications
Results of our study open several new avenues for further research on governance and leadership in local governance organizations. First, future research can proceed with a re-conceptualization of leadership in the context of local governance by drawing on the follower-oriented approaches of leadership and governance. Particular focus on tensions, conflicts, and struggles as well as on the interrelationships between different hierarchical levels of public administration could represent a fruitful extension of our study. Second, the institutional and country-based contexts of local government systems should be taken into account more explicitly while studying leadership practices.

Practical Implications
In terms of implications for practice, the results of the study call for an explicit consideration of the everyday activities while implementing "good governance." Considerations of leadership as process of daily interactions between leading persons, subordinates and codes, structures, process rules, and management instruments should become a necessary element of such concepts, otherwise, important aspects of a "good governance" would be ignored and couldn't be realized.

Originality/value
Our study contributes to the behavioral perspective of governance structures in the public sector by providing empirical insights from local government contexts and by re-conceptualizing governance and leadership processes. Instead of a merely reductionist concentration on managerial positions and persons, we propose a social-constructionist view on governance that allows for a more fine-grained, context-sensible perspective on governance in the public sector. Concretely, we call for a conceptualization of micro-level governance structures and processes mainly as a result of ongoing order-maintaining and order-negotiating processes between supervisors and subordinates, accompanied by institutions of leadership substitution and interventions from leaders and subordinates.


Mast cells stimulated with adriamycin at 4 degrees C underwent a unique exocytotic reaction. Rat peritoneal cells including mast cells were stimulated in vitro with adriamycin (100 micrograms/ml) for 0, 10, 30 or 60 sec and observed by transmission electron microscopy. Early changes could be observed after 10 sec stimulation and consisted in an approximately 5-fold increase (p < 0.001) of 0.05-0.2 micron diameter cytoplasmic vesicles. The Golgi apparatus showed signs of activation and vacuolization. From 10 to 30 sec, cytoplasmic vesicles fused with the perigranular membranes and with the membranes of developing secretory channels. At 60 sec, the number of vesicles and vacuoles diminished to nearly two-fold starting levels. The exocytotic reaction characteristically resulted in the formation of enormously dilated granular cavities. The secretory process appeared incomplete; after 60 sec, in fact, maximal histamine release was 20% and exocytosis could be found in approximately 30% of mast cells. Pre-incubation with vinblastine followed by adriamycin stimulation at 37 degrees C determined a dose-dependent inhibition of histamine release which was accompanied by the ultrastructural appearance of numerous 0.05-0.5 micron cytoplasmic vesicles and by signs of inhibited exocytosis. Our results support the concept that hyperstability of the cortical cytoskeleton coupled with microtubule perturbation would be responsible for the depressed pattern of mast cell exocytosis observed at 4 degrees C. Although stimulation at 4 degrees C induces a paradoxal secretory process, we believe that this approach may represent a useful model for understanding some basic mechanisms of exocytosis in mast cells.


In social insects, the nests of the same species can show a large difference in size and shape. Despite these large variations, the nests share the same substructures, some appearing during nest growth. In ants, the interplay between nest size and digging activity leads to two successive morphological transitions from circular to branched shapes (budding along the perimeter of the circular cavity and tunnelling of the galleries). Like several other self-organized collective behaviours, this phenomenon, as well as the entire nest-digging process, is thought to be modulated by environmental properties. The present study investigates the effect of excavated substrate on the nest morphogenesis and the morphological transitions by using two materials with different cohesions. Here, we show that the two morphological transitions occur more frequently with a cohesive substrate than with a granular one: 96 per cent of cohesive experiments showed both transitions, whereas only 50 per cent did in granular experiments. We found that transitions and excavation cessation follow area–response thresholds: the shape transitions take place and the digging activity stops when the dug area reaches the corresponding threshold values. The shape transition thresholds are lower with the cohesive substrate and that of stopping digging is independent of nest shape and material. According to simulations, the experimental frequencies of transitions found their origin in the competition between transitions and activity cessation and in the difference between the transition threshold values of each substrate. Our results demonstrate how the substrate properties modulate the collective response and lead to various patterns. Considering the non-specific mechanisms at work, such effects of substrate coarseness have their counterparts in various collective behaviours, generating alternative patterns to colonize and exploit the environment.


A novel ternary sulfide photocatalyst of monoclinic CaIn2S4 with excellent photocatalytic H2 evolution activity is synthesized via a high-temperature sulfurization approach. The precursor orthorhombic CaIn2O4 can be converted in situ to monoclinic CaIn2S4 by using H2S gas as the sulfurization reagent once the sulfurization temperature exceeds 773 K. The obtained yellow powders have a mesoporous structure and a chain-shape morphology with large surface area and high pore volume. SEM and TEM observations indicate that specific nanostep structures are formed on the surface of monoclinic CaIn2S4. Under visible light irradiation, monoclinic CaIn2S4 exhibits considerable performance for photocatalytic hydrogen production. A high H2 evolution rate of 30.2 μmol/h with good stability is achieved from Na2S/Na2SO3 aqueous solution with the deposition of 0.5 wt % Pt nanoparticles, 30 times higher than that of cubic CaIn2S4, which makes it a new promising candidate photocatalyst for hydrogen production. This work can provide an effective approach to the fabrication of other mesoporous sulfide photocatalysts with high performance.


The study of legal transplants provides a vital critical supplement to mainstream theories about legal change. Legal transplants are not exceptional or isolated occurrences, despite the economic, social, political and cultural barriers that separate the world's legal systems. This Article goes beyond traditional approaches to the study of transplants by substituting the figurative language of transplants with explicit theory about how legal change is produced. It first provides a brief account of what the literature on legal transplants has achieved so far in terms of "macro" explanations of legal change currently available. It then argues that legal transplants as social acts performed by individuals call for a study of the "micro" level of engagement with legal change by individuals. The key notion that is advanced to explore this dimension is the notion of mediated action, which denotes action that is performed by individuals making use of features of the environment as tools to interact in a specific setting. The notion of mediated action was first introduced in cultural-historical psychological investigations of the social formation of the mind. As social acts, legal transplants represent instances of mediated action. The last part of this Article highlights how legal transplants raise questions of justice and discusses briefly how the new approach to the study of transplants advocated here relates to them.


The relationship between Aboriginal communities and police continues to be a pressing issue in contemporary debates about criminal justice reform in Australia. The Australian Law Reform Commission's recent Pathways to Justice report offers a set of recommendations on how to interrupt the continuing cycle of Aboriginal people's disproportionate susceptibility to arrest, police custody, and incarceration. Many of its recommendations are grounded in the principle of building more systematic forms of cultural accommodation and community collaboration into the culture of policing. Some of these principles are already adopted by Australian police authorities in programmes such as the employment of Aboriginal police liaison officers, the inclusion of cultural awareness education in the training of law enforcement personnel, and the guarantee of interpreter services. Focusing upon the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and drawing upon the reported experiences of Anangu with police, this article examines the extent to which such reforms have transformed Aboriginal/police relations and worked to incorporate cultural difference into the culture of contemporary policing. While none of the policing issues discussed here are unique to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, the geographical remoteness of the Lands and the diversity of their communities combine to establish a unique set of policing challenges. Having considered existing strategies to meet these challenges, the article concludes that Aboriginal people's fuller access to justice requires deeper structural reform to the culture of policing than is yet available.


The model selection stage has become a central theme in applying the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model to determine the optimal number of bilinear components to be retained to describe the genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI). In the Bayesian context, this problem has been addressed by using information criteria and the Bayes factor. However, these procedures are computationally intensive, making their application unfeasible when the model's parametric space is large. A Bayesian analysis of the AMMI model was conducted using the Reversible Jump algorithm (RJMCMC) to determine the number of multiplicative terms needed to explain the GEI pattern. Three a priori distributions were assigned for the singular value scale parameter under different justifications, namely: i) the insufficient reason principle (uniform); ii) the invariance principle (Jeffreys' prior) and iii) the maximum entropy principle. Simulated and real data were used to exemplify the method. An evaluation of the predictive ability of models for simulated data was conducted and indicated that the AMMI analysis, in general, was robust, and models adjusted by the Reversible Jump method were superior to those in which sampling was performed only by the Gibbs sampler. In addition, the RJMCMC showed greater feasibility since the selection and estimation of parameters are carried out concurrently in the same sampling algorithm, being more attractive in terms of computational time. The use of the maximum entropy principle makes the analysis more flexible, avoiding the use of procedures for correcting prior degrees of freedom and obtaining improper posterior marginal distributions.


A comparison of 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequences showed that strains classified as Bacteroides succinogenes are not closely related to other species of Bacteroides, including the type species, Bacteroides fragilis. Flavobacterium heparinum, for example, is more closely related to B. fragilis than B. succinogenes is. Therefore, we propose that B. succinogenes strains be renamed as members of a new genus, Fibrobacter. An analysis of 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequence data revealed that there are two species within this new genus. Isolates from rumina are placed in Fibrobacter succinogenes; the type strain is strain S85 (= ATCC 19169). Isolates from ceca of nonruminant animals are placed in Fibrobacter intestinalis; the type strain is strain NR9 (= ATCC 43854). Members of Fibrobacter succinogenes can be differentiated from Fibrobacter intestinalis by their requirement for biotin; the site of isolation may not be diagnostic. Fibrobacter succinogenes consists of two subspecies; the cells of Fibrobacter succinogenes subsp. succinogenes strains are broad rods that are often pleomorphic and coccoid (type strain, S85), whereas cells of Fibrobacter succinogenes subsp. elongata are slender rods (type strain, HM2 [= ATCC 43856]).


Abstract Extensive health inequities exist for persons with criminal-legal involvement in the USA. Researchers, both novice and experienced, are critical in documenting these inequities and implementing programs that address the many health and social problems of this population. However, working with currently or formerly incarcerated persons brings new challenges to researchers that may have not been previously considered as necessary. Because incarcerated persons were systemically exploited by biomedical researchers until reform following the Civil Rights Movement, resulting in their designation as a vulnerable population in the Code of Federal Regulations, enhanced protections are necessary in implementing contemporary research involving incarcerated persons. These enhanced protections can delay or prolong the regulatory approval process, particularly to the novice carceral system researcher, which may discourage some from engaging with this important population. Drawing on the many years of experience working with incarcerated persons accumulated by the Sexual Health Empowerment (S)HE Team at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), this article offers some concrete steps toward getting started in this work.


A comparison of the sequence of terminal replication of DNA in human chromosomes has been made between skin fibroblasts and peripheral blood lymphocytes from the same adult male individual. The chromosomes were identified by quinacrine-banding, and the order of termination of replication was determined by autoradiography. Chromosomes 4, 5, 8, and 13 were found to terminate DNA replication later in lymphocytes than in fibroblasts, wheres chromosomes 15, 19, 20, and 22 were found to terminate their replication earlier in lymphocytes than in fibroblasts.


We propose Rockmate to control the memory requirements when training PyTorch DNN models. Rockmate is an automatic tool that starts from the model code and generates an equivalent model, using a predefined amount of memory for activations, at the cost of a few re-computations. Rockmate automatically detects the structure of computational and data dependencies and rewrites the initial model as a sequence of complex blocks. We show that such a structure is widespread and can be found in many models in the literature (Transformer based models, ResNet, RegNets,...). This structure allows us to solve the problem in a fast and efficient way, using an adaptation of Checkmate (too slow on the whole model but general) at the level of individual blocks and an adaptation of Rotor (fast but limited to sequential models) at the level of the sequence itself. We show through experiments on many models that Rockmate is as fast as Rotor and as efficient as Checkmate, and that it allows in many cases to obtain a significantly lower memory consumption for activations (by a factor of 2 to 5) for a rather negligible overhead (of the order of 10% to 20%). Rockmate is open source and available at https://github.com/topal-team/rockmate.


Abstract Despite Jebe Noyan's importance to the expansion of Chinggis Khan's empire, the Mongol general remains a shadowy figure. In part this stems from the absence of any biography of Jebe in the Yuan Shi and much uncertainly surrounds when, and in what circumstances, he died. Here the argument is made that the Novgorod First Chronicle provides a description of Jebe's capture and death at the hands of the Kipchaks during the 1223 campaign which culminated with the decisive Battle of the Kalka River. The silence and ambiguity surrounding Jebe's fate in pro-Mongol sources of the thirteenth century can perhaps be explained by a taboo surrounding the disgraceful circumstances of his capture and execution. The paper explores the implications which this identification holds for how we assess the westward campaign of Jebe and Sübe'etei (1220-1224), often perceived as a reconnaissance mission, and how the Mongol leadership viewed enemies west of the Volga in its aftermath. This, in turn, sheds light on the preparations the Mongols made for their return in force to the region in the 1230s. Finally a theory is offered for why Jebe's identification was not made previously which illustrates the challenges facing researchers of the Mongol Empire.


Tantalum liners have been successfully bonded to the inside surface of an M242 Bushmaster barrel using a low-detonation velocity explosive. This report examines the governing equations of the explosive bonding process as they apply to this particular situation. The relevant properties of other high-strength tantalum alloys are investigated to see if they are suitable candidate materials. Parameters under consideration are the values of critical impact pressure, the critical flow transition velocity, the critical angle for jet formation, and the maximum flyer plate velocity. Plots are provided to indicate the bounds of the parameters that will make a strong mechanical bond.


Quantifying the benefits of a knowledge management system (KMS) is a difficult job. Very little literature was found to report the rate of investment (ROI) resulted from a KMS. Quantification of returns from KMS investments involves several tasks: identification of value added knowledge management (KM) activities, identification of benefits generated by the value added KM activities, and quantifying the values of benefits. This paper is dedicated to the development of quantitative models for measuring time, man-hour, and cost benefits resulted from a KMS of an engineering consulting firm. Details of the proposed quantitative KMS benefit models are presented with a case study application to a local leading engineering consulting firm. It is found from the case study that the average time benefit (TB) is 63%; the average man-hour benefit (MHB) is 73.8%; and the average cost benefit is 86.6%.


Summary In this case, the macroscopic and microscopic findings of a Black tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi), infected with Ichthyophthirius multifiliis were described. Macroscopically, there were white spots in the different sizes on the skin of head and back, and increase amount of mucus on the skin and gills of fish. Microscopically, the parasites were found on the epidermis of operculum and gill lamellae. Gills showed the hyperplasia between the chlorid cells and adhesions in the secondary lamellae. .


Muscle mass, distribution of fiber types, fiber cross-sectional areas (CSA) and selected enzyme activities were determined in rats hindlimb-suspended free of immobilization (Susp-Free), suspended with the ankle dorsiflexed (Susp-DF, soleus stretched) or plantarflexed (Susp-PF, soleus shortened) for 10 days and compared to cage-control (Con) rats. Reduction of muscle weight associated with suspension was prevented in Susp-DF rats. The mean CSAs of slow fibers were Con = Susp-DF > Susp > PF > Susp-Free and of fast and intermediate fiber tended to be Susp-DF > Con > Susp-PF = Susp-Free. Mean activities of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) and myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase (mATPase) in slow and fast fibers were similar in Con and Susp-Free rats. Mean SDH activity in slow fibers was higher in Susp-DF and Susp-PF than in Con and Susp-Free. No significant differences in SDH activities of fast fibers were observed among groups. GPD activity was higher in slow fibers of Susp-DF and Susp-PF compared to Con. The mATPase activity was higher in slow fibers of Susp-DF compared to Con and Susp-Free rats and lower in fast fibers of Susp-DF compared to Con rats. Thus, when compared to control, the patterns of adaptation were more similar in the Susp-DF and Susp-PF than in the Susp-Free. Although these results are consistent with previous studies demonstrating that the load placed on a muscle can affect protein metabolism, the direction and magnitude of the adaptive responses observed in the present study were closely associated with the chronically imposed changes in muscle length, i.e. fixed at either a shortened or a lengthened position.


Background
Rotator cuff disorders are a leading cause of shoulder symptoms. Accurate imaging, detecting the type of the involved muscle, and severity of the injury have important effects on the choice of treatment. Accordingly, the current study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for rotator cuff disorders in patients suffering from shoulder pain and to explore the precision of ultrasound in determining the exact dimensions of a tear in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods
This prospective research was performed on patients clinically suspected of rotator cuff tendinopathy. An ultrasound of the shoulder was initially performed for the candidates. In this study, MRI was regarded as the modality of choice for examining the images of shoulder disorders. The European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR) guidelines were used to design the protocols and implement imaging measures. Based on the reference standard of MRI, the specificity and sensitivity as well as positive and negative predictive values of ultrasound in detection of rotator cuff disorders were calculated.

Results
A total of48 patients (22 women, 23 dominant right hands) with an average age of 51.6±8.3 years were enrolled in this study. Based on MRI findings, rotator cuff disorders were detected in 43 patients (89.5%). The most commonly observed disorders were partial-thickness rotator cuff tear (n=17, 35.4%), full-thickness rotator cuff tear (n=16, 33.3%), and tendinopathy (n=10, 20.8%). Among rotator cuff disorders, the highest sensitivity of ultrasound was observed in the detection of full-thickness tear (93.7%) and rotator cuff tendinopathy (90%). The highest specificity was found in the detection of full-thickness rotator cuff tear (100%) and partial-thickness rotator cuff tear (96.7%).

Conclusion
Based on our findings, ultrasound could be considered as a high-quality diagnostic tool to rule in partial and full-thickness rotator cuff tears and rule out the rotator cuff pathologies.


Bank failure has been very common in Zimbabwe in recent years. The situation has worsened despite the dollarization of the economy. This research sought to critically analyze the survival strategies used by commercial banks in Zimbabwe post dollarization (2009-2015). A descriptive survey design was adopted. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Secondary data from published journals and text books was used as a complement to primary data. The study revealed that strategies used by commercial banks include product differentiation, superior distribution channels, adequate risk management as well as technological innovation. Challenges faced by bank were found to be cash shortage, lack of lender of last resort, stringent regulation, high capital requirements and high operating costs. Political, economic, technological and legal factors were found to be the major external environmental factors that influence strategy implementation. The study also revealed that the major internal business factors that influence strategy implementation include resource availability, organizational structure, effective communication and good leadership. It was found that there is a strong positive relationship between strategy and bank performance. The study recommended that banks should encourage and educate customers on the use of plastic money to curb the problem of cash shortage. Banks should embrace technology so as to improve product innovation. RBZ should loosen its regulatory framework so as to create a conducive operating environment. The central bank should engage with the government for the recapitalization of the RBZ.


Abstract. Dalmatian Pelicans (Pelecanus crispus, n = 3 breeding pairs) at the Shanghai Zoo, China, were used to study breeding behavior and nest conditions using automated telemetry from 21 February to 25 March 2011. Both sexes were found to participate in egg incubation, but females spent 341.7 ± 180.0 min incubating while males spent 378.3 ± 180.8 min incubating during daylight hours. Females turned the eggs at 51.5 ± 22.8-min intervals, whereas males turned the eggs at 70.0 ± 64.3-min intervals. However, the differences between the sexes were not significant. The time budget of the Dalmatian Pelicans indicated that the breeding birds saved energy by reducing locomotion and increasing the time spent resting during the breeding season. The average nest temperature during the study was 35.5 ± 0.8 °C (Range = 33.1–37.1 °C), and diurnal fluctuations in egg temperature were small (F = 0.570, P = 0.942). The average relative nest humidity was 55.7 ± 4.8% (Range = 39.8–66.9%), and changes during the day were not significant (F = 1.347, P = 0.148). Therefore, ambient conditions had little effect on nest conditions in this study, but the sample size was limited.


The present study represents a complete analytical solution for laminar two-phase flows with curved interfaces. The solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for the two-phases in bipolar coordinates provides the `flow monograms` describe the relation between the interface curvature and the insitu flow geometry when given the phases flow rates and viscosity ratios. Energy considerations are employed to construct the `interface monograms`, whereby the characteristic interfacial curvature is determined in terms of the phases insitu holdup, pipe diameter, surface tension, fluids/wall adhesion and gravitation. The two monograms are then combined to construct the system `operational monogram`. The `operational monogram` enables the determination of the interface configuration, the local flow characteristics, such as velocity profiles, wall and interfacial shear stresses distribution as well as the integral characteristics of the two-phase flow: phases insitu holdup and pressure drop.


BACKGROUND
Lack of effective systems and tools to identify and track defaulters are some of the factors that pose challenges in adherence monitoring for patients on anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An intervention was performed to introduce a facility-based appointment keeping system, and a revised clinic form to monitor patients' adherence to ART.

OBJECTIVE
To assess facility staff perceptions of, motivation for and self-reported practice in the implementation, and on the use of adherence-based indicators to inform decisions for performance improvement.

DESIGN
Qualitative explorative study aiming to evaluate a quasi-experimental intervention.

SETTINGS
Six conveniently sampled health facilities in Kenya located in Central, Eastern and Rift Valley provinces.

SUBJECTS
Thirty-six clinic staff members were interviewed, six at each facility, including facility managers, clinicians, nursing and pharmacy staff, counsellors, health records information officers and social workers. Analysis was performed in line with the Pettigrew and Whipp framework.

RESULTS
Providers perceived that the intervention had empowered them to assess their clinic's daily workload and to identify those patients who missed their appointments. Factors enhancing the positive uptake of the intervention included the availability of tools to monitor appointment keeping, training on adherence principles and supervisory support. Early detection of treatment defaulters helped the providers design targeted patient support to enhance appointment keeping.

CONCLUSION
The effect of the intervention led to implementation of changes within the clinic to enhance patients' appointment keeping and improve adherence to treatment. We expect the reported and observed changes to be sustainable as data generation and calculation of indicators to inform decision-making were performed by the providers themselves.


Background The detection of the pathogens in the blood is essential for the management of septic patients; however, conventional blood culture takes 2–3 days. Therefore, rapid and convenient methods may be useful to aid clinical decision-making. Methods Blood samples with sepsis clinically diagnosed in cases that fulfilled the diagnostic criteria were used and analyzed the utility of a novel bacterial nucleic acid identification test using a cell-direct polymerase chain reaction (cdPCR)-based nucleic acid lateral flow immunoassay (NALFIA) which were named as "DiagnoSep" to detect representative bacteria in peripheral blood leukocytes in patients admitted to our hospital and compared the conventional blood culture results simultaneously taken from the patients. Results We analyzed the total 42 samples in the terms of this study and found 18 (42.8%) were positive on cdPCR-NALFIA, and 24 (57.1%) were positive on blood cultures. Although the positive rate was higher with blood cultures, 15 samples showed positive results from both blood cultures and cdPCR-NALFIA, and the identified bacteria agreed for 10 samples. Of the 18 cdPCR-NALFIA-positive cases, the results for 8 samples differed from the results of blood cultures; four of them had an implanted pacemaker or prosthetic joint and were positive for Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis on cdPCR-NALFIA. Conclusion Blood culture tests are probably the gold standard in identifying causative organisms in sepsis, but the rapid results from cdPCR-NALFIA simultaneously used with blood culture may make it an important auxiliary diagnostic tool for identifying infecting organisms and lead to the improvement of mortality of the septic patients, because these combined results provide the wide information on the possible pathogens in early phase.


The resonant-mass technique for the detection of gravitational waves may involve, in the near future, the cooling of very large masses (about 100 tons) from room temperature (300 K) to extreme cryogenic temperatures (20 mK). To cool these detectors to cryogenic temperatures an exchange gas (helium) is used, and the heat is removed from the antenna to the cold reservoir by thermal conduction and natural convection. With the current technique, cooling times of about 1 month can be obtained for cylindrical bar antennas of 2.5 tons. Should this same technique be used to cool a 100 ton spherical antenna the cooling time would be about 10 months, making the operation of these antennas impracticable. In this paper, we study the above-mentioned cooling technique and others, such as thermal switching and forced convection from room temperature to liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) using an aluminium truncated icosahedron of 19 kg weight and 25 cm diameter.


Function tests of the individual kidneys have been performed during mannitol diuresis and vasopressin infusion in hypertensive patients with essential hypertension, pyelonephritis, and occlusive lesions of one or both main renal arteries or their primary branches. In patients with essential hypertension, glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow on the two sides, though depressed, were practically equal, as were urine flow, water, solute, and sodium excretions. Pyelonephritis and branch arterial lesions alike depressed urine flow, glomerular filtration rate, and renal plasma flow in the affected or more-affected kidneys; water, total solute, and sodium excretions were in proportion to glomerular filtration rate. These findings indicate a decrease in numbers of functioning nephrons without a qualitative change in function of those remaining. Occlusive lesion of one main renal artery decreased glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow on the affected side; urine flow was relatively more depressed than filtration rate, urinary osmolality was higher, and urinary sodium concentration was sharply decreased, as was the excreted fraction of the filtered sodium load. Bilateral occlusive main arterial lesions sometimes had effects similar to those of unilateral lesions in the sense of greater functional deficits on the more-affected sides. However their functional patterns were not consistent. The enhanced renal sodium reabsorption observed in patients with unilateral and bilateral main renal artery diseases could not be explained solely by decreases in filtered sodium load; this suggests that decreases in intrarenal arterial pressure also affect sodium excretion. Changes in renal functions caused by arterial disease depend on the site of the lesion and not on the pressor mechanism it may evoke.


BACKGROUND
The GENE-UP®  Salmonella (SLM) assay (Performance Tested Method  SM 121802) is a PCR detection method that utilizes Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer hybridization probes for the rapid detection of Salmonella species in foods and on environmental surfaces.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this validation was to evaluate the method's interlaboratory performance for submission to AOAC INTERNATIONAL for adoption as First Action Official Method of Analysis  SM.

METHOD
The GENE-UP method was evaluated in a multi-laboratory study using unpaired test portions for one food matrix, raw ground beef (80% lean). The candidate method was compared to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service, Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook 4.10 reference method. An alternative confirmation procedure, using ASAP™ and CHROMID® Salmonella chromogenic agars, was included in the validation study. Fifteen collaborators from 14 laboratories participated. Three levels of contamination were evaluated: a non-inoculated control level (0 CFU/test portion), a low contamination level (∼0.7 CFU/test portion) and a high contamination level (∼2 CFU/test portion). Data were analyzed using the Probability of Detection (POD) statistical model.

RESULTS
The dLPODC values with 95% confidence interval for the GENE-UP Salmonella method with either alternative or traditional confirmation were: 0.00 (-0.03, 0.03), -0.02 (-0.15, 0.12), and 0.02 (-0.03, 0.09) for the non-inoculated, low and high contamination levels respectively.

CONCLUSION
The dLPODC results demonstrate no difference in performance between the candidate method and reference method for the matrix evaluated.

HIGHLIGHTS
The GENE-UP Salmonella method, with ASAP and CHROMID Salmonella, provides industry with a simplified, rapid and accurate workflow for the detection of Salmonella in a broad range of foods and select environmental surfaces.


Given controversy about whether mediation is a safe option for parties with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV), there is agreement that staff should conduct systematic IPV screening prior to conducting family mediation sessions; yet, measures to do so are limited and new. The present study is a randomized controlled trial comparing use of a standardized, behaviorally specific screen (Mediator's Assessment of Safety Issues and Concerns, MASIC) to a less specific mediation clinic IPV screen (Multi-Door screen) for rates of IPV detection. We also examined rates of recommendation to joint mediation resulting from use of the 2 screens. The sample was 741 divorcing or never married parties seeking mediation at the D.C. Superior Court's Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division. Results indicated that parties were at greater odds of reporting IPV and IPV-related risk factors (i.e., injury, fear) on the MASIC compared with the Multi-Door screen. However, overall, neither screen was more likely than the other to lead to a case not being recommended for joint mediation. Regardless of screen, cases identified as higher risk were less likely to be recommended for joint mediation, and relative to the Multi-Door screen, the MASIC identified more high risk cases. Thus, a greater percentage of high risk cases were not recommended for joint mediation when the MASIC was used. In exploratory analyses, findings suggest that type of IPV behavior reported, level of IPV and abuse victimization, and the recency of such behaviors significantly impact recommendation decisions.


We present a technique that we call coherent line removal, for removing external coherent interference from gravitational wave interferometer data. We illustrate the usefulness of this technique applying it to the the data produced by the Glasgow laser interferometer in 1996 and removing all those lines corresponding to the electricity supply frequency and its harmonics. We also find that this method seems to reduce the level of non-Gaussian noise present in the interferometer and therefore, it can raise the sensitivity and duty cycle of the detectors.


Abstract:  Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngotonsillitis, cervical adenopathy (PFAPA) syndrome, which is characterized by periodic episodes of high fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis, is of unknown etiology and manifests usually before 5 years of age. A patient with periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngotonsillitis, cervical adenopathy syndrome simultaneously presenting with genital ulcers has not been reported previously. We describe a 12‐year‐old Chinese girl with a 2‐year history of periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngotonsillitis, cervical adenopathy syndrome who exhibited vulvar ulcers accompanying an episode of febrile periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngotonsillitis, and cervical adenopathy. Although during a 1‐year follow‐up this girl did not manifest typical symptoms/signs of Behçet's disease except recurrent oral aphthae and genital ulcers, it is possible that periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngotonsillitis, cervical adenopathy syndrome and Behçet's disease could have overlapping manifestations. Furthermore, this report would add to the evidence of a wide variation in the clinical symptomatology of PFAPA syndrome.


78 male and 241 female college students completed self-report measures of social and general self-efficacy and academic locus of control midway through their first term in college. Fall semester credits completed and gradepoint average were criterion measures, while high school performance and personality variables were predictor variables. Although the magnitude of the coefficients was small (<.30), fall GPA was significantly related to high school English average and class rank and to social efficacy. Fall credits completed were significantly related to high school averages in Mathematics and English, class rank, to SAT Mathematics and Verbal scores, and to social efficacy. Regression analysis indicated that none of the high school performance or personality variables were predictors of fall semester achievement. General self-efficacy and locus of control were not significantly related to either academic criterion measure. Implications for interventions with beginning college students are offered.


Objective L crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri and L. iners are the predominant lactobacilli in the vaginal flora of reproductive aged women. Colonization of the vagina and rectum by lactobacilli has been associated with decreased risk of BV. We evaluated the species-specific role of Lactobacillus on the acquisition of BV. Methods Two hundred forty four healthy asymptomatic women aged 18–40 were followed at 2 month intervals for up to 18 months. At each visit, vaginal and rectal swabs for culture detection of lactobacilli and a vaginal smear for diagnosis of BV using Nugent criteria were collected. Lactobacilli were identified to the species level using repetitive sequence PCR and/or 16S rDNA sequencing. The risk of BV acquisition using Lactobacillus colonisation vaginally and/or rectally as a time-varying covariate was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results This analysis included 1481 follow-up visits at which 235 women were colonised by L. crispatus, L. jensenii, L. gasseri, or L. iners. Of 2734 vaginal and1861 rectal lactobacilli recovered, 1968 were L. crispatus, 1024 L. jensenii, 909 L. gasseri, 410 L. iners, and 284 other species. Eighty nine women acquired BV over 220.4 woman-years (WY) for an incidence of 40 per 100 WY. The rate of BV was lowest among women colonised by L. crispatus at the prior visit (25 per 100 WY, unadjusted hazards ratio 0.31, 95% confidence interval: 0.16–0.62), compared to a rate of 100 per 100 WY among women having only L. iners. Vaginal and/or rectal colonisation by L. jensenii or L. gasseri was not associated withlower rates of BV acquisition (60 and 76 per 100 WY, respectively (p > 0.05)) than the rate observed among women having only L. iners. Conclusions Although there is Lactobacillus species diversity in the vaginal microbiome, L. crispatus has the greatest protective benefit against acquisition of BV.


The period from the emergence of the Greek city-state in the 8th century BC to the reign of Alexander the Great and the establishment of Greek monarchies was one unparalleled in history for its brilliance in literature, philosophy and the visual arts. This book reproduces the text of the "Oxford History of the Classical World: Greece and the Hellenistic World" in a smaller paperback form. Written by a team of leading classical scholars, it includes chapters on political and social history, Homer, Greek myth, drama, science and the great philosophers. All the original line drawings and maps have been retained, and an eight-page section of illustrations has been specially selected for this edition by Sir John Boardman.


The North Carolina Prostate Cancer Comparative Effectiveness & Survivorship Study (NC ProCESS) was designed in collaboration with stakeholders to compare the effectiveness of different treatment options for localized prostate cancer. Using the Rapid Case Ascertainment system of the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, 1,419 patients (57% of eligible) with newly-diagnosed localized prostate cancer were enrolled from January 2011 to June 2013, on average 5 weeks after diagnosis. All participants were enrolled prior to treatment and this population-based cohort is sociodemographically diverse. Prospective follow-up continues to collect data on treatments received, disease control, survival and patient-reported outcomes. This study highlights several important considerations regarding stakeholder involvement, study design and generalizability regarding comparative effectiveness research in prostate cancer.


There is limited research that evaluates occupational therapy and lifestyle interventions, especially for mental health service users. This thesis provides increased knowledge and understanding of the processes and factors that led to better quality of everyday life, engagement in meaningful activities, and balance for participants who took part in the Balancing Everyday Life (BEL) intervention. BEL was implemented in 2012-2015 as part of a larger research project, of which this dissertation is part. BEL is a group-based occupational therapy intervention that aims to support overall well-being and recovery through finding a personalized balance of meaningful activities and relationships. Study I investigated whether socio-demographic, care context, clinical and self-related factors could predict clinically important improvements in the outcomes mentioned above. Data collection took place with 133 participants at baseline, and then again at BEL end and six months following. Bi-variate analyses and then multivariate regression analyses were performed. Though many associations were found, few factors were identified as predictors in the regression analyses. The strongest predictors of belonging to the improved groups for occupational balance included having a friend for the leisure domain of occupational balance and female gender for the self-care domain. Having children was found to be a predictor for improved occupational engagement. Studies II-IV used a qualitative Grounded Theory approach. Nineteen participants were interviewed after BEL, and some were interviewed mid-intervention and 1.5-2 years after BEL. Study II focused on the meaning of the group for the BEL participants, and a process of meaning-making through group participation was constructed of three categories: Joining with others, Sense of belonging, and Re-valuing Self. Those who experienced the most meaning reported feeling less lonely, more connected, as well as respected and worthy. Study III focused on the processes at work that supported making lifestyle changes. A process of making changes was constructed, consisting of five categories: Going at it gently: change is an on-going process; Support for progress, permission to fail; Prioritizing and setting boundaries; Adjusting for a sustainable balance; and Caring for a valued Self. Each category included a strategy for change as well as a related inner change. A more self-compassionate approach seemed to be a key for caring for Self and making sustainable changes. Study IV focused on perceptions of the BEL format and content and included focus group and/or individual interviews with 12 group leaders and 19 participants. Both parties felt that they had benefited from BEL's structure and manual, yet flexibility was desired. BEL appeared to create bridges - to other people, to society at large, and to a future version of everyday life. BEL's occupation- and person-focused approach was appreciated. Group leaders experienced BEL as easy to implement and some felt it strengthened their professional role. Participants appreciated feeling respected and listened to by the group leaders, and appreciated them maintaining structure in the group. Regarding hindering factors, group leaders mentioned mainly material obstacles, such as the lack of suitable group rooms or projector. Participants felt that too different functional levels between the group participants could be an obstacle. As similar research and interventions are lacking, this dissertation provides an important contribution to the knowledge base for occupational therapeutic interventions in the psychiatric field. (Less)


Abstract Much has been learned about hemorrhage control using tourniquets from wartime experiences, and recent mass casualty events. The use of tourniquets for extremity hemorrhage is a lifesaving skill for all providers to learn.


Brain abscesses were neurosongraphically diagnosed in 3 out of 44 neonates who had confirmed purulent meningitis. In two cases, the cause was Proteus mirabillis, whereas in one the cause could not be isolated. The ultrasound finding indicated abscess cavities localised in the frontal (in one case bilaterally) and temporal regions of the CNS. Neurosurgical interventions were carried out on all of the neonates who had abscesses (including the evacuation of purulent cavity contents, and later on a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in two cases, because of the development of hydrocephalus). Follow-up on the operated infants revealed that one infant died at the age of 9 months; one, who had a bilateral abscess, demonstrated significant neurodevelopmental retardation in the third month of his life (so far it has not been brought under control); while the third one, whom we monitored until the age of 2, displayed regular psychomotor development (preserved intellect, motor skills, sight, and hearing).


Radioiodinated diiodo-p-aminohippuric acid (DI131PAH) and N-(2,4-diiodo-3-hydroxyphenyl) urea (DI131HPU) were synthesized and examined for their potential usefulness in measuring the cardiac output in animals. These labeled compounds were injected intravenously into rats, rabbits and 13 dogs for study. The average rate of disappearance of DI131PAH from the blood stream of dogs was 50% and 90% in 1.0 and 6.9 minutes, respectively. Only a very small percentage of the injected radioactivity localized in the tissues, with approximately 0.5% in the thyroid at 24 hours. Under appropriate conditions of the experiment, more than 90% of the injected radioactivity was recovered in the excreta. Cardiac output values determined with DI131PAH on dogs were reproducible and in the range of reported values determined with other materials. Submitted on January 25, 1960


The AutoAdmin research project was launched in the Fall of 1996 in Microsoft Research with the goal of making database systems significantly more self-tuning. Initially, we focused on automating the physical design for relational databases. Our research effort led to successful incorporation of our tuning technology in Microsoft SQL Server and was subsequently also followed by similar functionality in other relational DBMS products. In 1998, we developed the concept of self-tuning histograms, which remains an active research topic. We also attempted to deepen our understanding of monitoring infrastructure in the relational DBMS context as this is one of the core foundations of the "monitor-diagnose-tune" paradigm needed for making relational DBMS selftuning. This article gives an overview of our progress in the above three areas – physical database design, self-tuning histograms and monitoring infrastructure.


Vacancy-type defects in plastically deformed GaN were studied using monoenergetic positron beams. Dislocations with a Burgers vector of (1/3)[12¯10] were introduced by applying compressive stress at 950 °C. Measurements of Doppler broadening spectra of the annihilation radiation and positron lifetime spectra showed that both microvoids and Ga-vacancy-type defects were introduced into the deformed sample. The former defects are considered to be introduced through an agglomeration of vacancies introduced by dislocation motions. We observed a distribution of the mean positron lifetime along a long side of the deformed sample, which corresponds to the stress distribution during the deformation. In photoluminescence studies, yellow-band luminescence (2.2 eV) decreased due to the deformation. The suppression of this band was attributed to the vacancy-type defects and/or dislocations introduced by the deformation.


The efficient hydrophobization mechanism of a hydrophilic cellulose film surface with alkylketene dimer (AKD) was studied in terms of formation of β-ketoester bonds at AKD/cellulose interfaces and their nanosized distribution analysis. AKD-treated cellulose and nanocellulose films were sequentially extracted with chloroform, hot water, and dioxane/water. Atomic force microscopy and high-resolution secondary-ion mass spectrometry were used to analyze the surface structures of the AKD-treated cellulose films and those after the sequential extraction. The results showed that the AKD molecules had melted and transformed into spherical nanoparticles, ∼37 nm in diameter, on the film surface during heat treatment, forming "sea/island"-like structures; the film surface projection area comprised 99% hydrophilic cellulose and 1% hydrophobic AKD nanoparticles. Determination of the AKD contents in the films revealed that an extremely small amount of AKD/cellulose β-ketoester bonds were likely to form at the AKD/cellulose interfaces during heating, clearly contributing to the hydrophobic nature of the sequentially extracted cellulose films.


In this paper, the tension of assembly stay cable connected with massive anchorage block was calculated through back analysis of in-situ frequencies measured from a stadium structure. Direct approach to back analysis is adopted using the univariate method among the direct search methods as an optimization technique. The univariate method can search the optimal tension without regard to the initial ones and has a rapid convergence rate. To verify the reliability of back analysis, Tension formulas proposed by Zui et al. and Shimada were used. Tensions estimated by three methods are compared with the design tension, and are in a reasonable agreement with an error of more or less than 15%. Therefore, it is shown that back analysis applied in this paper is appropriate for estimation of cable tension force.


A series of sixteen ring-substituted N-arylcinnamanilides, previously described as highly antimicrobially effective against a wide spectrum of bacteria and fungi, together with two new derivatives from this group were prepared and characterized. Moreover, the molecular structure of (2E)-N-(2-bromo-5-fluorophenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-enamide as a model compound was determined using single-crystal X-ray analysis. All the compounds were tested for their anti-inflammatory potential, and most tested compounds significantly attenuated the lipopolysaccharide-induced NF-κB activation and were more potent than the parental cinnamic acid. (2E)-N-[2-Chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-3-phenylprop-2-enamide, (2E)-N-(2,6-dibromophenyl)- 3-phenylprop-2-enamide, and (2E)-N-(2,5-dichlorophenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-enamide demonstrated the highest inhibition effect on transcription factor NF-κB at the concentration of 2 µM and showed a similar effectiveness as the reference drug prednisone. Several compounds also decreased the level of TNF-α. Nevertheless, subsequent tests showed that the investigated compounds affect neither IκBα level nor MAPKs activity, which suggests that the N-arylcinnamanilides may have a different mode of action to prednisone. The modification of the C(2,5)ʹ or C(2,6)ʹ positions of the anilide core by rather lipophilic and bulky moieties seems to be preferable for the anti-inflammatory potential of these compounds.


INTRODUCTION: The education goes through a crisis in their teaching-learning process, due to the fact that their contents are developed out of context, merely theoretical activities. Several scholars warn about the importance of working with experiential activities to enhance and stimulate student learning, seeking a more meaningful than we have seen in recent times. The objectives of this work are installation of a laboratory for teaching science in public school, ISEPAM, at North of Rio de Janeiro, formation of multipliers agents and promoting a Scientific Week/Exhibition involving all school community. MATERIALS AND METHODS:First, we perform the spatial organization of the laboratory, including purchase of materials/equipment. In a second step, experimental activities involving identification of Macromolecules in foods were prepared and tested. From this, we promote short courses in biochemistry for teachers to forming multiplier agents. As a conclusion of the activities of this project a Scientific Week/Exhibition was promoted in school. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Practical classes on fermentation, identification of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates were performed by teachers and students from ISEPAM. We observed in the biochemistry course which the participants have established relationships between theory and practice and also they showed interest in the insertion of experiments in their work routine.. Regarding the Scientific Week/Exhibition, students of elementary and high school participated. They were encouraged and integrated with experiment activities and thereby new talents for scientific and technological interest were identified. CONCLUSION: It was observed that the experimental activities become more attractive and challenging the search for knowledge.


Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) can serve as an environmentally friendly replacement solvent in a number of applications, but usually for hydrophobic compounds. Johnston et al. (p. 624; see the Perspective by Beckman, (p. 613;) have found a nontoxic surfactant that stabilizes microdroplets of water in scCO2. Proteins and ionic species can dissolve in these microdroplets, thus allowing these compounds to be processed with scCO2 methods.


Soil is a kind of discrete, multiphase compound that is composed of soil particles, liquid and air. When soil is disturbed by bulldozing plate, the mechanical behavior of the soil will become very complex. Based on the law of action and reaction, the dynamic mechanical behavior of disturbed soil was indirectly analyzed by measuring and studying the forces on the bulldozing plate by soil currently, so a stress-strain virtual measuring system for bulldozing plate, which was designed by the graphical programming language DASYLab, was used to measure the horizontal force Fz acting on the bulldozing plate. In addition, during the course of design, the experimental complexities and the interferential factors influencing on signal logging were analyzed when bulldozing plate worked, so the anti-jamming methods of hardware and software technology were adopted correlatively. In the end, the horizontal force Fz was analyzed with Error Theory, the result shown that the quantificational analysis of Fz were identical to the qualitative results of soil well, and the error of the whole test system is under 5 percent, so the tress-strain virtual measuring system was stable and credible.


Any interesting model of economic geography must involve a tension between "centripetal" forces that tend to produce agglomerations and "centrifugal" forces that tend to pull them apart. This paper explores one such model, and shows that the model links together a number of themes in the geography literature. These include: the role of market access, as measured by a measure of "market potential", in determining manufacturing location; the role of forward and backward linkages in producing agglomerations; the potential for "catastrophes", i.e., discontinuous changes in location in response to small changes in exogenous variables: and the idea that the economy is a "self-organizing system" that evolves a self-sustaining locational structure.


Neonatal vascular access continues to pose challenges. Recent times have seen considerable innovations in practice and the design and manufacture of materials used to provide infusion-based therapies with the intent of reducing the incidence and severity of vascular access-related complications. However, despite these efforts, vascular access-related complication rates remain high in this patient group and research evidence remains incomplete. In neonates, a medical-grade formulation of cyanoacrylate adhesive is widely used to secure percutaneously inserted central venous catheters and is beginning to establish a role in supporting the effective securement of other devices, such as umbilical and peripheral intravenous catheters. This Perspective article considers issues specific to the removal of cyanoacrylate used to secure vascular access devices from neonatal skin before its bonding releases due to natural skin exfoliation processes. The aim of this information is to ensure the safe and effective removal of octyl-cyanoacrylate adhesive-secured vascular access catheters from neonatal skin and stimulate professional discussion.


Organizations are investing substantial resources in technical security measures that aim at preventively protecting their information assets. The way management -- or information security executives -- deals with potential security measures varies individually and depends on personality traits and cognitive factors. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, we examine the relationship between the personality traits of conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness with attitudes and intentions towards managing technical security measures. The highly relevant moderating role of compliance factors is also investigated. The hypothesized relationships are analyzed and validated using empirical data from a survey of 174 information security executives. Findings suggest that conscientiousness is important in determining the attitude towards the management of technical security measures. In addition, the findings indicate that when executives are confronted with information security standards or guidelines, the personality traits of conscientiousness and openness will have a stronger effect on attitude towards managing security measures than without moderators.


In engineering design, the end goal is the creation of an artifact, product, system, or process that fulfills some functional requirements at some desired level of performance. As such, knowledge of functionality is essential in a wide variety of tasks in engineering activities, including modeling, generation, modification, visualization, explanation, evaluation, diagnosis, and repair of these artifacts and processes. A formal representation of functionality is essential for supporting any of these activities on computers. The goal of Parts 1 and 2 of this Special Issue is to bring together the state of knowledge of representing functionality in engineering applications from both the engineering and the artificial intelligence (AI) research communities.


Populist leaders use social media as a primary tool for cultivating direct relationships with "the people." Their online activity bears similarities with that of social media influencers; however, the extent of this similarity has not been discussed in-depth. In this article, we explore this affinity, performing ethnographic content analysis on a set of Facebook videos published by 3 Southern European populist leaders—Matteo Salvini (Lega, Italy), Luigi Di Maio (Five Star Movement, M5S, Italy), and Pablo Iglesias (Podemos, Spain)—during the general election campaigns of 2016 and 2018 and after assumption of public office. We argue that the communication styles of these populist leaders mimic those of social media influencers according to 4 main dimensions: "hybrid" visibility labor, authenticity, algorithm gaming, and transformation of digital publics into communities characterized by a sense of we-ness.


Methylamphetamine hydrochloride (80 mg/l.) and/or chlorpromazine hydrochloride (200 mg/l.) have been administered in the drinking water of female Wistar rats during pregnancy and suckling. The offspring were weaned at 21 days and thereafter received no drugs. Nine months later, male offspring were killed and noradrenaline and normetanephrine concentrations were determined in eight discrete areas of the brains: neocortex, hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, hypothalamus, corpora quadrigemina, pons/medulla, and amygdala region. Both drugs appeared to have permanently altered catecholamine concentrations in several areas of the brain. There was evidence of antagonism between the effects of the two drugs in the hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, and corpora quadrigemina, where the individual drugs produced altered noradrenaline concentrations but a combination of the two had no effect.


[1] We consider the efficient solution of electromagnetics problems involving dielectric and composite dielectric-metallic structures, formulated with the electric and magnetic current combined-field integral equation (JMCFIE). Dense matrix equations obtained from the discretization of JMCFIE with Rao-Wilton-Glisson functions are solved iteratively, where the matrix-vector multiplications are performed efficiently with the multilevel fast multipole algorithm. JMCFIE usually provides well conditioned matrix equations that are easy to solve iteratively. However, iteration counts and the efficiency of solutions depend on the contrast, i.e., the relative variation of electromagnetic parameters across dielectric interfaces. Owing to the numerical imbalance of off-diagonal matrix partitions, solutions of JMCFIE become difficult with increasing contrast. We present a four-partition block-diagonal preconditioner (4PBDP), which provides efficient solutions of JMCFIE by reducing the number of iterations significantly. 4PBDP is useful, especially when the contrast increases, and the standard block-diagonal preconditioner fails to provide a rapid convergence.


Below are the results of the survey of the Iberian lynx obtained with camera-trapping between 2000 and 2007 in Sierra Morena. Two very important aspects of camera-trapping concerning its efficiency are also analyzed. The first is the evolution along years according to the camera-trapping type used of two efficiency indicators. The results obtained demonstrate that the most efficient lure is rabbit, though it is the less proven (92 trap-nights), followed by camera-trapping in the most frequent marking places (latrines). And, we propose as a novel the concept of use area as a spatial reference unit for the camera-trapping monitoring of non radio-marked animals is proposed, and its validity discussed.


This month sees the launch of the new Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection (CHAI) website. It offers new visitors an introduction to the work of the organisation but also carries news, details of CHAI vacancies and information about consultations. Its launch coincides with that of the new organisation itself. Access www.chai.org.uk/ for more information.


Abstract This article considers the United Nations (UN) as a creator and facilitator of innovative ideas in world politics. It thereby breathes new life into the world organisation's overlooked characteristics: the quality and diversity of its intellectual leadership, and its value-based framework for dealing with the global challenges of our times. The nature of UN ideas are examined – the good, the bad, and the ugly – while recognising that most have multiple origins and various carriers, and it continues by assessing impact. Three types of UN ideas – positive, normative, and instrumental – are discussed. Positive ideas are those resting on hard evidence, open to challenge and verifiable. Normative ideas are beliefs about what the world should look like. Instrumental (which some might label 'causal') ideas are often about what strategy will have what result or what tactic will achieve a desirable outcome, usually less verifiable and with a normative veneer. The article then examines nine UN ideas that changed the world, before illustrating the significance of this by examining two counterfactuals: a world without the world organisation and its ideas as well as with a more creative institution.


In a limit order market, orders submitted at about the same time are subject to random latencies and will be queued accordingly. A theoretical model captures the strategic behavior of market makers who, in anticipation of such queuing uncertainty, fiercely compete for the rent in liquidity provision. Flickering orders manifest in equilibrium: Book depth first overshoots and then immediately reverts to the stable level. Depending on the source of speed improvement, various latency reductions affect differently both the overshoot and the stabilization process. The analysis speaks to recent technology changes and market quality.


This paper presents a low-cost ultra-wideband (UWB) pulse generator that can vary the pulse duration digitally by using a step recovery diode (SRD), microstrip transmission lines and PIN diodes. First, a sharp edge is generated by using a SRD. Through the use of transmission lines and the PIN diodes, a pulse is formed from the sharp edge. Based on the number of transmission lines (N), the duration of the pulse can be varied in 2/sup N/ steps. The UWB pulse generator circuit is implemented on FR-4 substrate using microstrip line technology and UWB pulses with durations of 550 to 1750 psec are measured.


Targeting cytocidal vectors to tumors and associated vasculature in vivo is a long-standing goal of human gene therapy. In the present study, we demonstrated that intravenous infusion of a matrix (i.e., collagen)-targeted retroviral vector provided efficacious gene delivery of a cytocidal mutant cyclin G1 construct (designated Mx-dnG1) in human cancer xenografts in nude mice. A nontargeted CAE-dnG1 vector (p = 0.014), a control matrix-targeted vector bearing a marker gene (Mx-nBg; p = 0.004), and PBS served as controls (p = 0.001). Enhanced vector penetration and transduction of tumor nodules (35.7 +/- 1.4%, mean +/- SD) correlated with therapeutic efficacy without associated toxicity. Kaplan-Meier survival studies were conducted in mice treated with PBS placebo, the nontargeted CAE-dnG1 vector, and the matrix-targeted Mx-dnG1 vector. Using the Tarone log-rank test, the overall p value for comparing all three groups simultaneously was 0.003, with a trend that was significant to a level of 0.004, indicating that the probability of long-term control of tumor growth was significantly greater with the matrix-targeted Mx-dnG1 vector than with the nontargeted CAE-dnG1 vector or PBS placebo. The present study demonstrates that a matrix-targeted retroviral vector deployed by peripheral vein injection (1) accumulated in angiogenic tumor vasculature within 1 hr, (2) transduced tumor cells with high-level efficiency, and (3) enhanced therapeutic gene delivery and long-term efficacy without eliciting appreciable toxicity.


To examine the epidemiological spectrum of human listeriosis at a large municipal hospital in Miami, we reviewed the cases of Listeria monocytogenes infection seen at the University of Miami Medical Center over a nine-year period (1986-94). Twenty-four patients (13 adults, 11 neonates) with bacteriologically proven Listeria monocytogenes infections were identified. The annual rate of listeriosis for the entire period 1986-1994 was 0.042 cases/1,000 hospital admissions. The rates of listeriosis during the first half of the study period (0.0628/1,000 admissions) were three times higher than the rates observed during the second half of the study (0.0214/1,000 admissions). Four (57%) of the 7 adult cases of listeriosis seen after 1987 occurred in HIV-seropositive patients. Compared with the hospital population, the annual rates of listeriosis were several fold higher in patients post-renal transplant (4.65 cases/1,000 renal transplant-related admissions) and patients with HIV/AIDS (0.27 cases/1,000 HIV-related admissions). No deaths were recorded. The decline in the annual rate of listeriosis noted in our study parallels national trends recently reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Chinese cinema has developed over decades along a chain of generations shaped by rapid changes in the topography of history, politics, society, culture, and film aesthetics. A new generation of Chinese filmmakers emerged in the early 1990s, with audacious experiments and innovations attempted to defy the conventions of filmmaking and cinematic language. The controversial image of Chinese independent films has been defined, redefined, shaped, and reshaped over the last twenty years. This comprehensive book covers the history of Chinese independent films from the early 1990s to the present and provides a new perspective on the textual analysis of contemporary Chinese films. Tonghong Cai explores five kinds of text, including historical and sociocultural, cinematic, narrative, musical, and parodic text, and discusses the features of the writerly text which contribute to the new-generation films'avant-garde nature and their position as a new cinema. This book is a good reference source for scholars and readers who are interested in contemporary Chinese cinema, film narrative, popular music and postmodernism.


Data were collected from two undergraduate student samples to examine (i) the relations of the 'Dark Triad' variables (Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism) with the HEXACO personality dimensions, as well as (ii) the ability of the aforementioned characteristics and of the Big Five personality factors to predict outcome variables related to sex, power, and money. Results indicated that the common variance of the Dark Triad was very highly correlated with low Honesty–Humility and that the unique variance of each of the Dark Triad variables also showed theoretically meaningful relations with the other five HEXACO factors. Furthermore, the Dark Triad and Honesty–Humility were strong predictors of three domains of outcome variables—Sex (short–term mating tendencies and sexual quid pro quos), Power (Social Dominance Orientation and desire for power), and Money (conspicuous consumption and materialism)—that were not well predicted by the dimensions of the Big Five. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Patent foramen ovales (PFOs) are common congenital cardiac defects that have been associated with the occurrence of stroke, especially with cryptogenic stroke, or those of undefined cause, accounting for up to 40% of all ischemic strokes. A number of studies have demonstrated the association of larger PFOs with increased shunting in patients with cryptogenic strokes. Medical treatment is often considered inadequate, and percutaneous closure offers an attractive, albeit controversial, alternative in stroke patients with PFOs. Although it is plausible that percutaneous PFO closure will reduce the rate of recurrent stroke in these patients, no prospective, randomized trials examining the efficacy of closure devices in this setting have been completed. This paper reviews the known relationship between PFOs and cryptogenic strokes and discusses current therapeutic options, including percutaneous closure. (Korean Circ J 2008;38:631-637)


The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHAct), while empha sizing the importance of engineering controls, explicitly recognizes the salience of worker behavior to the prevention of injury and illness by mandating training in job safety and health. Selected research findings from the published literature illustrate that: (1) reliable behavioral procedures that took advantage of existing engineering controls improved the health protection of workers, (2) changes in environmental con ditions were effected through changes in worker behavior, and (3) changes in the social environment favorable to the adoption of safe behavior resulted from training and motivation programs. At present individuals who are responsible for workplace health education rarely have appropriate training in this area. Until individuals with special training in health education enter this field it is unlikely that education will achieve its potential as a method for combatting occupational illness and injury.


The antithyroid drug 6-propylthiouracil (PTU) was previously shown in our laboratory to have an unexpectedly prolonged inhibitory effect on iodination in the thyroid glands of rats. Eighteen hours after injection of a relatively small dose, iodination in the thyroid remained inhibited by more than 90%. We previously suggested that the prolonged inhibitory effect might be due to inactivation of thyroid peroxidase (TPO), a reaction previously shown to occur under certain conditions in an in vitro iodinating system containing highly purified TPO. However, the analytical procedure used in our earlier study did not exclude the possibility that sufficient PTU remained in the thyroid even after 18 h to inhibit TPO-catalyzed iodination by a reversible mechanism. Development of an improved analytical procedure, based on HPLC, led us to reexamine the mechanism of the prolonged inhibitory effect of PTU on iodination in rat thyroid glands. Rats were injected with [35S]PTU (1 mumol/100 g BW), and ultrafiltrates prepared from their homogenized thyroid glands were analyzed by HPLC. The major 35S-labeled metabolites were identified as sulfate/sulfite, PTU sulfinate, and PTU sulfonate. However, even after 18 h, a significant amount of unchanged [35S]PTU was also present. The calculated mean concentration of residual PTU was 20 microM, a sufficiently high level to explain the observed inhibition of iodination on the basis of a reversible mechanism. Experiments were also performed to examine the intrathyroidal distribution of 35S at intervals after the injection of [35S]PTU. All of the oxidation products of PTU showed marked increases between 2 and 16 h after injection. Based on our view that TPO is the major mediator of intrathyroidal metabolism of PTU, this observation is inconsistent with our previous proposal that TPO is inactivated after PTU injection. The results of the present study, therefore, lead us to withdraw our previous suggestion that TPO is inactivated after injection of PTU into rats. It is more likely that inhibition of iodination by PTU in the rat thyroid involves competition between PTU and tyrosyl residues of thyroglobulin for oxidized iodine, comparable to the reversible mechanism of inhibition observed in the TPO model system.


Frequent bleeding of the adult, male duck was followed by increase in protoheme and free protoporphyrin formation by erythrocytes in vitro. X-irradiation of the animal with 800 or 1,200 r was followed by decrease in heme formation but not in free porphyrin production. Heme formation was not limited by the natural supply of porphyrin precursors and iron in blood and appears to be controlled by the uptake of iron by the cells. Free porphyrin production does not appear to be regulated by heme formation.


ABSTRACT Droughts have devastating effects on agricultural productivity and livelihoods, which triggers a quest for adaptation strategies such as the development and deployment of drought tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs). This study examines the scalability of DTMVs in Kenya using household survey data from eight counties. Results show that the 2018 DTMV adoption rate of 26% could be doubled to 52% as farmer knowledge constraints are alleviated, could potentially be further increased to 56% if seed access constraints are addressed, and even rise to 60% if seed affordability constraints are lifted. There is heterogeneity in scalability across counties attributable to differences in levels of scaling efforts. The use of electronic media appears to be a key success factor to create awareness about DTMVs but could exclude more marginalized households and communities, which highlights the need for multipronged awareness strategies. Scalability calls for public-private partnerships to foster a sustained supply of seed to the farming communities at competitive prices.


This paper presents the SCOOPP (SCalable Object Oriented Parallel Programming) approach to support the design and execution of scalable parallel applications. The SCOOPP programming model aims the portability, dynamic scalability and efficiency of parallel applications. The SCOOPP is an hybrid compile and run-time system, which can perform parallelism extraction, supports explicit parallelism and performs dynamic granularity control at run-time. The mechanism that supports dynamic grain-size adaptation is presented and performance evaluated on two parallel systems. The measured results show the feasibility of the proposed dynamic grain-size adaptation and a scalability improvement of parallel applications over static parallel OO environments, which suggests cost benefits to develop scalable parallel applications to run on multiple platforms.


Abstract The junk-food hypothesis attributes declines in productivity of marine birds and mammals to changes in the species of prey they consume and corresponding differences in nutritional quality of those prey. To test this hypothesis nestling Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) were raised in captivity under controlled conditions to determine whether the type and quality of fish consumed by young seabirds constrains their growth and development. Some nestlings were fed rations of Capelin (Mallotus villosus), Herring (Clupea pallasi) or Sand Lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) and their growth was compared with nestlings raised on equal biomass rations of Walleye Pollock (Theragra chalcograma). Nestlings fed rations of herring, sand lance, or capelin experienced higher growth increments than nestlings fed pollock. The energy density of forage fish fed to nestlings had a marked effect on growth increments and could be expected to have an effect on pre- and post-fledging survival of nestlings in the wild. These results provide empirical support for the junk-food hypothesis.


Microscopic examination of blood samples from dogs in Zaria, Nigeria indicated the prevalence of canine filariasis to be 12.7%. The survey demonstrated three species of canine filariae, namely D. repens (8.9%). D. immitis-like parasite (2.5%), and an unidentified species of filaria with a prevalence of 4.4%.


In previous studies, we found that EDRF2 was an erythroid differentiation related factor, whose expression was markedly upregulated during erythroid differentiation. It suggested that this factor played a role in erythropoiesis. By using rapid amplification of cDNA ends technology, we cloned EDRF2 gene 5 ′- and 3 ′-cDNA ends successfully. Transfection and Northern blot analysis demonstrated that EDRF2 inhibited mRNA expression of a-globin gene, while did not regulate γ-globin gene expression. Gel shift assay confirmed that DNA-binding activity of erythroid specific transcription factors GATA-1, NF-E2 and AP1 was not affected by either forced overexpression or artificial downregulation of EDRF2 gene in K562 cells. However, we detected that the negative regulator of expression of GATA-1 transcription factor was increased in EDRF2 overexpressed K562 cells. These results strongly suggested that EDRF2 was involved in a-globin gene expression and erythroid differentiation and served as a negative regulator of PU.1 transcription factor.


ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT History Revised format: 30 Nov 2019 Available Online: 31 Dec 2019 Present study investigates the existence of macroeconomic variables effect on capital structure and to evaluate the behavioral aspects of financial signaling and asymmetry of information on the non-financial sector of Pakistan. Extreme bounds analysis an econometric technique is used to analyze the robustness of financial signaling and information asymmetry covariates of macroeconomic factors on capital structure policies and to compute the empirical findings. The results conclude that interest rate is significantly influencing the decisions of the managers regarding to the composition of long run financing decisions. Hence it is identified that corporate non-financial sector has lesser signaling effect generated by the macroeconomic forces in financial decisions. However the null hypnosis cannot be rejected as this study identified. This study is meaning full and leads toward the practical version of financing decisions by the corporate sectors with the changing policies of the macroeconomic forces in Pakistan. There must be coherence between the macroeconomic policies and corporate sector policies, therefore information asymmetries may overcome.


Organizational process is an underexamined barrier and a potential bridge for the introduction of innovative treatment models into mental health practice. The author describes key operational characteristics of large, complex organizations and strategies that have been used to facilitate implementation of innovative programs in the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system. He argues that complex organizations of the type in which mental health care is increasingly delivered are characterized by multiple competing goals, uncertain technologies, and fluid involvement of key participants. Interventions shown to be effective in controlled studies are often not easily introduced into such organizations, because research is typically conducted in a buffered organizational niche that is shielded from the complex open systems around it. Key strategies for moving research into practice include constructing decision-making coalitions, linking new initiatives to legitimated goals and values, quantitatively monitoring implementation and ongoing performance, and developing self-sustaining communities of practice as well as learning organizations. The author shows how effective dissemination of new treatment methods requires attention to and effective engagement with organizational processes.


From a welfare economic perspective, the most relevant cost concept is the value individuals attribute to health in general and chronic disease in particular, elicited for example by analysing how people act or how they answer certain questions related to real or hypothetical situations involving a trade-off between money and health. It turns out that the social welfare benefit of health is much higher than the other more conventional (but incomplete) measures, and far too high to be ignored in public policy decisions (Viscusi and Aldy, 2003; Usher, 1973; Nordhaus, 2003; Costa and Kahn, 2003; Crafts, 2008). This value also captures the intrinsic value of health, a feature not shared by the other concepts.


The efficacy of an injectable formulation of praziquantel (given either intramuscularly or subcutaneously at dose levels of 5 or 8 mg/kg of body weight) and a tablet formulation (5 mg/kg) against mature Echinococcus granulosus tapeworms was studied in experimentally infected dogs. The compound was efficacious (100% clearance) if injected via either route or if administered orally.


OBJECTIVE
To prepare the tumor antigen peptide complex (HSP70-1d) of HSP70 and idiotype (Id) from SmIg ScFv fragment in patients with Chronic B cell leukemia (B-CLL), and to study the anti-tumor effect of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) induced by HSP70-Id complex-modified dendritic cell (DC) in vitro and explore their immune mechanism.

METHODS
Purified HSP70 was combined into peptide complex (HSP70-Id) with the prepared Id-ScFv from B-CLL cells in vitro by using biochemical technique. The plastic-adherent monocytes from human peripheral blood were cultured and induced into DC with rhGM-CSF and rhIL-4 using cell culture and separation technique. The cultured DC were harvested and pulsed by HSP70-Id complex. DC morphology was observed under converted phase microscope and its phenotype was characterized by FCM on 8th day as well as their secreting cytokines were measured. Host lymphocytes were stimulated by DC loaded with HSP70-Id complex and co-cultured in the medium containing IL-2. The activation and proliferation of lymphocytes were examined by MTr test, which was also used to assay cytotoxicity of CTL elicited by modified DC to Daudi, K562 and HepG2 tumor cells, and FCM analyzed the changes of T lymphocyte subsets.

RESULTS
Mature DCs were obtained successfully, showing typical morphology and phenotypic properties, the expression ratio of cellular surface molecules, CD1a was 20% - 30%, CD83 was more than 72% , both CD86 and HLA-DR over-expressed obviously in the complex-loaded DC group secreting cytokines of Thl type, IL-12 and TNF-alpha. The culturing lymphocytes that were activated by modified DC could more effectively and specifically kill Daudi (71. 24%), but not K562 and HepG2 tumor cells. Results of FCM assay demonstrated that percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes cocultured with complex-modified DC increased notably to 56.51% and 70.21%, respectively. CD4+ T/ CD8+ T proportion was changed from 1.49 to 0.81. The dose of peptide would be reduced to 1/50 if specific CTL induced by complex-modified DC instead of directly by peptide complex.

CONCLUSION
DCs modified by HSP70-Id complex exhibit powerful biological activities, and could induce CTL to specific cytotoxicity against carcinoma cells. It might be produced by cooperation of CD4+ T, CD8+ T lymphocytes and DC. The results also suggested that DC modified by HSP70-Id complex can present antigen and induce CTL with high efficacy and specificity.


Motives: Does the real property owned by an entity subject to the real property tax exemption and placed in the dependent possession of another entity give rise to an obligation to pay the tax in the amount payable by the entrepreneur?Aim: In a situation where the property is in the possession of the entrepreneur, he is obliged to pay the highest amount of tax – in 2021, the rate of this tax is PLN 24, PLN 84 per m2. However, the Act on Local and Duties and Fees provides for certain exceptions for entities which, due to their activities, benefit from a tax exemption, because of which no funds are credited to the budget of a local government unit. Therefore, it can be concluded that the tax authorities want the largest possible number of properties to be taxed in the highest amount. Their task is facilitated by the fact that the provisions of tax law are not clear as to the definition of "seizure of real estate for conducting business activity", which allows the tax authorities to freely decide what such activity is and what is not. Recently, an opinion has developed that the mere transfer of real estate into dependent possession based on a civil law contract justifies the statement that the entity conducts business activity. Therefore, the article in question attempts to answer the question whether, and if so, in what amount, the entity that benefits from the tax exemption is obliged to pay tax if it gives the property into dependent possession, and whether it is possible to use tax optimization and make the division of real estate for tax purposes?Results: The interpretation of the provisions of a.l.t. applied by the tax authorities to date, which boils down to the assumption that the mere fact of leasing real estate proves that business activity is being conducted and prejudges the loss of acquired right to tax exemption, is not justified in any way. In the provisions of the a.l.t., the legislator clearly indicates that the subjective use of the real property for purposes that entitle the entity to use the tax exemption is of significance. At the same time, when the tax exemption does not extend to part of the property, it is possible to subdivide it for tax optimisation purposes.


Although both emergentism and skill acquisition theory developed in the same field (cognitive theories) and as an attempt to replace Universal grammar-based approaches, there are some differences between these two theories. The differences lie under their different models of knowledge representation and their diverse degree of emphasis on the role of input. In addition, skill acquisition considers the process of learning while emergentism considers input and output, and what goes on in between has not been considered. Finally it should be mentioned that these two theories take different views towards the learning process.


Arylmethyl groups such as benzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, and 1-pyrenylmethyl groups were introduced to the 2′-O-position of nucleosides by reductive etherification. Combining corresponding aromatic aldehydes with 2′-O-trimethylsilylnucleoside derivatives in the presence of trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf) resulted in moderate to good yields of the 2′-O-arylmethyluridine derivatives, whereas the corresponding cytidine and adenosine derivatives were obtained in low yields. The reaction of ribonucleosides with aliphatic aldehydes did not proceed smoothly. Anomerization of the uridine derivatives by TMSOTf was observed in CH2Cl2, toluene, and CH3CN, but was completely suppressed when the reactions were conducted in 1,4-dioxane.


The transconductance characteristics of a MOS transistor realized in a submicron technology have the zero-temperature coefficient (ZTC) bias point. The gate-source voltage of such transistor is linearly dependent on temperature when the transistor is diode-connected and biased by a current source. The slope of the dependence is related to the bias current value, and can be positive, negative or zero. Hence, the diode-connected transistor can be used as a controllable temperature sensor. This conclusion was experimentally verified using a circuit designed for 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology.


PURPOSE
The goals of this study were to analyze and compare the major clinical response rates and survival of patients with either measurable or assessable disease status to treatment with systemic chemotherapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
All patients had stage IIIB or IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and were enrolled onto three consecutive phase III clinical trials. Patients were stratified by disease status (measurable or assessable) before randomization to systemic chemotherapy. The three trials were conducted in the setting of a multicenter cooperative oncology group. Composite data were obtained for the three trials. Major clinical responses, time to progression, and survival were analyzed and compared in patients with measurable or assessable disease using standard statistical methods.

RESULTS
Four hundred twenty-six patients were enrolled onto the three trials from June 1981 through August 1990. Measurable disease was present in 236 patients (55%) and assessable disease in 190 (45%). Each study was well balanced for the number of patients with measurable or assessable disease on either treatment regimen. A major clinical response was observed in 71 patients with measurable disease (30%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24 to 36). Forty patients with assessable disease responded to treatment (21%; 95% CI, 16 to 28) (P = .04). The time to progression for all patients (P = .23) and for responders only (P = .10) was not significantly different based on disease status. Overall survival and survival of responders only was not significantly different, but patients with assessable disease tended to do better. Using multivariate analysis, sex and disease status had a borderline influence on the major response rate (P = .05). Performance score (PS) was the only factor that was significantly correlated with survival.

CONCLUSION
NSCLC patients with assessable disease have major clinical response rates, time to progression, and survival that are similar to those of NSCLC patients with measurable disease. This study supports the inclusion of patients with assessable-disease lung cancer in both phase II and III trials conducted in the cooperative group setting.


This paper concerns a method of selecting a subset of features for a sequential logit model. Tanaka and Nakagawa (2014) proposed a mixed integer quadratic optimization formulation for solving the problem based on a quadratic approximation of the logistic loss function. However, since there is a significant gap between the logistic loss function and its quadratic approximation, their formulation may fail to find a good subset of features. To overcome this drawback, we apply a piecewise-linear approximation to the logistic loss function. Accordingly, we frame the feature subset selection problem of minimizing an information criterion as a mixed integer linear optimization problem. The computational results demonstrate that our piecewise-linear approximation approach found a better subset of features than the quadratic approximation approach.


Most emergency care facilities in tropical areas are inefficient, underequipped, and quickly overwhelmed by the ever-growing attendance. As a result, mortality is higher than in developed countries. To speak in terms of natural selection would be tantamount to a fatalistic admission of powerlessness to deal with the situation. In Africa, the gross imbalance between supply and demand makes it necessary to make hard choices in order to make the most effective use of available staff and equipment. The objective of medical triage is to allocate scarce facilities to those patients with the greatest chance of survival. However it is difficult to define precise rules for making such choices since they are strongly dependent on available resources, type of pathology, and level of medical skill. Prognostic indicators are ill-suited to emergency situation since they require not only clinical data but also and above all, in most cases, laboratory data which is not always available or justifiable. Experience is probably the best guarantee for reliable triage, which is philosophically difficult to accept but often unavoidable in everyday practice.


In this work, differential heating/cooling chip join process was developed for coreless flip chip packaging to minimize warpage change of coreless substrates during the bonding process. A chip was vacuumed to a bonder head and a coreless substrate was vacuumed on a base plate and they were held at different elevated temperatures during the bonding process. The temperature difference provides a substantially matched thermal expansion between the silicon chip and the coreless substrate. This minimizes stress induced by low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch during flip chip assembly. Both thermal and mechanical modeling were performed to provide more detailed information about the temperature distributions and warpage levels for all package components during the chip join process. Mechanical modeling of the chip join process confirmed that by implementing differential heating/cooling chip join process the stresses within the solder bumps can be reduced by more than 20% and the stresses in the low-k layers within the chip can be reduced by more than 25%. Our evaluations used semiconductor chips with a known low-k dielectric and SnAg solder bumps. The size of the test chip was approximately 19 mm × 19 mm with less than 150 μm pitch. The coreless substrate was 55 mm × 55 mm with 8+1 layers. The samples were bonded with an optimized differential heating/cooling chip join process. The experimental results showed that there were no C4 (Controlled Collapsible Chip Connection) bumps bridging, non-wets, nor low-k delamination in the large die with coreless package. Reliability data showed no failures in any of the tested modules.