Today, most automated test generators, such as search-based software testing (SBST) techniques focus on achieving high code coverage. However, high code coverage is not sufficient to maximise the number of bugs found, especially when given a limited testing budget. In this paper, we propose an automated test generation technique that is also guided by the estimated degree of defectiveness of the source code. Parts of the code that are likely to be more defective receive more testing budget than the less defective parts. To measure the degree of defectiveness, we leverage Schwa, a notable defect prediction technique.We implement our approach into EvoSuite, a state of the art SBST tool for Java. Our experiments on the Defects4J benchmark demonstrate the improved efficiency of defect prediction guided test generation and confirm our hypothesis that spending more time budget on likely defective parts increases the number of bugs found in the same time budget.


Neural retina cells from chick embryos up to 15 days of incubation can transdifferentiate in culture into both lentoids and pigment cells. Some transdifferentiation into pigment cells but none into lentoids was found in cultures of 17-day embryonic neural retina. No transdifferentiation occurred in cultures of neural retina from embryos immediately before hatching. In general, lentoids and pigment cells develop more rapidly and in greater numbers in cultures of neural retina from the earlier embryonic stages, and lens-specific crystallins also appear earlier and accumulate in greater amounts in these cultures. Delta crystallin accumulation is much greater in transdifferentiating cultures of early embryonic neural retina, wheras alpha and beta crystallins become proportionately more prominent in cultures of late embryonic neural retina. Traces of alpha and beta but not delta crystallin are detectable in 60-day cultures of 17-day embryonic neural retina. Analogies between these results and the ontogeny of crystallin polypeptides in lens cells in vivo are discussed.


Twenty-seven patients with mild multiple sclerosis were tested with the dynamic posturography protocol used in the NeuroCom Equitest procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine if the standard test procedure elicited a pattern of responses that would suggest the possibility of multiple sclerosis during differential diagnosis of a patient with dysequilibrium. In addition, the patients' ability to align a light bar to vertical and horizontal was tested with the head erect and with the head tilted 45 degrees to the right and left shoulder. There was a pattern of abnormality in the Equitest motor coordination tests. Only one patient produced normal scores in both the latency and adaptation tests. No pattern of error was noted in the sensory organization tests. In the visual alignment tests, only 3 of the 27 patients tested produced values that were within normal limits for the three different head positions. Visual alignment and the motor coordination tests are not specific for multiple sclerosis, but poor performance probably indicates a disruption of the integration of visual, vestibular, and somatosensory information. Although patients with early multiple sclerosis and patients with purely vestibular disorders often have similar complaints, they have quite different profiles of abnormalities in posturography testing.


In this work, the thermodynamic property of pseudoharmonic potential in the presence of external magnetic and AB fields is investigated. We used effective Boltzmann factor within the superstatistics formalism to obtain the thermodynamic properties such as Helmholtz free energy (F), Internal energy (U), entropy(S) and specific heat (C) of the system. In addition, we discuss the result of the thermodynamic properties of some selected diatomic molecules of N2, Cl2, I2 and CH using their experimental spectroscopic parameters and that of the variation of the deformation parameter of q=0,0.3,0.7. We also illustrated with some graphs for clarity of our results in both cases.


The processes of visual attention and stimulus detection are a key stage of perception. In the presented studies we tested the role of the genesis (automatic vs. reflective) and source (internal vs. external stimuli) of emotions in the detection of new stimuli (close to or distant from the fixation point). We expected (1) a narrowing of the field of attention in the case of automatic emotion elicitation or internal sources of emotion; (2) an extension of attention field in the case of reflective processes or external sources of emotion. In Study 1 ( N = 90) we used explicit presentation of sentences eliciting emotions. In Study 2 ( N = 60) we used degraded presentation (32 ms + masking) of words charged with affect. The hypotheses were partly confirmed by the data collected. We found that in the case of eliciting emotions with automatic origin or internal source detection times were significantly shorter for stimuli occurring close to the fixation point. In the case of reflective emotion eliciting condition and external emotion source, no significant differences were observed in reaction times between stimuli close to and distant from the fixation point.


In 2003, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created a translational science funding stream to foster widespread, practice-based dissemination of scientific evidence. A decade later, our study of a national cohort of innovative practices suggests that effective dissemination continues to be prevented by the limited biomedical focus of funded research, conventional research strategies, and failure to report contextual factors.


There is a significant interest to evaluate the exposure that operators are subjected throughout the working day. The objective evaluation of occupational exposure with direct measurements and the need for automatic annotation of relevant events arose. Using time series retrieved from inertial sensors, this work proposes a method that is able to automatically: (1) detect anomalies, (2) segment the working cycles and (3) by means of query-by-example, identify sub segments along the working cycle. In a short summary, this technique firstly organizes the dataset provided by all inertial measurement units (IMUs) sensors placed over the dominant upper limb. After this, it retrieves a wide variety of features to an organized matrix and then calculates the respective self-similarity matrix (SSM). This method provides information by comparing each subsequence of the time series with the remaining subsequences. As the identified structures will provide information about how repetitive or anomalous is the behaviour of the data in function of time. The results show that the presented method is capable of identifying anomalies on this dataset with an accuracy of 82%, detect working cycles with a duration error of about 6% of the working cycle, and has the ability to find matches of sub-sequences of the working cycle.


Witchcraft is a topical subject and an intriguing phenomenon in Africa. Thriving on belief systems it baffles and confronts ruling elites with dilemmas on how to deal with it. Tanzania experiences grim consequences by the entrenchment of witchcraft in the country including social exclusion, expulsion and even murder of alleged witches. The legal system copes inadequately with the challenges of witchcraft because it does not accept the reality of witchcraft and the colonial inherited law is a blunt instrument in dealing with the problem. This article charts the history of the law on witchcraft in Tanzania and concludes that witchcraft beliefs are too strong to be driven out by legal methods and instead advocates for the removal of ignorance by introducing a scientific view of the world through [mass] education.

 Key words: Witchcraft, bewitching, Tanzania, ordinance, law, commission.


Extinction and ignition characteristics of -air counterflow diffusion flame were numerically investigated using a Flame-Controlling Method(FCM). A skeletal reaction mechanism, which adopts 17 species and 58 reactions, was used in the simulation. The extinction and ignition conditions of the -air diffusion flames were investigated with varying the global strain rate. Upper and middle branches of S-curve for the peak temperature in the inverse of the global strain rate space were obtained with the FCM. The structures of diffusion flames in the upper and middle branches of S-curve were compared. It was found that the global strain rate was not correlated with the local strain rate well in the low global strain rate region. It is expected that the FCM is very useful to obtaining the extinction and ignition condition of diffusion flame, such as fires.


In response to Stephen Davis's criticism of our previous essay, we revisit and defend our arguments that the Resurrection hypothesis is logically incompatible with the Standard Model of particle physics—and thus is maximally implausible—and that it cannot explain the sensory experiences of the Risen Jesus attributed to various witnesses in the New Testament—and thus has low explanatory power. We also review Davis's reply, noting that he evades our arguments, misstates their conclusions, and distracts the reader with irrelevancies regarding, e.g., what natural laws are, what a miracle is, and how "naturalism" and "supernaturalism" differ as worldviews. Contrary to what Davis claims (even in his abstract), we do not argue that "if the Standard Model of particle physics (SM) is true, then the resurrection of Jesus did not occur and physical things can only causally interact with other physical things." Davis distorts our claims and criticizes straw men of his own creation.


Multi-modal medical image registration is an important processing step for extracting the maximum amount of information from multi-modal medical images. In this paper, to perform image registration of CT and MRI data volumes, we use the sum-of-conditional variance (SCV) similarity measure which utilizes the joint probability distribution of two images and allows Gauss-Newton optimization to be used. We compare the results from experiments on clinical CT and MRI datasets obtained using the SCV similarity measure, the entropy images on sum-of-squared-difference (eSSD) method and the mutual information (MI) approach. Our results indicate that the proposed SCV approach outperforms the eSSD and MI similarity measure approaches.


The dominance of English common-law countries in prospects for financial development in the legal-origins debate has been debunked by recent findings. Using exchange rate regimes and economic/monetary integration oriented hypotheses, this paper proposes an "inflation uncertainty theory" in providing theoretical justification and empirical validity as to why French civil-law countries have higher levels of financial allocation efficiency. Inflation uncertainty, typical of floating exchange rate regimes accounts for the allocation inefficiency of financial intermediary institutions in English common-law countries. As a policy implication, results support the benefits of fixed exchange rate regimes in financial intermediary allocation efficiency.


In 1991 a storage ring designed as a source of X-rays for X-ray lithography was delivered, installed, and commissioned in the IBM Advanced Lithography Facility (ALF) in East Fishkill, New York. Beamlines of two different designs have been constructed and installed on the ring to deliver the X-rays to the exposure stations. One design is intended for use with a stepper for the fabrication of integrated circuits. The second design is for a general-purpose research and development beamline which is used for unaligned exposures as well as for characterization of beamline components. The design and performance of both are described. Special attention is given to a paraboloid mirror optical system which is used to collimate the radiation from the storage ring. Both the theoretical and the measured performance of the mirror are presented and shown to be in excellent agreement. An exposure nonuniformity of less than ±3%, including contributions from both the mirror and the beryllium exit window, has been achieved.


: The eggshell that came from the food industries is consider as the non-hazardous waste but can cause environmental pollution. Considering the eggshell waste are rich in calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ), it is possible to be used as the sustainability insulation product to help the bio economy society and replace the uses of hazardous asbestos insulation. In this review, the tensile strength, sound absorption, and thermal conductivity properties of the eggshell waste composite were discussed. The eggshell powder was characterized under the XRD test. The different types of resins with varied compositions reinforced with the eggshell powder. The result from the XRD pattern of ESP shows the mostly the peak of the pattern was CaCO 3 . For the tensile test, the tensile strength increasing when the composition increase. The higher composition of the filler content gives the optimum the sound absorption coefficient but in a specific range of the frequency. The thermal conductivity, decreasing when added more percentage of ESP content but certain results show increasing due to different parameter uses. The comparison between asbestos properties, the eggshell composite has potential as the insulation material.


Ab initio modeling of electrochemical systems is becoming a key tool for understanding and predicting electrochemical behavior. Development and careful benchmarking of computational electrochemical methods are essential to ensure their accuracy. Here, using charging curves for an electrode in the presence of an inert aqueous electrolyte, we demonstrate that most continuum models, which are parameterized and benchmarked for molecules, anions, and cations in solution, undersolvate metal surfaces, and underestimate the surface charge as a function of applied potential. We examine features of the electrolyte and interface that are captured by these models and identify improvements necessary for realistic electrochemical calculations of metal surfaces. Finally, we reparameterize popular solvation models using the surface charge of Ag(100) as a function of voltage to find improved accuracy for metal surfaces without significant change in utility for molecular and ionic solvation.


The question of which costs admit unique optimizers in the Monge-Kantorovich problem of optimal transportation between arbitrary probability densities is investigated. For smooth costs and densities on compact manifolds, the only known examples for which the optimal solution is always unique require at least one of the two underlying spaces to be homeomorphic to a sphere. We introduce a (multivalued) dynamics which the transportation cost induces between the target and source space, for which the presence or absence of a sufficiently large set of periodic trajectories plays a role in determining whether or not optimal transport is necessarily unique. This insight allows us to construct smooth costs on a pair of compact manifolds with arbitrary topology, so that the optimal transportation between any pair of probility densities is unique.


The Global Positioning System is an outstanding tool for the dissemination of time. Equipped with C/A-code GPS time receivers, civil users may access the time scale GPS time, which is disseminated by the GPS satellites, and then the reference time scales UTC(USNO) and UTC. At a given instant, the restitution of GPS time through the satellite constellation presents a peak-to-peak discrepancy of several tens of nanoseconds without SA and several hundreds of nanoseconds with SA. The application of a Kalman filter to GPS timing data allows local access to GPS time through an estimation based on past data and updated at each new observation. The real-time restitution of GPS time, with implementation of SA, is then improved to the level obtained without SA. This paper gives details of the implementation of such a method together with a numerical test of its potential.


The management always seeks to distinct its organization from other organizations by various means, especially from the customer's point of view, and The importance of excellence has increased with the intensification of competition and the hasty changes in the environment in which organizations operate, hence models and standards that can be adopted by the organization's management to be distinguished from Others, including the European Excellence Model, EFQM (European Foundation For Quality Management ) . Universities are the same as other organizations, as they seek to excel, especially with the increase in the number of private universities in Iraq, and each of them tries to attract students to them in different ways. The idea of the study is basic, which is that organizations that want to achieve Excellence can rely on reliable international models that have been approved by other organizations. The College of Administration and Economics at Nawroz University has not applied the European Foundation For Quality Management, but it adheres to some provisions and criteria for Excellence that fall within this model. From here, the problem of the study revolves around a major question, namely, to what extent the axes of the European Foundation For Quality Management can be applied by the college administration understudy to achieve Excellence. The researchers adopted the case study methodology, and a checklist was prepared with the aim of collecting field data through personal interviews with the management leaders in the college and who are responsible for achieving excellence for the college. As for the statistical tools that were used in the study, they are the percentages and the weighted arithmetic mean. The two researchers reached a set of conclusions, the most prominent of which is that the management leaderships in the College of Administration and Economics have the necessary capabilities to adopt the European Foundation For Quality Management, being one of the universities that seek to attract the largest possible number of students to achieve their profit goals. The researchers recommend the importance of following up with students who have graduated from college in their working lives and trying to find job opportunities for them after graduation .


Using density functional theory, we study the incorporation of Li into Sn(100). The calculations indicate that Li is more stable at interstitial sites between the topmost surface-layers of Sn(100) than at onsurface sites and bulk sites. The barrier of Li diffusion from the surface into the subsurface is very low (0.07 eV). The highest-energy barriers are for the penetration of Li from the outermost subsurface sites into deeper subsurface sites (0.22-0.25 eV). The energy barriers for the Li incorporation into the Sn(100) surface are much lower than into the surfaces of other group IV elements such as Si. Since Sn is a promising candidate to replace the currently-used graphite anodes in Li-ion batteries, the present work can help us to better understand the process of Li insertion and extraction in Sn-based anode materials for future Li-ion batteries.


The algal bloom, resulting from eutrophication, has caused serious water quality problems in river and lake. Therefore, it has to be removed by any means including physicochemical or biological treatment for preserving water quality. This study was conducted to investigate the microalgae removal and energy production using combined electro-flotation and anaerobic hydrogen fermentation processes. The result showed that algae removal efficiency based on chlorophyll a removal increased with the current. At a current of 0.6A, the maximum microalgae removal efficiency of 95.9% was achieved. The treatability of anaerobic hydrogen fermentation was investigated to recover energy from microalgae removed by electro-flotation. The ultimate hydrogen yields of algae before and after ultrasonic pretreatment were 17.3 and 61.1 ml H₂/g dcw(dry cell weight), respectively. The ultrasonic pretreatment of algae led to 3.4-fold higher H₂ production due to the increase of hydrolysis rate.


The Patterson Lake corridor (PLC) in the southwestern margin of the Athabasca Basin hosts several high-grade uranium deposits. These deposits are located in the basement up to 900 m below the unconformity surface, raising questions about their affiliation with typical unconformity-related uranium (URU) deposits elsewhere in the basin. Based on cross-cutting relationships four pre- and three syn- to post-mineralization quartz generations were identified. Fluid inclusion analyses indicate that pre-mineralization fluids have salinities ranging from 0.2 to 27.2 wt% NaCl equiv. (avg. 9.0 wt%), whereas syn-mineralization fluids have salinities ranging from 8.8 to 33.8 wt% NaCl + CaCl2 (avg. 25.4 wt%), with NaCl- and CaCl2-rich varieties. The homogenization temperatures (Th) of fluid inclusions from pre-mineralization quartz range from 80 to 244°C (avg. 147°C), and from syn-mineralization quartz range from 64 to 248°C (avg. 128°C). Fluid boiling is indicated by the co-development of liquid-dominated and vapour-dominated fluid inclusions within individual fluid inclusion assemblages from the syn-mineralization quartz and is related to episodic fluid pressure drops caused by reactivation of basement faults. Our results indicate that composition and P–T conditions of the ore fluids in the PLC are comparable to those of typical URU deposits in the Athabasca Basin, indicating that the uranium deposits in the PLC formed under similar hydrothermal conditions. Episodic reactivation of basement faults was an important driving force to draw uraniferous fluids from the basin and reducing fluids from the basement to the mineralization sites, forming deep basement-hosted deposits. Supplementary material: Table 1, microthermometric results of type-2 and -5 fluid inclusion assembladges and isolated inclusions from the Patterson Lake corridor, and table 2, microthermometric results of type-6 fluid inclusions from the Patterson Lake corridor are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5510179 Thematic collection: This article is part of the Uranium Fluid Pathways collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/uranium-fluid-pathways


Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) has become increasingly popular nowadays. As mentioned by many well-known CAI researchers, the CAI method uses mainly Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) program via computers to impart knowledge to the students. Many programs and learning materials from Internet or those available on CD-ROMs are IMI materials.
How effective is CAI as a learning tool? It is the main focus of this study. This study also investigated whether the factor of gender and students' prior knowledge of computers influenced achievement and finally students' perception towards CAI. The study was conducted on a Form Two Science topic using CDROM program.
It involved 73 students from a secondary school in Temerloh, Pahang. The subjects learnt using CAI method via computer, replacing the existing traditional textbook method. Before the CAI sessions, students took a pretest,
They also answered a questionnaire on students' perception towards CAI. After the CAI treatment, all the subjects sat for a post-test to assess the academic achievement. The students answered the questionnaire again to assess changes in perception towards CAI.
The results showed that CAI method significantly improved students' academic achievement. This study revealed that CAI method was effective in learning Science for the secondary school students. The results indicated that the
effectiveness of learning through CAI was not affected by gender. There was also no significant difference in the perception of computers as a learning tool between boys and girls. There were significant results showed that there was an increase in students' perception towards the use of computers. The results also revealed that the students' prior knowledge of computers did not affect the
achievement in CAI.
The findings suggest that future researches should focus on a longer duration of CAI sessions in order to obtain more reliable results. The present CAI sessions were only limited to 3 weeks. The implication of the study was that
parents should make available PCs for their children, and likewise the Ministry of Education should equip schools with more PCs. This is because of the positive perception towards computers and CAI. However, it is recommended that more studies be conducted to assess the effectiveness of CAI on achievement in other academic subjects.


The crossbar network has been a popular topology for proposed guided wave optical switching systems as well as for proposed free-space optical switching and computing systems. However, these crossbar system proposals suffer from fundamental problems that may limit the overall size of the network. A new implementation of a free-space optical crossbar network (the feed forward crossbar network) is proposed which may be able to overcome these problems. One-dimensional and two-dimensional implementations are described. The resulting optical interconnections in both implementations are space-invariant interconnections, so the optical hardware requirements are minimal.


The recent development of methods for numerical analysis of the magnetic flux in electrical equipment has given rise to a need for an accurate characterization of magnetic hysteretic processes in core materials. In this investigation, the idea of the Everett function, which is an integral form of the Preisach density function, was applied to simulations of the hysteresis curves of core materials in use. The Everett function of various core materials was measured using a microcomputer-controlled hysteresis tracer, and a mathematical formulation of the function was obtained. The formula can predict the hysteresis curves of various materials with good accuracy.


The Distance Education Center (DEC) of the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) has developed a unique materials database system which is used to monitor pre-production, design and development, production and post-production planning, scheduling, and distribution of all types of materials including courses offered only on the Internet. In December 1997, the DEC quality system was certified as meeting the requirements of the international standard AS/NZS ISO 9001:1994. The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear understanding of both the elements of the materials database and its integration with a certified quality system. Stated objectives are to: (1) demonstrate the design of a quality system that adapts the ISO 9001 standards to distance education in a higher education institution; (2) evaluate the scope and objectives of a DEC materials database system for planning, scheduling, production, and preparation of all types of materials; (3) identify the different requirements and outcomes for the four main areas of pre-production, design and development, production, and post-production; and (4) identify the principal elements of integration of a sophisticated materials database system with the ISO 9001 standards. Successes and failures in developing the quality and materials database systems are also described, and future plans are summarized. (AEF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


Historically saying, we cannot deny the artistic trends as a
whole, both visual and auditorial. Here I suppose the relationship
between musical styles and interior spaces where the historical
styles of music has been performed. In a room, there are several
elements of interior design motif which could influence the
acoustic characteristics. They are surfaces, interior ornaments
and upholstery. Those of Baroque style are sound absorptive and
regularly arranged so that the total acoustic environment is
somewhat 'dry', 'definitive' and nonreverberant. In the result
of the acoustic characteristics of interior space,
 Baroque music requires high definition and intimate sound.


In many applications, it is important to quickly find, from a database of patterns, the nearest neighbors of high-dimensional query points that come into the system in a streaming form. Treating each query point as a separate one is inefficient. Consecutive query points are often neighbors in the high-dimensional space, and intermediate results in the processing of one query should help the processing of the next. This paper extends the KD tree with triangle inequality to deal with high-dimensional streaming time series. More specifically, the distances calculated for earlier query points (to patterns) are used to filter out patterns that are not possible to be the nearest neighbor of the current one. Experiments show that this extension works well.


This paper assesses the present state of psychology in sub-Saharan Africa. In spite of enormous diversities, countries of this sub-region display considerable commonalities in the evolution of psychology into a professional discipline. It is a fledgling science at best, increasingly in the hands of Africans. Lack of recognition of psychology, insufficient finances, a small number of psychologists, embryonic infrastructure, lack of sensitivity to eco-cultural realities, over-orientation towards western models, and poor incentives for scholarship are some of the major barriers to effective training, practice, and research in psychology. Despite these copstraints, considerable progress has been recorded. Prospects for enriching the international status of psychological science abound if Africa's cultural and social conditions, not available elsewhere, are properly studied.


C-Met receptor and its ligand hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) are overexpressed in a variety of osteosarcoma cell lines and osteosarcoma pathological samples. It is suggested that c-Met/HGF plays an important role in the development of osteosarcoma. This study aimed to explore the anticancer effect of the c-Met-targeted drug crizotinib on osteosarcoma (OS) cells. The effects of crizotinib on the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells (SaOS2, MG-63 and MNNG) at different concentrations were detected by CCK8. Human osteosarcoma cell line MG-63 was used as an in vitro model to evaluate the effects of 2.5 μM crizotinib, 5.0 μM crizotinib and DMSO on cell apoptosis, cell cycle, migration and invasion. The expression of the c-Met signaling pathway in osteosarcoma cells was detected by western blot. The results showed that crizotinib inhibited the proliferation of cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner. Crizotinib significantly increased the number of apoptotic cells compared with the control group. Compared with the control group, crizotinib increased G0/G1 phase cells and decreased S phase cells. Compared with the control group, crizotinib inhibited the migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells and decreased the expression of c-Met/Gab1/STAT5. This study will provide a promising therapeutic target and theoretical basis for the clinical application of crizotinib in osteosarcoma.


SUMMARY: Fueled by new techniques, computational tools, and broader availability of imaging data, artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the practice of neuroradiology. The recent exponential increase in publications related to artificial intelligence and the central focus on artificial intelligence at recent professional and scientific radiology meetings underscores the importance. There is growing momentum behind leveraging artificial intelligence techniques to improve workflow and diagnosis and treatment and to enhance the value of quantitative imaging techniques. This article explores the reasons why neuroradiologists should care about the investments in new artificial intelligence applications, highlights current activities and the roles neuroradiologists are playing, and renders a few predictions regarding the near future of artificial intelligence in neuroradiology.


Background: In Isfahan, the second metropolitan in Iran, there are 1448 dentistry treatment centers that most of them are inefficient. Today, efficiency is the most important issue in health care centers as well as dentistry clinics. The goal of this research is to investigate the affordability and efficiency of dentistry clinics in Isfahan province, Iran. Methods: The current work is a quantitative research, designed in three methodological steps, including two surveys and experimental studies, for understanding current deficiencies of Iranian dentistry clinics. First, we ran a survey. Then, we analyzed the results of the questionnaires which guided us to find a particular intervening package to improve the efficiency of the clinics. At the second step, we chose an inefficient clinic named Mohtasham (Iran, Isfahan) to evaluate our intervening package. Results: Based on what the interviewees answered, we mention the most important issues to be considered for improving the efficiency of dental clinics in Isfahan. By considering mentioned problematic issues, an intervening package was designed. This intervening package was applied in Mohtasham clinic, since June 2010. It improved the clinic's income from 16328 US$ with 4125 clients in 2010, to 420,000 US$ with 14784 patients in 2012. Conclusions: The proposed intervening package changed this clinic to an efficient and economic one. Its income increased 5.08 times and its patient's numbers grew 4.01 times simultaneously. In other words, Mohtasham's experience demonstrates the reliability of the package and its potentiality to be applied in macro level to improve other dentistry clinics.


The problem of handling emergency situations (e.g., earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, political rebellions, etc.) is very challenging since the fixed network infrastructures can become unusable, and it is fundamental to build a peer-to-peer network intended to spread information among people involved in the emergency. The goal of this paper is to propose an approach that enables an adaptive behavior of ungoverned communication networks with the purpose of maximizing the information diffusion and minimizing the energy consumption of the communication devices (e.g., smartphones). We introduce an energy-aware gossip algorithm to adapt the message passing methodology among the involved devices on the basis of their battery level, while guaranteeing the information diffusion within a certain geographical area and minimizing the overall energy consumption. The approach is implemented in a simulation context that allows to quantify the percentage of area coverage within a certain interval of time by adapting the process of message passing on the basis of devices' battery level. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms classic broadcast algorithms up to 85.58% in terms of energy consumption.


Nursing work increasingly demands forms of expertise that complement specialist knowledge. In child and family nursing, this need arises when nurses work in partnership with parents of young children at risk. Partnership means working with parents in respectful, negotiated and empowering ways. Existing partnership literature emphasises communicative and relational skills, but this paper focuses on nurses' capacities to facilitate parents' learning. Referring to data from home visiting, day-stay and specialist toddler clinic services in Sydney, a pedagogical framework is presented. Analysis shows how nurses notice aspects of children, parents and parent-child interactions as a catalyst for building on parents' strengths, enhancing guided chance or challenging unhelpful constructs. Prior research shows the latter can be a sticking point in partnership, but this paper reveals diverse ways in which challenges are folded into learning process that position parents as agents of positive change. Noticing is dependent on embodied and communicative expertise, conceptualised in terms of sensory and reported channels. The framework offers a new view of partnership as mind-expanding for the parent and specifies the nurse's role in facilitating this process.


The ever-growing demand for low power, high performance, cost-effective, low-profile, and highly integrated wireless systems for emerging applications has triggered the need for the enormous innovations in wireless transceiver systems, components, architectures and technologies. This is especially valid for the antenna which is an integral component of the wireless transceiver systems and contributes significantly in determining their overall performance. Antenna-on-Chip (AoC) is an alternative antenna technology, which has drawn a substantial attention in recent days because of its various benefits over off-chip antenna technology. A few of these benefits include miniaturization, low power, low cost, and high integration of the wireless modules. Motivated by these valuable advantages and to unveil the true potential of the AoCs, this article presents, for the first time, a comprehensive survey of the suitability, advantages, and challenges of the AoCs for the emerging wireless applications such as 5th generation (5G) Wireless Systems, Internet-of-Things (IoT) Wireless Devices and Systems, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), Wireless Interconnects, Wireless Energy Transfer, Radio Frequency (RF) Energy Harvesting, Biomedical Implants, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Autonomous vehicles, Innovative characterization methods for Integrated Circuits (ICs) and Antennas, and Smart City. In addition, this article presents the current state-of-the-art of the AoC's applications by classifying their applications in Millimeter-Wave (MM-Wave) band, Terahertz (THz) band, and low-frequency bands. The article also investigates and describes some useful methods for the mitigation of the challenges and issues posed by the emerging applications for the realization of the AoCs in a systematic manner. A concise description of the future directions of the AoCs with respect to each emerging application is also a part of this article. It is expected that this well-structured and organized survey will not only act as an excellent source of scholarship for the relevant research community, but also open up a world of novel research opportunities.


The need for comparisons and economic evaluations between various health care interventions requires the evaluation of health-related quality of life. To ensure comparability in terms of the duration of any given condition, measures of quality have to integrate the parameter of time, as is the case in measures like QALY. Usually, the rate of change of quality that results from a given intervention is not incorporated in these measures, resulting in a systematically erroneous estimation of QALYs. This estimation error may lead to either a lower QALYs' value compared to the true one, when quality of life improves with a decreasing rate or deteriorates with an increasing rate, or to a higher QALYs' value compared to the true one, when quality of life improves with an increasing rate or deteriorates with a decreasing rate. The proposed method for the estimation of QALYs takes into account the rate of change in health-related quality of life at all stages and discloses deviations up to 16.67% from currently used methods.


Abstract A RAD-seq phylogeny is presented for the genus Ulmus, and a revised infrageneric classification is given, with keys, descriptions, and range maps for the subgenera and sections. The previously accepted classification was based on a cpDNA phylogeny, but several well-marked clades in the chloroplast phylogeny are not recovered in the RAD-seq phylogeny and do not seem to represent valid clades in the organismal phylogeny. Ordination and STRUCTURE analysis support a broad species concept in Ulmus sect. Foliaceae and demonstrate interspecific hybridization in the section. Several sections of the genus are disjunct between Asia, Europe, and North America, indicating dispersals between the northern continents with inferred dates from ca. 20 Ma to ca. 3 Ma. Morphological variation is discussed, and some characters previously considered characteristic of Ulmus subg. Oreoptelea (narrowly winged achenes, ciliate achene margin) are shared with the unrelated U. villosa. A new subgenus, Ulmus subg. Indoptelea, is described. It can be recognized morphologically by its combination of compact inflorescences with very short pedicels, and samaras with narrow, strongly ciliate wings. It is sister to Ulmus subg. Ulmus, but has a smaller genome than either of the other subgenera.


When solid particles are impulsively dispersed by a shock wave, they develop a spatial distribution which takes the form of particle jets whose selection mechanism is still unidentified. The aim of the present experimental work is to study particle dispersal with fingering effects in an original quasi-two-dimensional experiment facility in order to accurately extract information. Shock and blast waves are generated in the carrier gas at the center of a granular medium ring initially confined inside a Hele-Shaw cell and impulsively accelerated. With the present experimental setup, the particle jet formation is clearly observed. From fast flow visualizations, we notice, in all instances, that the jets are initially generated inside the particle ring and thereafter expelled outward. This point has not been observed in three-dimensional experiments. We highlight that the number of jets is unsteady and decreases with time. For a fixed configuration, considering the very early times following the initial acceleration, the jet size selection is independent of the particle diameter. Moreover, the influence of the initial overpressure and the material density on the particle jet formation have been studied. It is shown that the wave number of particle jets increases with the overpressure and with the decrease of the material density. The normalized number of jets as a function of the initial ring acceleration shows a power law valid for all studied configurations involving various initial pressure ratios, particle sizes, and particle materials.


An increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of two hepatic S9 proteins migrating at 34 and 33 kDa that cross-reacted with anti-PSTAIR antibody on immunoblots was seen 24 h after administration of a single dose of 0.25, 0.5, 1 or 2 micrograms 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)/kg to C57BL/6J female mice. Two hepatic S9 proteins migrating at 34 and 33 kDa that cross-reacted with anti-cdc2 C-terminus antibody on immunoblots were observed in corn oil control mice; increased expression of these proteins was seen with increasing doses of TCDD. A maximal increase in expression of 3-times the control was observed at 1 and 2 micrograms TCDD/kg for both p34 and p33. The stimulation of enhanced tyrosylphosphorylation and expression of cyclin dependent kinases p34cdc2 and p3cdk2 by TCDD is consistent with a mechanism of action of TCDD toxicity associated with stimulation of cellular proliferation.


Background Behçet's disease is a systemic vasculitis characterised by an elevated risk of venous and arterial thrombosis: several studies addressed the issue of premature atherosclerosis assessed by functional tests (flow and endothelial mediated vasodilatation: FMD/EMD) and measurement of intima media thickness (IMT) of carotid arteries with varied results. Objectives To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between Behçet' disease (BD) and atherosclerosis detected as endothelial dysfunction (FMD & EMD) and IMT of carotid arteries. Methods The EmBase and PubMed databases were systematically searched from January 2000 to January 2014 according to the PRISMA guidelines. Two authors independently extracted data by using predefined eligibility criteria. Results We found 24 studies that met criteria for inclusion in our analysis, 9 on FMD/EMD, 11 on IMT and 4 on both. The FMD analysis involved 554 BD patients and 472 matched controls: FMD was impaired in BD but with a high estimate (SMD 1.841, 95% CI, 1.125-2.558, p<0.001, I2=95.6%); subgroup analysis on inactive patients confirmed impaired FMD with a valid estimate (SMD 0.740, 95% CI, 0.510-0.970, I2 =35.5%). The EMD analysis involved 360 BD patients and 306 matched controls: EMD was impaired but with a large estimate (SMD 0.380, 95% CI, -0.027-0.788, p=0.06, I2=82.2%); subgroup analysis was unrevealing. The IMT analysis involved 848 patients with BD and 677 controls: BD patients showed greater IMT than controls but with a large estimate (SMD -1.158, 95%CI, -0.522 to -0.793, p<0.0001, I2=88.4%); subgroup analysis on active then on inactive patients still revealed a large estimate (I2=88.4% and 86.7% respectively), even when BD with no vascular involvement and no cardiovascular risk factor were excluded from the analysis (I2=85.9%). By re-approached the IMT analysis according to the Newcastle Ottawa Quality Assessment Score (NOQAS), studies with a NOQAS of 5 were consistent with greater IMT in BD with valid estimate (SMD -1.720, 95% CI, -2.093 to -1.346, p<0.0001, I2=48.6%); similar data were seen for BD patients with a NOQAS 6/7 (SMD -0.537, 95% CI, -0.753 to-0.320 p<0.05, I2=58.7%). Conclusions Atherosclerosis detected by FMD and IMT is present in BD: the moderate degree of statistical heterogeneity reflects in the clinical heterogeneity of BD that should be taken into account in future prospective studies. References Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Behçet's disease: An overlooked association. Saarbrücken Germany, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2013. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The pancreases of approximately 50 days old diabetes-prone BB/Hagedorn (BB/H) and of the genetically closely related, but non-diabetic BB w-subline (control BB) rats were perfused to determine the capacity of D-glucose to release insulin before the expected development of diabetes. The BB/H rats were from a colony with 82-84% incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) by 140 days of age. The total amount of insulin released from the BB/H rat pancreas during stimulation with 20 mmol/1 mmol/ D-glucose was reduced by nearly 50% (P less than 0.01). The initial peak of insulin release was similar between the two groups of animals, whereas the amount of insulin released during the second peak accounted for the diminished release (P less than 0.01). The extractable pancreatic insulin was 30% (P less than 0.05) less in the BB/H rats. Total insulin release expressed relative to the pancreatic insulin content, was therefore not different between the two groups. It is concluded that about 20-40 days before the mean age of clinical onset of IDDM in BB/H rats, the capacity to release insulin in response to D-glucose is reduced along with a diminished pancreatic insulin content. This abnormality seems to be preceded only by islet cell surface antibodies but not by insulitis.


Predator-prey models describe the dynamics of ecological systems in which two species, the predator and the prey, interact. The objective of this study is to formulate and analyze a predator-prey mathematical model, based on a system of delay differential equations that takes into consideration time delay in migration, with a prey migration rate that depends on the predator density and other factors like availability of its food. It is shown that the population density mainly depends on both barriers during migration and the migration rate. The rates of migration may be affected by factors such as infrastructure through natural habitat, destruction of the natural habitat through logging, natural disasters like re-outbreaks among others. In view of this, relevant agencies should employ measures which will deal with factors which slow down the rate of migration or cause barriers during migration for example reducing natural habitat land allocation to human settlement, agriculture or infrastructure.


Context Recently, there has been a shift towards the use of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) as the first choice for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair. Combining the excellent view of PPV using the noncontact viewing system and the 25 G chandelier endoillumination system in scleral buckling may make the procedure more convenient than the typical procedure using indirect ophthalmoscope. Aim The aim of the present study was to assess the safety and efficacy of the 25 G chandelier endoillumination system in scleral buckling surgery in primary RRD. Design The present study was designed as a prospective interventional case series. Setting This study was conducted as a private practice. Materials and methods The study included 20 eyes with recent RRD operated by scleral buckling using the chandelier endoillumination and noncontact viewing system of PPV. Statistical analysis was performed. Results In total, 20 eyes with recent primary RRD were operated using 25 G chandelier endoillumination-assisted scleral buckling. At first postoperative day, 18 eyes (90%) had totally attached retina and the remaining two eyes (10%) had minimal subretinal fluid, which was completely absorbed within 1 week. At 1 month, one eye had recurrent retinal detachment due to lower proliferative vitreoretinopathy, which was treated with PPV. The remaining 18 eyes had attached retina by 1, 3, and 6 months postoperatively. Best corrected visual acuity improved from 0.001-0.4 preoperatively to 0.02-0.8 3 months and to 0.05-0.8 6 months postoperatively. The crystalline lens remained clear at 6 months postoperatively for all 18 eyes (excluding an aphakic eye and a vitrectomized eye). Conclusion Using 25 G chandelier endoillumination, surgical microscope, and wide-angle noncontact viewing system of PPV in scleral buckling surgery is easier and more convenient than the original buckling procedure using an indirect ophthalmoscope.


The use of technological tools in the teaching and learning process allows students the digital skills essential to their inclusion in active and social life. The integration of programming languages, such as Scratch, contributes to the acquisition of these skills and to this inclusion. The objectives of this communication are to describe the pilot experience of Programming Languages in the 1st CEB, in two classes of the 3rd and 4th years, of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education, in Portugal and present a study that shows the perspective of the students who participated in this experiment.


This study was aimed at understanding the enzymatic profile of three major Indian carps in managed and unmanaged polyculture systems in the Hisar district, Haryana India. The three species were catla (Catla calta), rohu (Labeo rohita) and mrigala (Cirrhinus mrigala). Analysis of gut contents of C. mrigala from both the ponds was significantly (p<0.05) dominated by phytoplankton. L. rohita gut had similar values of both phytoplankton and zooplankton while C. catla gut was significantly dominated by zooplanktons. The specific cellulase and amylase activities were higher in C. mrigala. It was further observed that these activities are higher in managed ponds as compared to the unmanaged ponds. L. rohita revealed elevated levels of protease and amylase activities which supported the omniplanktivorous nature of the fish. Analysis of digestive enzymes from the gut of C. mrigala revealed more lipase, cellulase and amylase in comparison to other enzymes. It can be concluded that C. mrigala was phytoplanktivorous, L. rohita was omniplanktivorous and C. catla was zooplanktivorous. Fishes reared in managed ponds seemed to have higher enzymatic activities in the gut advocating higher growth. The results of the study enhance our understanding of the feeding patterns at different stratus levels within the available nutrition in polyculture systems.


Morphological characters of adult male and adult female giant forest scorpions,Heterometrus laoticus, in a mixed deciduous forest at Phitsanulok Wildlife ConservationDevelopment and Extension Station showed sexual dimorphism. Among the observedcharacters, carapace width, chela length, chela width, telson length and shape of movablefinger of adult male and female scorpions were obviously different. The pectines of maleswere also significantly longer, and the number of sensilla-bearing teeth in male scorpionswas more than in females. Moreover, males had higher density of sensilla on the pectinalteeth than females. During the breeding season, mature males were mobile while maturefemales were mainly at their burrows.


Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a novel clinical entity characterized by elevated serum IgG4 levels and histopathologic features of storiform fibrosis, obliterative phlebitis, tissue eosinophilia, and infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells. Although it can involve almost any organ, IgG4-RD rarely involves the nervous system. The principal neurologic manifestations include hypophysitis and hypertrophic pachymeningitis (HP). In some patients, previously known idiopathic HP may in fact be IgG4-related.


Several structures of the central nervous system share involvement in both ocular and postural control, but the visual mechanisms in postural control are still unclear. There are discrepant evidences on whether saccades would improve or deteriorate stabilization of posture. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of saccadic eye movements on postural control while standing in different basis of support. Twelve young adults stood upright in wide and narrow stances while performing fixation and saccades of low and high frequencies. Body sway was attenuated during saccades. Trunk anterior-posterior sway and trunk total displacement decreased during saccades compared to fixation; higher sway mean frequency in anterior-posterior direction during saccades was observed. Body sway was reduced in wide compared to narrow stance during high frequency saccades. These results indicate that eye movement improves postural stabilization and this effect is stronger in combination of wide stance-high frequency gaze condition.


OBJECTIVE
Patients with severe peripheral occlusive disease may present especially challenging problems because of previous bypass surgery, location of ulcers, or extremely poor runoff. We used the radial artery with its overlying skin flap as a bypass conduit, called the radial artery flow-through (RAFT) graft in 10 such patients.

METHODS
From November 1999 to January 2002, 10 patients had limb-threatening ischemia at presentation. All had severe inframalleolar vascular occlusive disease. Four patients had undergone previous conventional bypass procedures. Two grafts remained patent, but distal ulcers failed to heal. Eight patients were men. Seven patients had diabetes mellitus. All patients but one had nonhealing ulcers. In most cases, a composite femoral-tibial bypass graft was constructed by sewing the RAFT graft end-to-end to either the greater saphenous vein or, in one patient, to a polytetrafluoroethylene graft. In all cases, the radial venous comitans were sewn to a nearby superficial vein. In 5 patients the skin paddle was positioned to cover the ulcer; in the remaining patients the skin paddle was used to close the foot incision over the distal anastamosis. Postoperative graft surveillance was performed with Duplex scanning or contrast medium-enhanced angiography.

RESULTS
Thromboses developed in 2 grafts during follow-up. In 1 of these patients below-knee amputation was performed. Another patient required below-knee amputation because of continuing infection in the foot despite a patent RAFT graft. In 1 patient thrombosis developed in the vein graft, but the RAFT graft extension remained patent. All other RAFT grafts were patent in their entirety at 15 (+/-6) months.

CONCLUSIONS
The RAFT graft is a new option for treating limb-threatening ischemia. The skin paddle may be useful in selected patients for wound coverage.


I Experimental tests were performed in a continuous-flow hydrotreating unit at Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center to evaluate the performance of hydrous titanium oxide-supported (HTO) catalysts as hydrotreating catalysts for use in two-stage coal liquefaction. Catalysts containing either a combination of Co, Ni, and Mo as the active metal components or Pd as the active metal component were tested with representative hydrotreater feed stocks from the Wilsonville Advanced Coal Liquefaction Research and Development Facility. Catalyst performance evaluation was based on. desulfurization and denitrogenation activity, the conversion of cyclohexane-insoluble material, and hydrogenation activity during 100-hour reactor runs. Results indicated that the HTO catalysts were comparable to a commercial Ni/Mo-alumina supported catalyst in the areas evaluated.


Nursing administrators and researchers are well positioned to achieve innovative progress in clinical practice, leadership, and research through creating a culture of publication. Direct care nurses and advanced practice nurses often have fresh ideas about delivery of patient care but may consider publication of those ideas and results an impossible task. Creating a culture for publication can be challenging. By using a change model and focusing on mentoring, role modeling, education, securing appropriate resources, and celebration/recognition as key components, this important culture can be created.


We present comprehensive, multi-wavelength observations of AT 2016jbu, an interacting transient. High cadence photometric coverage reveals that AT 2016jbu underwent significant photometric variability followed by two luminous events, the latter of which reached an absolute magnitude of MV ∼ −18.5 mag. This is similar to the transient SN 2009ip whose nature is still debated. Spectra are dominated by narrow emission lines and show a blue continuum during the peak of the second event. AT 2016jbu shows signatures of a complex, non-homogeneous circumstellar material (CSM). We see slowly evolving asymmetric hydrogen line profiles, with velocities of 500 km s−1 seen in narrow emission features from a slow moving CSM, and up to 10,000 km s−1 seen in broad absorption from some high velocity material. Similar velocities are seen in other SN 2009ip-like transients. Late-time spectra (∼ +1 year) show a lack of forbidden emission lines expected from a core-collapse supernova during the nebular phase and are dominated by strong emission from H, He i and Ca ii. Strong asymmetric emission features, a bumpy lightcurve, and continually evolving spectra suggest late time CSM interaction is inhibiting the emergence of any nebular features. We compare the evolution of Hα among SN 2009ip-like transients and find possible evidence for orientation angle effects. The light-curve evolution of AT 2016jbu suggests similar, but not identical, circumstellar environments to other SN 2009ip-like transients. In Paper II we continue the discussion of AT 2016jbu and SN 2009ip-like transients and using the data presented here, we focus on the local environment, the progenitor, and on modelling the transient


The recent impressive diffusion of smartphones in the mobile industry offers new opportunities to mobile services vendors. One of the most influenced service categories are location-based services. In the present study we investigate the use of location-based services. Based on insights from behavioural decision making a theoretical framework is developed to analyse the individual decision to use location-based services and to identify the factors influencing use. Through a qualitative study based on LBS users' interviews, we find that the distinct value dimension and the positive experiences from the service use are the main drivers, pivotal to the continuance of use.


In recent years, due to industrialization, population growth, the continuous increase in the needs of the society and technological developments, the environmental problems of the countries are increasing and the countries take the necessary measures to eliminate this problem. In this study, six different multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) models that measure the environmental performance of countries using Entropy, Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) and Multi Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) methods are introduced. Criteria weights are calculated by Entropy method and environmental performance levels of countries were analyzed by GRA and MOORA methods. In addition, the results obtained from six different MCDM models are combined with a fuzzy logic-based approach and a single result is achieved. According to the results of the analysis, it is concluded that the most important criteria are forests, agriculture, and water resources; the best performing countries are Austria, Denmark and France.


Aim. The work is devoted to studying of constitutional peculiarities of costodiaphragmatic pleural recess for development of an optimal excess when performing thoracoscopy in patients with basal empyemic pleura. Materials and methods. The study was performed on 75 male corpses of the second period of mature age of brachymorphic, mesomorphic and dolichomorphic constitution types. Results. The width of V–XI intercostals spaces in the costodiaphragmatic recess projection was determined, the depth of costodiaphragmatic recess for every type of constitution was studied. The authors conducted comparative topographic-anatomical assessment of thoracocenteses fulfilled in the IV–IX intercostals spaces by the axillary lines from the position of reaching an optimal parameters of operative availability. Conclusion. On the basis of the obtained results the optimal places of carrying out an operative access while performing endoscopic sanation of costodiaphragmatic pleural recess were found.


Recent works in neural machine translation have begun to explore document translation. However, translating online multi-speaker conversations is still an open problem. In this work, we propose the task of translating Bilingual Multi-Speaker Conversations, and explore neural architectures which exploit both source and target-side conversation histories for this task. To initiate an evaluation for this task, we introduce datasets extracted from Europarl v7 and OpenSubtitles2016. Our experiments on four language-pairs confirm the significance of leveraging conversation history, both in terms of BLEU and manual evaluation.


BACKGROUND
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is considered a skin celiac disease (CD). The individuals can be seen by primary care professionals or by dermatologists that could refer the patient to a gastroenterologist.

OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to investigate the clinical profile of patients diagnosed with DH and referred to a gastroenterologist and evaluate the treatment response.

METHODS
We retrospectively studied patients with DH referred to the same gastroenterologist at a private office in Curitiba, Brazil, between January 2010 to December 2019. We included adult patients with a confirmed DH diagnosis. Symptoms, clinical signs, laboratory and histological data, as well as treatment response, were collected.

RESULTS
Thirty-three patients were studied (60.6% women, mean age at diagnosis 40.8±12.61 years). The median delay for DH diagnosis was four years. Skin involvement was mild in 33.3%, moderate in 18.2%, and severe in 48.5%. The more frequent gastrointestinal complaints were abdominal distension (78.8%), flatulence (75.7%), and gastroesophageal reflux (51.5%). Depression and anxiety were observed in 81.8% and anemia in 51.1%. A higher prevalence of bone disorders was associated with higher age at DH diagnosis (P=0.035). Duodenal biopsy showed changes in all patients. Improvement after treatment only with a gluten-free diet (GFD) plus dapsone was verified in 81.2%.

CONCLUSION
Patients with DH referred to a gastroenterologist showed a high frequency of gluten intolerance and systemic complaints. Duodenal histological alterations were found in all the cases. The treatment based on GFD plus dapsone was effective in most patients.


Background and objectives: Lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is associated with resistance. This study aimed to analyze the response, the incidence of LAM resistance, and different viral mutational patterns of Lamivudine therapy. Study design: CHB patients (n=31) who had not previously received interferon or a nucleoside analogue, received Lamivudine once daily for a minimum of E12 months and followed. All patients were tested for presence of mutation in YMDD motif of viral polymerase gene at the end of the first year of treatment, and if indicated in rising alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or HBVDNA titer. Polymerase chain reaction along with restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to detect mutations in YMDD motif. Results: The mean age of patients was 45.2 (SD 13.5) years. The mean follow-up period of patients was 45.5 (21.9) months. Seventeen patients (54.8%) had mutations, and 45.2% of subjects were sensitive to LAM. Mean time of mutation detection after treatment was 45.5 (SD 25.3) months. The distribution of YMDD status was: 32.3 % YIDD, 3.2% YSDD, 12.9% YVDD, and 6.5% YVDD/ YIDD. The mean age, pretreatment HBeAg negativity, and high HBVDNA titer at time of mutation had significant statistical association with occurrence of YMDD mutants (PV= 0.009, 0.032, 0.049), respectively. Conclusions: Lamivudine-resistant mutation is common in CHB patients. Regarding different mutant strains as identified in this study, is necessary for develop more useful treatment strategies, especially in patients without YMDD mutation and high HBVDNA titer, analysis for possible new mutants should be performed.


The Bradley-Terry model for paired-comparison experiments assumes that the parameters for treatment ratings are the same for each comparison. We generalize this model by envisioning a population of judges from which a sample is taken to perform the experiment. The preference parameters can then be treated as random variables, and this induces a correlation between outcomes involving the same judge. Such a model may be helpful in isolating variation due to judges, from true variation in the treatments, as well as in accounting for the nonindependence of judgments.


Recent progress in wave packet dynamics based on the insight of Berry pertaining to adiabatic evolution of quantum systems has led to the need for a new property of a Bloch state, the Berry curvature, to be calculated from first principles. We report here on the response to this challenge by the ab initio community during the past decade. First we give a tutorial introduction of the conceptual developments we mentioned above. Then we describe four methodologies which have been developed for first-principle calculations of the Berry curvature. Finally, to illustrate the significance of the new developments, we report some results of calculations of interesting physical properties such as the anomalous and spin Hall conductivity as well as the anomalous Nernst conductivity and discuss the influence of the Berry curvature on the de Haas–van Alphen oscillation.


As an alternative to traditional bank financing, companies (especially small and medium-sized) can opt for loans from innovative financial facilities: peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding platforms. When using these alternative financing opportunities, it is very important to identify the main factors of the business loan interest rate and properly assess the overall cost of borrowing. This paper summarizes the scientific discussion on the issue of innovative business funding sources and one of the most important ratios referred to reasonably compare the price of financing sources and the related expenses. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to identify the internal and external factors of interest rate on business loans and determine the overall total annual rate of charge for business loans on innovative financing platforms. After the analysis of academic literature and statistical data of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending market, the authors used the methods of correlation-regression and factor analysis to identify the factors that determine the interest rate of business loans on crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platforms; and scenario analysis to evaluate the total annual rate of charge for business loans. According to the results of correlation-regression and factor analysis, the summarized factors of business loan interest rate are economic environment, competitive environment, and results of the platform performance. External factors appeared to have a much greater impact on the interest rate for business loans in crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms than internal. The assessment of the total annual rate of charge for business loans confirmed that the peer-to-peer and crowdfunding platforms offer a lower rate than traditional financing institutions, on the other hand, the total rate at the crowdfunding platforms is higher compared to peer-to-peer lending platforms, due to the higher administrative fees and interest rates. The outcomes of this research expanded the scope of research on the sector of financial innovation. The research revealed the peculiarities of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, the factors that affect a loan interest rate, and the real price that business owners have to pay for borrowed funds. Obtained results could be relevant to both lending platforms and businesses seeking to identify and compare the real cost of traditional and alternative financing.


This paper presents an novel approach for fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) of sensor as well as process faults for Electro-Hydraulic Actuators (EHA) using a bank of residual generators, each of which employs an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF)-based parameter estimator. In traditional sensor fault detection schemes, actual sensor measurements are compared with measurements reconstructed using state estimators following an analytical redundancy approach. In contrast, we propose detection of sensor faults by comparing estimated values of plant parameters, which deviate under fault, with their nominal values. Since process faults usually manifest themselves in deviation of process parameters, this leads to a unified approach to fault detection using parameter estimators. Fault isolation is then achieved by using the set of detection flags, obtained by thresholding each of the residuals, in a so-called diagnosis matrix (D-Matrix). Unlike several earlier works on FDI for electro- hydraulic actuator systems, which do not address sensor faults, the present approach is capable of detection and identification of both sensor and process faults. Numerical simulation results for an EHA of a rocket demonstrate the efficacy of the method.


University academics are critical actors in knowledge production and human resource development through teaching and research. However, despite the significant roles of university academics in the knowledge society, the psychosocial work environment of universities particularly in developing nations has witnessed agitations, threats and strikes over one work-related issue or the other. The current study examined how academic staff of selected universities in Ghana perceived work-related factors in their psychosocial environment using the mixed methods explanatory sequential design. A sample of 376 academic staff were stratified and selected based on rank and gender. Structured questionnaire was employed to collect data for the quantitative phase of the study while semi-structured interview guide was used to gather the qualitative data. Results from the study showed that academic staff of universities were dissatisfied with criteria for promotion, salary, as well as training and development as they perceived these factors negatively in their psychosocial work environment. It was recommended that managements of universities in Ghana make pragmatic efforts to review conditions of service of academic staff in order to create favourable psychosocial work environments for university academics to promote effective teaching, research and innovation


Sentiment analysis for code-mixed social media text continues to be an under-explored area. This work adds two common approaches: fine-tuning large transformer models and sample efficient methods like ULMFiT. Prior work demonstrates the efficacy of classical ML methods for polarity detection. Fine-tuned general-purpose language representation models, such as those of the BERT family are benchmarked along with classical machine learning and ensemble methods. We show that NB-SVM beats RoBERTa by 6.2% (relative) F1. The best performing model is a majority-vote ensemble which achieves an F1 of 0.707. The leaderboard submission was made under the codalab username nirantk, with F1 of 0.689.


The accuracy of determination for commonly used organic compounds (such as methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, acetone, ethyl acetate, and n-hexane) should be ensured by certified reference materials (CRMs), the values of which are traceable to SI units (International System of Units). Six new purity CRMs for these compounds were systematically studied and developed through qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, confirmation, homogeneity study, stability study and evaluation of uncertainty. The method for quantitative analysis is a primary reference method (freezing point depression), which can establish the traceability between the purity values of the CRMs and the SI units of temperature and mass. The results of the primary reference method were confirmed by another method with a different principle (the mass balance method). The certified values of CRMs were (998 ± 2) mg g−1, (997 ± 2) mg g−1, (998 ± 2) mg g−1, (997 ± 3) mg g−1, (992 ± 4) mg g−1, (982 ± 4) mg g−1 (purity ± expanded uncertainty with confidence level of 95%) for acetonitrile, methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetone and n-hexane, respectively. Since the certified value was accurate, precise and traceable to SI units, these CRMs can ensure accuracy, comparability and traceability of results from different laboratories.


Background Adalimumab (Humir®) is a recombinant IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to TNFα blocking its interaction with p55 and p75 cell surface receptors. ABP 501 is being developed as a biosimilar candidate to adalimumab, contains a fully human recombinant monoclonal antibody with same amino acid sequence and similar post-translational modifications. Evidence from analytical comparisons indicates that ABP 501 is highly similar to adalimumab. We describe the pharmacokinetic results of ABP 501 compared with adalimumab (EU). Objectives To demonstrate pharmacokinetic equivalence of ABP 501 to adalimumab Methods This was a single-blind, single-dose, 3-arm, parallel-group study. Subjects were randomized to receive 40-mg subcutaneous (SC) injection of ABP 501, adalimumab (US) or adalimumab (EU). Subjects included healthy male and female subjects, 18 to 45 years of age with a body mass index of 18 to 30 kg/m2. Primary endpoint was demonstration of pharmacokinetic equivalence of ABP 501 relative to adalimumab, based on area under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC) from time 0 extrapolated to infinity (AUCinf) and the maximum observed serum concentration (Cmax). Pre-specified equivalence criterion for all parameters was 90% confidence interval (CI) for geometric means (GM) ratio within 0.80 to 1.25. Secondary endpoints included the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity. Results A total of 67 subjects received ABP 501 and 67 subjects received adalimumab (EU). Following single dose, the GM of Cmax, AUClast and AUCinf for ABP 501 were 3.22ng/ml, 2002.27 ng.h/ml and 2136.95ng.h/ml and a median tmax of 190.82 hr. The GM of Cmax, AUClast and AUCinf for adalimumab (EU) were 3.37 ng/ml, 2022.62 ng.h/ml and 2046.82 ng.h/ml and a median tmax of 168.00 hr. Ratio of adjusted least square geometric means (90% CIs) between ABP 501 and adalimumab (EU) for Cmax was 0.96 (0.89, 1.03); AUCinf was 1.04 (0.93, 1.17) and AUClast was 0.99 (0.89, 1.10). The 90% CIs of GM ratio for Cmax AUCinf, and AUClast were fully contained within 0.80 to 1.25, confirming the bioequivalence between ABP 501 and adalimumab (EU). There were no treatment related serious adverse events, or treatment related adverse events leading to discontinuation from the study. The most frequently reported treatment-related AEs included headache, nausea, nasopharyngitis, and oropharyngeal pain. No pre-existing anti-drug antibodies (ADA) were detected at baseline. In the ABP 501 treatment group, 36 (54%) subjects developed binding antibodies and 12 (18%) developed neutralizing antibodies. In the adalimumab (EU) treatment group, 45 (67%) subjects developed binding antibodies and 14 (21%) developed neutralizing antibodies. Conclusions Results of this phase 1 study demonstrated bioequivalence of ABP 501 following a single 40-mg SC injection relative to that from a 40-mg SC injection of adalimumab (EU). No new safety signals with ABP 501 treatment were identified. Disclosure of Interest P. Kaur Shareholder of: Amgen, Employee of: Amgen, V. Chow Shareholder of: Amgen, Employee of: Amgen, N. Zhang Shareholder of: Amgen, Employee of: Amgen, M. Moxness Shareholder of: Amgen, Employee of: Amgen, R. Markus Shareholder of: Amgen, Employee of: Amgen DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.2166


Platinum-group metals show a wide variation in content and relative proportions in the rocks of the Basal, Ultramafic, Banded, and Upper zones of the stratiform mafic and ultramafic Stillwater Complex, southwestern Montana. Reported values range from the limits of determination to approximately 8 ppm Pt, 11 ppm Pd, 1.7 ppm Rh, 0.5 ppm Ir, 1.0 ppm Ru, and 0.1 ppm Au as analyzed by fire assay-spectrochemical and neutron activation techniques. The highest concentrations occur within particular horizons of the Basal zone; in the chromitites of the Peridotite member of the Ultramafic zone, in pegmatitic bronzitites in the Bronzitite member of the Ultramafic zone, in a specific horizon in the Banded zone, and in disseminated sulfide horizons in the Upper zone. These occurrences represent manifold enrichment over the estimated levels of about 12 ppb Pt, 55 ppb Pd, and <5 ppb Rh in the parent basaltic magma(s) of the complex. The presence of platinum-iron alloy, isoferroplatinum, platinian rhodium, rhodian platinum, palladian gold, cooperite, laurite, braggite, vysotskite, moncheite, kotulskite, merenskyite, sperrylite, and stibiopalladinite has been confirmed by various investigators. The variations of Pt, Pd, and Rh content with stratigraphic position in the Basal zone and in individual cumulate units of the Peridotite member show repetitive, cyclic patterns similar to the patterns exhibited by the grain size, modal proportions, whole-rock compositions, and compositions of individual silicate minerals. Correlation between chemical and physical properties of the cumulates and the platinum-group metal distributions suggests that the distribution patterns may be ascribed to oscillation of physical conditions or composition of the parent basaltic magma, or to oscillation of both.


Antitrust issues affect the insurance industry, hospital industry, and physicians. The authors explore the history of antitrust issues in the health care field and implications for future developments. Interest in antitrust has increased due to current merger and acquisition activities in the industry. With the failure of the Health Security Act, health care reform will be left to private industry. Will there be increasing or decreasing antitrust activity by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission?


The increasing importance of aging at home opens new perspectives to technicians who are able to propose and implement adapted technical solutions which compensate the handicaps and delay the loss of autonomy. In this regional background, the Limousin's Chamber of Craft Trades has created the Innovation Pole for health, autonomy and trades (CNISAM). The CNISAM is an Innovation Pole (a label granted by the French government). It aims to be a resource centre capable of identifying solutions adapted to the needs of small enterprises, and of coaching them in their development process through technologies and innovation. The CNISAM helps the craftsmen to integrate sanitary, social and statutory environmental aspects in their professional practices, especially in the design of housing environment and installation of home automation equipments. One of its roles is also to work on the design of adaptable and intelligent assistive furniture through the use of ICT and home automation technologies. In this frame, three furniture projects are under consideration: a "smart" bedside table, a bed for child under three years suitable for parents with disabilities, and a closet/dressing increased with home automation functionalities. Both physical disabilities and their potential evolutions are considered. This furniture is meant to be prototypes which will inspire designers and carpenters in making furniture for people with disabilities. In addition, this furniture is designed for the public market and must not be based on the furniture that can be found in professional health institutes. As an example, the first project deals with the design of a bedside table which purpose is to make life easier for disabled people during the night. Compared to a conventional bedside table, the prototype will integrate a backlight that will illuminate the night table at the touch of the user to help him locate things on the table (water bottle, glasses...) during the night. The prototype will also be able to communicate with different equipments (roller shutters, heating, lighting, light paths...). The objective is to improve availability of equipments and ease of use. A color code will be used to differentiate the drawers and help people suffering from cognitive disorders or vision problems. The bottom drawer is accessible for wheelchair users through a system of enhanced raised drawer. An integrated automated pillbox will guide the user in taking his medications and treatments.


To meet the increased demand of hydroelectric power generation, a novel drag-based Savonius turbine with the characteristics of a simpler fabrication process and good starting characteristics is designed, fabricated, and analyzed. The newly designed turbine is suitable to be installed in rivers, irrigation channels, ocean currents, etc., for small-scale hydroelectric power generation. In the present study, experiments are carried out to investigate the influence of the design parameters of this turbine on its power performance in order to improve its efficiency, including blade arc angles (180°, 135°), blade placement angles (0°, ±22.5°), and the number of blades (2, 3, 6, and 8). Further, three-dimensional CFD simulations are performed with Re = 6.72×105, matching the experimental conditions, in order to study the changes in the flow field and the rotation characteristics of the turbine. The research results indicate that a six-bladed turbine with a blade arc angle of 135° and a blade placement angle of 0° has higher torque and better power performance, which makes it the most suitable design when also considering cost. Furthermore, it was found that an increase in the number of turbine blades contributes to improving the performance of the turbine. The maximum power coefficient is 0.099 at a tip speed ratio of 0.34.


This research examines Libyan geopolitical discourse over the 40 years from 1969 to 2009 that is, the period following the revolution which brought Muammar Abu Minyar Al-Qaddafi to the leadership of that country. It asks how and why Libyan geopolitical discourse changed over this period. To answer this question, it reviews the scholarly literature bearing on Qaddafi and Libya's international and strategic relations; it analyses 188 speeches delivered by Qaddafi; it examines interviews, books and documents by him; and it draws on interviews conducted by the author with Libyan political commentators. It hypothesises that, in response to threats to Libyan sovereignty and survival, Qaddafi repeatedly shifted Libyan geopolitical discourse in a way that amounted to a tactically polyvalent responsive-defensive strategy. In sustaining the hypothesis, it makes several findings. It methodically establishes that Qaddafi was the progenitor of Libyan geopolitical discourse. It reveals the ideational content of Qaddafi's discourse in terms of its lexicology, placing him within the Arab nationalist lexicon derived from Nasserism. It demonstrates that Qaddafi used, mainly, three verbal discursive strategies in constructing and reconstructing Libyan geopolitical discourse lexical reiteration, presupposition and indexicals plus visual imagery and symbolism. It argues a three-stage periodisation of Libyan geopolitical discourse: pan-Arab, pan-African and Libya as a nation-for- itself. These changes at geopolitical level, however, never challenged Qaddafi's and Libya's commitment to their Arab identity. It finds that discursive change came as a response to threats to Libyan sovereignty or security and was intended to defend Libya against, or mitigate, these threats. It reveals subtleties in his view of Libyan security as a means to unite Arab and African worlds, rather than preferring one over the other. That is to say, Qaddafi's move towards Africa implied a rejection of Arab governments but not of the Arab world, of which he continued to consider himself and Libya a part. And, finally it finds that, although discourses appeared sometimes to be mutually or internally contradictory, they were intended to serve the same strategy: namely to protect Libyan sovereignty and security. That is to say, discursive change served a tactically polyvalent responsive-defensive strategy.


Powder vaporization is a common method for the generation of large-area, single-crystal, two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide. While commonly employed as a growth method, the fundamental molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Recent ab initio analyses have shown that molybdenum oxysulfide rings play a key role in the sulfurization of molybdenum trioxide from elemental sulfur. In this study, we utilize molecular dynamics simulations with a reactive force field and ab initio calculations to elucidate the reaction pathway of sulfur with molybdenum trioxide. The molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that for all sulfur allotropes the reaction pathway could be reduced to that of disulfur, trisulfur, or a combination of the two and that molybdenum trioxide can catalyze the decomposition of larger sulfur allotropes. Ab initio calculations were used to illuminate the intermediates and transition states in the reaction pathways for disulfur and trisulfur. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the transition state energies shows that the maximum reaction rates occur between 1000 and 1100 K, which corresponds with commonly reported experimental growth temperatures for molybdenum disulfide.


Induced molting of laying hens is a practice used by commercial egg producers to increase the productive lifetime of their flock. However, the conventional method of inducing molt, which involves removal of feed, water, or both as well as a reduction in photoperiod to less than a natural day has drawn criticism due to animal welfare and food safety concerns. The objective of this study was to explore the efficacy of diets containing high levels of guar meal (GM) in inducing molt and reducing susceptibility to Salmonella Enteritidis colonization in late-phase laying hens. Late-phase (68 wk old) Lohmann laying hens were either full-fed standard laying hen diets (nonmolted control), induced to molt by feed withdrawal, or full-fed standard laying hen diets containing 20% GM with or without 250 units/kg of mannanase Hemicell supplementation. On the fourth day of treatment, all hens were orally challenged with SE (1.65 x 10(7) cfu). Hens were killed and evaluated for Salmonella colonization and differences in organ weights 5 d postinoculation. Salmonella Enteritidis present in crop, liver, ovary, and cecal contents were significantly reduced by feeding GM with enzyme supplementation compared with feed withdrawal hens. No significant differences were observed in reproductive tract weights of molted groups, although a difference in liver weight was detected. Results indicate that feeding diets containing 20% GM are as effective as complete feed withdrawal with respect to inducing molt with the added benefit of improved resistance to Salmonella Enteritidis colonization and translocation.


To resituate early Mughal architecture within a Persianate context, this paper considers the three axes of geography, scale, and meaning. After introducing this conceptual framework, we turn to historian Marshall Hodgson's essay, 'In the Center of the Map: Nations See Themselves as the Hub of History', as a starting point for geographical analysis. We survey historiographic perspectives on Mughal architecture as Indian, Islamic, Timurid, and Persianate. These cultural geographic perspectives involve a broad range of architectural scales from buildings to gardens, cities, regions, and empire. To address questions of meaning, the paper examines Hodgson's concept of Persianate culture in relation to his ideas about conscience and history in his three-volume work titled The Venture of Islam. Hodgson's ideas about conscience raise interesting questions about the moral dimension of early Mughal architectural experience. The final section of the paper rereads early Mughal sources leading up to the exile of Humayun in Persia and his return to Delhi. These events begin with Babur's visit to Herat in 1506 and culminate with the construction of Humayun's monumental tomb-garden, which can be read as expressions of moral as well as religio-political meaning in a dynasty that came to see itself as a 'hub of history'.


OBJECTIVE
The incidence and mortality of septic cardiomyopathy were high, which is the common cause of death in the patients with sepsis. The pathogenesis of sepsis induced myocardial injury is still unclear. The mitochondrial dysfunction of myocardial cells plays a very important role in the pathophysiological mechanism. This review attempts to introduce the mitochondrial damage of cardiomyocyte from the regulation of mitochondrial energy metabolism, the mechanism of mitochondrial damage, the role of aquaporin and the adjustment of mitochondrial dynamic, in order to provide help for the early prevention of septic cardiomyopathy.


Background: Recent cancer stem cell (CSC) research has highlighted the necessity to develop drugs targeting CSCs. However, only few in vitro models are available which show CSC hierarchy and allow monitoring of CSC differentiation and screening of drugs targeting CSC. Aim: In the present study, we aimed to identify such hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line(s). Methods: Based on a hypothesis that the proportion of CSCs would decrease during culture because of their differentiation into progenitors (population switch), we tested the positivity of several markers (CD13, EpCAM, CD133, CD44, CD90, CD24, CD166) in HCC cell lines (HuH-7, Li-7, PLC/PRF/5, HLF, HLE) before and after 2 months culture. Results: Only Li-7 cells showed relevant population switch: the proportion of CD13 decreased, while that of CD166 increased during the culture. High tumorigenicity of Li-7 was lost after the population switch. CD13(+)/CD166(-) cells showed slow growth and reconstructed the bulk Li-7 populations composed of CD13(+)/CD166(-), CD13(-)/CD166(-) and CD13(-)/CD166(+) fractions, while CD13(-)/CD166(+) cells showed rapid growth but could not reproduce any other cell populations. CD13(+)/CD166(-) cells showed high ALDH activity, spheroid forming ability and resistance to 5FU. Microarray analysis demonstrated higher expression of stemness-related genes in CD166(-) than CD166(+) fraction. These results indicated the hierarchy of Li-7 cells, in which CD13(+)/CD166(-) and CD13(-)/CD166(+) cells serve as slow growing CSCs and rapid growing progenitors, respectively. Interestingly, sorafenib selectively targeted CD166(-) fraction including CD13(+) CSCs, which exhibited higher mRNA expression of FGF3 and FGF4, candidate biomarkers for sorafenib. 5-FU followed by sorafenib inhibited the growth of bulk Li-7 cells more effectively than reverse sequence or either alone. Conclusions: We identified an useful cell line Li-7 capable of monitoring the CD13 (+) CSC differentiation and screening the drugs targeting the CSCs of HCC and found that sorafenib preferentially targeted CD13(+) CSCs in vitro. Screening cell lines for "population switch" may be useful to identify novel candidate model systems for screening drugs targeting CSCs. Citation Format: Takeshi Yamada, Masato Abei, Inaho Danjoh, Ryoko Shirota, Taro Yamashita, Shinji Endo, Ichinosuke Hyodo, Yukio Nakamura. Identification of a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line capable of monitoring the differentiation of CD13(+)CD166(-) cancer stem cells and effects of sorafenib. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1397. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1397


A case of implant-bone prosthetic rehabilitation, after the fracture of the maxillary central incisors, which had been treated with grafting of a bone substitute, is reported. This case was followed by the normal procedures of implantology within the traditional timeframe for bone regeneration. However, a barrier membrane was not used which shows that even along with the use of graft material a sufficient amount of bone could be achieved for a subsequent rehabilitation. Therefore, after a five-year follow-up period, osseointegration was maintained with no marginal bone loss.


Massive textual content has enabled rapid advances in natural language modeling. The use of pre-trained deep neural language models has significantly improved natural language understanding tasks. However, the extent to which these systems can be applied to content generation is unclear. While a few informal studies have claimed that these models can generate 'high quality' readable content, there is no prior study on analyzing the generated content from these models based on sampling and fine-tuning hyperparameters. We conduct an in-depth comparison of several language models for open-ended story generation from given prompts. Using a diverse set of automated metrics, we compare the performance of transformer-based generative models – OpenAI's GPT2 (pre-trained and fine-tuned) and Google's pre-trained Transformer-XL and XLNet to human-written textual references. Studying inter-metric correlation along with metric ranking reveals interesting insights – the high correlation between the readability scores and word usage in the text. A study of the statistical significance and empirical evaluations between the scores (human and machine-generated) at higher sampling hyperparameter combinations ( $t=\{0.75, 1.0\}$ , $k=\{100, 150, 250\}$ ) reveal that the top pre-trained and fine-tuned models generated samples condition well on the prompt with an increased occurrence of unique and difficult words. The GPT2-medium model fine-tuned on the 1024 Byte-pair Encoding (BPE) tokenized version of the dataset along with pre-trained Transformer-XL models generated samples close to human written content on three metrics: prompt-based overlap, coherence, and variation in sentence length. A study of overall model stability and performance shows that fine-tuned GPT2 language models have the least deviation in metric scores from human performance.


The goal of this project was to understand better the communicative processes by which social support can assist right-hemisphere stroke survivors in the process of community integration. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 12 right-hemisphere stroke survivors and their family caregivers. The transcribed interviews revealed 7 challenges (physical, cognitive–perceptual, emotional, relationship, employment, financial, and challenges to activities of daily living) and three types of resources (formal external, informal external, and internal). Stroke survivors' internal resources were shown to be essential for facilitating community integration. Implications for researchers and health care providers are discussed within the framework of Hobfoll's (1988) conservation of resources theory.


This study presents a new stress analysis method to be substituted for the elastic analysis in such a plastic design procedure. This method is accompanied by an efficient mathematical tool which can be easily handled by personal computer. The method also easily accepts arbitrary strategies by the designer for selection member size.


We explore the link between dependence abstractions and maximal parallelism extraction in nested loops. Our goal is to find, for each dependence abstraction, the minimal transformations needed for maximal parallelism extraction. The result of this paper is that Allen and Kennedy's algorithm is optimal when dependences are approximated by dependence levels. This means that even the most sophisticated algorithm cannot detect more parallelism than found by Allen and Kennedy's algorithm, as long as dependence level is the only information available.