This paper presents the design of an ultralow power receiver front-end designed for a wireless sensor network (WSN) in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. The author designs two front-ends working in the saturation region and the subthreshold region respectively. The front-ends contain a two-stage cross-coupling cascaded common-gate (CG) LNA and a quadrature Gilbert IQ mixer. The measured conversion gain is variable with high gain at 24 dB and low gain at 7 dB for the saturation one, and high gain at 22 dB and low gain at 5 dB for the subthreshold one. The noise figure (NF) at high gain mode is 5.1 dB and 6.3 dB for each. The input 1 dB compression point (IP1dB) at low gain mode is about −6 dBm and −3 dBm for each. The front-ends consume about 2.1 mA current from 1.8 V power supply for the saturation one and 1.3 mA current for the subthreshold one. The measured results show that, comparing with the power consumption saving, it is worth making sacrifices on the performance for using the subthreshold technology.


Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Even if early detection has been applied and proved to be effective, the survival outcomes are still poor. Thus, to find out novel prognostic factors is of great significance to identify high-risk patients and guide individualized precise treatment in order to reduce recurrence and improve survival outcomes.Methods: Tissue samples and clinicopathologic data of 244 stage T1 NSCLC patients were collected. We investigated CXCR5 expression using immunochemical method and analyzed its correlation with pathologic subtypes and prognosis.Results: Elevated level of positive CXCR5 expression was found in tumor tissues (p<0.0001) and patients with positive CXCR5 expression are more likely to have LVIs (p=0.030) and recurrences (p<0.043). Besides, CXCR5 expression is also correlated to histological type and differentiation. Lepidic predominant tumors have significantly lower expression of CXCR5 (p<0.001). Survival analyses showed that patients with positive CXCR5 had a significantly lower DFS (p=0.038) and patients with solid or micropapillary predominant NSCLC had a significantly worse prognosis. CXCR5 expression was proved to be an independent prognostic factor for DFS through multivariate analysis.Conclusions: CXCR5 expression has been proved to be an independent prognostic factor for stage T1 NSCLC patients. In addition, CXCR5 was also found to be relevant to cancer recurrence, and this indicated that CXCR5 may play an important role in lymph node and distant metastasis.


MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that regulates the gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Determining whether a sequence segment is miRNA is experimentally challenging. Also, experimental results are sensitive to the experimental environment. These limitations inspire the development of computational methods for predicting the miRNAs. We propose a deep learning based classification model, called DP-miRNA, for predicting precursor miRNA sequence that contains the miRNA sequence. The feature set based Restricted Boltzmann Machine method, which we call DP-miRNA, uses 58 features that are categorized into four groups: sequence features, folding measures, stem-loop features and statistical feature. We evaluate the performance of the DP-miRNA on eleven twelve data sets of varying species, including the human. The deep neural network based classification outperformed support vector machine, neural network, naive Baye's classifiers, k-nearest neighbors, random forests, and a hybrid system combining support vector machine and genetic algorithm.


This research fills the gap in scientific knowledge regarding gender power relations and intra-household decisions, specifically the links between conjugal power relations and women's participation in reproductive health (RH) decisions. While examining this nexus in Nepal, the author found that a husband's domination is ubiquitous with respect to all forms of power and gender privileges, which accords with a dominant-submissive model of conjugal relationship. However, decision-making in RH shows a more complex interaction between different sets of factors of power. High rates of women's participation in joint contraceptive decisions may be taken as encouraging. Yet, husbands' domination is evident in directing their wives to use contraceptives, choose their types and to terminate their application, and in making decisions about seeking health care services. Even if the husbands endorsed their wives' decisions, women still face additional interferences from household decision-makers, particularly if the issue is culturally sensitive, such as pregnancy-related and sexual health or if the healthcare services involve financial matters.


SUMMARY The oat kernel, caryopsis or groat, is generally covered with fine silky hairs termed trichomes. The trichomes of naked oat are partly lost during threshing and handling of grains when the lemma and palea are removed and the surface of the grain is exposed. Trichomes can cause itchiness and more serious reactions in those handling the grains. Trichomes also accumulate and form fine dust and can block up machinery. Trichomes are clearly problematic and growers of naked oat are eager to have oat cultivars with reduced numbers of trichomes. Experiments compared the differences in trichome numbers of naked-oat cultivars and threshing settings. The cultivars differed considerably in pubescence. Cultivars Lisbeth and NK 00117 had most trichomes and cv. Bullion the fewest. Completely bare or polished grains were not observed. Pubescence was not associated with grain weight or test weight. However, grains from the lowermost spikelets of the panicle had fewer trichomes than those from the uppermost spikelets. For cv. Bullion, some threshing settings, including increased cylinder speed, slightly increased grain polishing such that grains had some areas completely free of trichomes. Reduction of the concave clearance in the combine harvester had a similar effect. However, threshing settings did not affect the trichomes of cv. Lisbeth. Adjusting threshing machinery settings was generally not an efficient means of solving the problems associated with naked-oat trichomes, but cultivar differences existed and further efforts in breeding to reduce trichome numbers are required.


Most neutrino experiments using liquid argon as a detector medium focus on obtaining information about the interaction from ionization electrons and choose to use the scintillation light as a trigger or an indication of interaction time. On the other hand, experiments investigating lower energy ranges, i.e. Dark Matter searches have shown that there is a wealth of information in the scintillation light, which by itself allows calorimetric reconstruction and particle identification based on the shape of the light signal. LArIAT is a an experiment set to calibrate the LAr Time Projection Chamber technology by placing the detector on a beam of charged particles of known type and momentum. One of its goals is to test a Dark Matter search-like light collection system, which could supplement the calorimetric and particle identification capabilities of the LArTPC. The plans to implement this setup in the LArIAT detector will be presented together with the small set-up being constructed to test the components.


Annealing of a Czochralski Si(100) substrate in a gas flow in which H2 is diluted to a concentration of 3% in He was investigated. The surfaces annealed at 900 °C or above showed well-developed terraces with mono-atomic steps that alternate between the straight A-step and the zigzag B-step configurations, whereas no morphological improvement occurred in the surfaces annealed at temperatures below 900 °C, as confirmed by atomic force microscopy. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction observations and Fourier-transform infrared attenuated total reflection spectra of the flat surfaces clarified that the surface Si atoms make dimers with their dangling bonds terminated by H atoms, i.e., the surface reconstruction is Si(100)2×1/1×2-H. We show that the depth of the etching was not sufficient to account for the observed smoothening of the surface during the annealing at high temperatures, and conclude that the main mechanism of surface flattening is surface migration of the Si atoms.


Accumulation of Total Anthocyanins in Wheat Grain In the recent years, for specific goals of utilization, winter wheat breeding has been aimed on increasing total anthocyanins concentration in winter wheat grains considering their high antioxidant activity. The aim of research was to evaluate grain colour development in four wheat genotypes (ANK 28A and 62/0 purple pericarp, UC 66049 blue aleurone and Ilona red pericarp) during grain filling period. Grain samples from two replications of field experiment, established in the vegetation 2010/11, were taken in five to six sampling times. Total anthocyanins concentration was determined by spectrophotometer. The genotypes responded differently to the dynamics of total anthocyanins accumulation during grain filling. The process was described by linear and also by polynomial regression on the number of days post anthesis. Genotypes with purple pericarp reached the highest total anthocyanins concentration on the 22nd day post anthesis with increasing and decreasing before and after this sampling time, respectively. At maturity the highest total anthocyanins had UC 66049 (193.38 mg/kg). Newly bred genotype 62/0 had similar concentration (34.50 mg/kg) as its parent ANK 28A (37.80 mg/kg). At maturity, registered cultivar Ilona was about 93.7% lower in total anthocyanins concentration compared to ANK 28A. Significant variability in total anthocyanins concentration indicated that breeding for their increasing is possible.


In this paper, we consider a simplified real-life identical parallel machine scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times and job splitting to minimize makespan. We propose a heuristic to solve this problem. Our method is composed of two parts. The problem is first reduced into a single machine scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times. This reduced problem can be transformed into a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), which can be efficiently solved using Little's method. In the second part, a feasible initial solution to the original problem is obtained by exploiting the results of the first part. This initial solution is then improved in a step by step manner, taking into account the setup times and job splitting. We develop a lower bound and evaluate the performances of our heuristic on a large number of randomly generated instances. The solution given by our heuristic is less than 4.88% from the lower bound.


Metaphorical depictions, embodied experiences, and by extension structures within the music, are distinct between performances of both the same works and across works of different styles.  Traditional forms of musical analysis focus on the score as a discrete, concrete "object", replete with meaning and fully representative of the composer's intentions. As a result, performance has been treated as inessential and not recognized for its significant role in the co-creation of music and its ability to generate meaning. This research examines performative differences through close listening in recent recordings of Bach's Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor BWV 1001, Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Minor Op. 30 No. 2, and the Sibelius Violin Concerto Op. 47 in D Minor. With regard for the effects of metaphor, embodiment and structure, it shows how interpretive decisions within performance have profound implications on our emotional experience and perception of the music, well beyond what is notated in the score.


Values are reported for the kinetic hydrogen isotope effects for proton-transfer reactions between hydroxide ions and nitromethane, nitroethane, nitrocyclohexane and 2-nitropropane, and between 2-nitropropane and pyridine, 2, 6-lutidine and acetate ions. In conjunction with earlier work the results suggest that the isotope effect has a maximum value for proton transfers between two acid-base systems of approximately equal pK, in agreement with theoretical predictions. We have confirmed that the abstraction of a proton from 2-nitropropane by 2, 6-lutidine exhibits an abnormally high isotope effect (kH/kD = 20), probably attributable to a considerable tunnelling correction.


The concept of a laser-guided e+e− collider in the single-femtosecond and high-energy regime is presented and its feasibility discussed. Ultra-intense laser pulses and strong static magnetic fields are employed to unite in one stage the electron and positron acceleration and their microscopic coherent collision in the GeV regime. We show that such coherent collisions yield a very large enhancement of the luminosity as compared to conventional incoherent colliders.


It has been established that the appropriate criteria for space-time trellis coded modulation (STTCM) design on slow Rayleigh fading channels are maximisation of the minimum rank and the minimum determinant of the distance matrices. It is demonstrated that when STTCM is used in systems with a large product (>3) of the numbers of transmit and receive antennas, the design of codes with maximum coding gain is governed by the minimum trace of the distance matrices. A number of new codes based on the proposed design criterion have been constructed and shown to be superior to other known codes.


Abstract The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf is expected to play an essential role in delineating the rights of the Arctic states to seabed resources in the Arctic Ocean. In this article, the authors look to the effect of scientific discourse on Commission authority. The authors argue that in addition to the conferral of its authority by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission draws its authority in the Arctic from the way its regulatory frameworks, aimed at containing or closing off disputes about jurisdiction and sovereign rights, correlate with discursive practices used by transnational networks to reach scientific agreement.


: Green practices for the event industry may be categorised into energy efficiency, waste minimisation, water consumption, and eco-procurement. Energy efficiency pertains to using less energy to provide the same level of energy by means of a more efficient technology or process. Waste minimisation is a set of processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced. Water consumption focuses on conserving water through policies and actions implemented by event organisers, suppliers, and attendees. Eco-procurement involves developing supply chains that deliver goods in a way that minimises the impact on the environment. These four are the aspects of green practices that the present research aims to look into. This research intends to assess the green practices of event management enterprises in the City of Batangas (or Batangas City), Philippines. The descriptive survey research method was used to describe specific behaviours as they occurred in the environment. The respondents of the study included 65 members of Batangas Wedding & Event Professionals (BWEP), which is the official organisation of event professionals in the Batangas province. The research used survey questionnaires as the main instrument in assessing the green practices of the event management businesses. This instrument was adapted from the research by Ahmad, Wan Rashid, Abd Razak, Mohd. Yusof, and Mat Shah (2013). The main findings of the study were that the majority of the respondents have operated for 1 to 8 years at a regional level and had a customer size of 201 to 500 people. The nature of their businesses was personal events. In terms of their green practices, the study results revealed that energy efficiency, waste minimisation, and eco-procurement were sometimes practised, while water consumption efforts were not often practised. In addition, there was a significant difference in the responses when they were grouped according to firmographic profile. As a recommendation, this research proposes strategies and a set of action plans for the greening of meetings and events.


Osteoporosis, a classical age-related disease and known to be more common in women than in men, has been reported increasingly often in men during the past few years. Although men at all ages after puberty have larger bones than women, resulting in greater bending strength, mortality after a hip fracture, one of the major complications of osteoporosis, is more common in men than in women. Sex hormone deficiency is associated with unrestrained osteoclast activity and bone loss. Even though estrogen deficiency is more pronounced in women, it appears to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis in both genders. In contrast to osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, the treatment of osteoporosis in men has been scarcely reported. Nevertheless, some drugs commonly used for the treatment of osteoporosis in women also appear to be effective in men. The aim of this study is to review primary osteoporosis in the elderly with particular emphasis on gender-related aspects.


Background: Worldwide prevalence of dyslipidemia in HIV-infected children on antiretroviral medications (ARVs) is rising due to extensive use of treatment during their entire lives. Dyslipidemia is the potential side effect of ARVs, especially in individuals taking protease inhibitors. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in HIV-infected children on ARVs receiving care at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania. Methods: This was a cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted from September 2015 to May 2016 at KCMC. HIV-infected children and adolescents less than 17 years on ARVs for more than 6 months were enrolled. Blood samples were taken to determine levels of triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol, lipoproteins (including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)), CD4+ T cells, and viral load (VL). Anthropometric measurements were used to assess nutritional status. SPSS 20.0 was used for analysis. Logistic regression estimated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and P value <.05 was considered significant. Written consent was obtained from parents/guardians on behalf of their children and assent for older children. Results: A total of 260 participants were included in the study; the median age at HIV diagnosis was 3 (interquartile range (IQR) = 1-6) years. The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 46.5% with hypercholesterolemia (⩾200 mg/dl) of 11.2%, HDL (<35 mg/dl) of 22.7%, LDL (⩾130 mg/dl) of 7.7%, and hyperglyceridemia (TG ⩾150 mg/dl) of 12.3%. Children aged between 6 and 12 years at HIV diagnosis had 2.7 times higher odds of developing dyslipidemia compared with younger age at diagnosis (OR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.1-6.6). Patients with advanced (OR = 6.4; 95% CI = 1.5-27.1) or severe (OR = 9.8; 95% CI = 1.2-76.5) HIV-associated immunodeficiency at diagnosis had higher odds of developing dyslipidemia. Protease inhibitor use was associated with higher odds of developing dyslipidemia (OR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.4-7.1). Conclusion: Late diagnosis of HIV at 6 years of age or more, advanced, or severe immunosuppression, and the use of protease inhibitors were independent predictors of dyslipidemia in children on ARVs after 6 months of treatment, and with low HDL levels observed most commonly. Monitoring lipid profiles in children, especially those on protease inhibitors and with advanced/severe immunosuppression at diagnosis, may help in preventing future complications.


A novel method for the derivation of the optimum base station (BS) antenna radiation pattern in urban microcellular systems or wireless systems in general is presented. The multipath radio channel is sounded with a ray-tracing (RT) tool; then the BS antenna pattern is optimized in order to minimize channel dispersion and maximize field strength in the selected service area. The procedure can be performed for the different classes of microcellular BS sites, allowing the derivation of useful criteria for the shaping of the corresponding antenna patterns. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the possibility of using the RT in combination with an optimization procedure to derive interesting antenna design indications.


Sickle cell disease (SCD) is most often due to homozygosity for the hemoglobin sickle (Hb S) missense mutation of the β-globin gene (HBB:c.20A>T). SCD can also result from compound heterozygosity for Hb S and other β-chain variants or β-thalassemia (β-thal). Loss-of-function point mutations of the β-globin gene that abolish (β0) or reduce (β+) production of normal β-chains are the most common cause of β-thal, with a minority of alleles being larger deletions. Patients with Hb S/β0-thal typically have severe SCD, whereas residual β-chain synthesis in Hb S/β+-thal is associated with lower hemoglobin S concentrations and less severe disease. It has long been recognized that the high-level production of β-like chains throughout development is controlled by a cis regulatory element, the β-globin locus control region (βLCR). The βLCR is located 5.7 kb to 21.2 kb upstream of the e-globin gene, and consists of five DNase I hypersensitivity sites designated HS1 through HS5. Twelve naturally occurring βLCR deletions have been reported, most resulting in complete loss of expression of the β-like genes and a carrier phenotype that resembles (eγδβ)0-thal. In these patients, neonatal hemolytic anemia is common due to impaired γ-chain synthesis required for Hb F. Once the γ→β switch has occurred during the first six months of infancy, the phenotype resolves to one of thalassemia trait with normal Hb A2. While the phenotype is well established for carriers of large deletions that remove all or most of the HS regions, the contribution of individual HS regions to β-globin gene expression in human has yet to be elucidated. To this end, it is important to identify and characterize naturally occurring deletions that involve individual HS regions or combinations thereof. Here, we report a case of SCD due to a novel βLCR deletion involving only HS3 and HS4. The proband is a 6-year old boy born to healthy non-sanguineous parents of Caribbean decent. Newborn screening was negative for SCD, with the Hb profile being consistent with Hb S trait (Hb F 79.1%, Hb A 6.0%, Hb S 4.0%, Hb Bart's 9.1%). Postnatally there was no significant jaundice or clinically diagnosed anemia. The proband had no clinical complaints and growth and development were normal until age 5 years when he was diagnosed with SCD during an admission for unexplained abdominal pain and an enlarged spleen. He was noted to have microcytic anemia (Hb 87 g/L, MCV 68.2 fL), and the peripheral blood smear showed sickle cells, Howell-Jolly bodies and target cells. The Hb profile was suggestive of Hb S/β+-thal with 19.4% Hb A, 72.7% Hb S, and Hb A2 within normal range. He has had one vasoocclusive event since the diagnosis and had tonsillectomy for obstructive sleep apnea. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that the proband is heterozygous for the Hb S mutation (HBB:c.20A>T) with no other mutations of the β-globin gene. He was also shown to be heterozygous for the 3.7 kb α-globin gene deletion (-α3.7/αα). As this genotype does not explain the reduced expression of Hb A and SCD phenotype, we investigated the possibility of compound heterozygosity for Hb S and a βLCR deletion. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) (MRC-Holland) demonstrated the presence of a novel deletion encompassing HS3 and HS4. Sequence analysis of the junction fragment established that the deletion spans a total of 4,860 bp (HGVS nomenclature NG_000007.3:g.8510_13369del). To date, this is the smallest reported βLCR deletion that is associated with a clinically significant phenotype. Our patient had milder clinical picture with no SCD-related symptoms until 5 years of age and absence of a clinically significant hemolytic anemia at birth. The presence of 19.4% Hb A was compatible with the phenotype of Hb S/β+-thal. This indicates that deletions involving only HS3 and HS4 are associated with a significant but not complete reduction of β-globin gene expression. Interestingly, the newborn screening profile was typical of sickle trait, leading to the important observation that the βLCR is not required for the low level β-globin gene expression at birth, and providing further insight into the function of βLCR and its contribution to γ→β switching in humans. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The efficacy of transurethral radiowave hyperthermia (TRH) provided by Thermex-2 unit (Dyrex Systems Ltd, Israel) was studied in combined treatment of patients with chronic prostatitis complicated by asthenozoospermia (patent of RF N 2111773). The treatment reduced intensity of bacteriospermia, improved functional activity of spermatozoa as a result of attenuation of the opportunistic microflora. Mechanisms of action of TRH in therapy of chronic prostatitis are discussed.


Of the three basic color perceptions, hue, brightness, and colorfulness, hue has no relative version, but brightness has lightness, and colorfulness has chroma and saturation. Correlates of chroma are widely used in color difference formulae, but saturation currently plays little part in color science and technology. This is perhaps because in many industries flat samples are viewed in uniform lighting for the evaluation of color differences, and in this case chroma is the appropriate contributor for samples of small angular subtense. For samples of large angular subtense, however, a correlate of saturation may be more appropriate to use. In the real world, it is common for solid objects to be seen in directional lighting; in these circumstances saturation is a more useful percept than chroma because saturation remains constant in shadows. In imaging, artists and computer-graphics operators make extensive use of series of colors of constant saturation. In optical imaging, saturation can be an important percept in large dark areas. Recent experimental work has provided a much improved correlate of saturation. Introduction A recently published prestigious book on color science included the statement: " A color's chroma is its col-orfulness. A high chroma color may be described as highly saturated. " There is no further discussion of the differences between colorfulness, chroma, and saturation , and one can only conclude that these matters were something of a mystery to the author, a situation perhaps not too uncommon in the color-science community.


TICO (Thrombolysis in Coronary Occlusion) TIMAD (Ticlopidine in Micro-Angiopathy of Diabetes) TIMI (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction) TIPE (Thrombolysis in Pulmonary Embolism Study) TIPE (Thrombolysis in Peripheral Embolism Patient Study) TOHMS (Trial of Hypertensive Medications Study) TOHP (Trials of Hypertension Prevention) TOMHS (Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study) TOP (Thrombolysis in Old Patients) TPAT (Tissue Plasminogen Activator, Toronto) TPT (Thrombosis Prevention Trial) TRENT (Trial of Early Nifedipine Treatment in Acute Myocardial Infarction) TRUST (Trial of United Kingdom for Stroke Treatment) UNASEM (Unstable Angina Study Using Eminase) UNSA (Unstable Angina Study) UPET (Urokinase Pulmonary Embolism Trial) URALMI (Urokinase and Alteplase in Myocardial Infarction) USIM (Urochinasi per via Sistemica nell'Infarto Miocardico) VACA Registry (Valvuloplasty and Angioplasty of Congenital Anomalies Registry) V-HeFT (Veterans Heart Failure Trial) WARIS (Warfarin Relnfarction Study) WHA Study (Worcester Heart Attack Study) WWICT (Western Washington Intracoronary Streptokinase Trial) WWIST (Western Washington Intravenous Streptokinase Trial)


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Supramalleolar fractures are generally considered to be a difficult surgical challenge because they occur in a area where the tibia lies superficially with a precarious blood supply to the skin, exposing to the risk of infection and necrosis after internal fixation. These fractures are also situated close to the tibiotalar joint making centromedullary nailing difficult, even with distal locking. The Ilizarov external fixator could be an attractive alternative in this indication.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We report a series of 17 supramalleolar fractures in 17 patients, 14 men and 3 women, treated with the Ilizarov external fixator between 1991 and 2001. Most were traffic accident victims and most had complex fractures resulting from high-energy trauma. There were many associated lesions. Fractures were open in ten patients. The Ilizarov fixator was used as the first intention treatment in seven patients and as a second line treatment in ten. The system allowed early weight bearing in all patients.

RESULTS
Tolerance was generally good with a relatively low rate of superficial pin track infections (two cases). There was one case of osteitis which developed in a patient with an open fracture. There were no thromboembolic complications and no nerve involvement. Bone healing was achieved within three months in thirteen patients. There were three cases of late healing which were treated by the ascension technique using a cancellous graft and fibular osteotomy. The overall healing rate with this method was 94%. The one case of nonunion was successfully treated with an inter tibiofibular graft. The overall functional outcome was satisfactory in 76% of the patients, based on the Alho-Klemm criteria. Axial deformation predominated in the frontal plane: three patients had > 10 degrees varus in one case.

DISCUSSION
These results could be improved by better operative technique. We advocate installing the patient in the supine position with transcalcaneal traction allowing good restitution of the leg axis. The assembly should be long, including the entire leg segment.


Simple formulae are developed for the effective resistance to alternating currents of tubular conductors when used under the following conditions:- (a) Isolated conductor. (b) Single-phase system of 2 concentric conductors. (c) Single-phase system of 2 conductors of equal size laid parallel to each other. (d) Three-phase system of 3 conductors of equal size laid parallel to each other in a plane, with the middle conductor midway between the outer conductors. (e) Three-phase system of 3 conductors of equal size laid parallel to each other in triangular formation, with equal distances between conductors. In cases (a) and (b) rigid formulae are already available. The formulae developed in this paper are shown not to differ from the rigid formulae by more than a few parts in 1 000, while the reduction of labour in using the simple formulae is probably of the order of one hundredfold. In cases (c), (d), and (e), no rigid formulae are available, and the solutions put forward in this paper are the simplest and the most accurate which have yet been published. Experimental work has been undertaken to check the accuracy of the formulae and it has been found that the discrepancy between the experimental values and the calculated values is less than 3 per cent, provided that th'e ratio of diameter of conductor to spacing between axes of conductors is less than 0.85. This covers the great majority of cases occurring in practice. When the conductors are closer together than this, the errors in the formulae may be a little larger, but, even with the conductors almost touching, the greatest observed discrepancy between the experimental and calculated values of the ratio of a. c. resistance to d. c. resistance was only 6 per cent (11 per cent of the ratio of increase of resistance with a. c. to d. c. resistance).


Formal requirements specifications play an important role in enhancing the reliability and effectiveness of software development. They provide a precise, unambiguous standard for the construction of a system and raise the confidence in a planned system by enabling a proper mathematical analysis of its requirements. The construction of formal specifications can be effectively supported by computer based tools if those tools are suitably tuned to the logic of composing specifications.

In this paper we discuss the possibility of providing 'intelligent' assistance during the incremental construction of well designed and reliable algebraic specifications of complex (software) systems. Based on a model of the specification process, we show how the demand to preserve certain properties in the evolving specification can be exploited to design functions of a specification tool which assist the process in an effective manner.


Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the crime of theft. There are five elements in theft: appropriation; property; belonging to another; dishonesty; and intention permanently to deprive. The first three listed are the actus reus elements and the last two are the mens rea. The offence is under s 1 Theft Act 1968, but ss 2–6 give (some) guidance on each of the elements.


date, six dysplastic naevi. Sections were stained with 50% silver nitrate by the method of Crocker and Skilbeck.' In each section 100 nuclei were counted by two independent observers. Benign melanocytic naevi had the fewest nucleolar organizer regions (mean ± SD; I 43 ± 030). Both primary and secondary melanomas had significantly higher mean counts than benign naevi (4-19 ± 1 50, P<ooo i and 4 3911 32, P < o 001, respectively; Mann-Whitney U test). There was no significant difference in numbers of NORs between primary and secondary melanoma. There was a significant difference between dysplastic naevi (i -90 ± 0-24) and benign naevi {P < 001) and between dysplastic naevi and primary melanomas (P < o 001). The silver-stained NORs thus clearly distinguish between benign and malignant lesions. As there was a significant difference and no overlap between dysplastic naevi and malignant melanomas, the technique may be useful in differentiation of equivocal melanocytic lesions. This technique clearly has potential in other areas of dermatopathology.


System identification has been employed in numerous structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. Traditional system identification methods usually rely on centralized processing of structural response data to extract information on structural parameters. However, in wireless SHM systems the centralized processing of structural response data introduces a significant communication bottleneck. Exploiting the merits of decentralization and on-board processing power of wireless SHM systems, many system identification methods have been successfully implemented in wireless sensor networks. While several system identification approaches for wireless SHM systems have been proposed, little attention has been paid to obtaining information on the physical parameters (e.g. stiffness, damping) of the monitored structure. This paper presents a hybrid system identification methodology suitable for wireless sensor networks based on the principles of component mode synthesis (dynamic substructuring). A numerical model of the monitored structure is embedded into the wireless sensor nodes in a distributed manner, i.e. the entire model is segmented into sub-models, each embedded into one sensor node corresponding to the substructure the sensor node is assigned to. The parameters of each sub-model are estimated by extracting local mode shapes and by applying the equations of the Craig-Bampton method on dynamic substructuring. The proposed methodology is validated in a laboratory test conducted on a four-story frame structure to demonstrate the ability of the methodology to yield accurate estimates of stiffness parameters. Finally, the test results are discussed and an outlook on future research directions is provided.


Commissioner of Inland Revenue v. New Zealand Film Services Ltd (1983) 6 NZTC 61,939 (HC) concerned the payment of film hire tax. The Cinematograph Films Act 1961 was repealed in 1976, but section 44 of the Finance Act 1930 required payment of film tax hire by reference to the repealed Act. The issue was whether this tax was still payable. Jeffries J. held that it was.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
To assess the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in vulvar papillomatosis, since some women with this complaint have symptoms associated with HPV infection, such as itching, burning, and dyspareunia.

GOAL
To reassure the patients that they do not have a transmissible viral disease, by excluding a HPV origin of their condition.

STUDY DESIGN
Vulvar biopsy specimens from 22 females with vulvar papillomatosis, from 10 females with prominent aceto-white vulvar lesions, and from 14 healthy controls were analyzed histologically for signs of HPV infection and by in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction for the presence of HPV DNA.

RESULTS
Specimens from women with vulvar papillomatosis showed some histological signs associated with HPV infection, but no koilocytotic atypia or dysplasia and thus resembled normal-looking vulvar mucosa. Aceto-white lesions frequently displayed histological features suggestive of HPV infection, including dysplasia. HPV DNA was detected in 6 of 10 patients with aceto-white lesions, but only in 1 of 22 patients with papillomatosis and in no healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS
According to our results, HPV DNA, which is generally found in cervical lesions and subclinical infections, is not present in vulvar papillomatosis even though symptoms associated with HPV infection are frequent complaints.


Abstract To promote learning and transfer of abstract ideas, contemporary theories advocate that teachers and learners make explicit connections between concrete representations and the abstract ideas they are intended to represent. Concreteness fading is a theory of instruction that offers a solution for making these connections. As originally conceived, it is a three-step progression that begins with enacting a physical instantiation of a concept, moves to an iconic depiction and then fades to the more abstract representation of the same concept. The goals of this paper are: (1) to improve the theoretical framework of concreteness fading by defining and bringing greater clarity to the terms abstract, concrete and fading; and (2) to describe several testable hypotheses that stem from concreteness fading as a theory of instruction. Making this theory of instruction more "concrete" should lead to an optimised concreteness fading technique with greater promise for facilitating both learning and transfer.


Swedish school results declined for two decades following a series of reforms in the early 1990s decentralising the school system and introducing choice, competition and management by objectives. The general aims and direction of reform were not destined to lower results, but weaknesses of reform design and implementation, against the backdrop of a deep recession, likely contributed to falling outcomes. Residential segregation and the current model of competition and choice increase school segregation and likely reduce equality of opportunity. A coherent set of reforms should strengthen central government institutions, rebuild a regional governance structure and increasingly target funding to pupils' needs. Better steering of competition and school choice implies ensuring that grades fairly represent pupils' skills and knowledge, that municipalities increasingly take the socio-economic mix of pupils into account in entry and investment decisions, and that entry and expansion of private schools are better coordinated to counter school segregation. Teaching needs to become more attractive to raise the quality of recruitment to the profession and to address current and future teacher shortages by improving teacher education, strengthening continuous learning and instigating more cooperation, feedback and support between colleagues.
This Working Paper relates to the 2019 OECD Economic Survey of Sweden (http://www.oecd.org/economy/sweden-economic-snapshot/).


This paper presents some new evolutions of research works in the IRWTL at SJTU on intelligentized technologies for arc welding dynamic process and robot systems, including Multi-information sensing of arc welding process, such as characteristic extraction of weld pool image, voltage, current, and sound, arc-spectral features; Multi-information fusion algorithms for prediction of weld penetration; Intelligentized modeling of welding dynamic process; Intelligent control methodology for welding dynamic process;Intelligentized technologies for robotic welding, such as guiding and tracking seam technology and intelligent control of welding pool and penetration in robotic welding process; and development of autonomous welding robot system for the special environment. The ideas of intelligentized welding manufacturing technology(IWMT) and intelligentized welding manufacturing engineering(IWME) are presented in this paper for elicitation and systematization of intending researches and applications on intelligentized technologies for modern welding manufacturing.


BACKGROUND
Myanmar (Burma), with an upper estimate of 400,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, faces a dangerous and potentially devastating epidemic. Female sex workers in the country are one of the most affected populations, with high prevalence rates of both HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

METHODS
A qualitative study was undertaken in Yangon at the end of 2002 to investigate the social and demographic features contributing to the transmission of HIV among female sex workers in urban Myanmar. Twenty-seven key informants from the government, non-government organisations (NGOs), international non-government organisations (INGOs), private sector and the United Nations system agencies and 25 women currently working in the sex trade were interviewed.

RESULTS
The sex trade in Yangon is rapidly growing and is characterised by a high degree of complexity. The number of female sex workers is estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 and there are approximately 100 brothels operating in various townships around the city. Nearly one-third of the women in the study reported previous imprisonment for offences related to sex work as well as fear of harassment, sexual exploitation, violence and gang rape. Almost half reported using condoms with clients at all times. Contradicting views exist as to the level of awareness about STIs and HIV among Yangon sex workers, with the majority never having been tested for HIV. Only one-quarter of women were regular patients of the limited number of STI clinics operated by INGOs.

CONCLUSIONS
Female sex workers in Myanmar remain a highly marginalised group almost inaccessible due to a variety of legal, political, cultural and social factors and are particularly vulnerable to HIV and STIs. It is important to encourage partnerships between INGOs by promoting service coordination and information sharing to increase the availability of services for sex workers and to build political support for an unpopular cause.


Laminin alpha 5 (LAMA5) is a member of a large family of proteins which trimerize and then polymerise to form a central component of all basement membranes. Consequently, the protein plays an instrumental role in shaping the normal development of the kidney, skin, neural tube, lung, limb and many other organs and tissues. Pathogenic mutations in some laminins have been shown to cause a range of largely syndromic conditions affecting the competency of the basement membranes to which they contribute. We report the identification of a mutation in the polymerization domain of LAMA5 in a patient with a complex syndromic disease characterised by defects in kidney, craniofacial and limb development and by a range of other congenital defects. Using CRISPR generated mouse models and biochemical assays we demonstrate the pathogenicity of this variant, showing that the change results in a failure of the polymerisation of α/β/γ laminin trimers. Comparing these in vivo phenotypes with those apparent upon gene deletion provides insights into the specific functional importance of laminin polymerization during development and tissue homeostasis.


This research has examined the two largest potential markets
for melt extract stainless steel fibres, namely sprayed concrete and
refractory concrete. An emphasis was placed on developing appropriate
test methods that would produce experimental data of a practical and
useful nature. A comparison was made at various stages between melt
extract fibres and more conventional drawn wire fibres.
The spraye~ concrete programme studied three fibre dispersion
techniques on site and produced test panels between 50mm and 150mm
thick from which beam and core specimens were cut. Information was
obtained on fibre rebound and the effects of specimen age, fibre
type and content on compressive, flexural and splitting strengths
and toughness. Rebound of drawn wire fibres was found to be twice
that of melt extract fibres on plywood panels and approaching two
and a half times greater on rock. The addition of steel fibres
produced increases in compressive and flexural strengths, typical
values for a 7.5% dry mix content being 15% and 55% respectively.
Two splitting tests on cores (Brazilian and point-load types) were
investigated as possible methods of on site quality control and
results indicated linear relationships between flexural and splitting
strengths. The post-crack toughness was examined in terms of the
area under the beam load/deflection curve and a computer programme
was used to evaluate a variety of toughness indices. Deflection
cut-off crieria based on the ultimate load co-ordinates or fixed
values of deflection were found preferable to those calculated from
the first crack deflection and the use of the elastic area under
the fibrous beam's curve as the denominator of the index proved
less reliable than using that of the unreinforced material. The
inclusion of 7% by weight of melt fibres increased the toughness
by over 30 times when using the 2.3mm fixed deflection criteria. [... continued].


Aviation technology and space is one of the leading technology for developed countries, especially in the form of rocket technology and payload. Countries that are capable of mastering these technologies will be respected by countries all over the world. Indonesia as the island nation and the State's large and extensive maritime already should have independence in the mastery of the technology of the rocket and payload. Therefore, continuous efforts are required to achieve independence, including through enhancing aviation technology and space technology, particularly at early stages the rocket and payload. Remote Sensing Systems At the rocket's Payload was Test remote monitoring system image capture and the attitude of the launch payload through the computer screen (display) continuously (real-time) data obtained from sensors that are mounted on the rocket's payload. 3D point (x, y, z) must be expressed as a graph visualization perspective drawings of rockets with the appropriate direction. The radar conducted computer GS (Ground Segment) or Ground Control Station (GCS). The result of the attitude of the Rocket Test launch Payloads have been able to do the communication data transmission of images and data for 3D (x, y, and z) in real-time to the Ground segment. Wireless communication uses radio telemetry frequency 433 MHz, power of 100 mW, the distance range obtained in this study a maximum of 1000 meter in conditions in the air and without obstruction.


This paper presents a new assessment of voltage sag due to faults in distribution system connected with wind based distributed generation (DG) in which some uncertain factors of this DG technology are considered. Voltage sag characteristics depend on the system's short-circuit power that includes the contribution of DG power injection when faults occur. The output power produced by wind based DGs is a function of the wind speed that is stochastic in nature. By using the probabilistic modeling of wind speed at the DG installation site, the uncertainty of wind regime is built into the problem of stochastic prediction of voltage sag in distribution system with wind energy resources connected. The paper assesses voltage sag performance in IEEE 34 Nodes Test Feeder. DG connected network modeling and fault analysis are done using PSS/ADEPT 5.0. Voltage sag characteristics and frequency are also determined in relation to wind speed for different scenarios of DG sizing and placement, types of wind power generation and the impact of the system source capacity of the distribution system of interest.


Deans of medical schools may be ogres or tyrants whose dictatorial talents enact a steady tribute and may command fearful worship of a nonhero. Or a deanship may be an innocuous position passed along as the baton in a relay race by people who look upon the baton as a nuisance, as a symbol not nearly as important as keeping things moving or getting there first. Somewhere betwixt and between the extremes of the dynamic power seeker who triples his efforts as he loses sight of his goals and the ineffectual one driven about by every casual breeze, we find good deans of good medical schools who produce the inspiration and leadership as well as exert the firm hand of the helmsman in just the right combination. Now for some 50 years, boy and man, I have been either an avid or willing or an inadvertent observer of medical education.


We introduce a new panel data estimation technique for cost and production functions: the Recursive Thick Frontier Approach (RTFA). RTFA has two advantages over existing thick frontier methods. First, technical inefficiency is allowed to be dependent on the explanatory variables of the frontier model. Secondly, no distributional assumptions are imposed on the inefficiency component of the error term. We show by means of simulation experiments that RTFA can outperform the popular stochastic frontier approach (SFA) and the "within" OLS estimator for realistic parameterisations of the productivity model.


The regression-based operational daytime Sea Surface Temperature (SST) retrieval from remote sensing Infrared (IR) measurements does not conventionally use Mid-Wave IR (MWIR) channels due to solar contamination. However, MWIR channels are desirable to obtain unambiguous surface information. A transformative approach, Physical Deterministic Sea Surface Temperature (PDSST) retrieval scheme, including MWIR channels, to enhance the information content in satellite-derived SST data, is presented here. This paper mainly emphasizes on the quality and availability of swath-processed daytime SSTs from MODIS-AQUA radiances using the PDSST suite, including MWIR channels, for coastal and near-coastal areas, which are needed the most. The focus areas of this study are the California coast in the Pacific Ocean, which is a highly dynamic oceanographic region, the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean, which has a sparse population of in situ, and the Chesapeake Bay in the Atlantic Ocean, which is best known for seafood production. Apart from in situ validation using iQuam (NOAA), indirect validation, by comparing different SST products, is also performed. The results of PDSST-suite are compared with the currently operational MODIS-AQUA SSTs, obtained from the NASA website, and microwave SSTs from AMSR2, obtained from RSS website. Both the operational products are based on the regression method. It is found that the PDSST suite including MWIR channels can extract 3−5 times as much information as the currently operational NASA-produced regression-based daytime SSTs from MODIS-AQUA radiances for coastal areas. Oceanic fronts' study is also included by using the increased information content of satellite-derived SSTs from PDSST.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

We have developed the use of reovirus as a systemically delivered oncolytic agent in both pre-clinical models and in early Phase clinical trials. Reovirus has direct oncolytic activity against many human/murine tumor cells, partly because of disruption of the PKR-mediated anti-viral response in malignant cells. In addition however, we have shown that anti-tumor therapy is directly associated with immune activation by virus replication in tumors. The immune mechanisms of therapy include both innate immune activation against virally infected tumor cells, as well as the generation of adaptive anti tumor immune responses as a result of in vivo priming against tumor associated antigens released during that killing. Therefore, to exploit the immune components of reovirus anti-tumor therapy, we hypothesized that the combination of reovirus therapy with systemic checkpoint inhibition would augment therapeutic efficacy. To test the hypothesis, we used C57Bl/6 mice, an immune-competent murine model, with established subcutaneous (s.c.) B16 melanomas. In this model, intra-tumoral injection of reovirus into s.c. tumors generated moderate therapy. Provision of systemic anti-PD-1 antibody along with i.t. reovirus, significantly enhanced survival compared to i.t. reovirus alone (p 40% of mice being cured long term. Immune analysis suggested that the enhanced therapeutic benefit of reovirus plus checkpoint inhibition is contributed by at least two factors. First, blockade of PD-1 significantly enhanced the ability of NK cells to recognize (TNF-α secretion), and kill, reovirus-infected target tumor cells. Second, anti PD-1 antibody led to a significant reduction in Treg activity in reovirus-treated mice, with the overall effect of increasing the adaptive CD8+ anti-tumor T cell response. Furthermore, in vivo depletion studies demonstrated that NK cells had a dramatic effect in reducing the therapeutic efficacy of reovirus plus anti-PD-1 therapy. Overall, the results indicate that combination therapy of reovirus with PD-1 blockade confers significant survival benefit, by augmenting tumor-specific NK responses and specifically attenuating tumor-specific immunosuppression. These data also suggest that combination of PD-1 inhibition therapy with reovirus oncolytic/immunotherapy represents a readily translatable method to enhance the therapeutic efficacy.

Citation Format: Karishma Rajani, Christopher Parrish, Kevin Shim, Liz Ilett, Fiona Errington-Mais, Jill Thompson, Tim Kottke, Rosa Maria-Diaz, Peter Selby, Hardev Pandha, Kevin Harrington, Alan Melcher, Matt Coffey, Shane Zaidi, Richard Vile. Combination therapy of reovirus and PD-1 blockade effectively establishes tumor control via innate and adaptive immune responses. [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 1360. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1360


Russia was the first Arctic coastal state to make an official submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2001. The purpose of Russia's submission was the delineation of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Arctic Ocean in accordance with UNCLOS Article 76. The area claimed by Russia is a large portion of the seabed extending even to the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Canada. However, Russia's actions regarding delineation in the Arctic Ocean have led to criticism from several Russian experts in the field of international law. This paper is a response to a series of articles by Ivan Zhudro and Alexander Vylegzhanin. It argues against their assertion that Russia and the other Arctic states could have established the outer limits of their continental shelf in the absence of CLCS recommendations through the delimitation procedure in accordance with UNCLOS Article 83. The article rejects the argument that during the delimitation the Arctic states could have used meridian lines (sectors) to exclude the existence of an international seabed area in the Central Arctic Ocean. The author challenges the position that the result of delineation under UNCLOS Article 76 would not be fair since the US has not ratified UNCLOS.


Summary Platelets adhere to vitronectin substrate following activation with physiological concentrations of thrombin. Adhesion of activated platelets to vitronectin substrate is dependent upon the presence of divalent cations, the amount of vitronectin, and the duration of adhesion assay. The adhesion of platelets is inhibited by synthetic peptides containing the sequence of Arg-Gly-Asp. In addition, monoclonal antibodies to glycoprotein IIb-IIIa complex inhibit the adhesion of activated platelets to vitronectin substrate in a dose-dependent manner. These studies suggest that the glycoprotein IIb-IIIa complex on activated platelets may interact with vitronectin substrate through the Arg-Gly-Asp mechanism. Since vitronectin is present in the subendothelial matrix, it might be involved in platelet-vessel wall interactions.


SY38-03 Apoptosis is a critical process regulating cell growth. Defects in apoptosis favor cellular hyperproliferation and are common in cancer. Through direct binding and inhibition to caspases, inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) represent one set of anti-apoptotic modulators exploited by cancer cells to down-regulate apoptosis; IAPs are therefore potential anti-cancer targets and small molecule IAP antagonists provides a molecular approach to potential therapeutical intervention. At Novartis we have discovered potent, novel small molecule IAP antagonists that posses desirable drug-like properties and showed in vivo anticancer efficacy in human cancer bearing mouse models. This presentation will discuss our progress toward the small molecule lead discovery using peptido-mimetics of SMAC, a natural peptide antagonist of IAPs. Focus will be given on the structure-based lead optimization for potency and of drug-like properties of these IAP antagonists. Finally, in vitro and in vivo data will be presented to provide proof of concept for IAPs as novel anticancer targets and to demonstrate the therpeutical potential of our novel IAP antagonists.


Granuloma annulare is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by erythematous or flesh-colored papular eruptions of annular configuration. In a HIV positive patient, granuloma annulare could be confused with other papular diseases because it could be presented as atypical appearances due to the defect of the immune system. Moreover, without specific treatment for granuloma annulare, the lesions could be improved by systemic anti-retroviral therapy. (Korean J Dermatol 2013;51(4):288∼290).


Conventional circuit design exploits device characteristics with a certain temperature/radiation range. Beyond this condition, the circuit may be damaged. For Evolvable Hardware (EHW), although one or more elements may be damaged, its function can be recovered by utilizing residual resource. In EHW, an additional DSP (digital signal processor) is usually used as a controller, which runs some algorithms for a long time to find a way to handle fault. This paper describes a new evolvable coarse grain re-configurable platform currently under development. This platform differs significantly from previous efforts, in that it has a coarse-grained, signal-flow architecture oriented towards implementing multi-media and stream-media. If some fault occurs, it can quickly find out which element is in error and automatically running recovery program to come back to its previous function.


The genus Gossypium, which comprises a divergent group of diploid species and several recently formed allotetraploids, offers an excellent opportunity to study polyploid genome evolution. In this study, chromosome structural variation among the A, At, and D genomes of Gossypium was evaluated by comparative genetic linkage mapping. We constructed a fully resolved RFLP linkage map for the diploid A genome consisting of 275 loci using an F2 interspecific Gossypium arboreum x Gossypium herbaceum family. The 13 chromosomes of the A genome are represented by 12 large linkage groups in our map, reflecting an expected interchromosomal translocation between G. arboreum and G. herbaceum. The A-genome chromosomes are largely collinear with the D genomes, save for a few small inversions. Although the 2 diploid mapping parents represent the closest living relatives of the allotetraploid At-genome progenitor, 2 translocations and 7 inversions were observed between the A and At genomes. The recombination rates are similar between the 2 diploid genomes; however, the At genome shows a 93% increase in recombination relative to its diploid progenitors. Elevated recombination in the Dt genome was reported previously. These data on the At genome thus indicate that elevated recombination was a general property of allotetraploidy in cotton.


Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of the paper is to reveal how a modern play influences child and predict the possibility of what the following generation will look like, because children's play is closely interconnected with future adult activity.

Design/methodology/approach
A literature review of the problem is presented along with the following empirical methods: the questionnaire survey of parents; visually narrative approach, the main sense of which is to combine the use of pictures, graphic representations, and so on with the comments of authors to them; interviews with children according to the cards with the images of the different types of games; and the method of involved observation and direct-vision method.

Findings
Dominant type of games, intergenerational relationships, relationships of children with other children, the role of imaginative play, computer games, and toys are the questions the answers on which the research helped to receive.

At the conclusion, it was also found out how familization, institutionalization, individuation, and commercialization are reflected in the play and games of children.

Research limitations/implications
The research was conducted in Russia and the cultural specificity of the country was taken into account.

Practical implications
The paper brings the issue of play to the forefront in an effort to involve parents, educators, and administrative workers.

Social implications
The results of the research can be interesting for the scientists and practical workers in different countries, since in the century of globalization it is possible to observe the spreading and interosculation of play and games culture.

Originality/value
All conclusions are based on the answers of the children who are 4–7 years old.


Since peaceful coexistence reflects in its various aspects the concept of harmony between the members of the same society with their different national, religious and sectarian affiliations, as well as their attitudes and ideas, what brings together these are the common bonds such as land, interests and common destiny. But this coexistence is exposing for crises and instability and the theft of rights and other that destroy the communities with their different religious, national, sectarian, ethnic aspects, especially if these led to a crisis of fighting or war, which produces only destruction and mass displacement, ttherefore, the process of bridging the gap between the different parts of society in the post-war phase through a set of requirements that serve as the basis for the promotion of peaceful coexistence within the same country to consolidate civil and community peace in order to create a general framework and a coherent basis to reconstruct the community again.
     Hence the premise of the research by asking about the extent of the possibility and ability of the community of religious and ethnic diversity, which has been exposed to these crises, which aimed at this diversity, basically to be able to rise and re-integrate within the same country and thus achieve civil and community peace, and Mosul is an example for that, the negative effects of the war and the accomplices of many criminal acts have given rise to hatred and fear for all, leading to the loss of livelihoods, which in the long term may have devastating social and psychological consequences.
       To clarify all of this, the title of the first topic was a review of the concept and origin of peaceful coexistence. While the second topic dealt with the requirements of peaceful coexistence and social integration in Mosul, the last topic has identified the most important challenges facing the processes of coexistence and integration in Mosul. All this in order to paint a better future for the conductor at all levels in the near term at the very least to achieve the values of this peaceful coexistence, especially in the post-war period.


Bacterial meningitis in infants and children is a serious clinical entity with signs and symptoms that commonly do not allow distinguishing the diagnosis and the causative agents. The only method to determine if meningitis is the cause of these symptoms is a lumbar puncture. Lumbar puncture is the gold standard for the diagnosis and should be done in all suspected cases of meningitis unless contraindicated. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify the importance of the microbiological study of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients suspected to have acute meningitis. Despite the availability of all other investigations and Imaging for diagnosis of meningitis but CSF analysis remains the most available, accurate, and cheaper for diagnosis of meningitis in children. Methodology and result: This is a prospective study. 71 patients were included. All patients were clinically suspected to have acute meningitis. A lumbar puncture for CSF analysis was done for all patients. The data was collected and analysed. CSF culture was done. The culture was negative In 58 patients (81.7%) and positive in 13 patients (18.3%). Streptococcus was found in 3 patients (4.2 %), staphylococcus epidermidis in 2 patients (2.8%), E Coli in 2 patients (2.8%), klebsiella in 2 patients (2.8%), pneumococci in 2 patient (2.8%), salmonella in 1 patient (1,4%) and Bacilli in 1 patient (1.4 %). Recommendation: Lumbar Puncture (LP) remains the easiest, cheapest and accurate investigation for diagnosis of meningitis in children mainly in rural areas in Sudan and other developing countries. It's mandatory to offer training for doctors and medical staff for doing lumber punctures safely and accurately and to offer well-equipped laboratories for such essential investigations. It's not only the role of doctors and medical staff but is a governmental obligation as well. This can save a lot of sick children and prevent mortality and morbidity of acute meningitis in children.


MOTIVATION
Prediction and prioritization of human non-coding regulatory variants is critical for understanding the regulatory mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and promoting personalized medicine. Existing tools utilize functional genomics data and evolutionary information to evaluate the pathogenicity or regulatory functions of non-coding variants. However, different algorithms lead to inconsistent and even conflicting predictions. Combining multiple methods may increase accuracy in regulatory variant prediction.

RESULTS
Here, we compiled an integrative resource for predictions from eight different tools on functional annotation of non-coding variants. We further developed a composite strategy to integrate multiple predictions and computed the composite likelihood of a given variant being regulatory variant. Benchmarked by multiple independent causal variants datasets, we demonstrated that our composite model significantly improves the prediction performance.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION
We implemented our model and scoring procedure as a tool, named PRVCS, which is freely available to academic and non-profit usage at http://jjwanglab.org/PRVCS CONTACT: email@example.com, email@example.com, or firstname.lastname@example.com

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


The ECB has left its policy interest rates unchanged despite inflationary pressures stemming from a strengthened recovery and from rising oil prices. Although the ECB's Governing Council did not discuss a renewal of the long-term refinancing operations, which will expire in 2020, its monetary policy stance is still too accommodative.


Microtubules are nano-machines that grow and shrink stochastically, making use of the coupling between chemical kinetics and mechanics of its constituent protofilaments (PFs). We investigate the stability and shrinkage of microtubules taking into account inter-protofilament interactions and bending interactions of intrinsically curved PFs. Computing the free energy as a function of PF tip position, we show that the competition between curvature energy, inter-PF interaction energy and entropy leads to a rich landscape with a series of minima that repeat over a length-scale determined by the intrinsic curvature. Computing Langevin dynamics of the tip through the landscape and accounting for depolymerization, we calculate the average unzippering and shrinkage velocities of GDP protofilaments and compare them with the experimentally known results. Our analysis predicts that the strength of the inter-PF interaction (Ems) has to be comparable to the strength of the curvature energy (Emb) such that Ems−Emb≈1kBT, and questions the prevalent notion that unzippering results from the domination of bending energy of curved GDP PFs. Our work demonstrates how the shape of the free energy landscape is crucial in explaining the mechanism of MT shrinkage where the unzippered PFs will fluctuate in a set of partially peeled off states and subunit dissociation will reduce the length.


Calcifying aponeurotic fibroma is a rare benign fibrous tumor predominantly seen in children and adolescents younger than 20 years. This tumor is often treated with complete surgical excision, although the recurrence rate is approximately 50%. The distal upper and distal lower extremities are most commonly involved, with only three cases published to date involving pedal digits. We discuss a case of calcifying aponeurotic fibroma in a 25-year-old woman localized to the medial aspect of the distal hallux. Clinical, radiographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings are described. After an incisional biopsy and histopathologic findings confirmed that the lesion was benign, a complete excision was performed, and diagnosis was established for calcifying aponeurotic fibroma. At 6 months, the patient had healed uneventfully, and no recurrence has been noted. Malignant transformation is rare but has been documented, warranting concern for clinicians and patients.


The physiological behavior of Helicobacter pylori in different growth conditions was investigated to approach its growth standardization. H. pylori free‐living and biofilm modes of growth were assessed in four different liquid culture media (Brucella broth, brain heart infusion broth and Ham's F‐12 supplemented with 2% fetal calf serum and Ham's F‐12 without serum). Free‐living growth was monitored during 72 h in each medium and characterized for bacterial density, culturability, viability and morphology. The biofilm formation in the same media was evaluated for biomass production, colony forming unit (CFU) counts and microscopic visualization. Afterward, using Ham's F‐12, the effect of amoxicillin and clarithromycin at sub‐ minimum inhibitory concentrations (sub‐MICs) was evaluated on H. pylori biofilm formation and luxS gene expression. Differences in the free‐living growth were observed between the media supplemented with serum and Ham's F‐12 without serum. Biofilm formation was significantly dependent on the growth media used. Ham's F‐12 seems to be a good medium to support both growth phenotypes of H. pylori. Moreover, sub‐MICs of antibiotics increased the biofilm formation and affected the luxS gene expression. Optimizing the growth conditions of H. pylori, especially in the biofilm mode, will be helpful to perform more accurate in‐depth studies that will allow increasing the knowledge about H. pylori biofilm, which should be a target to eradicate resistant infection.


This article sets out the most important conclusions of the first stage of a study into the dimensions of digital anonymity. It is intended to set out the problem, make people aware of the intricacies of the problem and thus stimulate the debate on useful legal structures for anonymity. The article focuses on Holland's private law dimensions, addressing situations where consumers want to purchase anonymously on the Internet.


This paper reports a detailed discussion on the aqueous chemical growth of ZnO nanowires (NWs) on 2-D and 3-D polyethersulfone. Substrate surface chemistry and substrate placement in the growth solution is found to affect the morphology of the grown nanostructures and indeed the growth direction of the NWs. We report for the first time a-axis ZnO NWs using a low temperature synthesis method. The electrochemical behaviour regarding water oxidation showed significant differences depending on the growth directions but this difference was eliminated after annealing, both in dark and under illumination.


The present study investigated the immunomodulatory activity of Ergosan, an algal extract containing alginic acid, and Macrogard, a yeast extract containing beta-glucans, on innate and specific immunity in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Four cycles of experimental feeding using normal fish feed formulation (control group) supplemented with Ergosan (0.5%) or Macrogard (0.1%) were performed at 60-day intervals (15 days of treatment+45 days of suspension). Serum complement, lysozyme, total proteins and heat shock protein (HSP) concentrations were measured at 15, 30 and 45 days from the end of the first 15-day feeding cycle (short term) and 45 days after the end of each feeding cycle over a 35-week period (long term). The percentage of B- and T-lymphocytes in peripheral blood leucocytes and gut were measured over long-term trial. Significant elevation (P < 0.05) in serum complement activity occurred in sea bass fed with alginic acid and glucans, at 15 days from the end of first cycle of treatment. Significant elevation (P < 0.05) in serum lysozyme, gill and liver HSP concentration were observed in the same experimental groups at 30 days from the end of treatment, whereas a significant increase (P < 0.05) of complement activity was only observed in fish that received an Ergosan diet. At 45 days from the end of treatment, complement, lysozyme and HSP concentration did not differ among groups. Over the long-term period, no significant differences were observed in innate and specific immune parameters, survival, growth performances and conversion index in treated and control fish. A dramatic decrease of both innate and acquired immune parameters was observed during the winter season in all groups, followed by a partial recovery when water temperature increased. Reduction in complement and lysozyme activities was significatively correlated (p < 0.01) to water temperature variation. The results suggested the potential of alginic acid and beta-glucans to activate some innate immune responses in sea bass, and particularly under conditions of immunodepression related to environmental stress.


The elderly are more susceptible to stress than younger people. In particular, heart palpitations are one of the causes of heart failure, which can lead to serious accidents. To prevent heart palpitations, we have devised the Safe Driving Intensity (SDI) and Cardiac Reaction Time (CRT) as new methods of estimating the correlations between effects on the driver's heart and the movement of a vehicle. In SDI measurement, recommended acceleration value of vehicle for safe driving is inferred from the suggested correlation algorithm using machine learning. A higher SDI value than other people means less pressure on the heart. CRT is an estimated value of the occurring time of heart palpitations caused by stressful driving. In particular, it is proved by SDI that elderly subjects tend to overestimate their driving abilities in personal assessment questionnaires. Furthermore, we validated our SDI using other general statistical methods. When comparing the results using a t-test, we obtained reliable results for the equivalent variance. Our results can be used as a basis for evaluating elderly people's driving ability, as well as allowing for the implementation of a personalized safe driving system for the elderly.


As a term, J.L. Moreno's concept of 'auxiliary' captures the idea of entering into a psychotherapeutic relationship for the purpose of consciously assisting another person to develop spontaneity in a specific context. This paper focuses on a number of important elements in this regard: the importance of being an adequate auxiliary able to enact roles in response to specific social atom constellations; the importance of doubling within a role constellation to bring about social atom repair; the importance of allowing dependency in long term therapeutic relationships so that effective auxiliary functioning is maintained over time to promote the development of progressive embryonic roles. The concept of auxiliary is particularly helpful if we keep ourselves involved with the role constellations present in a person's inner world and the needs of the client within a specific context.


An anthropological study of the remains has indicated uniformity of the ancient human Jety‐Asar population (Central Asia) and suggests a mixed Euro‐Mongoloid genesis. DNA was extracted from teeth from three Caucasoid skulls recovered from a burial site dated at approximately 2000 years ago. Ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was analysed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for the A, B, C and D haplogroups and the sequencing of hypervariable region I of the mtDNA control region. The full set of mtDNA control region variants determined for Jety‐Asar specimens was only found among a modern Mongolian population (Mongoloid people), indicating some discordance of molecular and morphological data.


In this paper, gear parameters are measured with the machine vision technology, firstly, gear edge is extracted from the gear image using image processing method, secondly, the gear center is set in gear edge image with random Hough transform, four basic gear geometry parameters are identified by their measurement algorithm. And compare with the measured values by the traditional measurement method, the results show that the accuracy of this method can meet the requirements of gear Parameter Measurement.


Abstract. Mapping trace gas emission plumes using in-situ measurements from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is an emerging and attractive possibility to quantify emissions from localized sources. Here, we present the results of an extensive tracer-release experiment in Dübendorf, Switzerland, which was conducted to develop an optimal quantification method and to determine the related uncertainties under various environmental and sampling conditions. Atmospheric methane mole fractions were simultaneously measured using a miniaturized fast-response Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectrometer (QCLAS) and an Active AirCore system mounted on a commercial drone. Emission fluxes were estimated using a mass-balance method by flying the drone-based system through a vertical cross-section downwind of the point-source perpendicular to the main wind direction at multiple altitudes. A refined kriging framework, called cluster-based kriging, was developed to spatially map individual methane measurement points into the whole measurement plane, while taking into account the different spatial scales between background and enhanced methane values in the plume. We found that the new kriging framework resulted in better quantification compared to ordinary kriging. The average bias of the estimated emissions was −1 % and the average residual of individual errors was 54 %. Direct comparison of QCLAS and AirCore measurements shows that AirCore measurements are smoothened by 20 s and temporally shifted and stretched by 7 s and 0.06 seconds for every second of QCLAS measurement, respectively. Applying these corrections to the AirCore measurements and successively calculating an emission estimate shows an enhancement of the accuracy by 3 % as compared to its uncorrected counterpart. Optimal plume sampling, including the downwind measurement distance, depends on wind- and turbulence conditions and it is furthermore limited by numerous parameters such as the maximum flight time, and the measurement accuracy. Under favorable measurement conditions, emissions could be quantified with an uncertainty of 30 %. Uncertainties increase when wind speeds are below 2.3 m s−1 and directional variability is above 33°, and when the downwind distance is above 75 m. In addition, the flux estimates were also compared to estimates from the well-established OTM-33A method involving stationary measurements. A good agreement was found, both approaches being close to the true-release and uncertainties of both methods usually capturing the true-release.


This paper presents some further results on adaptive sliding mode control (ASMC) for a class of nonlinear systems with bounded uncertain parameters. Given a large initial tracking error, current ASMC design generally produces an unnecessarily large switching gain, consequently leading to a serious chattering problem or a large‐amplitude control jump for the continuous counterpart. To solve such an overadaptation problem, the switching gain adaptation mechanism is first analyzed in this paper, and the adaptation induced by the initial tracking error is suggested to be removed. Then, by exploiting the global sliding mode feature of time‐varying sliding mode control and integral sliding mode control, we present two effective methodologies for ASMC design. The proposed ASMC algorithms ensure that there is no overestimation of the switching gain and the system response is not slowed down when a small switching gain is generated. The validity of the proposed methods is verified by both theoretical analysis and simulation results. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The present study examines attitudes towards honor crimes amongst a sample of 856 ninth grade students (mean age = 14.6, SD = 0.56) from 14 schools in Amman, Jordan. Descriptive findings suggest that about 40% of boys and 20% of girls believe that killing a daughter, sister, or wife who has dishonored the family can be justified. A number of theoretically meaningful predictors were examined: Findings suggest that attitudes in support of honor killings are more likely amongst adolescents who have collectivist and patriarchal world views, believe in the importance of female chastity amongst adolescents, and morally neutralize aggressive behavior in general. Findings for parental harsh discipline are mixed: While the father's harsh discipline is predictive of honor killing attitudes, the mother's behavior is not. Furthermore, support for honor killing is stronger amongst male adolescents and adolescents for low education backgrounds. After controlling for other factors religion and the intensity of religious beliefs are not associated with support for honor killings. Models were tested separately for male and female respondents and suggested no systematic differences in predictors. Limitations and implications are discussed.


When a textured 3-dimensional surface is projected in perspective, the statistics of the texture in the image change with the shape of the surface. Most shape-from-texture models assume that these changes are due solely to the projection of non-fronto-parallel portions of the surface. This is true for developable surfaces, which are formed by bending or curving flat, textured sheets without tearing or stretching. However, for other surfaces such as those carved from solids or formed by stretched materials, the texture on the surface is generally not homogenous. If the perspective image is parsed into local Fourier spectra, we find that signature patterns of orientation flows occur at locations corresponding to specific 3-D shapes. These patterns occur generically for developable, carved and stretched surfaces and when they are visible, observers make veridical shape judgments. In contrast, frequency modulations vary systematically for different types of surfaces, and often lead to non-veridical percepts when they are caused by changes in slant (e.g. isotropically textured developable surfaces). Our results suggest that in the extraction of 3-D shape, the visual system can generically employ a limited number of neural mechanisms to extract the signature orientation flows from the image regardless of homogeneity.


Twenty-first-century feminists need to become a force for literate, civil democracies. They must oppose dictatorships and totalitarian movements that crush the liberty and rights of people, especially women and girls. They would be wise to abandon multicultural relativism and instead uphold a universal standard of human rights. They should demand that all girls have the opportunity to reach their full potential instead of living and dying in the gulags of the sex trade. Twenty-first-century feminists need to reassess the global threats to women and men, rethink their vision, rekindle their passion and work in solidarity with pro-democracy forces around the world to liberate humanity from all forms of tyranny and slavery. Today women who want to differentiate themselves from doormats face some of the same problems. More than 40 years after women's liberation became part of radical politics it seems incredible that there is still so much confusion and division about what feminism is. There have been very great changes in women's lives in the past few decades. They include much more openness about sexuality, millions of mothers going out to work, women breaking into new industries and professions, and acceptance that women will work outside the home, have children outside marriage, and have the right to control their own sexuality. But work and personal life have been distorted by the constraints of capitalism and have fallen far short of liberation. So there is still as much to fight for.


Our usage of language is not solely reliant on cognition but is arguably determined by myriad external factors leading to a global variability of linguistic patterns. This issue, which lies at the core of sociolinguistics and is backed by many small-scale studies on face-to-face communication, is addressed here by constructing a dataset combining the largest French Twitter corpus to date with detailed socioeconomic maps obtained from national census in France. We show how key linguistic variables measured in individual Twitter streams depend on factors like socioeconomic status, location, time, and the social network of individuals. We found that (i) people of higher socioeconomic status, active to a greater degree during the daytime, use a more standard language; (ii) the southern part of the country is more prone to use more standard language than the northern one, while locally the used variety or dialect is determined by the spatial distribution of socioeconomic status; and (iii) individuals connected in the social network are closer linguistically than disconnected ones, even after the effects of status homophily have been removed. Our results inform sociolinguistic theory and may inspire novel learning methods for the inference of socioeconomic status of people from the way they tweet.


Chagas Disease is a parasitic disease caused by the Protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, characterized by a variable spectrum. Amongst infected individuals, about 30-40% will have heart involvement throughout life, and in those who develop ventricular dysfunction, the disease usually has a progressive course with evolution to advanced heart failure. In these cases, heart transplant is a good treatment option. Despite the proven benefits, transplant is associated with several complications – such as infectious, autoimmune and neoplastic. In this study, we present a case of a 57-year old male patient, with Chagas cardiomyopathy who underwent heart transplantation due to end stage heart failure. After transplant, he was readmitted with the hypothesis of acute graft rejection. The endomyocardial biopsy showed reactivation of Chagas Disease. Anti-parasitic treatment was started and the patient had a good clinical evolution.


Background: Management of primary bladder neck obstruction (PBNO) in women is difficult. Surgical treatment in the form of bladder neck incision (BNI) is indicated in many cases. There is no defined consensus on the best surgical technique of BNI in women. We present a novel technique of BNI in such cases using pediatric cystoscope and holmium laser, which is a promising alternative to the existing management techniques. Case Presentation: A 28-year-old lady complained of obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms. Serum biochemistry revealed azotemia. Further investigation utilizing a micturating cystourethrogram showed a closed bladder neck, and urodynamic studies revealed a high bladder outlet obstruction index suggestive of PBNO. BNI was effectively performed using pediatric cystoscope and holmium laser at 3, 9, and 12 o'clock positions. Postoperatively the patient had improving renal function and clinical improvement. Conclusion: Use of pediatric cystoscope with holmium laser for BNI in females is a novel technique that offers the advantage of higher maneuverability in the female urethra, precise incision with protection of external sphincter from thermal damage, and avoidance of the complication of vesicovaginal fistula caused by posterior incisions.


To reveal information hiding in link space of bibliographical networks, link analysis has been studied from different perspectives in recent years. In this paper, we address a novel problem namely citation prediction, that is: given information about authors, topics, target publication venues as well as time of certain research paper, finding and predicting the citation relationship between a query paper and a set of previous papers. Considering the gigantic size of relevant papers, the loosely connected citation network structure as well as the highly skewed citation relation distribution, citation prediction is more challenging than other link prediction problems which have been studied before. By building a meta-path based prediction model on a topic discriminative search space, we here propose a two-phase citation probability learning approach, in order to predict citation relationship effectively and efficiently. Experiments are performed on real-world dataset with comprehensive measurements, which demonstrate that our framework has substantial advantages over commonly used link prediction approaches in predicting citation relations in bibliographical networks.


Abstract. The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), including an ice shelf component, has been applied on a circum-Antarctic domain to derive estimates of ice shelf basal melting. Significant improvements made compared to previous models of this scale are the inclusion of tides and a horizontal spatial resolution of 2 km, which is sufficient to resolve onshelf heat transport by bathymetric troughs and eddy scale circulation. We run the model with ocean-atmosphere-sea ice conditions from the year 2007, to represent nominal present day climate. We force the ocean surface with buoyancy fluxes derived from sea ice concentration observations and wind stress from ERA-Interim atmospheric reanalysis. At the northern boundaries ocean conditions are derived from the ECCO2 reanalysis and tides are incorporated as sea surface height and barotropic currents. The accuracy of tidal height signals close to the coast is comparable to those simulated from widely-used barotropic tide models, while off-shelf hydrography agrees well with the Southern Ocean State Estimate (SOSE) model. On the shelf, most details of ice shelf-ocean interaction are consistent with results from regional modelling and observational studies, although a paucity of observational data (particularly taken during 2007) prohibits a full verification. We conclude that our improved model is well suited to derive a new estimate of present day Antarctic ice shelf melting at high resolution and is able to quantify its sensitivity to tides.


In Nigeria, there has been in recent times, a growing need to effectively manage the pollution stemming from biomedical waste disposal by hospital incinerators. This is not unconnected with the enormous quantities of the biomedical wastes being churned out haphazardly to the environment coupled with the increasing awareness of the Nigerian populace to health-care delivery. The case-study is the incinerator being currently used in Nigeria's oldest Teaching Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) located at Ibadan, Oyo State. The UCH's incinerator handles close to 300kg of biomedical wastes daily. Plastics mainly Polyvinylchloride (PVC) products and absorbants which are major sources of air pollution constitute about 70% of the wastes being generated in this hospital. The incinerator, a locally made earth brick furnace type with a kaolin brick refractory is at present grossly unable to handle the vast quantities of biomedical wastes being generated in the hospital. Furthermore, investigations show that overcharging with wastes coupled with incomplete combustion of the waste constituents in the incinerator are the two major problems of the UCH's incinerator. Data collected between 1998 and 1999 indicate that the newly installed incinerator at UCH cannot on her own, handle the wastes being generated in the entire hospital complex. Hence the need to still improve the old, locally made incinerator which has a greater relative capacity. Some recommendations were thus preferred to make the incinerator more functional and less polluting.


ABSTRACT Studies of mixed-species groups of animals can reveal emergent complexities of collective behaviors. In this study we collected data on mixed-species hunting groups composed primarily of piscivorous fishes (species composition, abundance, behavioral interactions) and used both multivariate and network analyses to quantify pair-wise and guild level behavioral relationships. Our results indicate that such collective behaviors exhibit consistent patterns of associations (33 species with 282 pair-wise links within the observed network) with 10 dominant species accounting for 60% of pair-wise interactions. Species richness within groups varied (mean = 2.4, range 2-6 species) as did group size (mean = 8.1 individuals, range 2-80). Mixed-species groups, in general, were composed of species representing morphologically diverse forms that appeared to enhance access to shelter sites and implement diverse strategies for prey capture. It is noteworthy that the composition of groups did not reflect the relative abundances of their component species within the overall community of fishes, suggesting that group membership was an elective choice. The identification of these patterns, assuming they are persistent features of these communities, can be used as a foundation for studies to assess dynamics of mixed-species relationships, rates of predator success based on group membership, demographic consequences, and responses to variations in habitat attributes and associated prey resources. Such information could be used to interpret the nature of multispecies interactions within predator communities and potentially aid in conservation and management.


Abstract Pressure Injectors are used routinely in diagnostic and interventional radiology. Advances in medical science and technology have made it is imperative for both diagnostic as well as interventional radiologists to have a thorough understanding of the various aspects of pressure injectors. Further, as many radiologists may not be fully conversant with injections into ports, central lines and PICCs, it is important to familiarize oneself with the same. It is also important to follow stringent operating protocols during the use of pressure injectors to prevent complications such as contrast extravastion, sepsis and air embolism. This article aims to update existing knowledge base in this respect.


BACKGROUND
Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) is a well-established treatment choice for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). While there are several methods for PD catheter insertion, they each have limitations. In this study, we present a new hybrid method for PD catheter insertion and compare it to the conventional laparoscopic method.

METHODS
This retrospective study included 171 patients who were undergoing their first PD catheter insertion, and a total of 20% of the enrolled patients had a past medical history of abdominal surgery. Out of these, 101 patients underwent the laparoscopic method and 70 underwent a new invented hybrid method. The study aimed to compare the surgical outcomes, incidence of early and late complications, hospital stay, and medical expenses between the two groups.

RESULTS
There were no notable differences in basic demographic features and comorbid conditions between the two groups. The results of our data revealed that the hybrid group had a significantly shorter break-in period and did not require temporary hemodialysis. Additionally, length of hospital stay and medical costs were significantly lower in the hybrid group. (all p<0.05) The incidence of early complications was lower in the hybrid group, while the incidence of late complications was comparable between the two groups.

CONCLUSION
Our study demonstrates that the hybrid method of PD catheter insertion provides a safe and efficient alternative to the traditional laparoscopic method, enabling urgent-start PD and reducing hospital stays and medical expenses. Our findings support the use of the hybrid method as a new standard of care for ESKD patients undergoing PD catheter insertion.