Health care has not escaped the economic rationalization experienced throughout the western world during the 1990s. In Australia, the introduction of Casemix and its accompanying budget cuts has required major restructuring in hospitals. Change can be stressful yet a consultative style, beliefs that change in challenging, and good support were proposed as mediators of the negative effects of change for nurses. This article presents data from 201 nurses working in three Australian hospitals. The results indicate that, despite restructuring changes during the previous 12 months and their high impact upon hospital and nurse conditions, nurses maintained a strong sense of professional efficacy. However, these changes and their impact also predicted nurse burnout. Nurses felt unable to challenge the actual restructuring changes (closed units/beds) however and saw working against the impact of these changes (reduced time, resources) as a challenge. Management's communications about the changes was proposed as a mediator against burnout but this hypothesis was not supported. Nurses considered management to have adopted a top-down approach and this non-consultative style of communication also predicted nurse burnout. The restructuring changes, their impact, and poor communication style, and burnout also predicted nurses' intentions to quit; however, a sense of professionalism mediated this intent. The implications of the findings are discussed.


We perform a detailed theoretical study of the edge fracture instability, which commonly destabilises the fluid-air interface during strong shear flows of entangled polymeric fluids, leading to unreliable rheological measurements. By means of direct nonlinear simulations, we map out phase diagrams showing the degree of edge fracture in the plane of the surface tension of the fluid-air interface and the imposed shear rate, within the Giesekus and Johnson-Segalman models, for different values of the nonlinear constitutive parameters that determine the dependencies on shear rate of the shear and normal stresses. The threshold for the onset of edge fracture is shown to be relatively robust against variations in the wetting angle where the fluid-air interface meets the hard walls of the flow cell, whereas the nonlinear dynamics depend strongly on wetting angle. We perform a linear stability calculation to derive an exact analytical expression for the onset of edge fracture, expressed in terms of the shear-rate derivative of the second normal stress difference, the shear-rate derivative of the shear stress (sometimes called the tangent viscosity), the jump in shear stress across the interface between the fluid and the outside air, the surface tension of that interface, and the rheometer gap size. Full agreement between our analytical calculation and nonlinear simulations is demonstrated. We also elucidate in detail the mechanism of edge fracture, and finally suggest a new way in which it might be mitigated in experimental practice. Some of the results in this paper were first announced in an earlier letter. The present manuscript provides additional simulation results, calculational details of the linear stability analysis, and more detailed discussion of the significance and limitations of our findings.


We studied the effect, in a university teaching hospital, of the prospective payment system (PPS) on utilization of physical therapy (PT), a non-reimbursable service; subjects were hospitalized patients aged 75 or older with non-PT-related diagnoses (myocardial infarction, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and colectomy) and PT-related diagnoses (cerebrovascular accident and hip fracture). The proportion of patients referred for PT increased from 68 percent pre-PPS to 85 percent post-PPS for those with PT-related diagnoses and from 13 percent pre-PPS to 19 percent post-PPS for those with non-PT-related diagnoses. The mean number of sessions of PT decreased slightly for both groups: from 8.5 to 7.6 sessions for those with PT-related diagnoses and from 5.2 to 4.5 for those with non-PT-related diagnoses. In patients with PT-related diagnoses whose ambulatory status worsened during hospitalization, referrals for PT increased from 76 percent pre-PPS to 98 percent post-PPS. Referrals of comparable patients with non-PT-related diagnoses did not increase. Changes in provider education and efforts to reduce length of stay may account for these findings.


Abstract : This report provides a comprehensive description of three separate efforts pursued by the agents technology research group. The efforts were focused on: state abstraction methods for reinforcement learning, the multi-agent credit assignment problem, and distributed multi-agent reputation management. State abstraction is a technique used to allow machine learning technologies to cope with problems that have large state spaces. This report details the development and analysis of a new algorithm, Reinforcement Learning using State Abstraction via NeuroEvolution (RL-SANE), that utilizes a new technology called neuroevolution to automate the process of state abstraction. The multi-agent credit assignment problem is a situation that arises when multiple learning actors within a domain are only provided with a single global reward signal. Learning is difficult in these scenarios because it is difficult for each agent to determine the value of its contribution to obtaining the global reward. In this report we describe the problem in detail and one specific approach we investigated that uses a Kalman filter to derive local rewards from global rewards. Multi-agent reputation management is important in open domains where the goals or the interests of the agents are diverse and potentially in conflict with one another. Reputation and trust can be used by the agents to determine which other agents in the system it should cooperate with and which it should not. This report details the development of the Affinity Management System (AMS), an approach for managing and learning trust in a distributed fashion that utilizes self-modeling.


Since the demonstration of the possibility of achieving very low noise amplification of signals in the centimetric wavebands, a great deal of work has been carried out in various laboratories with a view to producing and testing devices. The major part of the present article focuses attention on one particular device, the three-level solid-state maser. The physical principles underlying the process of stimulated emission of radiation are in many cases unfamiliar to electronic engineers, and study of the growing literature on the subject can be confusing without a clear understanding of the physics involved. The present article outlines the general theory of emission and radiation processes, particularly as they apply to the microwave spectrum. A quantum mechanical description is employed throughout, and a brief and not very rigorous account is given of the relevant portions of this theory as it applies to the investigation of transistors between energy levels. Well-known expressions are derived for the operating characteristics of a three-level maser, particular attention being given to the significance of the various factors involved and their relationship to easily measured quantities. Little information is included concerning practical maser amplifiers; at the time of writing, few practical devices had been constructed. A survey of recent literature indicates the rapid progress which has since been made, and shows the interest in the development of masers.


The late John Muafangejo's work is permeated by his commitment to the traditions and history of Southern Africa. His works have a political or social-activist dimension. However, the thirteen prints recently on view at Bill Karg's Contemporary African Art gallery are examples of his vision configured to the more genre aspects of life in South Africa. Although Muafangejo had shown in the 1972 Sao Paulo Biennial, at the Staatlaiche Kunsthalle in Berlin and other venues in Europe, the current New York exhibition is probably the largest group of linocuts to be exhibited in the United States by this master printmaker. The artist was born in the Kwanyama village of Etunda 10 Nghadi, Southern Angola in 1943. But when his father died in 1955, he left Angola to join members of his family living in South West Africa. From then on, he taught and lived just outside the Namibian capital city of Windhoek until his death in 1987. What makes Mufangejo's work so intriguing is his steadfast religious conviction which, when combined with his keen awareness of current social and political realities, could illuminate and focus observations about contemporary South African society. Although he denied that his work was political, saying, "It is the world which is political;' Muafangejo's intimate engagement with that world has made the very existence of his art a political, yet intensely moral act. He had a habit of inscribing text into his work. This operated as an added element that underscored the deeply spiritual and personal intensity of his engagement with his material as well as his audiences. One of the outstanding pleasures in viewing the linocuts has to do with its form. The artist restricted himself to black and white exclusively, "because it doesn't tire the eyes." But the optical e~ect delivered via a lateral orgaruzation of surfaces comprised of sharply incised black and white patterns; and the rhythmic p.araile! lines incisively masslllg areas of light and dark, often become a scintillating visual experience. In Thinking Man (1988), a complex integrated pattern of leaves and white line which delineates the figure seem a kind of irradiation denoting the metaphysical nature of thought. Many of the images in the show carefully document traditional genre scenes and activities which may slowly vanish into the past such as He Is Making The Sour Milk (1975), A Woman is Cooking Food (1975) , or They are Meeting at Home Again (1982) . The latter is a picture of a black and white couple, perhaps meeting surreptitiously in the dangerous days of apartheid. In Old Fashions (1984), the artist simply observes a collision between modernity and tradition, but chooses not make an obvious commentary. And in one of the few pictures without human beings as their subject, the charmingly symmetrical Kudu Friends (1979) presents two of the deer-like animals with heads close together in intimate association. John Muafangejo's linocuts are clearly that of an artist who has mastered both the technical and conceptual aspects of the printmaker's art. Intricate in its graphical approach and focused in what it wants to communicate, this accomplished body of work certainly needs to be much better known.


Background: Loss of consciousness is fairly common in Parkinson's disease (PD), which occurs as syncope associated with postural hypotension based on autonomic dysfunction, or as sleep disorder which consists of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and sleep attacks. In my experience, prolonged loss of consciousness lasting for several hours that is neither EDS nor ordinary sleep attacks can occur in PD patients and indeed seems to be a symptom unique to PD.Case presentation: Eight patients with PD are reported who showed episodes of loss of consciousness lasting for 4-24 h that appeared to be deep sleep or a coma, and could not be roused even by strong painful stimuli. After four hours or more, they spontaneously resumed consciousness without sequelae.Discussion and conclusions: According to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders - Third edition (ICSD-3), "hypersomnia due to a medical disorder," a synonym of EDS, and "narcolepsy, type 2", a synonym of sleep attacks are the representatives of sleep disorder in PD. However, the diagnostic criteria of these two disorders in ICSD-3 differ from the prolonged loss of consciousness in my cases. As it has brought great concern to family members, medical staff, and emergent hospital personnel, we must pay more attention to this type of loss of consciousness.


Purpose
The shift in policy discourse towards individualism is affecting service provision and access, which has become increasingly conditioned on individual agency and the "deservingness" of the recipient. Gendered and intersectional experiences of homelessness and excluded populations less likely to be living on the streets remain overlooked and unaddressed. This study thus aims to uncover what drives "invisibility" in services for women experiencing multiple disadvantage and the gendered constraints the women are facing when exiting and navigating multiple disadvantage.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on in-depth interviews with women who face severe and multiple disadvantage and their support staff. Data is also gathered through survey data and observations with a wide range of frontline service providers, as well as support notes and numerical progress data recorded by one of the service providers.

Findings
Contradicting the common assumption that people act as rational actors in their interaction with services, the author found that women's decisions to (dis)engage may be blinded by forces of multiple disadvantage and mistrust. These are often developed as a result of systemic and gendered constraints that limit women's capabilities and exercise of choice. Barriers in service access often amplified the personal barriers they were facing and reinforced women's decisions to not engage with services.

Research limitations/implications
The author hopes that this paper sheds light on the particular set of barriers women with multiple disadvantage face, which will be vital to reach women who face severe disadvantage and provide more effective policies, care and support.

Originality/value
This study gives voice to a particular hidden population: women with multiple disadvantage. It contributes to existing frameworks on agency and choice by understanding gendered barriers behind service engagement and how services themselves may be contributing to women's invisibility.


A mobile Ad-Hoc network (MANET) is a collection of autonomous arbitrarily located wireless mobile hosts, in which an infrastructure is absent. In this paper we propose a fuzzy-based hierarchical energy efficient routing scheme (FEER) for large scale mobile ad-hoc networks that aims to maximize the network's lifetime. Each node in the network is characterized by its residual energy, traffic, and mobility. We develop a fuzzy logic controller that combines these parameters, keeping in mind the synergy between them. The value obtained, indicates the importance of a node and it is used in network formation and maintenance. We compare our approach to another energy efficient hierarchical protocol based on the dominating set (DS) idea. Our simulation shows that our design out performs the DS approach in prolonging the network lifetime.


BACKGROUND
Around 120 million women worldwide suffer from Trichomonas vaginalis vaginitis every year. The infection is sexually transmitted and is believed to facilitate HIV transmission.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of various treatment strategies for trichomoniasis in women.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, and EMBASE. Trials were also identified from reference lists of reviews, through pharmaceutical companies, and by informal discovery. Only published data were used in this review. Date of the most recent search: November, 2002.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised or quasi-randomised trials of different treatment strategies in women with trichomoniasis. Different antitrichomonal drugs or doses were eligible, as were comparisons of treatment with no treatment or placebo.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Trial quality was assessed and data extracted by two reviewers independently using standard criteria.

MAIN RESULTS
Fifty-four trials were included. Nitroimidazole drugs seem to be effective in achieving parasitological cure in short term follow up. Partner treatment can be effective in decreasing longer term reinfection rates.

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
Parasitological cure can be achieved by single oral dose of nitroimidazole. Further research should focus on developing effective partner treatment strategies to prevent reinfections and reduce trichomoniasis prevalence.


The aim of this study was to examine the usability of different assistive technology (AT) products for cognitive support by identifying features that promoted and/or impeded cognitively impaired users' performance of tasks that were identified as hindering engagement in valued activities. An additional aim was to examine how the users could reach their goals and expected gains as a result of the support of the AT, that is, the usefulness of the AT. During two six month interventions, persons who had experienced a stroke or had Alzheimer's disease tried out AT for cognitive support that intended to meet their needs and desires. Data from interviews and field notes collected during the intervention periods were analysed. One hundred identified factors judged as promoting or impeding the performance of the tasks and/or the user goals, were categorised. The findings are shown in seven preliminary themes that focus on the interaction between the user and the AT and, further, on how the AT is customised to the user's needs and incorporated into the user's own everyday context.


Van der Waals (vdW) materials at their 2D limit are diverse, flexible, and unique laboratories to study fundamental quantum phenomena and their future applications. Their novel properties rely on their pronounced Coulomb interactions, variety of crystal symmetries and spin‐physics, and the ease of incorporation of different vdW materials to form sophisticated heterostructures. In particular, the excited state properties of many 2D semiconductors and semi‐metals are relevant for their technological applications, particularly those that can be induced by light. In this paper, the recent advances made in studying out‐of‐equilibrium, light‐induced, phenomena in these materials are reviewed using powerful, surface‐sensitive, time‐resolved photoemission‐based techniques, with a particular emphasis on the emerging multi‐dimensional photoemission spectroscopy technique of time‐resolved momentum microscopy. The advances this technique has enabled in studying the nature and dynamics of occupied excited states in these materials are discussed. Then, the future research directions opened by these scientific and instrumental advancements are projected for studying the physics of 2D materials and the opportunities to engineer their band‐structure and band‐topology by laser fields.


OBJECTIVE
Craniovertebral settling is a serious complication of rheumatoid arthritis, and a number of radiographic measures at the craniocervical junction are in use to enable its diagnosis. However, these measures are hampered by the overlap of relevant bony landmarks. We aim to establish accurate values for these measures on CT to facilitate early diagnosis of this condition on cross-sectional imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
One hundred men and 100 women who underwent CT that included imaging of the craniocervical junction were retrospectively identified. Patients between the ages of 18 and 49 years were included. Two radiologists reformatted the images in the midsagittal plane and performed a series of measurements as follows: the Wackenheim line, McRae line, Chamberlain line, and McGregor line and measurements obtained using the Redlund-Johnell method and our modification of the method proposed by Ranawat et al.

RESULTS
There were significant differences between the CT values and accepted radiographic measurements for the Wackenheim, Chamberlain, and McGregor lines. The McRae line was the easiest to measure, and the odontoid tip did not cross this line in any patient (distance from line: range, 0.6-10.4 mm). The CT measurements obtained using the Redlund-Johnell method were similar to the radiographic values, and we provide normal CT values for the modified Ranawat method (men > 23.7 mm, women > 24.2 mm).

CONCLUSION
We propose that the McRae line should be used over other methods when assessing for craniovertebral settling on cross-sectional studies because it is the easiest measure to understand and remember. If the odontoid tip is eroded, the Redlund-Johnell and modified Ranawat methods are alternatives, and we have provided normal CT values for those measures as well.


This article describes consolidated Direct Cut tests not drained in the laboratory, carried out on samples of volcanic sand from Arequipa, Peru. The samples were tested for maximum dry density and optimal moisture content; Furthermore, they were reinforced with polypropylene fibers and cement. The samples were reinforced with 0.5% cement with respect to the dry weight of the sample soil and tested at 3 days. The added polypropylene fiber has dimensions of 48 mm wide with 1.2855 mm long and 0.3325 mm thick, and they were used in different percentages regarding the dry weight of the soil sample (0.25% -0.75% -1.00% -1.25%). The results of the tests indicated that the addition of polypropylene fibers together with the cement increases the resistance to cut proportionally to the amount of fiber up to 1% of fiber, this being the best result obtained, decreasing the resistance as the percentage of polypropylene fiber.


Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a neurological disorder caused by the prolonged administration of dopamine antagonists, usually antipsychotics and especially first‐generation antipsychotics. Herein, we report on an elderly patient suffering from TD with depression induced by amoxapine, an antidepressant that antagonizes dopamine receptors. This case report demonstrates the therapeutic effect of donepezil even for TD due to amoxapine, corroborating the view that donepezil is beneficial for the treatment of TD induced by dopamine antagonists. A randomized placebo‐controlled double‐blind trial is required to confirm the usefulness of donepezil in the treatment of dopamine antagonist‐induced TD.


This paper reviews the various geometric and hydrodynamic representations of flow in granular beds and proposes a model for prediction of the parameters that are pertinent in flocculation process in a filter bed – the velocity gradient G, residence time tr and the product Gtr. The proposed model is applied to direct filtration data and compared to actual measurements taken from the filter beds. The results indicate that values of the flocculation parametric numbers obtainable in the filter beds are quite similar to those used in conventional flocculation practice. This finding clearly discounts the commonly held view that the setbacks experienced in the use of direct filters (e.g. poor effluent quality, turbidity breakthrough, etc) are due to insufficient flocculation in the filter bed. Such setbacks are probably due to the limited pore volume in the filter bed that would necessitate the settlement of flocculated water to reduce the sediment load applied to the filter.
(Journal of Civil Engineering, JKUAT: 2002 7: 117-132)


Inflammatory mucosal changes of upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract including stomach and duodenum are well documented in uremic patients and assumed to be the major source of upper GI bleeding. However, acute esophageal ulcer which causes massive bleeding on hemodialysis is rare. Herewith a case is reported. A 28-year-old male uremic patient had a sudden onset of hematemesis on hemodialysis. Urgent endoscopy revealed an acute mucosal lesion with bleeding at the upper and middle third esophagus. It was demonstrated by esophageal biopsy. The patient had taken some pepper one day before and was choked during hemodialysis. This special condition is suggested to induce the acute esophageal ulcer and bleeding.


Dempster-Shafer theory offers an alternative to traditional probabilistic theory for the mathematical representation of uncertainty. The significant innovation of this framework is that it allows for the allocation of a probability mass to sets or intervals. Dempster-Shafer theory does not require an assumption regarding the probability of the individual constituents of the set or interval. This is a potentially valuable tool for the evaluation of risk and reliability in engineering applications when it is not possible to obtain a precise measurement from experiments, or when knowledge is obtained from expert elicitation. An important aspect of this theory is the combination of evidence obtained from multiple sources and the modeling of conflict between them. This report surveys a number of possible combination rules for Dempster-Shafer structures and provides examples of the implementation of these rules for discrete and interval-valued data.


Four-dimensional N = 2 gauged STU supergravity is a consistent truncation of the standard N = 8 gauged SO(8) supergravity in which just the four U(1) gauge fields in the Cartan subgroup of SO(8) are retained. One of these is the graviphoton in the N = 2 supergravity multiplet and the other three lie in three vector multiplets. In this paper we carry out the analogous consistent truncation of the newly-discovered family of ω-deformed N = 8 gauged SO(8) supergravities, thereby obtaining a family of ω-deformed STU gauged supergravities. Unlike in some other truncations of the deformed N = 8 supergravity that have been considered, here the scalar potential of the deformed STU theory is independent of the ω parameter. However, it enters in the scalar couplings in the gauge-field kinetic terms, and it is non-trivial because of the minimal couplings of the fermion fields to the gauge potentials. We discuss the supersymmetry transformation rules in the ω-deformed supergravities, and present some examples of black hole solutions.


Business process is the foundation of the work organization of every business. It is a set of different activities or tasks that are carried out in a certain order and use certain resources of an organization with the aim of fulfilling the mission or the purpose of its existence. As each business process is defined by parameters such as output quality, speed, cost, added value and the like, it is logical that they are the cornerstone of achieving competitive advantage. It is therefore important to monitor and analyze them in order to remove any drawbacks in their performance before endangering the survival of a company. Business process is a structured, analytical, inter-functional set of activities that require continuous improvement. It represents a repetitive flow of activities with a clearly defined beginning and end, and in more or less constant intervals, creates value for the buyers.


In this article we propose an infrastructure that allows mobile users to securely share and search for their real-time video data. Specifically, the proposed infrastructure takes the advantages of the cloud platform and 5G technology to achieve its goals, where mobile users (connected with some external video taking device) can share their real-time video with their friends or families through the cloud while any other user with no permission cannot get any information about the video. More importantly, the infrastructure security is guaranteed even if the cloud server is hacked. In addition, our infrastructure also allows secure searching within the user's own video data. We believe our solution is practical to be deployed in the existing telecommunication platforms.


Within framework of zero curvature representation theory, a family of integrahle rational semi-discrete systems is derived from a matrix spectral problem. The Hamiltonian forms of obtained semi-discrete systems are constructed by means of the discrete trace identity. The Liouville integrability for the obtained family is demonstrated. In the end, a reduced family of obtained semi-discrete systems and its Hamiltonian form are worked out.


"This publication presents data on the immigration to Israel in the first half of 1991. In the period under review the number of immigrants to Israel amounted to 110,600...compared to 57,600 immigrants in the first half of 1990 and about 141,900 immigrants in the second half of 1990." About 80 percent of immigrants were from the former Soviet Union, and 17 percent from Ethiopia.


An in-depth quantitative analysis is undertaken in this paper to assist the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, member countries, and development partners in setting future regional investment priorities for agricultural research and development in the SADC region. A primary goal of this work was to identify a range of agricultural research priorities for achieving sector productivity and overall economic growth in southern Africa, at both the country and regional levels. This is accomplished by adopting an integrated modeling framework that combines a disaggregated spatial analytical model with an economywide multimarket model developed specifically for the region.


The use of goat milk is limited in Indonesia due to lack of good milking practices resulted in disliked goaty smell. One of the method to eliminate this off flavor is by processing the goat milk into soft cheese. The aim of this research was to study the stability of viable starter lactic acid bacteria cultures  ( Lactobacillus acidophilus FNCC-0051 and L. casei FNCC-0090) during storage of goat milk soft cheese.  Three batches of goat milk soft cheeses were produced with different starter cultures L. acidophilus FNCC-0051 (5.0 x 10 6 cfu mL -1 ); L. casei FNCC-0090 (5.0 x 10 6 cfu mL -1 ); and the mixture of L. acidophilus FNCC-0051 (2.5 x 10 6 cfu mL -1 ) and L. casei FNCC-0090 (2.5 x 10 6 cfu mL -1 ). The goat milk cheeses had white color and soft. The viable lactic acid bacteria in the goat milk soft cheese reached 10 9 cfu g -1 , which was stable for  8 weeks at 5 °C. Panelists liked goat milk soft cheeses, especially in term of its aroma. The specific aroma produced could mask the disliked goaty smell.


Abstract: Wieczorek, A., Łysko, A., Popiela, A. & Śliwa, L. 2017. Additions to the flora of lichenized and lichenicolous fungi of Bornholm (Denmark). — Herzogia 30: 304–308. Based on a recent collection from Bornholm island, two lichens, Lecanora thysanophora and Micarea nigella, and two lichenicolous fungi, Dactylospora parasitica and Illosporiopsis christiansenii are newly reported; the first species is new record for Denmark and the others are new to Bornholm.


BACKGROUND
Total knee arthroplasty is associated with substantial blood loss and the risks of transfusion. Conflicting reports have been published regarding the effectiveness and safety of tranexamic acid in reducing postoperative blood loss in total knee arthroplasty. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the effectiveness and safety of tranexamic acid in reducing postoperative blood loss in total knee arthroplasty.

METHODS
A meta-analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness and safety of using tranexamic acid in total knee arthroplasty. Randomized controlled trials that had been published before May 2011 were retrieved, and fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The weighted mean difference in blood loss, number of transfusions per patient, prothrombin time, and postoperative activated partial thromboplastin time and the summary odds ratio of transfusion, deep-vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism were calculated in the group of patients who received tranexamic acid and the group of patients who received a placebo.

RESULTS
The amount of blood loss and the number of blood transfusions per patient were significantly less and the proportion of patients who required a blood transfusion was smaller in the tranexamic acid group compared with the placebo group. No significant difference in prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, deep-vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism was detected between the tranexamic acid group and the placebo group.

CONCLUSIONS
The meta-analysis shows that the use of tranexamic acid for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty is effective and safe for the reduction of blood loss.


With rapid urbanization, floods that occur are more frequently associated with non-riverine, urban flooding. Reliable and efficient simulation of rainstorm inundation in an urban environment is profound for risk analysis and sustainable development. Although sophisticated hydrodynamic models are now available to simulate the urban flooding processes with a high accuracy, the complexity and heavy computation requirement render these models difficult to apply. Moreover, a large number of input data describing the complex urban underlying surfaces is required to setup the models, which are typically unavailable in reality. In this paper, a simple and efficient urban rainstorm inundation simulation method, named URIS, was developed based on a geographic information system (GIS) with limited input data. The URIS method is a simplified distributed hydrological model, integrating three components of the soil conservation service (SCS) module, surface flow module, and drainage flow module. Cumulative rainfall-runoff, output from the SCS model, feeds the surface flow model, while the drainage flow module is an important waterlogging mitigation measure. The central urban area of Shanghai in China was selected as a study case to calibrate and verify the method. It was demonstrated that the URIS is capable of characterizing the spatiotemporal dynamic processes of urban inundation and drainage under a range of scenarios, such as different rainstorm patterns with varying return periods and different alterations of drainage diameters. URIS is therefore characterized with high efficiency, reasonable data input, and low hardware requirements and should be an alternative to hydrodynamic models. It is useful for urgent urban flood inundation estimation and is applicable for other cities in supporting emergency rescue and sustainable urban planning.


W e read the article entitled ''Risk Factors of Cage Subsidence in Patients Received Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion'' with great interest and we have a few questions which deserve explanations for better understanding. The value of central point ration (CPR) was quoted to describe the position of cage. However, the definition of ''y'' made us confused, as the line failed to went consistently with the shape of superior endplate. We provided a case of lumbar fusion shown in Figure 1, http://links.lww.com/ BRS/B599 with uneven superior endplate of L5. How to define the two points to draw a line as ''y''? The whole cohort was divided into two groups according to the existence of cage subsidence. The difference of disc height, BMI, BMD, and CPR were significant between the two groups. The correlations between cage subsidence and the parameters were calculated. However, we cannot accept the conclusion that risk factors could be merely detected through Pearson correlation tests. It is normally recommended that binary logistic regression analysis should be utilized to analyses the possible risk factors and odds ratios should be calculated in the results. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appearing in the printed text are provided in the HTML and PDF version of this article on the journal's Web site (www.spinejournal.com).


This study evaluates the current status of multiple primary health care centers in Riyadh city from different perspectives (access and effectiveness). It explores the patients' perception about utilizations and how they perceive it. Also, it investigates factors contributing to not-fully utilizing the PHCs by patients. It addresses some challenges (problems/barriers/obstacles) that prevent PHCs from utilizing resources.
This study investigates the status of utilizations in different PHCs in Riyadh city and compares the results to international approaches in this field. The researcher will survey users from different PHCs in Riyadh city about their perception of utilizations.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the current services of PHCs in Riyadh city from the perspective of patients, and to shed light on obstacles that may hinder or motivate patients to use health services.
The study has been conducted in multiple primary health care centers in Riyadh. The population of this study are people from Riyadh city who have visited a primary health care center using simple stratified sampling a convenient sample. A questionnaire, created by the researcher and distributed electronically, was used to collect information from participants.
The results show that the PHC is in good order in Riyadh city; effective and accessible. The challenge is in achieving the best use of it. The fact that most patients would not choose PHC as their first choice should be investigated further. There is no evidence in this research showing the effect of imposing the referral system through PHC. Results show that staff of the PHC center has a potential effect on the users' decision. Training and continuous development may improve the staff performance. Moreover, communication between users and practitioners may be enhanced by increasing the outcomes from health schools and attracting Saudi staff via incentives, continuous training, and scholarship. Frequent awareness programs may also help draw people's attention to the importance of PHC. It would be useful to get input from patients about factors preventing them from visiting PHC and to eliminating these factors.


This paper proposes a system of control and data acquisition (SCADA) to be applied in a distributed generation system. This system was developed with low-cost technology and it is based in wireless communication to perform the exchange of information between generation system and SCADA. The implementation of the proposed system contributes to operation, monitoring and maintenance of systems named smart grids, allowing the management of different generation sources, such as hydro, solar, wind, and others, through conventional monitoring systems like mobile devices, employing Web tools. Experimental results are presented in order to demonstrate the applicability of the system developed.


Abstract The paper argues that for a full-blown perfectionist theory to rely on liberal individualism and an ethics of sociality is not enough. In order to be consistent, an objective theory of the human good also needs to take human nature into account. In a first step this is shown by an analysis of George Sher′s important book, where human nature is lost underway (contrary to its central role in the main argument). A second step traces a viable theory of human nature in the progressive tradition of both radical enlightenment (esp. Condorcet) and American progressivism (esp. Dewey). It is argued that this theory can be defended against postmodern criticism and carries a strong egalitarian current.


Objectives: Zika virus (ZikaV) is currently one of the most important emerging viruses in the world which has caused outbreaks and epidemics and has also been associated with severe clinical manifestations and congenital malformations. Traditional approaches to combat the ZikaV outbreak are not effective for detection and control. The aim of this study is to propose a cloud-based system to prevent and control the spread of Zika virus disease using integration of mobile phones and Internet of Things (IoT). Methods: A Naive Bayesian Network (NBN) is used to diagnose the possibly infected users, and Google Maps Web service is used to provide the geographic positioning system (GPS)-based risk assessment to prevent the outbreak. It is used to represent each ZikaV infected user, mosquito-dense sites, and breeding sites on the Google map that helps the government healthcare authorities to control such risk-prone areas effectively and efficiently. Results: The performance and accuracy of the proposed system are evaluated using dataset for 2 million users. Our system provides high accuracy for initial diagnosis of different users according to their symptoms and appropriate GPS-based risk assessment. Conclusions: The cloud-based proposed system contributed to the accurate NBN-based classification of infected users and accurate identification of risk-prone areas using Google Maps.


Internal friction of nanocrystalline nickel is investigated by mechanical spectroscopy from 360 K to 120 K. Two relaxation peaks are found when nanocrystalline nickel is bent up to 10% strain at room temperature and fast cooling. However, these two peaks disappear when the sample is annealed at room temperature in vacuum for ten days. The occurrence and disappearance of the two relaxation peaks can be explained by the interactions of partial dislocations and point defects in nanocrystalline materials.


In multiple myeloma cells, insulinlike growth factor-I (IGF-I) activates 2 distinct signaling pathways, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphoinositol 3-kinase (PI-3K), leading to both proliferative and antiapoptotic effects. However, it is unclear through which of these cascades IGF-I regulates these different responses. The present studies identify a series of downstream targets in the PI-3K pathway, including glycogen synthase kinase-3beta, p70S6 kinase, and the 3 members of the Forkhead family of transcription factors. The contribution of the MAPK and PI-3K pathways and, where possible, individual elements to proliferation and apoptosis was evaluated by means of a series of specific kinase inhibitors. Both processes were regulated almost exclusively by the PI-3K pathway, with only minor contributions associated with the MAPK cascade. Within the PI-3K cascade, inhibition of p70S6 kinase led to significant decreases in proliferation and protection from apoptosis. Activation of p70S6 kinase could also be prevented by MAPK inhibitors, indicating regulation by both pathways. The Forkhead transcription factor FKHRL1 was observed to provide a dual effect in that phosphorylation upon IGF-I treatment resulted in a loss of ability to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis. The PI-3K pathway was additionally shown to exhibit cross-talk and to regulate the MAPK cascade, as inhibition of PI-3K prevented activation of Mek1/2 and other downstream MAPK elements. These results define important elements in IGF-I regulation of myeloma cell growth and provide biological correlates critical to an understanding of growth-factor modulation of proliferation and apoptosis.


The denervated slow twitch rat soleus muscle was stimulated electrically for 3-6 weeks with brief trains of stimuli at 100 Hz or long trains at 10 Hz. In both cases the mean stimulation frequency was 2 Hz. Muscles stimulated at 100 Hz acquired several properties characteristic of fast muscle, whereas muscles stimulated at 10 Hz remained slow. The results demonstrate the importance of pattern of muscle activity in determining the contractile properties of muscle.


Environmental DNA (eDNA) has recently been used for detecting the distribution of macroorganisms in various aquatic habitats. In this study, we applied an eDNA method to estimate the distribution of the Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus, in headwater streams. Additionally, we compared the detection of eDNA and hand-capturing methods used for determining the distribution of O. japonicus. For eDNA detection, we designed a qPCR primer/probe set for O. japonicus using the 12S rRNA region. We detected the eDNA of O. japonicus at all sites (with the exception of one), where we also observed them by hand-capturing. Additionally, we detected eDNA at two sites where we were unable to observe individuals using the hand-capturing method. Moreover, we found that eDNA concentrations and detection rates of the two water sampling areas (stream surface and under stones) were not significantly different, although the eDNA concentration in the water under stones was more varied than that on the surface. We, therefore, conclude that eDNA methods could be used to determine the distribution of macroorganisms inhabiting headwater systems by using samples collected from the surface of the water.


In the past, it was believed that the expression of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) was restricted to epithelial tissues, such as the distal nephron, airway, sweat glands, and colon, where it is critical for sodium homeostasis. Over the past two decades, this paradigm has shifted due to the finding that ENaC is also expressed in various nonepithelial tissues, notably in vascular endothelial cells. In this review, the recent findings of the expression, regulation, and function of the endothelial ENaC (EnNaC) are discussed. The expression of EnNaC subunits is reported in a variety of endothelial cell lines and vasculatures, but this is controversial across different species and vessels and is not a universal finding in all vascular beds. The expression density of EnNaC is very faint compared to ENaC in the epithelium. To date, little is known about the regulatory mechanism of EnNaC. Through it can be regulated by aldosterone, the detailed downstream signaling remains elusive. EnNaC responds to increased extracellular sodium with the feedforward activation mechanism, which is quite different from the Na+ self‐inhibition mechanism of ENaC. Functionally, EnNaC was shown to be a determinant of cellular mechanics and vascular tone as it can sense shear stress, and its activation or insertion into plasma membrane causes endothelial stiffness and reduced nitric oxide production. However, in some blood vessels, EnNaC is essential for maintaining the integrity of endothelial barrier function. In this context, we discuss the possible reasons for the distinct role of EnNaC in vasculatures.


When serum enzymes are employed as indexes of cardiac tissue necrosis, cognizance must be taken of the effect of certain anticoagulants and other drugs on the serum transaminase activity. The administration of bishydroxycoumarin in doses employed clinically to an individual without liver disease usually results in little or no change in serum transaminase activity. In an individual with liver disease, bishydroxycoumarin administration may be accompanied by increases in serum transaminase activity. A patient having incurred a myocardial infarction will be expected to show an increase in SGO-T activity, less or no increase in SGP-T activity, and increased SLD activity. The administration of bishydroxycoumarin and ethyl biscoumacetate to a patient with acute myocardial infarction may result in serum enzyme activity elevations independent of the changes resulting from myocardial necrosis.


Recently, the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the collection of spatial data has increased due to their technological maturation in terms of manoeuvrability, cost and flexibility in geo-data acquisition. Although they have been trialled in cadastral mapping primarily with the view to support land tenure security and the creation of land certificates, in this research their utility for both boundary mapping and valuation of agricultural land was interrogated. Arguably, the large amounts of information provided by UAV imagery provide greater utility for valuation than for cadastral mapping. Consequently, a UAV-based workflow was developed and applied to agricultural land in Zimbabwe, mainly focusing on A1 farms. This involved image acquisition and processing to generate orthophoto used in parcel boundary mapping and describing improvements on land parcel for valuation purposes. Using the developed UAV-based approach, two orthophotos covering 28.73 ha and 11.59ha for study area in Marondera and Ruwa respectively were generated. The UAV images and the generated orthophotos provided an up-to-date representation of the investigated study areas and produced accurate results when compared to the existing approach. Based on the findings of this study, the developed UAV-based boundary mapping and valuation approach is applicable to agricultural land, particularly A1 farms, in Zimbabwe. The developed approach is useful in both boundary mapping and defining physical characteristics of improvements on land for valuation purposes. Given that the approach was applied on a single farm, further work should explore the use of the developed approach beyond a single farm and compare the results with aerial or satellite photogrammetry in terms of cost and time.


This paper presents a CW raster-scanning THz imaging setup used to perform Non-Destructive Testing of Kevlar™ and carbon fibre samples. The setup uses a 2.5 THz Quantum Cascade Laser as a source. Delamination defect in a Kevlar sample was detected showing a sensitivity to laser polarization orientation. Detection of a break in a carbon/epoxy sample was also performed.


We solve the problem of embedding the universal cover of the Jacobian of any Riemann surface, X, into the "universal Jacobian" H1/2(S1), (see [7]). The latter is the Sobolev space of half-order differentiable functions on the unit circle. As the complex structure on X is deformed, we show how to define a (T (X)-parametrized) family of these natural embeddings, such that they provide a holomorphic homomorphism of a vector bundle over the Teichmüller space T (X), into the tautological vector bundle over the universal Siegel space which commutes with the universal period map. In sections 6 and 7 we study the above embeddings with reference to towers of Jacobians arising from towers of finite coverings of Riemann surfaces. We can pass to inductive limits and see the role of the commensurability automorphism groups acting on the limit objects.


In this paper, the hierarchical ways for building a regression model by using bootstrap and jackknife resampling methods were presented. Bootstrap approaches based on the observations and errors resampling, and jackknife approaches based on the delete-one and delete-d observations were considered. And also we consider estimating bootstrap and jackknife bias, standard errors and confidence intervals of the regression coefficients, and comparing with the concerning estimates of ordinary least squares. Obtaining of the estimates was presented with an illustrative real numerical example. The jackknife bias, the standard errors and confidence intervals of regression coefficients are substantially larger than the bootstrap and estimated asymptotic OLS standard errors. The jackknife percentile intervals also are larger than to the bootstrap percentile intervals of the regression coefficients.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the timolol maleate/latanoprost fixed combination (TLFC) given once each evening versus brimonidine and timolol solution given twice daily as concomitant therapy in primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension patients.

METHODS
Qualified subjects were begun on timolol alone twice daily for 1 month and then randomized to either TLFC or brimonidine and timolol concomitant therapy for 6 weeks. Patients were then switched to the other treatment regimen. Intraocular pressures (IOPs) were measured every 2 hours between 08 : 00 and 20 : 00 hours at baseline and at the end of periods 1 and 2.

RESULTS
This study found that in 32 subjects the IOP diurnal curve on timolol alone (20.9 +/- 2.8 mmHg) decreased to 17.9 +/- 3.2 mmHg when patients were treated with TLFC and to 19.0 +/- 2.4 mmHg when patients were treated with brimonidine and timolol (p = 0.02). Intraocular pressures at individual time-points were statistically similar between the groups at the 08 : 00 trough and 2 and 4 hours after dosing. However, beyond 4 hours after dosing, TLFC-treated subjects demonstrated a trend towards lower IOPs at each 2-hour time-point that was not statistically significant after a Bonferroni correction (p <or= 0.05). The incidence of both solicited and unsolicited side-effects was similar between groups.

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that TLFC given in the evening reduces the mean daytime diurnal IOP more than brimonidine and timolol given concomitantly twice daily.


Due to rapid economic growth, the usage of residential cooling electrical appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators has increased dramatically for the last decades. In other to reduce its energy consumption, the authorities have applied energy efficiency standards for principal appliances, including refrigerator. This paper estimates the distribution of refrigerators using the Bass Diffusion Model and then performs economic analysis corresponding to enhancement of energy efficiency more correctly than existing methods.


With the advent of low priced personal computers and the availability of low cost mathematical analysis and spreadsheet software, the solution of advanced vibration problems may be solved by either exact or numerical solutions with relative ease. Specifically, this applies to single degree of freedom systems with or without damping and forcing functions. Vibration due to impact creates a forcing function of a fairly simple type, thus lending itself to a straightforward computer solution. This paper discusses the use of the program Mathcad to obtain exact mathematical solutions and the use of the spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel to obtain approximate numerical solutions of impact induced vibrations on single degree of freedom problems and the expansion of these methods to multiple degree of freedom problems.


We report on the light-emitting color barcode nanowires (LECB-NWs), which were fabricated by alternating the electrochemical polymerization of light-emitting polymers with various luminescence colors and efficiencies. The nanoscale photoluminescence characteristics of LECB-NWs were investigated using a laser confocal microscope with a high spatial resolution. The alternating light emissions of the LECB-NWs showed orange-yellow, red, and green colors due to the serial combination of poly(3-butylthiophene), poly(3-methylthiophene), and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), respectively, with distinct luminescence intensities. The optical detection sensitivity and stability of LECB-NWs have been enhanced through a nanoscale Cu metal coating onto the NWs, based on surface plasmon resonance coupling and protection against oxidation. The flexibility of the LECB-NWs has been investigated through the folding and unfolding of the NWs by an applied nanotip impetus. The flexible LECB-NWs can be used as highly sensitive optical identification nanosystems for nanoscale or microscale products with complex physical shapes.


When S is an algebraic scheme, and X! S and Y! S proper schemes over S, we define the notion of correspondences from X to Y over S. And when Y! S is a relative abelian scheme and X is a normal variety, we give a charac- terization for a correspondence from X to Y over S to be a graph of some morphism X! Y over S, which is a generalization of the result for classical correspondences in (4).


"Faith and the Historian" collects essays from eight experienced historians discussing the impact of being "touched" by Catholicism on their vision of history. That first graduate seminar, these essays suggest, did not mark the inception of one's historical sensibilities; rather, that process had deeper, and earlier, roots. The authors - ranging from "cradle to the grave" Catholics to those who haven't practiced for forty years, and everywhere in between - explicitly investigate the interplay between their personal lives and beliefs and the sources of their professional work. A variety of heartfelt, illuminating, and sometimes humorous experiences emerge from these stories of intelligent people coming to terms with their Catholic backgrounds as they mature and enter the academy. Contributors include: Philip Gleason, David Emmons, Maureen Fitzgerald, Joseph A. McCartin, Mario T. Garcia, Nick Salvatore, James R. Barrett, and Anne M. Butler.


Evidence from the Ross embayment, Antarctica, suggests an abrupt cooling and a concomitant increase in sea-ice cover at about 6000 BP (6 ka). Stable-isotope (δD) concentrations in the Taylor Dome ice core, at the western edge of the Ross embayment, decline rapidly after 6 ka, and continue to decline through the late Holocene. Methanesulfonic acid concentrations at Taylor Dome show opposite trends to δD Sediment cores from the western Ross Sea show a percentage minimum for the sea-ice diatom Fragilariopsis curta between 9 and 6 ka, whenTaylor Dome δD values are highest, followed by an increase through the late Holocene. Radiocarbon dates from raised beach deposits indicate that the retreat of ice shelves in the Ross embayment ceased at about 6 ka, coincident with the environmental changes inferred from the sediment and ice-core records. The similarity in timing suggests an important role for climate in controlling the evolution of ice-shelf margins following the end of the last glaciation.


This article reflects on the research exhibition Decriminalising Ornament: The Pleasures of Pattern held in the Ruskin Gallery in Cambridge in November 2018 in conjunction with the International Illustration Research Conference of the same name. It considers the role of
 ornament and decoration in the exhibited works and through this the essential presence of the decorative within illustration.Key is Lars Spuybroek's concept of sympathy, which he develops based on a premodern understanding of ornamentation. In response to Spuybroek's exploration of this
 concept, this article seeks to extend the notion of sympathy as an essential presence within illustration. Sympathy indicates a human-material relationship not just between the illustrator and the creative materials, but also in the readers connection with this decorative act in the reproduced
 illustration.


An adversarial query is an image that has been modified to disrupt content-based image retrieval (CBIR), while appearing nearly untouched to the human eye. This paper presents an analysis of adversarial queries for CBIR based on neural, local, and global features. We introduce an innovative neural image perturbation approach, called Perturbations for Image Retrieval Error (PIRE), that is capable of blocking neural-feature-based CBIR. PIRE differs significantly from existing approaches that create images adversarial with respect to CNN classifiers because it is unsupervised, i.e., it needs no labeled data from the data set to which it is applied. Our experimental analysis demonstrates the surprising effectiveness of PIRE in blocking CBIR, and also covers aspects of PIRE that must be taken into account in practical settings, including saving images, image quality and leaking adversarial queries into the background collection. Our experiments also compare PIRE (a neural approach) with existing keypoint removal and injection approaches (which modify local features). Finally, we discuss the challenges that face multimedia researchers in the future study of adversarial queries.


The authors present the results of ab initio (SCF and CEPA) calculations of the interaction potentials for the C(3P)-H2(1 Sigma g+) system. The five potential curves corresponding to collinear (3 Sigma -,3 Pi ) and orthogonal (3A2,3B1,3B2) approaches of the C atom to the midpoint of the H2 molecule have been computed, as well as the curve of 3A' symmetry for an intermediate geometry. These results are analysed and used in quantum mechanical (close-coupling) calculations of the cross sections for excitation of the fine structure transitions in C(3PJ) by ortho- and para-H2. The rate coefficients for these transitions are evaluated for a range of temperatures encompassing those relevant to studies of the interstellar medium.


Facilities and equipment which are contaminated by a diseased carcass during slaughter and processing operations must be made free from microorganisms of human health concern before being used again. Therefore, a rapid-acting microbicidal agent is necessary to enable the swift resumption of operations. Currently, water heated to 180 degrees F (82.2 degrees C) is the antimicrobial agent of choice, as this rapidly kills microbes without leaving a residue which could jeopardize food products.


Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic that can be abused. Olanzapine is an another atypical antipsychotic that is similar to quetiapine in chemical structure and cases of leucopenia after olanzapine use have rarely been presented in the literature. In this report, we presented a case of high dose quetiapine abuse and olanzapine combination treatment leading to leucopenia. Blood levels returned to normal levels in a short period of time both by passing to extended release quetiapine and decreasing the daily dosage.


The impressive increase in the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), especially in cattle, during the last few years in Brazil is well known worldwide. In 2015, there were over 13.7 million artificial inseminations (AI), of which, about 77% were carried out using fixed-time AI (FTAI). This technology has helped to substantially improve reproductive efficiency in beef and dairy cattle. In relation to embryo transfer, production of in vivo derived (IVD) embryos remained relatively stable, with average production of 30-40,000 embryos per year, whereas in vitro production (IVP) of embryos had a substantial increase, from about 12,500 IVP embryos in 2000 to more than 300,000 IVP embryos after 2010. The increasing availability and use of sex-sorted sperm was one of the factors responsible for a recent shift from the predominance of IVP embryos from beef breeds to dairy breeds in Brazil. Moreover, there was also an increase from 13% in 2014 to 29% in 2015 in the percentage of vitrified/frozen embryos. Moreover, the successful use of protocols for fixed-time ET (FTET) due to their high efficiency and ease of implementation, has facilitated the dissemination of ET programs all over Brazil. However, there is room for improvement, since there are several reports of high pregnancy loss and high peripartum loss, when IVP embryos are used. The production of healthy cattle by somatic cell nuclear transfer has also increased in the last few years in Brazil, but despite substantial progress in reducing postnatal losses, no drastic increase in cloning efficiency up to parturition has occurred.


Economic diversity is crucial to explain how geographic areas grow and evolve: economic diversity facilitates the transmission of ideas (through knowledge spillovers) and the outsourcing of activities (city-nurseries). In this paper we focus on these theoretical perspectives and examine the industry structure and growth of Italian provinces. We use data on employment levels in 47 economic sectors in 103 provinces and measure their degree of diversity over the period 1951-2001. By taking into account both provincial size (i.e., employment levels) and temporal dimension we test whether economic initiatives benefit from being localised in areas that are highly diversified from an industrial point of view. After confirming the relevance of economic diversity we investigate the industry pattern that boosted growth in the largest (in terms of number of employees) provinces in our sample. Our results confirm the Jacobs' intuitions about how cities evolve and contribute to debate by reducing the gap between some Jacobs' hypotheses and major theses.


A young Russian man presented with increasing shortness of breath and signs of worsening aortic regurgitation. A diagnosis of infective endocarditis was made before emergency valve replacement. The infective cause was not discovered by routine culture but was suggested by electron microscopy and confirmed by serology and PCR testing.


In the wide-spread cucurbitaceous SE Asian genus Trichosanthes 5 new Malesian taxa are described by Rugayah, viz Trichosanthes auriculata Rugayah, T. beccariana Cogn. subsp. pusilla Rugayah, T. montana Rugayah, T. pendula Rugayah, and T. rotundifolia Rugayah. The new monotypic genus Borneosicyos, with the sole species B. simplex de Wilde, endemic of Sabah, is described by de Wilde.


Cell-sized polyelectrolyte capsules functionalized with a redox-driven proton pump protein were assembled for the first time. The interaction of polyelectrolyte microcapsules, fabricated by electrostatic layer-by-layer assembly, with cytochrome c oxidase molecules was investigated. We found that the cytochrome c oxidase retained its functionality, that the functionalized microcapsules interacting with cytochrome c oxidase were permeable and that the permeability characteristics of the microcapsule shell depend on the shell components. This work provides a significant input towards the fabrication of an integrated device made of biological components and based on specific biomolecular functions and properties.


Backrounds: Fetal arrhythmias represent a significant cause of fetal morbidity and mortality and occur in approximately 1–3% of pregnancies. The unknown fetal arrhythmias are the cause of intrauterine fetal demise in as many as 3–10% of cases, as well as the cause of unexplained fetal hydrops or premature births. Methods: A fetal echocardiography test makes it possible to notice structural heart defects at very early stages of pregnancy. The ultrasound heart rate monitoring also involves the use of specific Doppler methods. Heart rhythm disorders may occur in the form of tachycardia (sinus tachycardia (ST), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and atrial flutter (AF)) or in the form of bradycardia (sinus bradycardia (SB), atrial bigeminy (AB) and complete AV block). The most frequently diagnosed fetal heart rhythm disorders are isolated extrasystoles with no clinical significance. Results: In this study, we have examined 7863 fetuses (182 were multiple gestations). Out of the total number of examined patients, 572 fetuses (7.23%) had pathological heart features, while 127 (1.61%) had some form of rhythm disorder. Conclusions: The ability to recognize the heart rhythm disorder and commence the treatment in a timely manner increases the treatment success rate.


Quality control is important in many fields, especially industrial production. Major research has been developed with regard to industrial quality control to ensure reliable and consistent products. We adapt and develop methodology in quality control to monitor data collection in epidemiologic studies. There are no procedures currently used by epidemiologists to evaluate quality control during the actual process of data collection; methods are implemented only after the data have been collected. We focus on procedures that can be used during data collection: instrument calibration and population sampling. For the first, we propose methods utilizing Shewhart control charts and Westgard stopping rules. For evaluating population sampling, we present methods utilizing regression analysis. We provide a motivating example to highlight the utility of these methods. The proposed methodology may help investigators to identify data quality problems that can be corrected while data are still being collected, and also to identify biases in data collection that might be adjusted later.


An approach for carrying out vibrationally adiabatic mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics simulations is presented. An appropriate integration scheme is described for the vibrationally adiabatic equations of motion of a diatomic solute in a monatomic solvent and an approach for calculating the adiabatic energy levels is presented. Specifically, an iterative Lanczos algorithm with full reorthogonalization is used to solve for the lowest few vibrational eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. The eigenfunctions at one time step in a mixed quantum-classical trajectory are used to initiate the Lanczos calculation at the next time step. The basis set size is reduced by using a potential-optimized discrete variable representation. As a demonstration the problem of a homonuclear diatomic molecule in a rare gas fluid (N2 in Ar) has been treated. The approach is shown to be efficient and accurate. An important advantage of this approach is that it can be straightforwardly applied to polyatomic solutes that have mult...


Four phenanthroimidazole derivatives (a: 1,2-diphenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole; b: 2-phenyl-1-p-tolyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole; c: 1-phenyl-2-p-tolyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole; d: 1,2-di-p-tolyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole) were synthesized and their single crystal structures, photophysical, electrochemical and mobility properties were carefully studied. Taking advantage of the thermal stability and the hole transporting (HT) ability, the highly efficient Alq3-based organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been achieved by employing the compounds a–d as a functional layer between NPB (4,4-bis(N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenylamino)biphenyl) and Alq3 (tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium) layers. For the device of [ITO/NPB/d/Alq3/LiF/Al], a maximum luminous efficiency (LE) of 8.1 cd A−1 was obtained with a maximum brightness of 65130 cd m−2, which exhibited much higher efficiency compared to the device with structure of [ITO/NPB/Alq3/LiF/Al]. The results demonstrated not only an alternative idea to design novel HT materials, but also a convenient way to improve the performance of the NPB/Alq3-based devices by introduction of a suitable organic buffer layer.


Homeschooling is an increasingly common schooling option for middle-class black families yet is often overlooked in research on race and education. Drawing on interviews with 67 middle-class black and white mothers living in one northeastern metropolitan area—half of whom homeschool, while the other half enroll their children in conventional school—the author examines how race influences mothers' decisions to homeschool or conventional school. The findings show that mothers' schooling explanations reflect their experiences as shaped by the racial hierarchy constituted in schools. Black mothers respond to a push out of conventional schools on the basis of their children's experiences of racial discrimination. In contrast, white mothers respond to a pull out of conventional schools to individualize their children's academic programs. Building on racialized organizations and critical race theory, these findings elucidate how the formal structure of schools is racialized in ways that constrain black mothers' agency, while enabling the agency of white mothers to activate school choice. The findings underscore how homeschooling, often assumed to be race neutral, is racialized in ways that reproduce inequalities under school choice and appears to redress discrimination in schools.


Link state routing mechanisms have shown good convergence behaviour in networks with mobile hosts. Compared to traditional link state mechanisms, which suffer from broadcast storm problems in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), pruned link state approaches such as those used in Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) have shown significant reduction in the control overhead. In this paper, we show that the pruning function is a fundamental component of link state routing protocols for MANETs, and develop a class of pruning methods for many commonly used routing objectives. We show that the ability of our local pruning methods to preserve optimal paths is a special case of the semiring distribution property.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Surface over-expression of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1) has recently been identified as a mechanism used by metastatic breast cancer cells to provide pro-survival advantages. It has been previously shown that the metastatic and immune-resistant mouse cervical cancer cell line, A17 has a significantly increased expression of VCAM-1 compared with the primary parental tumor cell line, TC1-P0. Using this metastatic tumor model, we first modulated the surface expression levels of VCAM-1 on A17 in vitro by using an shRNA knockdown approach. We then inoculated these cells intra-venously (iv) and subcutaneously (sq) into C57BL/6 background mice and athymic nude mice to interrogate how VCAM-1 expression affects surrounding immune cell interactions within the tumor microenvironment. To further characterize VCAM-1 dependent immune responses, we used intravital 2-photon laser-scanning microscopy (2P-LPS) to dynamically visualize immune-tumor cells interaction. We observed that VCAM-1 down-regulation reduces the primary tumor growth kinetics in C57BL/6 mice but exhibited similar growth kinetics in nude mice, suggesting that VCAM-1 levels are not responsible for the intrinsic primary tumor growth differences in vivo. Moreover, VCAM-1 down-regulated cell lines showed decreased lung metastasis in both immune-competent mice and athymic nude mice. Furthermore, the metastatic lung parenchyma in mice injected with the non-silencing shVCAM-1 control exhibited immune cell infiltrates with a predominance of M2 polarized macrophages and an altered cytokine production. This may be responsible for decreased susceptibility to immune surveillance. Together, our results demonstrate that tumor-associated VCAM-1 expression helps aggressive tumors circumvent effective immune surveillance, and may represent a target for the development of immune-mediated therapy in metastatic cervical cancer.

Citation Format: Francesca Scrimieri, Iuliana Dit Bobanga, Saada Eid, David J. Corn, Deborah Barkauskas, Jay Jay Myers, Alex Y. Huang. VCAM-1 enhances immune evasion in a murine model of metastatic cervical cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1174. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1174


The dependence of velocity on momentum for the free massive particle obeying the κ-Poincaré Poisson symmetry is calculated in terms of intrinsic non-commuting space-time coordinates and shown to have a monotonic character, with upper limit of velocity equal to


This research is aimed to identify the effect of marketing mix: product, price, promotion and distribution on Yamaha NMAX purchasing decission in Semarang whether as parcial effect and as simultan effect. The type of research is explanotory research with 97 respondents which calculated using purposive sampling technique. Instrument data collection technique is by questionnaire and interview. Data were analyzed using liner regression analysis by SPSS For Windows. This research concludes that product, price, promotion, and place have positive and significant influence on puchasing decission partially. Furthermore, marketing mix has a positive and significant influence on puchasing decission and product is the most siginificant variabel. Concumer perseption of product, price, promotion and distribution are in good category. Then, purchasing decission is in high level. So, advice that can be given for PT. Yamaha Motor Manufaktur Indonesia is to improve that good perception higher with variate the product, use brand ambassador, fullfill the need fast, and provide new distributions channel.


Existing software was adapted for the study of tethered subsatellite rotational dynamics, an analytic solution for a stable configuration of a tethered subsatellite was developed, the analytic and numerical integrator (computer) solutions for this "test case' was compared in a two mass tether model program (DUMBEL), the existing multiple mass tether model (SKYHOOK) was modified to include subsatellite rotational dynamics, the analytic "test case,' was verified, and the use of the SKYHOOK rotational dynamics capability with a computer run showing the effect of a single off axis thruster on the behavior of the subsatellite was demonstrated. Subroutines for specific attitude control systems are developed and applied to the study of the behavior of the tethered subsatellite under realistic on orbit conditions. The effect of all tether "inputs,' including pendular oscillations, air drag, and electrodynamic interactions, on the dynamic behavior of the tether are included.


Background Although researchers have worked in collaboration since the origins of modern science and the publication of the first scientific journals in the eighteenth century, this phenomenon has acquired exceptional importance in the last several decades. Since the mid-twentieth century, new knowledge has been generated from within an ever-growing network of investigators, working cooperatively in research groups across countries and institutions. Cooperation is a crucial determinant of academic success. Objective The aim of the present paper is to analyze the evolution of scientific collaboration at the micro level, with regard to the scientific production generated on psoriasis research. Methods A bibliographic search in the Medline database containing the MeSH terms "psoriasis" or "psoriatic arthritis" was carried out. The search results were limited to articles, reviews and letters. After identifying the co-authorships of documents on psoriasis indexed in the Medline database (1942–2013), various bibliometric indicators were obtained, including the average number of authors per document and degree of multi-authorship over time. In addition, we performed a network analysis to study the evolution of certain features of the co-authorship network as a whole: average degree, size of the largest component, clustering coefficient, density and average distance. We also analyzed the evolution of the giant component to characterize the changing research patterns in the field, and we calculated social network indicators for the nodes, namely betweenness and closeness. Results The main active research clusters in the area were identified, along with their authors of reference. Our analysis of 28,670 documents sheds light on different aspects related to the evolution of scientific collaboration in the field, including the progressive increase in the mean number of co-authors (which stood at 5.17 in the 2004–2013 decade), and the rise in multi-authored papers signed by many different authors (in the same decade, 25.77% of the documents had between 6 and 9 co-authors, and 10.28% had 10 or more). With regard to the network indicators, the average degree gradually increased up to 10.97 in the study period. The percentage of authors pertaining to the largest component also rose to 73.02% of the authors. The clustering coefficient, on the other hand, remained stable throughout the entire 70-year period, with values hovering around 0.9. Finally, the average distance peaked in the decades 1974–1983 (8.29) and 1984–2003 (8.12) then fell over the next two decades, down to 5.25 in 2004–2013. The construction of the co-authorship network (threshold of collaboration ≥ 10 co-authored works) revealed a giant component of 161 researchers, containing 6 highly cohesive sub-components. Conclusions Our study reveals the existence of a growing research community in which collaboration is increasingly important. We can highlight an essential feature associated with scientific collaboration: multi-authored papers, with growing numbers of collaborators contributing to them, are becoming more and more common, therefore the formation of research groups of increasing depth (specialization) and breadth (multidisciplinarity) is now a cornerstone of research success.


GHboost also optimizes serum and tissue levels of the potent anabolic growth factor, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and its major isoforms as well as working productively and synergistically with other hormones and growth factors, both local and systemically. The result is an increase in protein synthesis, a decrease in muscle breakdown and an increase body fat loss leading to significant anabolic, body composition and performance effects.


Since the mid-1960s there has been a great deal of interest around the world in the use of sample surveys of the general population to study crime. The advantages of doing so have been discussed in detail many times (National Research Council, 1976; Biderman, 1967). Crime surveys have been conducted in many nations, a practice that is continuing despite their heavy cost. Large-scale national surveys have been conducted in the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, Great Britain, and Sweden. Smaller but regular national studies have been carried out in the rest of Scandinavia, and there has been a national survey in Spain. There have been large surveys of victimization in individual cities in Germany, Switzerland, and England. Statistics Canada has completed very large studies of seven major cities, including two surveys of Vancouver, and the Israeli Census Bureau has added victimization questions to a national survey. In addition, small but useful city studies have been conducted in Mexico, Colombia, Israel, and Belgium. The four islands that make up the Dutch Antilles also have been surveyed. The findings of these surveys have accumulated to the point where it is possible to perceive cross-national regularities—or clear inconsistencies—in what they reveal.


The supraspinatus muscle, the most superiorly located of the rotator cuff muscles, resides in the supraspinous fossa of the scapula, superior to the scapular spine. The tendon of the muscle extends laterally passing under the acromion process and over the head of the humerus, blending into the glenohumeral joint capsule to insert on the superior facet of the greater tuberosity of the humerus. In conjunction with the other three rotator cuff muscles, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis, the supraspinatus forms part of the dynamic stabilization for the glenohumeral joint.These four muscles act in a coordinated fashion to stabilize the head of the humerus on the shallow glenoid fossa and promote structural integrity of the joint. Along with its role as a stabilizer, the actions associated with supraspinatus are abduction of the humerus, and it may contribute weakly to lateral rotation of the humerus. The supraspinatus, as the most frequently torn rotator cuff muscle, has been the subject of extensive research. Much is known, yet much is left to learn about this small but important muscle.


Electric rotating machines are the main prime movers to drive the necessary process equipment in the petroleum and chemical industries. Safety is a prime concern for personnel and processes. A breakdown can cause a loss of personnel and or revenue. As technology evolves, engineers continue to improve the design of these machines to be as safe as possible for the area in which they are selected for installation while also considering process criticality. This article will discuss the different potential ignition sources in electric rotating machines and how they are designed, manufactured and protected to mitigate the risk of fire/explosion. The applicable regulations/standards are discussed for the various protection techniques adopted for each hazardous area classification. A brief overview of installation practices is also discussed.


We describe a duopoly model where stockholders assess the relative profitability of delegation versus process innovation. Delegation may not be a dominant strategy. When it is, the game is not necessarily a prisoners' dilemma. Our model yields several equilibria where at least one firm remains entrepreneurial and finds it preferable to undertake cost-reducing R&D activities. Then, we introduce the possibility of using delegation and cost-reducing R&D jointly. The use of R&D investment by entrepreneurial firms is a dominated strategy, so that firms always separate ownership from control, while they don't necessarily combine delegation with process innovation.


The reliability of amorphous oxide semiconductor thinfilm transistors (AOS-TFTs) is vital for high-definition displays and functional electronic devices. However, drain current drop (DCD) degradation has been commonly observed in the output characteristics of TFTs with channel lengths of L<10 μm [1,2]. Here, we show that DCD is a reversible process that is closely related to reduced metaloxygen bonds and is most likely caused by destruction induced by hot electrons. Based on device theory and simulations, we propose that the DCD effect is mainly caused by hot carriers, whose velocities are inversely proportional to the drain depletion width. Therefore, DCD failure could be alleviated simply by using the drain-offset structure. Experiments show that drain-offset TFTs improve DCD critical voltages (by ~130%) without sacrificing the on/off ratio. These studies provide theoretical and experimental approaches to effectively suppress DCD.


An actuator array performs distributed manipulation where an object being transported and manipulated rests on a large number of stationary supporting actuators. The authors have developed a macroscopic actuator array consisting of many motorized wheels. As opposed to a MEMS array, the analysis requires the explicit modeling of the discreteness in the system, including the set of supports, distribution of weight, and generation of traction forces. Using an open-loop wheel velocity field, discreteness causes undesirable behavior such as unstable rotational equilibria, suggesting the use of object feedback. Discrete distributed control algorithms are derived by inverting the dynamics of manipulation. These algorithms reduce the many-input-three-output control problem to a three-input-three-output control problem.


Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are frequently afflicted with neurological complications. These complications can potentially affect both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Common neurological complications in CKD include stroke, cognitive dysfunction, encephalopathy, peripheral and autonomic neuropathies. These conditions have significant impact not only on patient morbidity but also on mortality risk through a variety of mechanisms. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of these conditions can provide insights into effective management strategies for neurological complications. This review describes clinical management of neurological complications in CKD with reference to the contributing physiological and pathological derangements. Stroke, cognitive dysfunction and dementia share several pathological mechanisms that may contribute to vascular impairment and neurodegeneration. Cognitive dysfunction and dementia may be differentiated from encephalopathy which has similar contributing factors but presents in an acute and rapidly progressive manner and may be accompanied by tremor and asterixis. Recent evidence suggests that dietary potassium restriction may be a useful preventative measure for peripheral neuropathy. Management of painful neuropathic symptoms can be achieved by pharmacological means with careful dosing and side effect considerations for reduced renal function. Patients with autonomic neuropathy may respond to sildenafil for impotence. Neurological complications often become clinically apparent at end-stage disease, however early detection and management of these conditions in mild CKD may reduce their impact at later stages.


Following Sperling, the nature of the representation of visual information during visual persistence has been investigated by comparing partial-report (PR) and whole-report (WR) estimates of available information. A PR superiority is considered evidence for the representation of the cued stimulus dimension in visual persistence. In general, PR cues based on a physical characteristic produce a PR superiority, but PR cues based on a category distinction give no higher estimates of available information than is obtained with WR. These findings have been used to support an interpretation of visual persistence based upon a storage system metaphor (e.g., iconic memory), whereby a critical characteristic of the stored information is its "literal" precategorical nature. The present experiments explored whether there are reasonable alternative explanations for the fact that only physical PR cues typical produced a PR superiority. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that the effectiveness of physical PR cues depends upon the "goodness' of the perceptual groups defined by the cued dimension. Perceptual grouping within multi-letter displays was varied according to the principles of proximity (Exp. 1) and similarity (Exp. 2), and the results showed greater PR superiorities when the demand characteristics of the cues were compatible with the implied perceptual groups in the displays. Experiments 3 and 4 establish that PR cues based upon a category distinction (letter-digit) produce a PR superiority when both cue onset latency and cue uncertainty are equated across PR and WR conditions. Circular alphanumeric displays were used, and category PR cues and WR cues were either presented in separate trial blocks (Exp. 3) or intermixed at two possible cue delays relative to display onset (-1000 msec or 0 msec). A PR superiority was found in all conditions. In addition, Experiment 5 shows that the magnitude of this category PR superiority decreased systematically with increases in cue delay (-900 msec, -300 msec, +300 msec, and +900 msec), and in Experiment 6, it was found that the PR superiorities for both physical and category cues decrease at comparable rates with increased cue delay. Since perceptual grouping influences the effectiveness of physical PR cues and category PR cues produce a PR superiority under appropriate conditions, the results question the validity of interpretions of visual persistence that imply the existence of a literal, precategorical storage system. It is suggested that a multichannel view of the visual system provides a more adquate theoretical conceptualization of visual persistence.


We documented the presence of lymphocytic prostatitis in all prostate specimens received over a 4-month period. Lymphocytic prostatitis was present in 44% of biopsy specimens (n=77), 95% of transurethral prostatic resection specimens (n=20), and 100% of total prostatectomy specimens (n=9). The patchiness of the prostatitis within the prostate in part explains the lower prevalence in the biopsy specimens, which sample a much smaller portion of the gland compared with the other procedures. Lymphocytic prostatitis was seen in prostates both with and without adenocarcinoma. However, in specimens containing carcinoma, the lymphocytic aggregates rarely involved malignant glands. Instead, the aggregates were either stromal or involved nonmalignant glands either adjacent to or away from the tumor, including glands with hyperplasia, atrophy, and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia. Even when malignant and nonmalignant glands were in close proximity, there was a sharp demarcation with respect to lymphocytic inflammation. Immunohistochemical staining with B-cell and T-cell markers disclosed that the vast majority are T lymphocytes. The localization of lymphoid aggregates to nonmalignant (including prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia) glands but not frankly neoplastic glands, suggests a selective escape of immune detection by neoplastic glands.


This paper presents an efficient passive macromodeling algorithm for distributed lossy multiconductor transmission lines based on the method of characteristics (MoC). A proof is provided that specifies sufficient conditions to guarantee the passivity of the MoC by construction. A key feature of the proposed algorithm is that the curve fitting to realize the MoC depends only on the per-unit-length (p.u.l.) parameters and not on the discretization of the macromodel. Thus, with the knowledge of the rational functions derived by the p.u.l. parameters, the MoC is formulated in a closed form manner for any line length while ensuring passivity.


The phenomenon of inner strength has been studied in women with various chronic illnesses (Dingley, 1997; Dingley, Bush, & Roux, 2001; Koob, Roux, & Bush, 2002; Roux, Bush, & Dingley, 2001), demonstrating commonalities in the experiences that bridge the boundaries created by disease taxonomy or individual circumstance. Despite the richness of previous qualitative studies, the current state of the science reflects the interpreted reality of inner strength from the perspective of primarily middle class Caucasian women. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the experience of inner strength in older Hispanic women living with chronic illness. The primary research question was: How do older Hispanic women experience inner strength as they live with chronic illness? The purposive sample consisted of women who met the criteria for the term "Hispanic", were 60 years of age or older, and had been diagnosed with a chronic illness. Data generation methods included observation and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was based on qualitative methodology informed by grounded theory and the constant comparative method. Findings from the current study suggested the experience of inner strength in older Hispanic women involved the following interrelated dimensions: (a) Drawing Strength from the Past, (b) Focusing on Possibilities, (c) Being supported by Others, (d) Knowing One's Purpose, and (e) Nurturing the Spirit. The current study contributes to a cumulative program of research on the phenomenon of inner strength, furthering theory generation, cultural awareness, and future intervention studies.


In the classic Dubins–Savage subfair primitive casino gambling problem, the gambler can stake any amount in his possession, winning (1− r)/r times the stake with probability w and losing the stake with probability 1 − w, 0 ≤ w ≤ r ≤ 1. The gambler seeks to maximize the probability of reaching a fixed fortune (the goal) by gambling repeatedly with suitably chosen stakes. This problem has recently been extended in a unifying framework to account for limited playing time as well as future discounting, under which bold play is known to be optimal provided that w ≤ 1 2 ≤ r . This paper is concerned with a further extension of the Dubins–Savage gambling problem involving time-dependent parameters, and shows that bold play not only maximizes the probability of reaching the goal, but also stochastically minimizes the number of plays needed to reach the goal. As a result, bold play also maximizes the expected utility, where the utility at the goal is only required to be monotone decreasing with respect to the number of plays needed to reach the goal. It is further noted that bold play remains optimal even when the time-dependent parameters are random.


The research undertaken unites two distinct areas of quantum information processing: single ions stored in radio-frequency traps and single photons in optical fibres. Strings of ions are presently the most successful implementation of quantum computing, with elementary quantum algorithm and quantum simulations realised. The principal challenge in the field is to enhance the quantum processing power by scaling up current devices to larger systems. We pursue one of the most promising strategies: distributed quantum computation in which multiple small-scale ion processors are interlinked by exchanging photonic quantum bits via optical fibres. This requires a coherent quantum interface between ions and photons, mapping ionic to photonic quantum states and vice versa. To maximise fidelity and the success rate of the scheme, the interaction of ions and photons must take place in a microscopic optical cavity with high finesse. To this end, single 40Ca+ were trapped in a radio-frequency ion trap whose trapping electrodes are hollow cylinders. Optical fibres with mirrors machined on the facets are inserted into the electrodes to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. Because the fibres are shielded by the electrodes the detrimental distortion of the trapping field due to their presence is suppressed and ions can be trapped for several hours. 40Ca+ has a -type energy level scheme wherein the ion is cooled on the 42P1/2 ⇔ 42S1/2 transition and the cavity is tuned to the 42P1/2 ⇔ 32D3/2 transition. This thesis reports the successful coupling of single ions to a high finesse optical fibre based cavity, with coupling strength g = 2π · 4:6 MHz. The cavity has length 367 μm, finesse of 40,000 and linewidth 2k = 2π · 9:4 MHz. In this coupling regime, the enhancement of the ion's emission rate through the Purcell effect was observed. Further, anti-correlation was observed in the emission rates between the P1/2 ⇔ D3/2 and P1/2 ⇔ S1/2 transitions with an effective emission rate suppression of up to 60% in the latter transition. The built system offers greater promises. Once the position in the cavity mode has been optimised we expect to reach the long-sought after strong coupling regime with (g, k, y) = 2π · (12:2; 4:7; 11:2) MHz.


Metastatic cancer accounts for 90% of deaths in patients with solid tumors. There is an urgent need to better understand the drivers of cancer metastasis and to identify novel therapeutic targets. To investigate molecular events that drive the progression from primary cancer to metastasis, we have developed a bitransgenic mouse model, RIP-Tag; RIP-tva. In this mouse model, the rat insulin promoter (RIP) drives the expression of the SV40 T antigen (Tag) and the receptor for subgroup A avian leukosis virus (tva) in pancreatic β cells. The mice develop pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors with 100% penetrance through well-defined stages that are similar to human tumorigenesis, with stages including hyperplasia, angiogenesis, adenoma, and invasive carcinoma. Because RIP-Tag; RIP-tva mice do not develop metastatic disease, genetic alterations that promote metastasis can be identified easily. Somatic gene transfer into tva-expressing, proliferating pancreatic β premalignant lesions is achieved through intracardiac injection of avian retroviruses harboring the desired genetic alteration. A titer of >1 x 108 infectious units per ml is considered appropriate for in vivo infection. In addition, avian retroviruses can infect cell lines derived from tumors in RIP-Tag; RIP-tva mice with high efficiency. The cell lines can also be used to characterize the metastatic factors. Here we demonstrate how to utilize this mouse model and cell lines to assess the functions of candidate genes in tumor metastasis.