With both Ethernet and IP powering Data Center Networks (DCNs), one should wonder if their coexistence is necessary or an unquestioned legacy. Especially in cloud DCNs, the role of layer-2 is diminishing rapidly as the vast majority of applications only require layer-3 connectivity. At the same time, cloud workloads are demanding that DCN architectures better support network scalability, multitenancy, address virtualization, and endhost mobility. This paper argues that today's DCN architectures have a conjoined layer-2 and layer-3 design that is not only unnecessary, but is counter productive. We present AIN, a blueprint for scalable all-IP DCN. AIN implements virtual routers inside hypervisors, eliminating the need for virtual switching. It leverages the proven scalability of routing protocols and avoids unnecessary packet encapsulation, while supporting both multitenancy and end-host mobility. Finally, AIN is compatible with existing applications and is fully realizable with current protocols and hardware.


Future mobile devices are expected to access different networks (such as 3rd generation network, WLAN, Bluetooth, Internet, and etc). Hence many sensitivity data are stored in them. How to protect the security of information and applications about mobile devices becomes an exigent problem. This paper proposes a secure authentication and authorization protocol for mobile devices. The protocol employs biometric identification and password mechanism. Different users could access different information and applications, which are associated with different security levels. Users, mobile equipments and universal subscriber identity module (USIM) could mutual authenticate. Messages are encrypted when they are exchanged.


The contribution presents high-resolution seismic reflection profiles collected along and across the Lomonosov Ridge with a focus on its Eurasian side. The seismic lines provide images on the structure of sedimentary sequences and the surface of the acoustic basement. We will describe our findings in special view to appropriate drill site locations proposed for the upcoming IODP-708 project (ACEX II).
All profiles show similar reflection characteristics for the upper sedimentary succession corresponding to seismic records of other regions of the Arctic Ocean. This enabled a classification into seismic units and the assignment of ages after present seismostratigraphic models. A tie point for dating is a pronounced high-amplitude reflectors sequence (HARS), which is the most striking feature in the Siberian part of the Arctic Ocean. The top of the reflector band is suggested to mark the end of Oligocene, and its base likely corresponds to the base of Eocene (56 Ma). The intervall velocities in this HARS show only minor changes or even decrease compared to the seismic units above which we associate with the presence of black shales. The HARS indicates strong and widespread changes in deposition conditions associated with reorientation of Arctic Plates, accompanied by gradual opening of the Fram Strait, and widespread regression of sea level. The top of HARS seems to present a gliding plane as indicated by mass wasting structures in the sequences above. Another marked seismic unit, as well striking by high-amplidue reflectors, parallels the seafloor with a constant thickness of about 160 m. Likely it marks the large-scale glaciation of the northern hemisphere, and its widespread impact on the deposition environment of the ridge and adjacent basins. A pronounced BSR as desribed in earlier studies turned out to be an artefact resulting from a bubble signal.
Towards the Amundsen Basin the slope of the Ridge is structured into three faulted crustal blocks indicating large scale vertical motions which we associate with gradational rifting and opening of the Eurasian Basin. All seismic profiles reveal resembling sedimentary sequences on these blocks. The top of HARS can be well defined on each line, and the seismic units above show striking similarities in thickness and internal reflection pattern along the whole observed region. That indicates that widespread and pelagic sedimentation prevailed since late Oligocene times on the ridge and adjacent basin.


Synergy analysis of anticancer agents is an important approach to determining the ratio and/or dose of drugs for clinical combination therapy. However, this method is rarely used to evaluate the composition of traditional Chinese medicine formulation. 'Yanhusuo San' (YHSS), which consists of yanhusuo (Rhizoma Corydalis) and Ezhu (Rhizoma Curcumae), has been an archaic Chinese medicine prescription since the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). We previously demonstrated that either yanhusuo or ezhu has strong anticancer effect. Herein, we sought to determine the possible synergic effect between these two Chinese herbs. We measured the IC50 of each herb extract and both extracts at different ratios of doses by MTT assay. Isobologram and combination index (CI) analyses were used to evaluate the synergistic effect of yanhusuo and ezhu in different fixed ratios. Our results indicated that a combination of two herbal extracts exhibits the strongest anticancer cell proliferation effect at the ratio of 3:2 (ezhu to yanhusuo; referred to as E3Y2). Using Boyden Chamber assay, flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy analysis, we found that E3Y2 could markedly reduce the cell invasion ability and induce cytochrome c release rather than single use, but E3Y2 could not influence the cell cycle distribution. When the levels of ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2 and p-Rb were determined by Western blot analysis, we found that the E3Y2 significantly suppresses the level of p-ERK. Thus, our studies provide a plausible molecular basis of the synergistic anti-tumor effect of ezhu and yanhusuo.


Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) has been applied to the solution of aquifer flow problems. Three examples from of each of the three one-dimensional aquifer flow equation problems, a confined aquifer flow with time dependent boundary conditions, a composite confined aquifer and an unconfined aquifer with seepage, were examined. The results of DQM solution were then compared with the results obtained from analytical solution, the Explicit Finite Differences Method and Implicit Finite Differences Method. Based on the comparison results, it was concluded that the DQM provides similar results but with relatively faster calculation speed, less nodes and memory usage.


ABSTRACT This article explores the phenomenon of the de and rehumanization of khwaja siras in two Pakistani national television plays: Alif Allah Aur Insaan (Alpha, Allah and Man) and Khuda Mera Bhi Hai (God is Mine too). I argue that these two plays made a significant contribution to the reimagining and reconstruction of khwaja sira subjectivities, which were later endorsed by Third gender legislation in 2009 and the Pakistan National Assembly's historic Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2018. In order to understand the process of the reversal of dehumanization, namely rehumanization, I discuss how violence (both physical and psychological) has been legitimized in Pakistan's patriarchal society by restricting the mobility of khwaja siras in both private and public spaces. Against the backdrop of processes of multi-layered dehumanization and systemic violence, I argue that the pro-(gendered) minority narratives in these plays initiated a process of redefining the notions of home, belonging and relatedness for transgenders; in so doing, the newly-constructed multi-dimensional khwaja sira subjectivities gesture towards the (re)opening of gender restrictive spaces, enumerating the complex ways in which khwaja siras assert their agency and inclusion within mainstream society through resistance and collective action.


The paper explores the transportation-land use policy connection. More specifically, it considers the question, can land use policy be used to alter transportation behavior? The answer is of some importance. If the answer is yes, then there is hope that land use policies can be designed and implemented that will bring some relief to the congestion and complex transportation problems that are facing US metropolitan areas. This is the underlying assumption behind most smart growth policy reforms. If the answer is no, then land use policy may still be important, but is not likely to play an important role in resolving transportation issues. The paper then offers a schematic that identifies necessary conditions for land use policy to play a role in addressing transportation issues. Specifically, the paper argues that for land use policy to play an effective role, three conditions must hold. First, land use must be able to alter transportation behavior; secondly, transportation infrastructure must not fully determine land use; and thirdly, the condition on which the authors consider most extensively, land use policy must significantly and constructively affect land use. After presenting the schematic, the paper considers the evidence on each of these conditions. Based on the review of the evidence, the paper concludes that land use policy can play an effective role in transportation issues, but that the role is likely to be small, often counter productive, and most effective at the neighborhood scale.


Religious and spiritual struggles (R/S struggles)—tension or conflicts regarding religious or spiritual matters—have been robustly linked to greater psychological distress and lower well-being. Most research in this area has relied on samples consisting predominantly of participants who believe in god(s). Limited research has examined R/S struggles among atheists, generally conflating them with agnostics and other nontheists. This study investigated the prevalence of R/S struggles among atheists and compared atheists to theists in two samples (3978 undergraduates, 1048 Internet workers). Results of a multilevel model showed that atheists experience less demonic, doubt, divine, moral, and overall R/S struggles than theists, but similar levels of interpersonal and ultimate meaning struggles. Correlation and regression analyses among atheists demonstrated links between moral, ultimate meaning, and overall R/S struggles and greater distress (depression and anxiety symptoms) as well as lower well-being (life satisfaction and meaning in life). Even after controlling neuroticism, ultimate meaning struggles continued to predict lower well-being and higher distress across samples; moral struggles also predicted distress independently. This study demonstrates the relevance of R/S struggles to atheists and reinforces the applicability of previous results to atheist samples, but also highlights substantial differences between atheists and theists in certain R/S struggles.


Introduction: Prostacyclin genetic overexpression or the oral prostacyclin analogue iloprost prevent development of lung cancer in a variety of murine models, including cigarette smoke exposure mice. The mechanism of action is through non-canonical PPARγ activation. PPARγ agonists also prevent development of lung cancer in experimental models. These observations have led to completed ongoing and planned phase II chemoprevention clinical trials using bronchial histology as the primary endpoint. Methods: In the completed randomized Phase II study comparing iloprost to placebo entry criteria included: current or former smoker (> 20 pack years); at least mild cytologic atypia on sputum cytology; no previous history of cancer. Autofluorescence and white light bronchoscopy was performed with 6 standard endobronchial sites biopsied, along with all other abnormally appearing areas. Subjects were then randomized to oral iloprost (in escalating doses) or placebo for 6 months and then a second bronchoscopy with repeat biopsy of all the central airway areas sampled during the first bronchoscopy, as well as any new areas suspicious for dysplasia. The predetermined primary endpoint for the study was average bronchial histologic score (based on the WHO classification of premalignant lesions) in all subjects, as well as in current and ex-smokers separately. In the ongoing study of the PPRAα agonist, pioglitazone, entry criteria, sample size and endpoints are similar. Results: For the iloprost study, 152 subjects were randomized and 125 completed both bronchoscopies (60/75 iloprost, 65/77 placebo). Treatment groups were well matched for age, tobacco exposure and baseline histology. Endobronchial histology was summarized within patients using three separate measures: worst biopsy score (Max), dysplasia index (DI - defined as the percentage of biopsies with a score of at least 4 (mild dysplasia) or worse), and average of all biopsy scores (Avg). 74% of subjects had at least one biopsy displaying mild dysplasia (score 4.0) or worse on the initial bronchoscopy. A reproducibility study with two independent pathologists demonstrated that 85% of readings were within one histologic grade. Baseline histology was significantly worse for current smokers (Avg 3.0) than former smokers (Avg 2.1). Former smokers receiving oral iloprost exhibited a significant improvement in Avg (0.41 better, p=0.010), Max (1.10 units, p=0.002), and an improvement in DI (12.45%, p=0.006). No histologic improvement occurred in current smokers. Proliferation by Ki-67 index was a secondary endpoint and demonstrated no change with iloprost administration. There were no differences in dropout rates or SAEs between treatment groups. In the ongoing pioglitazone study - patients have been enrolled and dropout rates are also very low. Conclusions and Future Directions: Oral iloprost significantly improved endobronchial dysplasia in former heavy smokers with sputum dysplasia. Unfortunately, the oral iloprost studied is no longer available commercially. Since the ultimate goal is to prevent lung cancer and the groups at highest risk and greatest numbers are resected stage I lung cancer and head and neck cancer patients. We are planning a randomized phase II trial in resected stage I NSCLC and SCCHN patients. The study drug will be a new oral prostacyclin or to placebo for one year with bronchial biopsies at times 0, 6 month and 12 months. CT scan will also be obtained at these times with bronchial histology as primary endpoint. When the pioglitazone study and this study are completed, a phase III randomized trial with prevention of secondary lung cancer as the primary endpoint in contemplated. Disclosures: RLK, YEM and MWG hold a patent for the use of prostacylin analogs for the prevention of cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr ED01-03.


Excessive corticosterone (CORT), resulting from a dysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, is associated with cognitive impairment and behavioral changes, including depression. In Korean oriental medicine, Pedicularis resupinata is used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, the antidepressant properties of P. resupinata have not been well characterized. Here, the antidepressant-like effects of P. resupinata extract (PRE) were evaluated in terms of CORT-induced depression using in vivo models. HPLC confirmed that acteoside, a phenylethanoid glycoside, was the main compound from PRE. Male ICR mice (8 weeks old) were injected with CORT (40 mg/kg, i.p.) and orally administered PRE daily (30, 100, and 300 mg/kg) for 21 consecutive days. Depressive-like behaviors were evaluated using the open-field test, sucrose preference test, passive avoidance test, tail suspension test, and forced swim test. Treatment with a high dose of PRE significantly alleviated CORT-induced, depressive-like behaviors in mice. Additionally, repeated CORT injection markedly reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, whereas total glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and GR phosphorylation at serine 211 were significantly increased in the mice hippocampus but improved by PRE treatment. Thus, our findings suggest that PRE has potential antidepressant-like effects in CORT-induced, depressive-like behavior in mice.


The aim of the paper is to construct an iterative method for finding the fixed points of nonexpansive mappings. We introduce a general implicit iterative scheme for finding an element of the set of fixed points of a nonexpansive mapping defined on a nonempty closed convex subset of a real Hilbert space. The strong convergence theorem for the proposed iterative scheme is proved under certain assumptions imposed on the sequence of parameters. Our results extend and improve the results given by Ke and Ma [Y. Ke, C. Ma, Fixed Point Theory Appl., 2015 (2015), 21 pages], Xu et al. [H. K. Xu, M. A. Alghamdi, N. Shahzad, Fixed Point Theory Appl., 2015 (2015), 12 pages], and many others. ©2016 all rights reserved.


As majority of the present day consumers are considering brand as an important element in their choice of decision while purchasing, it is very important that sellers should capitalize on the type of brand that they are offering to the consumers. Both private labels and national brands have their own advantages and disadvantages over each other mainly in terms of pricing and quality factors. But the main motive the consumers are looking forward is to buy a product which would effectively satisfy their wants and needs. If they find a product which would satisfy their needs effectively, they would buy it irrespective of whether it is a private label or a national brand. Even the price of the product may not be a major factor in such a case. The study is mainly carried out to check the preference of the customers over the usage of private labels and national branded products to satisfy their needs and requirements. The study tries to differentiate between private labels and national brands. It checks the customer preference between private labels and national brands. Key w ords: Private Label Brands, National Brands, Customer Satisfaction


A new method is presented for the calculation of highly excited bound and continuum molecular electronic wavefunctions. It combines the methods of ab initio quantum chemistry with multichannel quantum defect theory. The approach is based on artificial well potentials (AWPs) designed such that square-integrable Cartesian Gaussian basis sets can be used for the calculation of continuum states at arbitrary energy. The method will be illustrated in the following paper by an application to the NO molecule.


Purpose
There are many investigations in design methodologies, but there are also divergences and convergences as there are so many points of view. This study aims to evaluate to corroborate and deepen other researchers' findings, dissipate divergences and provide directing to future work on the subject from a methodological and convergent perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzes the previous reviews (about 15 reviews) and based on the consensus and the classifications provided by these authors, a significant sample of research is analyzed in the design for additive manufacturing (DFAM) theme (approximately 80 articles until June of 2017 and approximately 280–300 articles until February of 2019) through descriptive statistics, to corroborate and deepen the findings of other researchers.

Findings
Throughout this work, this paper found statistics indicating that the main areas studied are: multiple objective optimizations, execution of the design, general DFAM and DFAM for functional performance. Among the main conclusions: there is a lack of innovation in the products developed with the methodologies, there is a lack of exhaustivity in the methodologies, there are few efforts to include environmental aspects in the methodologies, many of the methods include economic and cost evaluation, but are not very explicit and broad (sustainability evaluation), it is necessary to consider a greater variety of functions, among other conclusions

Originality/value
The novelty in this study is the methodology. It is very objective, comprehensive and quantitative. The starting point is not the case studies nor the qualitative criteria, but the figures and quantities of methodologies. The main contribution of this review article is to guide future work on the subject from a methodological and convergent perspective and this article provides a broad database with articles containing information on many issues to make decisions: design methodology; optimization; processes, selection of parts and materials; cost and product management; mechanical, electrical and thermal properties; health and environmental impact, etc.


Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe complication frequently seen during the neonatal period associated with high mortality rate and severe and prolonged morbidity including Post-NEC intestinal stricture. The aim of this study is to define the incidence and risk factors of these post-NEC strictures, in order to better orient their medicosurgical care. Sixty cases of NEC were retrospectively reviewed from a single tertiary center with identical treatment protocols throughout the period under study, including systematic X-ray contrast study. This study reports a high rate of post-NEC intestinal stricture (n = 27/48; 57% of survivors), either in cases treated surgically (91%) and after the medical treatment of NEC (47%). A colonic localization of the strictures was more frequent in medically-treated patients than in those with NEC treated surgically (87% vs. 50%). The length of the strictures was significantly shorter in case of NEC treated medically. No deaths were attributable to the presence of post-NEC stricture. The mean hospitalization time in NICU and the median age at discontinuation of parenteral nutrition were longer in the group with stricture, but this difference was not significant. The median age at discharge was significantly higher in the group with stricture (p = 0.02). The occurrence of post-NEC stricture was significantly associated with the presence of parietal signs of inflammation and thrombopenia (<100 000 platelets/mm3). The mean maximum CRP concentration during acute phase was significantly higher in infants who developed stricture (p<0.001), as was the mean duration of the elevation of CRP levels (p<0.001). The negative predictive value of CRP levels continually <10 mg/dL for the appearance of stricture was 100% in our study. In conclusion, this retrospective and monocentric study demonstrates the correlation between the intensity of the inflammatory syndrome and the risk of secondary intestinal stricture, when systematic contrast study is performed following NEC.


Cary Buzzelli and Bill Johnson reinvigorate the enduring question: What is the place of morality in the classroom? Departing from notions of a morality that can only be abstract and absolute, these authors ground their investigation in analyses of actual teacher-student interactions. This approach illuminates the ways in which language, power and culture impact "the moral" in teaching. Buzzelli and Johnson's study addresses a wide range of moral issues in various classroom contexts. Its practical and diverse examples make it a valuable resource for teachers and teacher development programs.


A prerequisite is anything that you need to know or understand first before attempting to learn or understand something new. In the current work, we present a method of finding prerequisite relations between concepts using related textbooks. Previous researchers have focused on finding these relations using Wikipedia link structure through unsupervised and supervised learning approaches. In the current work, we have proposed two methods, one is statistical method and another is learning-based method. We mine the rich and structured knowledge available in the textbooks to find the content for those concepts and the order in which they are discussed. Using this information, proposed statistical method estimates explicit as well as implicit prerequisite relations between concepts. During experiments, we have found performance of proposed statistical method is better than the popular RefD method, which uses Wikipedia link structure. And proposed learning-based method has shown a significant increase in the efficiency of supervised learning method when compared with graph and text-based learning-based approaches.


Purpose of review Two years of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted that excessive sedation in the ICU leading to coma and other adverse outcomes remains pervasive. There is a need to improve monitoring and management of sedation in mechanically ventilated patients. Remote technologies that are based on automated analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) could enhance standard care and alert clinicians real-time when severe EEG suppression or other abnormal brain states are detected. Recent findings High rates of drug-induced coma as well as delirium were found in several large cohorts of mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. In patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, high doses of sedatives comparable to general anesthesia have been commonly administered without defined EEG endpoints. Continuous limited-channel EEG can reveal pathologic brain states such as burst suppression, that cannot be diagnosed by neurological examination alone. Recent studies documented that machine learning-based analysis of continuous EEG signal is feasible and that this approach can identify burst suppression as well as delirium with high specificity. Summary Preventing oversedation in the ICU remains a challenge. Continuous monitoring of EEG activity, automated EEG analysis, and generation of alerts to clinicians may reduce drug-induced coma and potentially improve patient outcomes.


This book aim to address the open problem of articulated and undulatory motion analysis for action/activity recognition and 3-D animation synthesis. Concisely, the main goal is to propose general models and methods of middle level analysis (e.g. detection-tracking algorithms), aiming at high level analysis for humans (e.g. action and activity recognition) and 3-D animation synthesis for animals. Moreover, we study the curve equipartition problem (EP), which consists a fundamental geometrical problem that has risen from undulatory motion analysis and has applications in computer science.


PURPOSE
Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) may be associated with postpartum psychiatric morbidity. However, the direction and strength of this relationship remains unclear. Our goal was to estimate the association between SMM and postpartum inpatient mental health care utilization.

METHODS
We examined all liveborn deliveries at a large, safety-net hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, from 2013 to 2021. SMM at or within 42 days of delivery was identified using International Classification of Disease (ICD) codes. The primary outcome of interest was hospitalization with a psychiatric diagnosis in the year following delivery. We used inverse probability of treatment weighting based on propensity scores to adjust for demographics, index delivery characteristics, and medical, psychiatric, and obstetric history. We fit log binomial models with generalized estimating equations to calculate adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS
Among 22,233 deliveries, the rates of SMM and postpartum hospitalization with a psychiatric diagnosis, respectively, were 6.8% (n = 1,149) and 0.8% (n = 169). The most common psychiatric diagnosis was non-psychotic mood disorders (without SMM 0.4%, n = 79; with SMM 1.7% n = 24). After weighting, 2.2% of deliveries with SMM had a postpartum readmission with a psychiatric diagnosis, compared to 0.7% of deliveries without SMM [aRR 3.2, 95% CI (2.0, 5.2)]. Associations were stronger among individuals without previous psychiatric hospitalization.

CONCLUSION
Experiencing SMM was associated with elevated risk of postpartum psychiatric morbidity. These findings support screening and treatment for mild and moderate postpartum psychiatric disorders in the antenatal period.


This study addresses the synchronization of the modified Chua circuit systems with fully unknown parameters and nonlinearity in the control input. A simple robust controller with a single-state variable feedback and a nonlinear compensating mechanism is derived, such that the states of two modified chaotic systems are asymptotically synchronized. According to the Lyapunov stability theorem, the asymptotic stability of the solutions of the state error system is studied. A series of numerical simulations are given to explain the effectiveness and robustness of the designed simple robust controller. In simulation the Mento-Carlo method used to evaluate the robustness of the control system.


Surveillance of adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) is an integral component of any immunisation program; it is as important as surveillance of both immunisation coverage and vaccine preventable diseases. In this article we describe the purpose of AEFI surveillance and the methods used to monitor AEFIs in Australia and NSW. We also summarise NSW AEFI surveillance reports received between January 2000 and November 2002.


Routers, whose main tasks include forwarding and best route computing, have undergone several design architectures in the last years in order to deal with the explosion of traffic in the Internet. Next generation routers are made with enhanced memory capacity and computing resources, distributed across a very high speed switching fabric. However, the current routing software products, particularly those built by thirdparty developers, are not able to fully exploit the new hardware platform of these routers due to their centralized architectures with a solely control card being responsible for all routing and management tasks. This paper proposes a first fully distributed software architecture of the RSVP-TE module for next generation routers in order to scale with the stringent requirements of the MPLS signaling. The components of the current centralized architecture of RSVP-TE module are offloaded onto line cards in order to share the load between the control card and the line cards. Such a distributed architecture meets the scalability requirements, e.g., high volume of traffic of next generation routers. The robustness and resiliency are also improved. We propose an estimation of the scalability of the distributed RSVP-TE architecture based on the CPU utilization.


In this Letter, we present the reconstruction of variational iterat ion method (RVIM) for obtaining the analytical solution of the one-dimensional nonlinear Burgers' equation. The initial appro ximat ion can be freely chosen with possible unknown constants which can be determined by imposing the boundary and initial conditions. Convergence of the solution and effects for the method is discussed. Burgers equation is used for describing wave processes in acoustics and hydrodynamics. It illustrates the validity and the great potential of the reconstruction of variational iteration method in solving nonlinear partial differential equations. The obtained results reveal that the technique introduced here is very effective and convenient for solving nonlinear part ial differential equations and nonlinear ord inary d ifferential equations that we are found to be in good agreement with the exact solutions.


Report on the clinical experience in 80 patients with the intramedullary trochanteric nailfixation according to KUNTSCHER of pertrochanteric, or subtrochanteric femur fractures. This procedure in our opinion enlarges the operative methods for treatment of fractures of the trochanteric region in elderly patients with a high operative risk.


A large quantity of oil and gas resources is reserved in the offshore deepwater basins of the world.The occurrence of high quality reservoirs is the necessary condition for forming large hydrocarbon accumulations.A comprehensive study of 24 key deepwater oil-gas-bearing basins of the world,mainly from the Atlantic deepwater and the Neotethyan domain was carried out by the authors,including those in the Gulf of Mexico,eastern Brazilian continental margin,West African passive continental margin,Mid-Norway continental shelf,Northwest Shelf of Australia,South China Sea,Bay of Bengal,and the Mediterranean(Nile Delta).Forming ages,tectonic settings,and depositional environments of the main reservoirs were summarized,and the distribution patterns discussed.Results show that the main reservoirs of the deepwater oil-gas-bearing basins in the world were formed in the time of Cretaceous and Peleogene.The age of main reservoirs in the Atlantic deepwater basins show a distribution pattern of older in the north and younger in the south,whereas the main reservoirs in the Neotethyan deepwater basins are dominanted by the Peleogene.Most of the reservoirs were formed in the drifting stage.In the Atlantic deepwater basins,the main reservoirs are characterized by rifting in the north,and drifting in the south,and the main reservoirs in the Neothetyan deepwater basins were mainly formed in the drifting stage.As far as the sedimentary environment is considered,the main reservoirs in the deepwater basins are dominanted by abyssal turbidite and fluvial-deltaic sandstones.In the Atlantic deepwater basins,the distribution pattern of main reservoirs shows a trend with the littoral-neritic facies in the north,and abyssal facies in the south,while the main reservoirs in the deepwater basins in the Neotethyan domain is characterized by fluvial-delta-littoral-neritic facies.


We propose a novel structure of fiber laser to achieve single-frequency and polarization-stable oscillation without using a polarization-maintaining (PM) active fiber. The proposed structure has two stabilization mechanisms. First, the laser has a Fabry-Perot cavity composed of Faraday-rotator mirrors (FRMs) to stabilize the polarization-mode competition. We make comparison of polarization-mode stability in various types of cavity structure, and confirm that the Fabry-Perot cavity composed of a non-PM fiber and FRMs has ideal stability similar to the ring cavity composed of a PM fiber and a polarizer. Second, in order to stabilize the longitudinal mode, the laser has an intracavity etalon specially designed to maximize its finesse by removing undesired reflections from the etalon. In the experiment, we construct a fiber laser composed of a non-PM erbium-doped fiber (EDF), FRMs, and an intracavity Fabry-Perot etalon. The polarization-stable and single-frequency operation of the laser is demonstrated.


It is necessary to accurately detect and locate sub-cycle faults in order to prevent unexpected outages. However, conventional fault location methods cannot locate these faults as typically data windows longer than the fault's signature are used for phasor extraction. This paper presents an overall analysis of how the single-phase-ground sub-cycle fault in the distribution network can be located using voltage sag. The half-cycle Discrete Fourier transform is used for phasor extraction in the timedomain simulations. Our results reveal that the proposed approach is capable of accurately locating sub-cycle faults whose duration is between 0.5 and 1.0 cycles. The results also suggest that the placement of meters may significantly affect the capability of the proposed approach to locate sub-cycle faults.


The miniaturization of CMOS technology has reached a scale at which server processors are starting to integrate multi-gigabit network interface controllers (NIC). While transistors are becoming cheap and abundant in solid-state circuits, they remain at a premium on a processor die if they do not contribute to increase the number of cores and caches. Therefore, an integrated NIC (iNIC) must provide high networking performance under high logic density and low power dissipation. This paper describes the design of an integrated accelerator to offload computation-intensive protocol-processing tasks. The accelerator combines the concepts of the transport-triggered architecture with a programmable finite-state machine to deliver high instruction-level parallelism, efficient multiway branching and flexibility. The flexibility is key to adapt to protocol changes and address new applications. This accelerator was used in the construction of a 10 GbE iNIC in 45-nm CMOS technology. The ratio of performance (15 Mfps - 20 Gb/s Tput per port) to area (0.7 mm2) and the power consumption (0.15 W) of this accelerator were core enablers for constructing a processor compute complex with four iNICs.


We prove the uniqueness of solutions of the Maxwell-Schr"odinger system with given asymptotic behaviour at infinity in time. The assumptions include suitable restrictions on the growth of solutions for large time and on the accuracy of their asymptotics, but no restriction on their size. The result applies to the solutions with prescribed asymptotics constructed in a previous paper.


In an epoch when environmental issues make the headlines, this is a work that goes beyond the everyday. Ecologies as diverse as the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean coast, the Negev desert and the former military bases of Vietnam, or the Namib desert and the east African savannah all have in common a long-time human presence and the many ways people have modified nature. With research in six Asian and African countries, the authors come together to ask how and why human impacts on nature have grown in scale and pace from a long pre-history. The chapters in this volume illumine specific patterns and responses across time, going beyond an overt centring of the European experience. The tapestry of life and the human reshaping of environments evoke both concern and hope, making it vital to understand when, why, and how we came to this particular turn in the road. Eschewing easy labels and questioning eurocentrism in today's climate vocabulary, this is a volume that will stimulate rethinking among scholars and citizens alike.


ABSTRACT:  This article describes the development and validation of a diagnostic test of German and its integration in a programme of formative assessment during a one-year initial teacher-training course. The test focuses on linguistic aspects that cause difficulty for trainee teachers of German as a foreign language and assesses implicit and explicit grammatical knowledge as well as students' confidence in this knowledge. Administration of the test to 57 German speakers in four groups (first-year undergraduates, fourth-year undergraduates, postgraduate trainees, and native speakers) provided evidence of its reliability and validity.


This paper seeks to interpret that which is blue of Indonesia—the largest archipelagic nation in the world—by way of proffering for Indonesian Christianity a range of blue hues (corak biru) following an ecotheological perspective. I start by discussing ecotheology and its contribution within Christianity to illustrate how this sub-discipline becomes a "brush" that for Christianity can render such blue hues. This is followed by a discussion on why and how a responsive ecotheology to the environmental/marine ecosystem crisis could render as "blue paint" for that subdisciplinary brush—a blue ecotheology (ekoteologi biru). To accomplish this, both Christianity's abject appraisal of the sea, as well as Christianity's own blue-hued anthropocentrism (corak biru antroposentrisme), are parsed and addressed in turn by the paradigm of a community of creation as "sketch." These discussions summarily affirm the conviction that the sea must be considered and treated not as an object of human exploitation but as a proper subject working to support the life that is common among all of God's animate creation. Humankind and the sea itself, alike, participate in that life. The spectrum of blueness I propose to be displayed across the "canvas" of Indonesian Christianity is this: to be sea-friendly in both outlook and attitude, in ways that safeguard the sea's ongoing involvement in life. To conclude, this paper invites Indonesian Christianity to put the full array of its blue hues on display within both theological discourse and its activities as the church.


Resistive switching devices are candidates to be used as weight for the future hardware realization of neuronal networks. Herein, these resistive switches base on oxygen vacancy migration and can be toggled between different resistance states. Internal processes lead to a variability over time in these states. To understand this, a dynamical model is developed, which links the internal physical mechanism to the current response. Thereby, the electronic current is calculated by tunneling processes over oxygen vacancies. The model allows to understand the physical transport properties and the current–voltage dependence. Integrating ionic hopping processes clarifies the variability in the electronic conduction. The derived model does not require empirical input parameters and only depends on the properties of the materials. This allows to use literature values and independently compare them to electrical measurements. The model predicts the experiments correctly. Thereupon, the physical properties of the conduction are investigated with respect to the transport over discrete energy levels, which change under the hopping of oxygen vacancies. Afterwards, the current level and variability are simulated for increasing oxygen vacancy concentrations to investigate analog switching, which is required for neuronal network layers. Finally, the variability is tested with multiple interacting cells in a neuronal layer.


Opiate use is no longer confined to the greater urban context in Ireland, with scant detoxification services present in rural areas (Carew et al, 2009; National Advisory Committee on Drugs, 2008). This exploratory research aimed to yield an illustrative account of opiate users' experiences of self‐detoxification by adopting a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Data emerging from 21 in‐depth interviews (n=12 heroin users, n=9 drug service providers: statutory, community and voluntary) were analysed using the constant comparative method. The study generated a substantive theory of self‐detoxification as a subjective process of seeking heroin abstinence. Self‐detoxification emerged as a frequent and reactive or proactive process in collaboration with others (heroin users, family and drug service providers). The study has implications for drug service delivery in rural Ireland in terms of increasing information provision and access to opiate detoxification through the development of low threshold services and community‐based detoxification.


A syndrome that was described by the ancient Greeks and has been widely observed by physicians since then is likely to have considerable face validity, but there continues to be disagreement about the diagnosis, cause, prevalence, and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.1 From the beginning of this century the concept of the condition has evolved from it being a biologically based disorder of behaviour control, from a condition with minimal brain dysfunction, to a disorder characterised by a deficit of attention.2 The main controversy now is about how to treat the condition.

The past 20 years have seen the development of diagnostic criteria in both Britain and America. In 1981 the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual version III (DSM-III) departed from those of the International Classification of Diseases ninth edition (ICD-9) in creating subtypes of attention deficit disorder with and without hyperactivity. Meanwhile, the ICD-9 continued to emphasise "pervasive hyperactivity" as the hallmark of …


TN-368 lepidopteran insect cells display a pronounced resistance to the lethal effects of ionizing radiation and exhibit superior DNA repair capabilities. When a TN-368 cell population entering stationary growth phase is irradiated with 137Cs gamma rays and then incubated for several hours before cell dilution and plating for colony formation, the surviving fraction is increased several-fold over cells diluted and plated immediately after irradiation. Similarly, the survival of cells plated immediately following the second of two equivalent doses separated by several hours is greater than the survival of cells plated immediately following a single dose equal to the sum of the split doses. Both processes exhibit similar biphasic repair kinetics and reach maximal levels by 6 h. The phenomena appear initially to be analogous to confluent-holding and split-dose recovery as described for mammalian cells. However, the survival levels obtained for doses of 61-306 Gy after allowing for these recovery processes to occur are quite high and greatly exceed survival levels for all but relatively low doses less than 50 Gy. For example, while the survival of cells irradiated with 150 Gy is near 0.15, the survival of cells receiving 306 Gy in two equivalent split doses is approximately 0.77. Even if damage induced by the first of the split doses was completely repaired, it might be expected that the survival would be near the level of the second dose alone, or near 0.15. Instead the survival is approximately five times greater, suggesting that the first split dose stimulated a repair system not present in unirradiated cells. The situation for confluent-holding recovery is similar to that for split-dose recovery.


How does female board membership affect firm stakeholder strategy? With the large increase in pressure to add more women to boards, it is especially important to understand how they influence firm strategy. Moreover, despite the growing importance of firm stakeholder strategy, key stakeholders continue to criticize firms for failing to keep their commitments. Here, we expect that owing to their long-term nature, consistency is particularly important for stakeholder investments, and that owing to their greater interest in stakeholder issues and their effect on board monitoring, female board members can be a key driver of stakeholder strategy consistency. Specifically, we develop and test hypotheses that increasing architectural complexity and uncertainty make stakeholder investments more difficult or costly, leading to a reduction in such investments. However, female board membership increases firm stakeholder consistency and counteracts these negative effects. Using a sample of 1755 S&P 1500 firms for the period 2000–2013, we provide robust support for our hypotheses.


Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 2 (TRAF2), an adapter protein that associates with the cytoplasmic tail of OX40, may play a critical role in OX40-mediated signal transduction. To investigate the in vivo role of TRAF2 in OX40-mediated generation of Ag-specific memory T cells, we bred OVA-specific TCR transgenic mice to TRAF2 dominant-negative (TRAF2 DN) mice. Following Ag stimulation and OX40 engagement of TRAF2 DN T cells in vivo, the number of long-lived OVA-specific T cells and effector T cell function was dramatically reduced when compared with wild-type T cells. We also demonstrate that CTLA-4 is down-regulated following OX40 engagement in vivo and the OX40-specific TRAF2 DN defect was partially overcome by CTLA-4 blockade in vivo. The data provide evidence that TRAF2 is linked to OX40-mediated memory T cell expansion and survival, and point to the down-regulation of CTLA-4 as a possible control element to enhance early T cell expansion through OX40 signaling.


Paranuclear blue inclusions (PBIs) are frequently identified within metastatic undifferentiated small cell carcinoma (SCC) cells on air-dried bone marrow aspirates stained with Wright's stain. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of this finding, 116 bone marrow aspirates containing metastatic neoplasms were evaluated for the presence and frequency of PBIs. Bone marrow specimens included 47 cases of metastatic SCC of the lung, 13 cases of large cell lymphoma, 19 cases of neuroblastoma, five cases of small, noncleaved cell lymphoma, seven cases of rhabdomyosarcoma, three cases of Ewing's sarcoma, three cases of other sarcomas, and 19 cases of non-small cell carcinoma (adenocarcinoma). PBIs were identified in 40 of 47 (85%) cases of SCC and their frequency varied from 0 to 24% of tumor cells among different cases. In approximately half the cases of SCC, PBIs were identified in 1 to 4% tumor cells; and in eight cases, PBIs were present in 5% or more of tumor cells. PBIs were also identified in two of seven (29%) cases of rhabdomyosarcoma and one case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, but they were not seen in Ewing's sarcoma, small non-cleaved cell lymphoma, large cell lymphoma, neuroblastoma, or non-small cell carcinoma. In addition, PBIs were not seen in alcohol-fixed, Papanicolaou-stained cytology specimens containing SCC. Ultrastructurally, PBIs may represent phagocytized nuclear/cellular material. PBIs are a feature of small cell carcinoma on air-dried, cytologic material stained with Romanowsky type stains. Their presence may provide diagnostic information with regard to the differential diagnosis of metastatic SCC in the bone marrow. Future studies evaluating non-bone marrow Wright's stained fine-needle aspiration specimens are needed to determine if PBIs are useful in distinguishing SCC from other poorly differentiated tumors in the cytology laboratory.


According to the author of this article, a support to multilateral cultural cooperation should be an utter priority for the European Union, also in view of developing a common foreign and security policy and to prevent a «clash of civilisations». European countries should thus stop to compete with each other through their national cultural institutes abroad, as they often do, but rather try to join their efforts. A leading and catalyst role should be played by the EU, by creating Houses of European Cultures in some emblematic, key capital cities outside Europe. Such Houses should not be managed by diplomats, but rather by experienced and talented European cultural operators, with the aim of fostering mutual respect an understanding as well as international cultural dialogue.


Friedreigh's disease is only rarely associated with diabetes mellitus and only few cases are to be found in the literature, especially as regards siblings. Three cases of this association in members of two different families are reported. Two of the patients died from cardiovascular complication; the third case is that of a 32-yr-old woman who was able to complete a pregnancy. The pathogenesis of the association is discussed and a number of theories are put forward. The most generally accepted genetic hypothesis makes it possible to explain under a common metabolic denominator neurological disturbances and those in other systems. The association is not a purely casual event but is perhaps dependent on either two different genes or on a single gene with pleitropic effect. Heart signs are frequent in Friedreich's disease and brief mention is made of these.


Residues are defined as all active ingredients or metabolites of those ingredients that remain in meat or other foodstuffs from the animal to which the medicinal product in question has been administered. The presence of antimicrobial residues in foods of animal origin, combined with failure to comply with the instructions for their use (dosage and waiting period) or poor livestock production practices, can have serious consequences for consumer health. Antibiotic residues occur in various types of foods of animal origin including milk, egg and meat due to large-scale application of antibiotics in veterinary practice and creates problems not only in dairy and beef industry but also have immense public health significance. Greater attention from a public health aspect is needed on the safety of drug residues as a result of indiscriminate use of antibiotics and the expanding increase of chemicals and drugs in the food supply. In general, harmful effects of drug and chemical residues may be carcinogenic, teratogenic, reduction in reproductive performance drug allergy and acute toxicity. In accordance with the label directions of the drug product, the safety levels must be strictly observed so that meat, milk or egg products will not contain illegal residues when they are sold for human consumption. Therefore, to prevent residue make individuals and organizations aware of the problem through education about the withdrawal time of the drug and government, producers, veterinarians, teachers and academicians, marketing associations, and other interested parties should work together in order to control and prevent residues in food. Keywords : Antibiotic, Maximum Residual Limit, Public Health


Several studies in tropical watersheds have evaluated the impact of urbanization and agricultural practices on water quality. In Brazil, savannas (known regionally as Cerrados) represent 23% of the country's surface, representing an important share to the national primary growth product, especially due to intense agriculture. The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive evaluation, on a yearly basis, of carbon, nitrogen and major ion fluxes in streams crossing areas under different land use (natural vegetation, sugar cane and eucalyptus) in a savanna region of SE Brazil. Eucalyptus and sugar cane alter the transport of the investigated elements in small watersheds. The highest concentration of all parameters (abiotic parameters, ions, dissolved organic carbon DOC - and dissolved inorganic carbon - DIC) were found in Sugar Cane Watersheds (SCW). The observed concentrations of major cations in Eucalyptus Watersheds (EW) (Mg, Ca, K, Na), as well as DIN and DOC, were found frequently to be intermediate values between those of Savanna Watersheds (SW) and SCW, suggesting a moderate impact of eucalyptus plantations on the streamwater. Same trends were found in relation to ion and nutrient fluxes, where the higher values corresponded to SCW. It is suggested that sugar cane plantations might be playing an important role in altering the chemistry of water bodies.


This paper aims to provide information to the public about the understanding, uses, objectives, limitations and methods of calculating changes in gross profit analysis. Management requires information that can be used as a basis for evaluating the causes of the increase or decrease in the company's gross profit. By knowing the causes of the increase or decrease in the company's gross profit, management can determine the actions to be taken, if the gross profit shows an increase, then the factors causing it are worth defending. Conversely, if gross profit decreases, the factors that cause it are carried out as necessary so as not to be repeated in the next period. Analysis of changes in gross profit provides information that can be used by management as a basis for evaluation and actions needed in the next period, while to calculate the required data on sales and Cost of Goods Sold also in units and rupiah. The basis for calculating changes in gross profit is twofold, the first comparing the achievements of the current period with the previous and the second by comparing the target with the realization.


This paper attempts to disentangle the direct effects of experience from those of culture in determining fertility. We use the GSS to examine the fertility of women born in the US but from different ethnic backgrounds. We take lagged values of the total fertility rate in the woman's country of ancestry as the cultural proxy and use the woman's number of siblings to capture her direct family experience. We find that both variables are significant determinants of fertility, even after controlling for several individual and family-level characteristics.


This paper discusses the progress made towards T + 1 and instantaneous settlement in financial markets, and industry preparedness for such a change. We cover the various equity settlement technologies and analyse how collateral, stock lending and margin requirements can impact the settlement processes. The debate on shortening the equity settlement cycle is discussed, along with potential policy recommendations based on industry preparedness. The paper draws on 44 unstructured interviews and two focus group workshops with key stakeholders in the financial industry. This sample represents firms with total assets in the tens of trillions. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the issues surrounding accelerated settlement and o ff ers insights for industry practitioners. It was clear from our research that there is a perceived trade-o ff between the benefits of improving market e ffi ciency and infrastructure and the increased risk of settlement failure. As our interviews were focused on those with settlement and operations functions, the tone of the responses was biased towards the latter. The findings of this study will help stakeholders identify gaps in their current settlement processes and develop strategies to meet the demands of accelerated settlement.


Atherosclerosis is usually the underlying cause of a fatal event such as myocardial infarction or ictus. The atherome plaque develops silently and asymptomatically within the arterial intima layer. In this context, the possibility to analyze the molecular content of arterial tissue while preserving each molecule's specific localization is of great interest as it may reveal further insights into the physiopathological changes taking place. Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) enables the spatially resolved molecular analysis of proteins, peptides, metabolites, lipids and drugs directly in tissue, with a resolution sufficient to reveal molecular features specific to distinct arterial structures. MSI represents a novel ex vivo imaging tool still underexplored in cardiovascular diseases. This review focuses on the MSI technique applied to cardiovascular disease and covers the main contributions to date, ongoing efforts, the main challenges and current limitations of MSI.


Cotton and polyamide 6,6 fabrics coated with chitosan, a natural biopolymer, have been tested against two different bacteria strains: Staphylococcus aureus as Gram-positive bacterium and Escherichia coli as Gram-negative bacterium. Using the ASTM standard method (Standard Test Method for Determining the Antimicrobial Activity of Antimicrobial Agents Under Dynamic Contact Conditions) for antibacterial testing, the treated fabrics is contacted for 1 h with the bacterial inoculum, the present study aims to investigate the possibility to reach interesting results considering shorter contact times. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of chitosan-treated fibers dyed with a natural dye, Carmine Red, was evaluated since chitosan has an interesting property that favors the attachment of the dye to the fiber (cross-linking ability). Finally, fabric samples were tested after washing cycles to verify the resistance of the dye and if the antibacterial property was maintained.


Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNENs) are rare sporadic cancers or develop as part of hereditary syndromes. PanNENs can be both functioning and non-functioning based on whether they produce bioactive peptides. Some PanNENs are well differentiated while others—poorly. Symptoms, thus, depend on both oncological and hormonal causes. PanNEN diagnosis and treatment benefit from and in some instances are guided by biomarker monitoring. However, plasmatic monoanalytes are only suggestive of PanNEN pathological status and their positivity is typically followed by deepen diagnostic analyses through imaging techniques. There is a strong need for new biomarkers and follow-up modalities aimed to improve the outcome of PanNEN patients. Liquid biopsy follow-up, i.e., sequential analysis on tumor biomarkers in body fluids offers a great potential, that need to be substantiated by additional studies focusing on the specific markers and the timing of the analyses. This review provides the most updated panorama on PanNEN biomarkers.


This article gives an up-to-date account of the theory of discrete group actions on non-Riemannian homogeneous spaces. As an introduction of the motifs of this article, we begin by reviewing the current knowledge of possible global forms of pseudoRiemannian manifolds with constant curvatures, and discuss what kind of problems we propose to pursue. For pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, isometric actions of discrete groups are not always properly discontinuous. The fundamental problem is to understand when discrete subgroups of Lie groups G act properly discontinuously on homogeneous spaces G/H for non-compact H. For this, we introduce the concepts from a group-theoretic perspective, including the 'discontinuous dual' of G/H that recovers H in a sense. We then summarize recent results giving criteria for the existence of properly discontinuous subgroups, and the known results and conjectures on the existence of cocompact ones. The final section discusses the deformation theory and in particular rigidity results for cocompact properly discontinuous groups for pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces.


In the first part of this paper we prove the multiplicative property of the relative Quillen Chern character. Then we obtain a Riemann-Roch formula between the relative Chern character of the Bott morphism and the relative Thom form.


The Centre for Electronic Imaging (CEI) has an active programme of evaluating and designing Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors with high quantum efficiency, for applications in near-infrared and X-ray photon detection. This paper describes the performance characterisation of CMOS devices made on a high resistivity 50 μ m thick p-type substrate with a particular focus on determining the depletion depth and the quantum efficiency. The test devices contain 8 × 8 pixel arrays using CCD-style charge collection, which are manufactured in a low voltage CMOS process by ESPROS Photonics Corporation (EPC). Measurements include determining under which operating conditions the devices become fully depleted. By projecting a spot using a microscope optic and a LED and biasing the devices over a range of voltages, the depletion depth will change, causing the amount of charge collected in the projected spot to change. We determine if the device is fully depleted by measuring the signal collected from the projected spot. The analysis of spot size and shape is still under development.


Introduction: Preeclampsia is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and oneof the main causes of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity. Excretion of protein in urine is the most important diagnostic sign of diagnosis of the patients with preeclampsia. Current gold standard test for quantitative evaluation of proteinuria is 24 hours urine collection, but, this is a time-consuming and cumbersome method, and using a method which can show urine protein as soon as possible could be effective in proceeding the treatment process. This study was performed with the aim to predict the proteinuria in patients suspected to preeclampsia with using the protein to creatinine ratio in random urine sample and determining the best cut off point. Methods: This cross-sectional, analytical study was performed on 103 pregnant women with gestational age >20 weeks referred to Emam Reza hospital complaining of BP≥140/90 mmHg or severe edema from 2013-2014. To measure the protein/creatinine ratio, a random urine sample was taken and then 24 hours urine collection was performed for determination of protein excretion. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software (version 16), and Chi-square, T-test, Man-Whitney and logistic regression PResults: Among 103 pregnant women, protein excretion in 24-h urine was > 300mg in 53 cases and ≤ 300mg in 50 cases. The best cut off point for protein/creatinine ratio of random urine sample was obtained 0.27 with 96 sensitivity and 54 specificity and 70 positive predictive value and 96 negative predictive value (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Protein/creatinine ratio of random urine sample could be used as a simple and rapid test to rule out proteinuria in 93 of patients suspected to preeclampsia.


BACKGROUND
Despite evidence showing the benefits of treatment intensification following an elevated hemoglobin A1c (A1c), clinical inertia, or failure to establish and/or escalate treatment to achieve treatment goals, is a concern among patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Clinical inertia may contribute to increased health care utilization and costs due to poor clinical outcomes in MCOs.

OBJECTIVES
To (a) identify factors associated with clinical inertia in T2DM and (b) determine differences in A1c goal attainment between patients who experience clinical inertia versus treatment intensification in a commercially insured population.

METHODS
Medical and pharmacy claims data were used to identify commercially insured patients in a regional MCO with a recorded A1c ≥ 8.0% between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2015. In the 4 months following the first elevated A1c value (index date), patients were classified into 2 groups: treatment intensification or clinical inertia. Treatment intensification was defined as the addition of ≥ 1 new noninsulin antihyperglycemic medication, the addition of insulin, or a dose increase of any current noninsulin antihyperglycemic medication. Patients were required to have ≥ 1 follow-up A1c value 6-12 months after the index date and continuous enrollment in the health plan for 12 months before and after the index date. Patients were excluded if they had a diagnosis for gestational diabetes or type 1 diabetes or if they were on insulin in the pre-index period. The primary outcome of attaining A1c < 7.0% was compared between groups after propensity score matching (PSM). Factors associated with clinical inertia were identified using logistic regression.

RESULTS
3,078 patients, with a mean (SD) age of 54.4 (10.6) years and a mean (SD) baseline A1c of 9.6% (1.7), were included in the study. Of these, 1,093 patients (36%) experienced clinical inertia. After PSM, 1,760 patients remained; 880 in each group. In the clinical inertia group, 23% of patients achieved an A1c < 7.0% in the post-index period, compared with 35% in the treatment intensification group (P < 0.001). A greater likelihood of experiencing clinical inertia was associated with baseline treatment with 2 (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.22-2.86; P < 0.001) or ≥ 3 (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.30-2.42; P < 0.001) antihyperglycemic medications (vs. none), baseline age ≥ 65 years (OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.63-2.74; P < 0.001), and diagnosis of coronary heart disease (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.10-1.88; P = 0.007). A baseline A1c ≥ 9.0% (vs. 8.0%-8.9%) was associated with a lower likelihood of experiencing clinical inertia (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.48-0.66; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
More than a third of patients in a commercially insured population with T2DM and a baseline A1c ≥ 8% experienced clinical inertia. Clinical inertia resulted in worse A1c outcomes over the 12-month follow-up period. Results of this study suggest that treatment intensification should be monitored, with efforts made to educate health care providers on strategies aimed at improving glycemic control for high-risk patients.

DISCLOSURES
This study was funded by a grant from Janssen Scientific Affairs, which was involved in study design, interpretation of results, and manuscript review. Wander reports consulting fees from Sanofi Aventis outside the submitted work. McAdam-Marx reports grants from Sanofi Aventis and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. Pesa and Bailey were employees of Janssen Scientific Affairs during the conduct of the study. Bailey also reports stock ownership in Johnson and Johnson. This study was presented as a poster at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus 2017; October 16-19, 2017; Grapevine, TX.


SUMMARY Background: To detail specific effects of long-acting risperidone on individuals with schizophrenia and their way of life in a series of four cases. Method: Four patients with schizophrenia were selected from four different psychiatric centres. Patients were established on an oral dose of risperidone (1-4 mg/day) for 2 weeks. Based on their oral dose, they then received intramuscular injections of 25 mg or 50 mg of long-acting risperidone every 2 weeks, which could be adjusted according to clinical response. Assessments of efficacy (Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impression-Severity) and safety (Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale) were made at intervals throughout a 1 -year period. Results: Patients demonstrated a variety of reasons for receiving a long-acting injectable antipsychotic drug, including insufficient control of symptoms, adverse events and convenience. After 1 year of treatment with long-acting risperidone, all patients showed improvements in their symptoms of schizophrenia over their original stable condition, and benefited from a considerable reduction or total disappearance of pre-existing extrapyramidal symptoms. Patients were more socially interactive, with no signs of sedation, fatigue, confusion, depression or anxiety, and none were considered to have relapsed or to require hospitalisation. Three of the four patients were considered to have had no signs of illness after 1 year, one of whom had returned to college and another to work. They demonstrate that patients can be switched from oral and depot medications without problems. There was little pain or discomfort and no inflammatory response experienced at the injection site. Conclusion: The cases demonstrate the suitability of long-acting risperidone in patients benefiting from long-term treatment and suggest its potential in all patients who are at risk of relapse.


PURPOSE
To compare anti-EGFR and anti-VEGF agents in patients with K-RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with regards to tumor location.

METHODS
450 patients diagnosed with mCRC, who applied to our center were included in this retrospective study. Of 450 patients, 303 underwent K-RAS mutation tests, assessed as having right-sided or left-sided mCRC and grouped according to localization of right and left colon. Sixty-five Patients with K-RAS wild-type mCRC, who were treated with first line anti-EGFR or anti-VEGF containing combination therapies of fluorouracil with leucovorin and either irinotecan or oxaliplatin were compared.

RESULTS
393 (87%) out of 450 mCRC patients had left-sided colon cancers, and 57(13%) had right-side colon cancers. K-RAS analysis was performed in 303 of 450 patients with mCRC, 186 (61.4%) patients had K-RAS wild-type and 117 (38,6%) had K-RAS mutant. Median survival for right-sided cancers was 23.3 months and 29.4 months for left-sided cancers (p=0.309). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.4 months (95% CI 7.3-13.4) in the anti-EGFR containing regimens group and 9.7 months (8.2-11.1) in the anti-VEGF containing regimens group (p=0.037); however, median overall survival (OS) was 18.4 months (95% CI 11.7-25.1) in the anti-EGFR containing regimens group and 19.3 months (95% CI 15.7-22.9) in the anti-VEGF containing regimens group (p=0.635).

CONCLUSION
Addition of anti-EGFR in left sided K-RAS wild-type mCRC regarding PFS was beneficial, however there was no difference in terms of OS.


The influence of lead chloride on plant tissue growth is described. Lead reduced elongation of etiolated wheat coleoptile segments, green pea epicotyl fragments and etiolated and green sunflower hypocotyls. Green tissues were more susceptible to lead than etiolated ones. PbCl 2 in a 10 -4 M concentration significantly reduced plastic and elastic extensibility of the wheat coleoptile cell walls and diminished the hydration of sunflower hypocotyl segments. Auxin (indolyl-3-acetic acid - IAA) applied in concentration optimal for growth of the particular tissues partly attenuated the inhibitory action of lead on elongation, plastic and elastic extensibility and water absorption. Auxin applied in supraoptimal concentrations did not abolish the inhibitory action of lead on tissue growth.


Background: Repeated access to circulation is essential to conduct the adequate maintenance hemodialysis. The efficiency of arteriovenous fistula, being permanent source of access to vascular system in hemodialysis, is severely hampered by its complications Aim: To determine the frequency of most common early complications of arteriovenous fistula in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted over a period of five years. Total 450 patients of hemodialysis were included. Informed consent was taken and demographics were noted. Early postoperative complications of AV fistula were recorded. Results: Average age of the patients was 39.61±8.17 years. There were 255 (56.7%) males and 195 (43.3%) females. Radiocephalic fistula was constructed in 198 (44%) cases while brachiocephalic fistula in 252 (56%) cases. Among early complications, 19 (4.2%) cases had wound infection, 27 (6%) had thrombosed AV accesses and 12 (2.6%) had bleeding. Conclusion: Early complications of AVF may compromise its efficacy as source of vascular access for maintenance hemodialysis. Timey detection and management improves patient morbidity. Keywords: Maintenance Hemodialysis, Arteriovenous fistula, Infection, Thrombosis, Bleeding.


This study was conducted at the Barakat Abu Fadl al-Abbas (peace be upon him) sheep breeding station / Al-Kafeel General Investment Company in Karbala Governorate for the period from 1/12/2020 to 1/6/2021, with the aim of determining the Frequency of Alleles and Genetic Manifestations of the FASN gene and its relationship to milk production and its main components from The percentage of fat, protein, lactose and non-fat solids in Iraqi Awassi sheep, 51 female Awassi sheep were used in this study. The percentage of distribution of genotype for the FASN gene in the studied Awassi sheep sample was 7.84, 21.57 and 7.59% for each of the structures AA, AC and CC, respectively, and the two alleles were A and C, with a frequency of 0.19 and 0.81. respectively, significant differences were found in total milk production. As for the milk components, only the protein percentage was affected significantly by the different genotype, and there was no significant effect for the other components by the different genotype of the FASN gene. From the results of the current study, it can be concluded that the FASN gene can be adopted as an important indicator in the development of genetic improvement strategies for Awassi sheep to maximize the economic return from breeding projects by selecting and cross-breeding the genotypes that achieved the best productive performance.


PURPOSE
To perform ultraviolet (UV) macrophotography of the normal in vivo human cornea, establishing biometric data of the major component of UV absorption for comparison with the Hudson-Stähli (HS) line, the distribution of iron demonstrated by Perl stain, and cases of typical amiodarone keratopathy.

METHODS
Nonrandomized comparative case series of UV photographs of 76 normal corneas (group 1) and 16 corneas with typical amiodarone keratopathy (group 2). Image-analysis software was used to grade the major component of UV absorption for slope and the coordinates of its points of intersection with the vertical corneal meridian and inflection.

RESULTS
In group 1 the major component had a mean slope of 5.8 degrees, sloping down from nasal to temporal cornea. The mean coordinates of points of intersection with the vertical corneal meridian and inflection were (0, 0.30) and (0.02, 0.31), respectively. No significant differences between groups 1 and 2 were found for slope (P = 0.155), intersection with the vertical corneal meridian (P = 0.517), and point of inflection (P = 0.344). The major component of UV absorption was consistent with published characteristics of the HS line, and coincidence of UV absorption and Perl-stained iron was demonstrated in one corneal button. A vortex pattern of UV absorption was observed in all corneas.

CONCLUSIONS
UV photography demonstrates subclinical corneal iron, confirming its deposition in an integrated HS line/vortex pattern. Coincident iron and amiodarone deposition occurs in amiodarone keratopathy.


BSE IN SHEEP?EDINBURGH-- Last October, scientists at the Institute for Animal Health's Edinburgh branch were about to publish results suggesting that British sheep might have become infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease," in the early 1990s. Finding BSE in sheep could raise the specter of an alarming new reservoir of infection for the human form of BSE, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has already caused more than 100 deaths in the United Kingdom. But the authors pulled the paper at the last minute after an independent lab concluded that the brain extracts they had tested--which the team believed were from sheep--actually came from cattle.


Objectives First, to test whether there was a change in the blood pressure and heart rate on work days relative to non-work days; secondly, to assess whether there were work–home differences on these days; and, thirdly, to assess whether these changes were similar in both normotensives and hypertensives. Design and subjects Twenty-four working men (17 mild hypertensives and seven normotensives) wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for two 24-h periods (at work and home), on a work day Con day') and on a non-work day ('off day'). Methods Means were calculated for each day for each home and work period. On the off day, the 'work' mean was defined using the readings during the usual working hours. To control for the effect of position on the means, statistical procedures that control for position were employed. These means were then analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance with two within-person factors, Period (home–work) and Day (on–off), and one between-person factor, Hypertensive Status (mild hypertensive–normotensive). Results When hypertensives and normotensives were combined, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was significantly greater at work than at home. However, for both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and DBP this work–home difference was dependent on whether it was the on or the off day, the work–home difference being greater on the work day. Furthermore, the noted work–non-work day changes between work and home were significantly different for DBP for normotensives and mild hypertensives. Normotensives experienced a 6-mmHg decrease in blood pressure on the off day, whereas mild hypertensives had a 3-mmHg average increase on the off day. No significant differences were found in the pattern of work–home differences between on and off days for mild hypertensives and normotensives, although the effect approached significance for SBP, providing an indication that the work-home differences may depend on both hypertensive status and work–non-work day. Heart rate was significantly higher during work than at home. Although normotensives had higher heart rates, the work–home difference was constant across on and off days. Among 10 subjects who agreed to wear the monitor a third time on a second work day, the average work blood pressures during the two work periods were nearly equivalent, arguing against an habituation effect to the monitor. Conclusions These data support the notion that, for blood pressure, activity is an important determinant of level. A circadian basis to blood pressure was not supported. We found differences between work and non-work days for normotensives, and a trend towards differences by work–home period and work–non-work day for hypertensives. For heart rate the opposite result was found. Heart rate was affected only by time of day (as denoted by work and home periods) and was stable across on and off days. These results suggest that experimental or statistical control of activity and position may be necessary if ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is to be used as either a diagnostic or research tool.


The impacts of human activity on coastal ecosystems are becoming increasingly evident across the world. Consequently, there is a growing need to map, monitor, and manage these regions in a sustainable manner. In this pilot study, we present what we believe to be a novel mapping technique for shallow-water seafloor habitats: Underwater hyperspectral imaging (UHI) from an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). A USV-based UHI survey was carried out in a sheltered bay close to Trondheim, Norway. In the survey, an area of 176 m2 was covered, and the depth of the surveyed area was approximately 1.5 m. UHI data were initially recorded at a 1-nm spectral resolution within the range of 380–800 nm, but this was reduced to 86 spectral bands between 400-700 nm (3.5-nm spectral resolution) during post-processing. The hyperspectral image acquisition was synchronized with navigation data from the USV, which permitted georeferencing and mosaicking of the imagery at a 0.5-cm spatial resolution. Six spectral classes, including coralline algae, the wrack Fucus serratus, green algal films, and invertebrates, were identified in the georeferenced imagery, and chosen as targets for support vector machine (SVM) classification. Based on confusion matrix analyses, the overall classification accuracy was estimated to be 89%–91%, which suggests that USV-based UHI may serve as a useful tool for high-resolution mapping of shallow-water habitats in the future.


The application of positive psychology concepts in professional psychology in Uganda is in its infancy. Both undergraduate and postgraduate psychology programmes in Ugandan universities have very limited emphasis on positive psychology concepts. Some applications are apparent in HIV/AIDS and disability counseling issues. Other practice areas with use of positive psychology concepts include the counseling of war victims, orphans and street children. There is potential for a greater infusion of positive psychology concepts in professional psychology in Uganda.


We analyzed the effects of acoustic reflection on the performance of an acoustooptic variable optical attenuator on a cladding-etched single-mode fiber. It is shown that the acoustic reflection will generate time-dependent modulation on the output optical signal and reduce the maximum achievable attenuation of the device. By employing a tapered fiber structure and using vacuum grease as the acoustic absorber, we showed that the acoustic reflectance can be reduced by two orders and the maximum attenuation of the device is increased from -10 to -29 dB.


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Background: The benefit of chemotherapy in colon cancer patients is well documented but depends largely on whether patients complete the planned treatment regimen. We evaluated predictors of early discontinuation (EDChemo) and dose reduction of chemotherapy, especially the role of adverse treatment effects, in stage III patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Methods: Stage III colon cancer patients who were diagnosed in 2003–2014 and recruited into a population-based study in Germany and received FOLFOX [5-fluorouracil (5-FU), leucovorin (LV), and oxaliplatin], capecitabine monotherapy (CapMono), or 5-FU/LV were included. We assessed determinants of EDChemo and dose reduction using multivariable logistic regression. Also, we estimated proportions of EDChemo and dose reduction that are attributable to adverse effects using attributable fractions. Results: EDChemo and dose reduction rates were 52% and 17% for FOLFOX, 28% and 9% for CapMono, and 45% and 6% for 5-FU/LV, respectively. Predictors of EDChemo were low-grade tumor and treatment in a medium-volume hospital (for FOLFOX), obesity (for CapMono), and increasing age, T4 stage, and treatment in a medium-volume hospital (for 5-FU/LV). Adverse effects were particularly strongly associated with EDChemo and contributed to about 63%, 51%, and 32% of EDChemo of FOLFOX, CapMono, and 5-FU/LV, respectively. Of the various adverse effects, gastrointestinal events showed the strongest associations with EDChemo and accounted for about 7%, 26%, and 20% of EDChemo of FOLFOX, CapMono, and 5-FU/LV, respectively. Adverse effects were, moreover, a strong determinant of dose reduction and accounted for about 82% of all cases. Conclusions: EDChemo is common in stage III colon cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and more than half of the cases of EDChemo and dose reduction are due to adverse treatment effects. Further research should address the potential for reducing EDChemo and dose reduction rates by close monitoring of patients for early signs and enhanced management of adverse effects, especially gastrointestinal events.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a safety protocol for the management of thirst in the immediate postoperative period.

METHOD
Quantitative, methodological, and applied study conducted in April-August 2012. An extensive literature search and expert consultation was carried out to develop the protocol and its operating manual. Theoretical and semantic analyzes were carried out by experts.

RESULTS
Assessment of level of consciousness, reflexes of protection of the airways (cough and swallowing), and absence of nausea and vomiting were selected as safety criteria. These criteria were grouped and formatted in a graph algorithm, which indicates the need to interrupt the procedure if a security criterion does not reach the expected standard.

CONCLUSION
The protocol was elaborated to fill in the gap in the literature of a specific model concerning nursing actions in the safe management of thirst in the immediate postoperative period.


Polymer-based materials with a high dielectric constant show great potential for energy storage applications. Since the intrinsic dielectric constant of most polymers is very low, the integration of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the polymers provides an attractive and promising way to reach a high dielectric constant owing to their outstanding intrinsic physical performances. However, these CNT-based composites usually suffer from high dielectric loss, low breakdown strength and the difficulty to tailor the dielectric constant. Herein, we have designed and fabricated a new class of candidates composed of graphene oxide-encapsulated carbon nanotube (GO-e-CNT) hybrids. The obtained GO-e-CNT-polymer composites not only exhibit a high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss, but also have a highly enhanced breakdown strength and maximum energy storage density. Moreover, the dielectric constant of the composites can be tuned easily by tailoring the loading of GO-e-CNTs. It is believed that the GO shells around CNTs play an important role in realizing the high dielectric performances of the composites. GO shells can not only effectively improve the dispersion of CNTs, but also act as insulation barriers for suppressing leakage current and increasing breakdown strength. Our strategy provides a new pathway to achieve CNT-based polymer composites with high dielectric performances for energy storage applications.


We demonstrate a Hipoλaos optical packet switch (OPS) configuration that can support optical data multicasting in a sub-μsec 256-port layout. The proposed multicast OPS relies on the low-latency and high-port Hipoλaos OPS architecture, extending its capabilities from unito multicast operation through simple modifications at its egress wavelength-routing stage. It exploits the WDM cyclic properties of the arrayed waveguide grating router stage in conjunction with multi-wavelength conversion (WC) in semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SOA-MZI) toward scaling from a unito a multicast OPS design, with the level of multi-wavelength WC defining the multicast degree. Optical multicasting up to five nodes is experimentally demonstrated at 10 Gb/s, revealing error-free operation at 10
 -9
 with less than 2-dB power penalty compared with the unicast operation. The broadband operational characteristics of the multicast operation have been also investigated at 10 Gb/s, utilizing pairs of wavelengths with different channel spacing and validating the multicast credentials of the switch across all the necessary wavelength channels for a 256-port configuration. Finally, a mixed traffic scenario involving both unicast and multicast optical traffic is demonstrated at 10 Gb/s, revealing error-free performance for all cases, with a <;0.2 dB excess power penalty of multicasted packets over the unicast data.


A high-precision iron isotope time series for a ferromanganese crust demonstrates that the iron isotope composition in North Atlantic Deep Water has changed substantially over the past 6 million years and that iron isotope variations in the crust are closely correlated to those of lead isotopes. The close correlation between the two isotope series indicates that the observed iron isotope variations predominantly reflect those of iron input from terrigenous sources and provides no evidence for biologically induced mass fractionation within North Atlantic Deep Water.


Abstract: The clinical course of tetanus is notable, in addition to its often dramatic clinical presentation, by the long duration of the neuromuscular symptoms. Survivors may have tetanic manifestations for several weeks after the onset of the disease. In this article we correlate the duration of specific electrophysiologic effects produced by tetanus toxin with the degradation of cell‐associated toxin in primary cultures of mouse spinal cord neurons. From these studies we can conclude that the toxin has a half‐life of 5–6 days. Both the heavy and the light chains of tetanus toxin degrade at similar rates. Labeled toxin, visualized by radioautography, is associated with neuronal cell bodies and neurites, and its distribution is not altered during a 1‐week period following toxin exposure. Blockade of synaptic activity persists for weeks at the concentration of radiolabeled toxin used in these studies. This blockade of transmission is reversed as the toxin is degraded, suggesting that degradation of toxin may be a sufficient mechanism for recovery from tetanus.


This article explores institutional influences on Russian news media at the regional level and adopts a new institutional approach to help explain media's response to increased control by local elites. Media in the province operate partly in a clientelist system in which journalists and their organizations provide services to political and economic elites in the region in exchange for desperately needed resources. The poor economic condition of the province and the strongly centralized local government help explain the media's dependency on elite patrons. Yet, the clientelist model is not a perfect fit. Strong influence by local powers tends to erode newspapers' public legitimacy, which both newspapers and the area's elite also need. To stem this erosion, news organizations attempt to buffer themselves from clientelist influences by pursuing practices that reflect the legal-rational ideal type. They pursue ceremonial, skin-deep scrutiny of officials; they engage in artificial forum "roundtables" with officials; and they emphasize the publication of many brief stories to connote progressiveness. Journalists also maintain connections across news organizations, which undermines the organizational boundaries of the newspapers and helps patrons establish individual relationships with journalists, but also allows some semblance of an occupational community.


Proximal fibular stress fracture is an uncommon injury in athletes but has been frequently reported in the military population. Although the true incidence is unknown and its pathophysiology is not completely understood, proximal fibular stress fracture is believed to be a rare injury and awareness of it will help clinicians make the proper diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment.


Public opinion does not fall out of the sky. What passes for public opinion in the European Union is largely the answers of its citizens to questions posed in surveys commissioned and controlled by the European Commission. This paper presents the first systematic mapping of the topics and non-topics of the 400 so-called Special Eurobarometers: reports based on batteries of questions about specific policy issues posed in face-to-face interviews to about 25,000 citizens, constituting nationally representative samples of all member states. This exploration is especially relevant against the background of the increased politicisation of the EU; both given the potential value of public opinion as a "substitute" for a more direct link to the electorate and as a power resource in decision-making. We chart the frequency of Special EBs over time, identify the topics (and non-topics) using the Comparative Agenda Project's EU codebook, and relate their frequency to the distribution of competencies between the EU and its member states. We also document the variation across DGs in their effort to gauge public opinion. We conclude that the Commission is increasingly seeking public opinion and that it does so in a very broad range of policy areas. We find a curvilinear relationship between the degree of EU competencies and the frequency of Special EBs. Citizen input is less sought in areas where the EU already has far reaching competencies and in areas which are clearly in the national (or even sub-national) domain. The lion's share of Special EBs is conducted in the realm of shared competencies, with an emphasis on those areas where the EU got involved relatively recently. We also detected only two Special EBs specifically related to the redistribution of resources (e.g., cohesion policy) and none on immigration. We also find a large variation across the DGs on whose behalf Special EBs are conducted. Three DGs are responsible for half of all EBs and nine DGs for less than five percent. These results open up promising avenues for research on the responsiveness of the European Commission and its agenda setting strategies and legitimacy seeking behaviour.


Intestinal stomas cause transformations in the body and create specific and continuous needs for care that imply in hospitalization and surgeries. In this context, we applied the concept of family vulnerability in order to identify the vulnerability of the family living with a child who has intestinal stoma. It is a qualitative study which interviewed the mothers of children with this chronic condition. We used narrative analysis based on the concept of family vulnerability. The results display that the family has gone through previous noteworthy experiences associated with the child's condition. The family cares for the child on their own and seeks ways to control the situation and regain autonomy, hoping for stoma reversal. Based on the concept of vulnerability, we observed that these families can be considered vulnerable, for they experience threats to their autonomy, but are moved by the hope of reversal and intestinal tract reconstruction. Descriptors: Surgical Stomas; Child; Family; Pediatric Nursing.


Objective: This study aimed to carry out a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of demonstration as a clinical teaching strategy for nursing. Method : The search was carried out in articles indexed in online databases: Medline/PubMed, Scielo, BVS-WHO, and PeriEnf during the period 2005-2010. Results: The final sample consisted of 08 studies with level 1 or 2 of evidence. All studies concluded that demonstration is effective for clinical teaching related to psychomotor skills. Conclusion: This literature review concluded that demonstration is higly recommended clinical teaching in nursing as well.


Jonathan May farms north of Timberville, Virginia. He runs a diverse operation that includes pure-bred Angus cattle and crops raised for cattle feed. He also sells breeding bulls and replacement heifers, contracts embryo work, and produces turkeys. He has been farming his entire life. "I think farmers for the most part feel that the environment is their livelihood," says May. "Only by protecting it and improving it do we maintain that livelihood." May has been receiving technical assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for over 20 years. Bill Patterson, NRCS district conservationist, is May's primary source for technical assistance. Sometimes May contacts Patterson with questions about new options for technical assistance, and sometimes Patterson contacts May with ideas. "My operation has benefited from my cooperation with NRCS and other government programs. It's hard to believe that there would be a next step that I wouldn't be interested in," May says. He also searches the Internet for ideas and solutions to specific issues. "I am continually seeking ways to improve what I'm doing," says May. "I think the current trend indicates that if you haven't started base levels of environmental protection or taken advantage of the available programs,