Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between the annual income earned by the investors and eight behavioural biases exhibited by the investors such as mental accounting, anchoring, gambler's fallacy, availability, loss aversion, regret aversion, representativeness and overconfidence.

Design/methodology/approach
The relationship is derived based on a questionnaire survey conducted on 436 secondary equity investors residing in Chennai, India.

Findings
Analysis of variance test was performed on the normalised and non-normalised version of the biases divided in terms of the annual income earned by the investor. The test found that for the significant biases except the overconfidence bias, the investors with higher annual income were less prone to the biases when compared to investors with lower annual income. On the other hand, with respect to the overconfidence bias, the investors with higher annual income were prone to exhibit overconfidence bias when compared to the investors with lower annual income. Correlation analysis showed that the investors with high annual income were more likely to exhibit higher overconfidence bias but lower representativeness, loss aversion, availability and mental accounting biases.

Originality/value
A contribution in the financial and economic front which would benefit the financial advisors to now consider the income earned by the clients as an important factor while giving financial advice to the clients and while guiding them about the biases they are prone to exhibit.


Vibrio cholerae O1 was found to be associated with six groups of zooplanktons during the study period. The study revealed that V. cholerae O1 had maximum association with rotifer (60.4%) and nauplii (76%) and minimum association with cladocera (3.39%). Vibrio cholerae O139 was also found to be associated with six groups of zooplanktons in three studied sites during the study period. The data revealed that V. cholerae O139 had highest association with rotifera in all sites (79.5%, 76% and 77.7% respectively) and lowest with copepod (2.46%) and ostracoda (2.69%). Zooplankton had more or less two peaks of swarm or bloom like from February to April (postwinter or spring) and September to November (pre-winter or autumn) which coincides with two seasonal cholera epidemics in Bangladesh. The findings therefore suggest a correlation between cholera epidemics and zooplankton bloom.


Lung cancer is still the main cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with most patients present with advanced disease and poor long-term prognosis. The aim of lung cancer treatment is to slow down the progression of the disease, to relieve the patients from the lung cancer symptoms and whenever possible, to increase the overall survival. The discovery of small molecule targeting tyrosine kinase of epidermal growth factor receptor opens a new way in the management of advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This review will discuss several Phase II and III trials evaluated the clinical efficacy of gefitinib as monotherapy in pretreated patients with advanced NSCLC, as well as both monotherapy and combined with chemotherapy in chemotherapy-naive patients.


Biogas is an attractive renewable fuel to combat greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the low and variable quality of un-upgraded biogas present some challenges in terms of holding a stable flame and resulting emissions. Meanwhile, asymmetrical vortex combustor (AVC) has been shown to possess excellent flame stability even at very lean conditions. This work aims to study the suitability and potential of AVC to burn biogas by investigating its combustion characteristics and explaining its ultra-stable flame behavior. A numerical study was done where the flame stability was studied by looking at the flow field. Synthetic biogas of various compositions that reflect palm oil mill effluent (POME) biogas was used in this research. The combustion characteristics was studied for equivalence ratio ranging from very lean to very rich that explores the limit of the AVC. The results showed that this combustor is very capable of stably burning biogas of different compositions with correspondingly low emissions. This allows ready use of un-upgraded biogas which would have been cost prohibitive previously. The flame stability envelope is extended beyond that of pure methane with lean limit reaching down to 0.3 and the rich limit going beyond 2 compared to the published range of between 0.46 to 1.6. Flame stability was found to be due to two effects; the strong tangential vortex containing the flame region, and also the trapped vortex effect of the backward facing step which provides a secondary stable flame. Thus, it can be concluded that raw biogas can be utilized as fuel without costly upgrading by burning it in an AVC.


Although prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening has been shown to reduce prostate cancer (PC)-specific mortality with large variations in mortality reduction with different screening algorithms, the optimal screening strategy has not yet been established. This thesis aims at exploring aspects of underdiagnosis in PC screening, focusing on the impact of screening failures on screening effectiveness. All of its papers are based on the Goteborg randomized PC screening trial except for Paper I, which also includes data from the Dutch center of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC). Paper I analyzes the frequency of interval cancers (IC) between a 2and a 4-year screening interval, as high IC rates are recognized as a limitation for screening effectiveness in screening for other cancers. Extremely few IC cases were detected and no difference was found in cumulative incidences of IC with a 2and 4-year interval. In Paper II, the risk of PC death is compared between attendees and nonattendees in screening. A large proportion of PC deaths occurred in nonattendees, and the majority of attendees dying from PC were men aged !60 years when detected at their first (prevalence) screen. Paper III analyzes the PC incidence after screening cessation (due to upper age limit). Compared to the control arm, the incidence of potentially aggressive PC was reduced in the screening arm up to 9 years post-screening but thereafter approached the incidence of the control group. In Paper IV, multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) was evaluated as a screening tool. A lowered PSA cut-off (1.8 ng/ml) + mpMRI followed by targeted biopsy yielded a higher detection rate of clinically significant PC compared with "conventional" screening (PSA, cut-off !3 ng/ml followed by systematic biopsy), requiring a decreased number of biopsies. In conclusion, better screening strategies are needed to improve on screening failures. One option may be to lower the PSA cut-off and introduce sequential testing with mpMRI to decide which men to refer for biopsy. Age at screening start and cessation greatly impacts efficiency; starting at age 60 is probably too late, and stopping at age 70 for all men is probably too early.


The article shows that, while the "no pity" position justifiably opposes representations of the disabled that reinforce the perceived weaknesses of the disabled population, there are alternative ways of looking at the role played by sympathy in response to disabled characters in fiction, as is emphasized by an examination of Toni Morrison's short story "Recitatif." While the narrative's dependence on the implicitly disabled character Maggie for its effects suggests that she serves a "prosthetic" role in the development of the protagonists' (and readers') sympathy, the article argues that "Recitatif" makes a significant move in guiding readers toward a more complex view of Maggie's identity, as well as a level of sympathetic engagement that effectively transcends her apparently prosthetic function. Thus, it is demonstrated that a rigid rejection of sympathetic responses to disabled characters denies readers an important opportunity to develop "a cultivated imagination for what men have in common and a rebellion at whatever unnecessarily divides them" (Dewey, 121).


Bombay blood group is a rare blood group. Due to its rarity and limitations for transfusions, it is often challenging to manage individuals with Bombay groups in emergencies. Here, we present a case of a 26-year-old woman with the Bombay blood group who had premature rupture of membranes at the 39th week of pregnancy while delivering a male child vaginally. The patient suffered from postpartum hemorrhage due to retention of the placenta and needed an immediate blood transfusion. During the antenatal screening, she was noted to have the O-positive blood group. Cross-matching of her blood was incompatible with O-positive blood and was identified as the Bombay blood group after having tested for anti-H antibodies. The patient underwent transfusion by identifying individuals with the O-positive Bombay blood group. As a result of this, we emphasize the diagnosis and identification of the individuals with the Bombay blood group and make blood available especially in medical emergencies.


Hb Altdorf alpha 2 beta 2 135 Ala leads to Pro is an unstable variant occurring near Lecce in Italy. The abnormal hemoglobin does not separate from Hb A in the electrophoresis. In vitro a marked Heinz body formation is produced with phenylhydrazin. In heterozygous individuals an almost compensated hemolysis and a slight splenomegaly are found. Hemolysis can be aggravated by exogenous factors. A rather severe hemolysis was induced by a viral infection in a 3 years old girl.


The study presents the intent for making levels among buses and its effect on the service provision of Long Distance Buses (LDB) Transport that emanates from Addis Ababa. The methodology focused more on both primary and secondary sources. The primary informants were principally distinguished from the passengers, operators, and key government officials from the transport office include the head of bus terminal and association, and selected experts. In terms of analysis, the qualitative approach was done by using thick description on the issue. The finding prevails that there are remarkable changes that have from the practice of Business Process re-Engineering (BPR) system since 2009. Notable changes are seen in the areas of service provision such as ticketing, getting dispatch, selecting routes, setting fare for the trip, addressing the service to all parts of the nation and others. In the level system, the buses are classified in the sector into three levels: level 1, level 2 and level 3. The study explores that passengers would prefer to make mobility according to their income level to its service quality. The priority points of passengers for intercity mobility lie more on less transport cost than the comfort and facility of buses. Thus, leveling brings a visible change on the overwhelming aspects of the industry. It is recommended that the government should follow and improve existing service provision for it not to be like that of the former.

 Key words: Industry, leveling, on-journey season, dispatch and long distance bus.


Chronic disease places an enormous economic burden on both individuals and the healthcare system, and existing fee-for-service models of healthcare prioritize symptom management, medications, and procedures over treating the root causes of disease through changing health behaviors. Value-based care is gaining traction, and there is a need for value-based care models that achieve the quadruple aim of (1) improved population health, (2) enhanced patient experience, (3) reduced healthcare costs, and (4) improved work life and decreased burnout of healthcare providers. Lifestyle medicine (LM) has the potential to achieve these four aims, including promoting health and wellness and reducing healthcare costs; however, the economic outcomes of LM approaches need to be better quantified in research. This paper demonstrates proof of concept by detailing four cases that utilized an intensive, therapeutic lifestyle intervention change (ITLC) to dramatically reverse disease and reduce healthcare costs. In addition, priorities for lifestyle medicine economic research related to the components of quadruple aim are proposed, including conducting rigorously designed research studies to adequately measure the effects of ITLC interventions, modeling the potential economic cost savings enabled by health improvements following lifestyle interventions as compared to usual disease progression and management, and examining the effects of lifestyle medicine implementation upon different payment models.


CASE REPORT Mr. C, age 72, reports a lack of desire to swallow food. He denies feeling a lump in his throat. Over the past 6 months, he lost >30 lb. The patient had a similar episode 2 years ago, which resolved without intervention. The death of his wife recently has led to isolation and lack of desire to swallow food. Testing with standard food samples to elicit eating behaviors is normal. Electromyography and video fluoroscopy test results show no abnormalities. What is phagophobia? The case of Mr. C brings to light the condition known as phagophobia--a sensation of not being able to swallow. Phagophobia mimics oral apraxia; pharyngoesophageal and neurologic functions as well as the ability to speak remain intact, however. (1) It is estimated that about 6% of the adult general population reports dysphagia. (2) About 47% of patients with dysphagic complaints do not show motor-manometric or radiological abnormalities of the upper digestive tract. A number of psychiatric conditions, including panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, anorexia nervosa, globus hystericus, hypersensitive gag reflex, and posttraumatic stress disorder can simulate this condition. (3) When Barofsky and Fontaine (4) compared phagophobia patients with other subjects--healthy controls, anorexia nervosa restrictors, dysphagic patients with esophageal obstruction, dysphagic patients with motility disturbance, and patients with nonmotility non-obstructive dysphagia--they found that patients with psychogenic dysphagia did not appear to have an eating disorder. However, they did have a clinically significant level of psychological distress, particularly anxiety. Diagnostic tools and management steps There are a number of approaches to assess your patient's fear of swallowing (Table, (5-7) page 68). Non-invasive assessment tools along with educational modalities usually are tried alone or together with psychopharmacological intervention. It is, however, imperative that you have an empathetic and understanding approach to such patients. When patients have confidence in the clinician they tend to respond more effectively with such approaches. Investigations (4) include questionnaires (swallow disorder history, Eating Disorder Inventory-2, and Symptom Checklist--90-R); weight assessment; testing with standardized food samples to elicit eating behaviors; self-reports; electromyography; and videofluoroscopy. Education and reassurance includes individual demonstration of swallowing, combined with group therapy, exercises, and reassurance. Patients benefit from advice on how to maximize sensation within the oropharynx to increase taste, perception of temperature, and texture stimulation. (8) Behavioral intervention involves practicing slow breathing and muscle relaxation techniques to gradually increase bite size and reduce the amount of time spent chewing each bite. Introspection therapy comprises psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and in vivo and introspective exposure; helps patients replace anxiety-producing thoughts with probability estimation and decatastrophizing. Introspective exposure targets the fear of choking by having the patient create sensations of throat tightening by holding a swallow in mid-action and by rapid swallowing. …


Atrial fibrillation is more common among elderly patients. Number of comorbidities, such as heart failure, coronary heart disease, disorders of the conduction system of the heart increases with age. Atrial fibrillation is a health problem. In developed countries, there is a high prevalence of the disease. The disease affects more than 33 million people worldwide. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability can be successfully used to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy. The use of this method gives an idea of the role of the autonomic nervous system in the regulation of chronotropic function of the heart. These data help to define conditions of manifestation of efficiency of antiarrhythmic drugs. In this study, spectral analysis were studied in patients with different forms of atrial fibrillation. The effect of amiodarone class III antiarrhythmic drug were studied this study. It is shown that the structure of spectrum of heart rate variability in patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation differs significantly from that in patients with disease duration from 6 months to several years on the background of amiodarone.


Available information indicates that about 78 new molecules belonging to the class of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are under investigation, and that at least 11 or 12 of the newer ACE inhibitors will be available for clinical use. The newer ACE inhibitors can be classified, according to the zinc ion ligand of ACE, into 3 main chemical classes: sulfhydryl-, carboxyl- and phosphoryl-containing ACE inhibitors. All the newer sulfhydryl-containing ACE inhibitors differ from captopril since they are prodrugs, and among them alacepril and probably moveltipril (altiopril, MC 838) are converted in vivo to captopril. When compared with captopril, they show a slower onset and a longer duration of action, and obviously the same route of elimination. Zofenopril, a prodrug that is converted in vivo to the active diacid, shows a greater potency, a similar peak time and a longer duration of action than captopril and, unlike captopril, partial elimination through the liver. The newer carboxyl-containing ACE inhibitors are prodrugs which are converted in vivo to active diacids. Like enalaprilat, they are excreted via the kidney; the exception is spirapril, which is totally eliminated by the liver. Compared to enalapril, benazepril shows an earlier peak time and a slightly shorter terminal half-life, cilazapril and ramipril have an earlier peak time and even longer terminal half-life, perindopril shows similar peak time and terminal half-life, while delapril, quinapril and spirapril show an earlier peak time and a shorter half-life. The phosphoryl-containing ACE inhibitors belong to a new chemical class. Fosinopril is a prodrug which is converted to the active diacid in vivo, shows a relatively late peak time, a long terminal half-life, and is eliminated partially by the liver. SQ 29852, the only newly developed ACE inhibitor which is not a prodrug, seems to be more effective than captopril, with a much longer lasting effect and elimination through the kidney. When the differences in potency between these drugs are compensated by dosage adjustment, all the newer ACE inhibitors are expected to exert a similar amount of inhibition of circulating ACE, and therefore to inhibit to a similar extent the generation of circulating angiotensin II and the breakdown of bradykinin. Obviously they may differ in timing and the duration of circulating ACE inhibition according to their pharmacokinetic properties. With regard to the possibility that they may stimulate prostaglandin synthesis, it is suggested that this action, which does not seem to be specific to this drug class, plays only a minor role in their antihypertensive action; the hypothesis that the sulfhydryl group exerts an additional stimulating action remains to be proved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Obesity and low self-esteem are prevalent disorders among adolescents. Tackling this relationship may introduce effective intervention that promotes healthy adolescence. The Objectives of the study is  to measure the prevalence of overweight and obesity and identify its relation with self-esteem among school adolescents. A cross sectional study was carried out on 533 adolescents selected by multistage cluster sample. The students completed a structured questionnaire on dietary habits, physical activity and self-esteem. Self-esteem was assessed using Rosenberg Scale. Their anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were recorded. 21.2% of students are overweight and 15.8% are obese. Lack of physical activity is the only significant life style factor associated with overweight and obesity. There is a negative statistically significant correlation between self-esteem score and BMI among the adolescent students(r= - P=) and significant association between overweight and obesity and low self-esteem (p=  ). More than one fourth of adolescents are suffering from overweight and obesity. Obese adolescents tend to have lower self-esteem. Incorporating healthy behaviors and healthy life style in the curricula of adolescents to promote their mental health is mandatory. Further studies to investigate other risk factors of low self-esteem are needed


Education is very important for students' future success. The performance of students can be supported by the extra assignments and projects given by the instructors for students with low performance. However, a major problem is that students at-risk cannot be identified early. This situation is being investigated by various researchers using Machine Learning techniques. Machine learning is used in a variety of areas and has also begun to be used to identify students at-risk early and to provide support by instructors. This research paper discusses the performance results found using Machine learning algorithms to identify at-risk students and minimize student failure. The main purpose of this project is to create a hybrid model using the ensemble stacking method and to predict at-risk students using this model. We used machine learning algorithms such as Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, Decision Tree, K-Nearest Neighbors, Support Vector Machine, AdaBoost Classifier and Logistic Regression in this project. The performance of each machine learning algorithm presented in the project was measured with various metrics. Thus, the hybrid model by combining algorithms that give the best prediction results is presented in this study. The data set containing the demographic and academic information of the students was used to train and test the model. In addition, a web application developed for the effective use of the hybrid model and for obtaining prediction results is presented in the report. In the proposed method, it has been realized that stratified k-fold cross validation and hyperparameter optimization techniques increased the performance of the models. The hybrid ensemble model was tested with a combination of two different datasets to understand the importance of the data features. In first combination, the accuracy of the hybrid model was obtained as 94.8% by using both demographic and academic data. In the second combination, when only academic data was used, the accuracy of the hybrid model increased to 98.4%. This study focuses on predicting the performance of at-risk students early. Thus, teachers will be able to provide extra assistance to students with low performance.


R&D expenditure has been recognized as part of capital formation in SNA2008 for the first time. This part of the "new" capital formation changes the size of GDP, and also has a profound impact on capital accounting. Furthermore, with the concept of capital services introduced in SNA2008, there are some changes in capital accounting itself. In China, the R&D capitalization accounting is facing a lot of problems both in technique and data. By using the framework established in the two OECD manuals, our paper contributes to the literature by exploring the parameters in estimation of R&D assets in China. Then the calculation results of capital services on R&D from 1995-2011 are finally obtained.


This paper presents a succinct reconstruction of the segmental phonology of Proto-Maweti-Guarani, the hypothetical protolanguage from which modern Mawe, Aweti and the Tupi-Guarani branches of the Tupi linguistic family have evolved. Based on about 300 cognate sets from the authors' field data (for Mawe and Aweti) and from Mello's reconstruction (2000) for Proto-Tupi-Guarani (with additional information from other works; and with a few changes concerning certain doubtful features, such as the status of stem-final lenis consonants *r and *s, and the distinction of *c and *c ), the consonants and vowels of Proto-Maweti-Guarani were reconstructed with the help of the traditional historical-comparative method. The development of the reconstructed segments is then traced from the protolanguage to each of the modern branches. A comparison with other claims made about Proto-Maweti-Guarani is given in the conclusion.


This paper offers an overview of the development of Legal Translation Studies as a major interdiscipline within Translation Studies. It reviews key elements that shape its specificity and constitute the shared ground of its research community: object of study, place within academia, denomination, historical milestones and key approaches. This review elicits the different stages of evolution leading to the field's current position and its particular interaction with Law. The focus is placed on commonalities as a means to identify distinctive reference points and avenues for further development. A comprehensive categorization of legal texts and the systematic scrutiny of contextual variables are highlighted as pivotal in defining the scope of the discipline and in proposing overarching conceptual and methodological models. Analyzing the applicability of these models and their impact on legal translation quality is considered a priority in order to reinforce interdisciplinary specificity in line with professional needs.


Abstract On-site observations, personal field journals, and in-depth interviews were used to examine qualitative aspects of the wilderness experience as a source of spiritual inspiration. Two groups of women kept personal journal accounts of their daily `lived-experience' during one of two outdoor recreation trips; five participants went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota, and seven went to the Grand Canyon of northern Arizona. Journal entries were content-analysed, exploring the commonalties and idiosyncrasies found between individual accounts. Results were used to develop a general interview guide. Follow-up in-depth personal interviews were conducted within 3 weeks of the conclusion of each trip. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were content-analysed, looking for commonalties and distinctions between the data. Participants spoke of the expansiveness of the landscape and an awareness of the sheer powers of nature as contributing to a meaningful wilderness experience, which thereby acted as spiritual inspiration for most individuals. Moreover, positive interpersonal interactions combined with complete immersion in a wilderness setting seemed to influence one's proclivity to perceiving elements of the landscape as possible sources of spiritual inspiration.


End-to-end scene text spotting has attracted great attention in recent years due to the success of excavating the intrinsic synergy of the scene text detection and recognition. However, recent state-of-the-art methods usually incorporate detection and recognition simply by sharing the backbone, which does not directly take advantage of the feature interaction between the two tasks. In this paper, we propose a new end-to-end scene text spotting framework termed SwinTextSpotter. Using a transformer encoder with dynamic head as the detector, we unify the two tasks with a novel Recognition Conversion mechanism to explicitly guide text localization through recognition loss. The straightforward design results in a concise framework that requires neither additional rectification module nor character-level annotation for the arbitrarily-shaped text. Qualitative and quantitative experiments on multi-oriented datasets RoIC13 and ICDAR 2015, arbitrarily-shaped datasets Total-Text and CTW1500, and multi-lingual datasets ReCTS (Chinese) and VinText (Viet-namese) demonstrate SwinTextSpotter significantly outperforms existing methods. Code is available at https://github.com/mxin262/SwinTextSpotter.


A facile, cost-effective and environmentally friendly route has been developed to synthesise porous carbon-decorated iron oxides on a large scale via annealing iron metal–organic framework (MOF) precursors. The as-prepared C–Fe3O4 particles exhibit microcuboid-like morphologies that are actually composed of ultrafine nanoparticles and show a greatly enhanced lithium storage performance with high specific capacity, excellent cycling stability and good rate capability. The C–Fe3O4 electrodes demonstrate a high reversible capacity of 975 mA h g−1 after 50 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and a remarkable rate performance, with capacities of 1124, 1042, 886 and 695 mA h g−1 at current densities of 100, 200, 500 and 1000 mA g−1, respectively. The satisfactory electrochemical performance was attributed to the hierarchical architecture, which benefitted from the synergistic effects of the high conductivity of the carbon matrix, the cuboid-like secondary particles on the microscale, and the ultrafine primary nanoparticles on the nanoscale. This low-cost and simple method provides the possibility to prepare anode materials on a large scale and hence may have great potential applications in energy storage and conversion.


As in totally 1% of the worldwide population is afflicted by hepatitis C virus with most of the 200 Mio carriers not diagnosed or treated, the clinical management of chronic hepatitis C remains an urgent demand for global health. The 12th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (12th ECCMID) held in Milan, Italy, from 21 to 24 April 2002, focussed on viral hepatitis in a keynote lecture as well as a session on evidence based treatment of chronic infection and various poster presentations.


Dear Editor, Re: An audit of new long-stay patients in Irish psychiatric inpatient services, by Daly A and Walsh D, of the Mental Health research Unit of the Health Research Board, Dublin; published in the Ir J Psych Med 2009; 26(3): 134-139. Many thanks for the authors for such an interesting and relevant article. The author wishes to point out some earlier references, which Daly and Walsh might have missed. Thompson et al have reported the psychiatric admission patterns for England in the year 2000. Dixit A, compared this English study data with the Health Research Board (HRB), Dublin's annual report 2000. 2 3 One of the implications of Dixit's study was to demonstrate the need for further study and audit in new long-stay psychiatric inpatients. The author wishes to point out that for the calculations of the economic cost of illness studies, like study of schizophrenia in Ireland by Behan et al, it is important to report all the inpatient days (bed-days), in the annual reports of HRB. The HRB has consistently not included the bed usage data on patients with stay over one year, as it grossly distorts the calculations on the length of stay. The author wishes to argue about ways to overcome this problem, and is looking for the experts' opinion on the methodology used. Table 2 details length of stay in new long-stay patients (n=460), in Daly and Walsh's study, suggests that the median length of stay in this group is 33 months(~1000 days)(midpoint of 31-36 months). If this is averaged out for the period of five years, the value comes to 2 0 0 days per annum. Thus 200x460=92,000 inpatient days need to be added to the number of total inpatient days (547,770) for the year 2006, corrected total being; 639,770 inpatient days. After this correction, we can calculate the impacts of two important patient groups. The HRB report 2006, reports patients with stay over three months and under one year, accounted for 169,357 inpatient days, with average length of stay 158 days, and median length of stay 129 days. This accounts for ~26.5°/o of total inpatient days, while new long-stay patients (patients with stay over one year and under five years), account for ~14.4% total annual inpatient days. Thus, in spite of the recommendations and policies, slightly over 4 0 % of total inpatient days are due to , ~ 7 % of total psychiatric inpatients staying at the unit over three months, giving many acute units the feel of long-stay psychiatric wards. Similar observation is made by Lelliot et al in their national level audit of new long stay patients in England. This letter aims to generate interest, create discussion and help further cost studies on mental illnesses, which are sparse in Ireland. Ajay Dixit M D , D P M , Registrar in Psychiatry, Mercy University Hospital, Cork


In this letter, we study the local and the global robustness of the set-membership affine projection (SM-AP) algorithm. We demonstrate that the SM-AP algorithm has l2-stability. In fact, the SM-AP algorithm never diverges; no matter how the parameters of the SM-AP algorithm has been adopted. Finally, the simulation results substantiate the validity of the proposed analysis.


This study documents the applicability of the PAC hypothesis to the clastic sediments of the Upper Devonian Catskill Delta sequence in Virginia and West Virginia. Detailed studies of the type sections of the Back Creek Siltstone Member of the Brallier Formation, the Minnehaha Springs Member of the Scherr Formation, and the Foreknobs Formation show that the deposition of these sequences was strongly influenced by astronomically controlled sedimentary cycles with a dominant 100,000-yr period and superimposed 40,000- and 20,000-yr variations. Estimated water depths during the deposition of the Foreknobs Formation vary from 0–50 m and show an over-all shoaling trend as average uncompacted sediment accumulation rates increased from ∼40 to 140 cm/1,000 yr during the 2-m.y. duration of deposition of the formation. Deposition of the Foreknobs Formation appears to have been influenced by 413,000-yr variations due to eccentricity, and possibly by a 2.0-m.y. duration eccentricity cycle. All of these variations, in turn, are superimposed on the pulse of sedimentation and basin filling produced by the third tecto-phase of the Acadian orogeny.


The concept of the IT sector user is not only limited but is also an object of fascination in Information Systems Management (ISM). The present paper attempts to explore concepts regarding this actor, considered as fickle and erratic by recent theoretical research such as the theory of human agency, through the lens of social science theories. Our approach, which does not claim to be exhaustive, focuses primarily on research into ISM that has adopted social theories to develop its arguments. We explain the context of this research in order to shed new light on IS user activities. Our paper attempts firstly to provide an overview of evolutions regarding the place of human beings in IS research, secondly, to identify contributions made by certain IS studies that have harnessed social theories, and thirdly, to explore potential future lines of research by pointing to a lack of interest in certain theories that we believe could be useful in filling gaps in present IS research.


Aterrorist nuclear detonation of 10 kilotons would have catastrophic physical, medical, and psychological consequences and could be accomplished with a device in a small truck. Tens of thousands of injured and ill survivors and uninjured, concerned citizens would require medical care or at least an assessment and instructions. In proximity to the incident location, there would be a huge imbalance between the demand for medical resources and their availability.1-3 Beyond the immediate blast area, much of the infrastructure would remain intact. Most people would reach medical care by selfreferral and require sorting and assessment to determine what medical intervention is necessary, appropriate, and possible.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the feasibility of real-time PCR-optimized oligonucleotide probe method for detection of KRAS mutations in lung and colorectal carcinomas, as compared with Sanger sequencing method.

METHODS
Genomic DNA was extracted from formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples of 221 lung carcinomas and 131 colorectal carcinomas after tumor cell content assessment and macrodissection. Real-time PCR-optimized oligonucleotide probe method and Sanger sequencing were performed to detect KRAS gene mutations. The frequency of KRAS mutation, mutation types, and their concordance were analyzed.

RESULTS
KRAS mutation was detected in 6.3% (14/221) and 4.5% (10/221) of 221 lung cancer samples by using real-time PCR-optimized oligonucleotide probe method and Sanger sequencing, respectively, while in 41.2% (54/131) and 40.5% (53/131) of 131 colorectal cancer samples, respectively. There was no significant correlation between KRAS gene mutations and patients' gender and age (P > 0.05). The positive rate of KRAS codon 12 mutation was significantly higher than that of KRAS codon 13 mutation (P < 0.05). The overall concordance between real-time PCR-optimized oligonucleotide probe method and Sanger sequencing for KRAS mutation detection was 97.4%.

CONCLUSION
Real-time PCR-optimized oligonucleotide probe method provides an alternative method with high consistency and sensitivity as compared to Sanger sequencing in gene mutation detection.


Objectives: The development of allergic conditions is largely dependent on the interactions between genetic (individual genetic predisposition) and environmental factors (exposure to risk factors). The aim of this study was an attempt to assess the influence of selected elements of the hygiene theory in the development of allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma. Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 5518 women and 3868 men. The method that was used was the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II and International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire validated and adapted to Central and Eastern European conditions. The project was conducted in 8 urban areas (Gdańsk, Wrocław, Poznań, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Białystok, Warsaw) and 1 rural area (Krasnystaw county). This study had 2 stages; the first stage involved grouping the 22 500 respondents based on their questionnaire responses with the use of a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA); the second stage involved 7000 subjects, who underwent additional assessments: skin prick tests (birch, grasses/cereals, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae, molds [set I: Botrytis cinerea, Cladosporium herbarum, Alternaria tenuis, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium moniliforme, Helminthosporium], molds [set II: Aspergillus fumigatus, Mucor mucedo, Penicillium notatum, Pullularia pullulans, Rhizopus nigricans, Serpula lacrymans], cat, dog, molds Cladosporium herbarum, Alternaria tenuis) and spirometry tests. Results: The age at which children attend the nursery school is critical to the development of allergic diseases; in allergic rhinitis, the risk of an IgE-dependent reaction is 2 times higher in the second than in the first year of life (p = 0.00147, p < 0.05), while in asthma, having a large number of siblings increases the risk of developing obstructive disease by almost 6 times (p = 0.00316, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The hygiene theory is particularly applicable and can explain the relationship of selected habits in the development of allergic diseases. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2023;36(1):69–83


Pyrolysis experiments of cotton stalk (CS) and Shenmu coal (SM) were conducted in a tubular furnace. The pyrolysis temperature was 600 °C at 5 °C/min and sustained for 15 min. The water-soluble small molecule compounds (WSMC) were derived from the liquid products obtained during pyrolysis with the methods of toluene entrainment and ultrasonic extraction. The compositions of WSMC were further characterized by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The components of the syngas were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The results showed that the phenol yield was promoted by the interaction of CS and SM during co-pyrolysis. Moreover, the co-pyrolysis interaction blocked the radical reaction pathway that produces amides and accelerated the formation of pyridines. Because the ester yield increased, the esterification was clearly enhanced and the yield of carboxylic acids in WSMC was reduced during co-pyrolysis. In addition, the inhibition of furan generation resulted in an increased yield of C2–C4 hydrocarbons in the co-pyrolysis syngas. The maximal yields of C2–C4 hydrocarbons all occurred at a 20/100 ratio of CS/SM. Lastly, the formation mechanisms of small molecule compounds were proposed.


Many chemotherapeutic agents have been shown to cause variable degrees of gonadal dysfunction in both sexes and in all age groups. The severity of the dysfunction depends on the total drug dose and the age at time of therapy. In general, cytotoxic agents produce gonadal dysfunction in men while they produce premature gonadal failure in women. Men develop azoospermia and compensated Leydig-cell function; women sustain ovarian damage causing impaired fertility in the short term and early ovarian failure later. This dysfunction is associated with sexual and emotional difficulties in many patients. In order to discover these problems the physician must sympathetically ask patients and families about their sexual and emotional health. Endocrine and psychologic evaluation help the physician identify the problem. Appropriate counseling and hormone replacement therapy may ameliorate most symptoms and help the patient emotionally adjust to illness and infertility. Prevention of gonadal damage during cytotoxic therapy may be possible in the future. For those young people who retain fertility after cytotoxic therapy, prognosis should be taken into account when counseling about parenthood is given. There is no evidence of genetic abnormalities in the offspring of people previously treated with chemotherapy or irradiation.


Aim This study aims to analyze the spectrum, management, and outcome of Syrian refugees' fracture over four-year period, highlighting challenges in management and follow-up. Methods This was a retrospective review of Syrian refugee patients operated for fractures at our centre from January 2015 to January 2019. The patients were evaluated for age, gender, mechanism of injury, location and type of fracture, presence of accompanying injuries, surgical technique, complications, mortality and morbidity. The comparison of complications and postop outpatient clinic controls between Turkish citizens and Syrian refugees were also evaluated. Results The study included a total of 455 patients comprising 281 adults (202 males, 79 females) with a mean (SD) age of 41.1 (19.3) years and 174 children with a mean age of 8.8 (4.9) years. The trauma mechanism was most commonly fall in both adult and pediatric patients (86.6% / 73.5%). Whilst lower limb fractures were more common in adults (73.7%), upper limb fractures were more common in children (63.4%). The presence of accompanying trauma was determined in 21 (7.5%) adults and 10 (5.7%) children. Multiple fractures were determined in 12 (4.3%) adults and eight (4.6%) children. Plate fixation (PF) was most used in 137 (48.8%) adult patients and K-wire augmentation was used in 75 (43.1%) pediatric patients. Out of the 455 patients, 41 (14.6%) adults and 13 (7.3%) children developed complications. Whilst three adult patients were died during follow-up, no deaths were recorded in the pediatric patients. Complication rate was 54/455 in Syrian refugees and 32/455 in citizens. It was observed that the complication was significantly higher in immigrants (p: 0.017). Sixty-five (14.2%) Syrian immigrants did not come to the outpatient clinic control at all or once, while this rate was 29/455 (6.3%) for Turkish citizens (p = 0.012). Conclusion Inadequate living conditions and lack of communication faced by refugees reduce the rate of patient follow-up and negatively affect the results of orthopedic trauma.


This paper presents speed control of a separately excited DC motor using fuzzy logic control (FLC) based on MATLAB Simulation program. This method of speed control of a dc motor represents an ideal application for introducing the concepts of fuzzy logic. The paper shows how a commercially available fuzzy logic development kit can be applied to the theoretical development of a fuzzy controller for motor speed, which represents a very practical class of engineering problems. From this it is seen that the simulation results are similar to the theoretical results which achieve the optimum control.


In the cultural heritage preservation of medieval buildings, it is common to find plaster walls covered in lime, which previously were painted in polychromy. The conservation interventions usually try to remove the whitewash, whilst maintaining the original color of the painted wall as much as possible. However, there is no agreement on which cleaning technique best preserves the original appearance of the colored plaster. Different pigments found below the lime layer may behave differently depending on the cleaning technique used. Usually, colorimetric or photometric area-based measurements are carried out to study the color of the cleaned areas to compare with their original color, obtained from pre-made plaster probes. However, this methodology fails when the mean color difference is not enough to fully characterize the changes in texture and color appearance. This study presents a set of experiments carried out using two different pigments (cinnabar and malachite) covered with lime, and treated with nine different cleaning techniques on plaster probes prepared according to medieval techniques. We have studied the effect of the cleaning process on the color and the homogeneity of the samples using a hyperspectral imaging workflow. Four different analysis methods are presented and discussed. Our results show that the proposed analysis is able to provide a much more comprehensive and diversified characterization of the quality of the cleaning method compared to the commonly used colorimetric or photometric area-based measurements.


Brain-specific proteins have been used to detect cerebral injury after birth asphyxia. Previous investigations suggest that serum protein S-100β, brain-specific creatine kinase (CK-BB), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) are capable of identifying patients with a risk of developing hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Whether detection of elevated serum concentrations of these proteins reflects long-term neurodevelopmental impairment remains to be investigated. We examined serum protein S-100β, NSE, and CK-BB at 2, 6, 12, and 24 h after birth in 29 asphyxiated infants and 20 control infants. Neurodevelopmental follow-up examinations were performed at 20 mo of age using the German revision of the Griffiths scales for developmental assessment. Elevated concentrations of serum protein S-100β, NSE, and CK-BB within 24 h after asphyxia did not correlate with long-term neurodevelopmental delay. We conclude that serum protein S-100β, NSE, and CK-BB, sampled on the first day of life, is of limited value in predicting severe brain damage after birth asphyxia.


Accurate large‐scale soil moisture (SM) maps are crucial for catchment‐scale hydrological models used for water resource management and warning systems for droughts, floods, and wildfires. SM can be mapped by mobile cosmic‐ray neutron (CRN) systems of moderated detectors at homogeneous landscapes of similar soil and vegetation. In this study, we present a new approach for mobile CRN detection to perform to its full potential, where CRN measurements can also be converted to SM at heterogeneous landscapes. The approach is based solely on thermal and epithermal neutron datasets obtained from mobile dual‐spectra CRN detection, combined with theoretical developments using a particle transport model. For each measurement point, the land cover type is identified using the thermal‐to‐epithermal (T/E) ratio, and the relevant neutron‐count‐to‐soil‐moisture conversion function is estimated from CRN stations located at the main land cover types in the catchment. With this approach, the requirement of collecting 100+ soil samples for each point along the survey route is omitted. We use this T/E‐dependent approach to obtain SM maps from 12 CRN surveys and compare it with a simple approach where only the conversion function from the agricultural site is used. SM by the simple approach is comparable to the estimates of the agricultural stations of a capacitance sensor network, while the estimates of the T/E‐dependent approach also compare well with the heathland and forest stations. With accurate SM estimates for all landcover types, the average error is reduced from 0.089 to 0.038 when comparing CRN SM with space‐borne Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission estimates.


A rapid and simple method has been developed for the preparation of highly purified lysoplasmenylethanolamine. The starting material, a phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) sample that contained a mixture of the 1, 2 diacyl- and 1-O-alkenyl-2-acyl forms was subjected to mild alkaline methanolysis for 20 min at room temperature. Addition of chloroform and water with vigorous mixing, but without acidification at this point, led to a preferential retention of the lysoplasmenylethanolamine in the alkaline aqueous phase and complete separation of the methyl esters into the chloroform phase. Neutralization of the alkaline phase with dilute acetic acid, followed by addition of chloroform, allowed recovery of the lysoplasmenylethanolamine in the chloroform phase in very high yields (75-80% based on vinyl ether content of starting material). On the other hand, a preparation of cholineglycerophospholipids enriched in plasmenylcholine, treated in exactly the same manner, gave a lysoplasmenylcholine that was not retained in the alkaline phase, but partitioned primarily into the chloroform-rich phase together with the methyl esters. Characterization of the purified lysoplasmenylethanolamine was achieved by thin-layer chromatography and compositional analysis. In addition, fast atom bombardment mass spectral analysis of the intact lysoplasmenylethanolamine together with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the dimethyl acetals derived from the 1-O-alkenyl chains allowed further proof of the structure and an assessment of the purity of this compound.


Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are autonomous distributed networks, where mobile nodes communicate with each other using wireless links. Since the communication is done by wireless links, it is difficult to grasp how the packets flow between communication nodes. It becomes even more difficult when the number of nodes is increased. In our previous work, we proposed a visualization system for MANET network topology. However, in the previous version, we could not implement the visualization of packet flow. In this paper, we improve our previous system by implementing the visualization of packet flow. We call this system MANET-Viewer II. In order to show the effectiveness of MANET-Viewer II, we implemented DSR routing protocol and visualized its packet flow. Furthermore, we verified the effectiveness of visualization method by experiments.


The Harang facies, a regional, diachronic middle Miocene shale in Louisiana, has characteristics that can be interpreted as indications of deep-water or cold-water deposition. It consists of a seaward-thickening subsurface wedge of dark-gray to brown or black marine shale and clay with interbedded sandstones, containing a distinctive foraminiferal biofacies. The biofacies is characterized by an abundant and diversified benthonic foraminiferal fauna, including huge arenaceous forms End_Page 776------------------------------ and a small percentage of planktonic Foraminifera. Globorotalia fohsi, G. mayeri, G. menardii, and other planktonic species are sinistrally coiled. The change from random to predominantly sinistral coiling coincides approximately with the inception of Harang deposition (±12-14 m.y. B.P.). The faunal assemblages indicate a muddy-water, outer neritic to bathyal environment, and suggest a cool water mass. The apparent anomaly of a cold-water fauna in this stratigraphic position in this area might be explained by upwelling, paleogeographic changes, and/or significant Miocene refrigeration. During the time span that includes Harang deposition, continental glaciation in Antarctica, cold-water invertebrate faunas, cool-climate floras, and other evidences of cool climate in many parts of the world indicate mid-Miocene refrigeration. Although some conflicting evidence also exists, we conclude that the distinctive characteristics of the Harang biofacies are related to a cool water mass which was part of a worldwide cooling phenomenon. End_of_Article - Last_Page 777------------


Fire emergency evacuation study has been conducted for decades. In recent two decades, the fire emergency evacuation studies have been incorporating new technologies due to the high demands on efficient and safe evacuation for occupants who have various needs. The proposed fire emergency evacuation system from academic research and solutions from industry practices adopt different technologies to serve various evacuees. Therefore, this study conducts literature review to understand the status quo of current fire emergency evacuation research and practice. It shows that fire emergency evacuation studies mainly focus on the facility operation stage instead of design and construction stages. The facilities include residential buildings, education buildings, subways, shopping centers, etc. Three critical factors affect efficient and safe fire emergency evacuation in a built environment – facility physical features, fire characteristics, and human behavior. This study categories these new technologies, which are incorporated into the fire emergency evacuation research and practices within the recent two decades, into four groups: (1) Facility geometrical analysis, which includes the technologies such as BIM, GIS, VR and the combination of BIM/GIS/VR (2) Fire and smoke simulation, e.g. FDS and Pyrosim. The simulation output such as fire and smoke dynamics is incorporated into intelligent fire evacuation system (3) Crowd evacuation simulation software, e.g. Pathfinder, Massmotion; the output of simulation is used to develop personalized evacuation system (4) Indoor positioning system and mobile device/IoT technology to track and evacuate occupants intelligently. This study presents these new technologies used in the fire emergency evacuation systems and indicates that the development of an intelligent and personalized emergency evacuation system, which may track the evacuees in real time, is the future research trend.


STEM CELLS 2002;20:190-191 www.StemCells.com We live in a remarkable age. Physicians now have an unprecedented range of options for helping their patients. Surgery and radiology are using advanced technologies to pinpoint treatments. Chemotherapeutic approaches are showing ever-greater effectiveness and specificity, approaching the goal of a "magic bullet." And we are now entering a time when we can make changes at the most basic level, introducing changes directly into the genetic code. Gene therapy, the ability to introduce new genes into living cells, holds great promise for the treatment of many diseases, including cancer. Restriction endonucleases are the molecules that spawned the field of biotechnology, the first of the many molecular tools that make gene therapy a reality. Bacteria build restriction endonucleases to protect themselves from attack by viruses. These enzymes cleave DNA at a specific sequence of nucleotides: for instance, one enzyme from Escherichia coli cuts the sequence GAATTC and another enzyme from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens will not cut it, but instead cuts the similar sequence GGATCC. Each species of bacterium protects its own DNA at its personal sequence by adding a bulky methyl group on a few of the bases, so only invading viral DNA, which does not have the protective methyl groups, is chopped up and destroyed. There are hundreds of forms of these restriction enzymes, made by different bacteria to cut DNA at different sequences. Although this may seem merely like a scientific curiosity worthy of a few lines in a textbook, restriction endonucleases are almost unbelievably useful. We could not have designed a more perfect molecule-sized tool to manipulate DNA. They are custom molecular scissors, allowing us to cut DNA into well-defined, perfectly specified pieces. Hundreds of different restriction endonucleases are available commercially: you merely pick the sequence that you want cleaved and then go to the catalog and find the enzyme from the proper species of bacteria. With these tiny molecular tools, perfected by evolution, we are able to reassemble DNA, cutting out genes of interest Fundamentals of Cancer Medicine Stem Cells®


Aim: To quantify and compare the performance of setting priority for intensive treatment by novel clustering-based subgroups to threshold-based classifications using systematic coronary risk evaluation (SCORE) and HbA1c levels.
 Methods: We divided 2,935 patients from the Hoorn diabetes care system cohort into five clustering-based subgroups: severe insulin-deficient (SIDD) , severe insulin-resistant (SIRD) , mild obesity-related (MOD) mild (MD) , and mild with high HDL-cholesterol (MDH) diabetes, and four risk threshold-based subgroups. The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study Outcomes Model was used to simulate lifetime health outcomes in the U.S. and U.K. settings. Gains from hypothetical treatment scenarios based on clinical guidelines were compared to "care-as-usual" and expressed in incremental quality-adjusted life-expectancy (QALE) and complication costs.
 Results: The SIRD and MOD subgroup had the lowest absolute and age-sex-standardized QALE, respectively (7.90; 9.07) . Threshold-based classifications better discriminated between patients with higher and lower absolute and standardized QALE than clustering-based subgroups. For MOD, hypothetical interventions costing up to $1973 (95%CI $1444-$2603) and £463 (95%CI £345-£603) per year would be cost-effective at $100,000 and £20,000 per QALY thresholds in the U.S. and U.K., respectively. The MOD, SIDD and SIRD subgroups had the best potential cost-effectiveness alongside the subgroup with high HbA1c and high SCORE.
 Conclusions: Intensified treatment could be cost-effective at higher-than-average costs for three out of five of the clustering-based subgroups and two out of four of the threshold-based classifications. Both classification methods support priority setting for intensive treatment, but the threshold-based method may better identify those who have the most potential to benefit from intensified treatment.

 X.Li: None. A.Van giessen: None. J.Altunkaya: None. R.Slieker: None. J.Beulens: None. E.Pearson: Speaker's Bureau; Sanofi. P.J.M.Elders: None. T.Feenstra: Research Support; Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) , European Union/IMI Rhapsody. J.Leal: None.

 RHAPSODY (115881)


We investigate dual mechanisms for interacting particle systems. Generalizing an approach of Alkemper and Hutzenthaler in the case of coalescing duals, we show that a simple linear transformation leads to a moment duality of suitably rescaled processes. More precisely, we show how dualities of interacting particle systems of the form $H(A,B)=q^{|A\cap B|}, A,B\subset\{0,1\}^N, q\in[-1,1),$ are rescaled to yield moment dualities of rescaled processes. We discuss in particular the case $q=-1,$ which explains why certain population models with balancing selection have an annihilating dual process. We also consider different values of $q,$ and answer a question by Alkemper and Hutzenthaler.


In the five decades since its inception in 1971, the General Social Survey (GSS) project has prospectively recorded the current characteristics, backgrounds, behaviors, and attitudes of representative cross sections of American adults covering more than two generations and more than a century of birth cohorts. A foundational resource for contemporary social science, the data it produces and disseminates enable social scientists to develop broad and deep understandings into the changing fabric of US society, and aid legions of instructors and students in teaching and learning. It facilitates internationally comparative survey research and places the United States in the context of other societies through the International Social Survey Program, which it cofounded. This article first recounts the GSS's origins, design, and development. It then surveys contributions based on GSS data to studies of stratification and inequality, religion, sociopolitical trends, intergroup relations, social capital and social networks, health and well-being, culture, and methodology.


In the present paper, we aimed to provide evidence in support of the idea tested in a recent study by Lanciano and colleagues that flashbulb memories (FBMs) are a special class of autobiographical memories that can be assessed through the autobiographical implicit association test (aIAT). FBMs and event memories (EMs) for the news of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI were evaluated in three samples of churchgoer Catholic, non-churchgoer Catholic and Evangelical Italian participants through the traditional self-report measures (specificity/accuracy, confidence, consistency) and aIAT indices. Results confirmed the strength of the association between FBM and true information. The aIAT effect was stronger for FBMs than for EM details, and for Catholic respondents who were the group most concerned by the original event. Furthermore, the use of implicit measures for memory assessment concurs with the traditional self-report indices of FBMs. The present evidence supports the idea that FBMs are special autobiographical memories which remain detailed, certain and consistent over time.


It is known that many researchers of the mechanical properties of layered composites claim that in comparison with traditional structural metals and alloys, composites have serious advantages, mainly associated with high specific characteristics of static and fatigue strength. It should be noted that a well-founded idea of the advantages of composites strength characteristics is of particular importance for the elements of aircraft structures, taking into consideration an extremely important issue of operation safety. Unfortunately, at least, such a reasonable conception with respect to fatigue resistance characteristics has not been formed yet, consequently, a number of points concerning application of laminated composites in aircraft structures remain unanswered. The article presents a method and an example of comparing the fatigue life of the specimens with the open hole made of modern aluminum aviation alloy 1163T7 and carbon laminate AS4-PW. An obvious advantage of fatigue life of carbon composite materials compared to aluminum alloy at room temperature is noted. On the basis of a number of significant factors to be considered, the specified advantage can be largely diminished. First of all, these factors include the following: effect of temperature and humidity and degradation of the resistance characteristics of layered composites after impact damage. Taking into account the effect of the listed factors, the results of the comparison for the fatigue resistance characteristics of the specimens under consideration are presented. It is noted that the mentioned comparison was carried out using experimental data for the specimens considered under cyclic loading with constant amplitudes as well as under irregular loading, therefore, the comparison results may be slightly different. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the similar comparison presents relevant interest and should be considered when drawing final conclusions about the advantages (or their absence) of the fatigue resistance characteristics of carbon laminates over aluminum alloys.


We have designed and built an impedance camera to generate electrical impedance images of the thorax. Our instrument makes 100 spatially specific admittance measurements per frame at rates up to 32 frames per second. An on-line raster-scan display provides direct visualization while recording of data allows off-line quantitative analysis. We have found that some of the admittance measurements change 25% in humans with forced respiration. We discuss the principle of a mutually guarding electrode array and its limitations and present ideal instrument specifications and a working design. Continuing development may allow noninvasive measurement of localized ventilation and perfusion.


IF A DROP OF BLOOD is collected from each member of a randomly assembled series of American Negroes and sealed under a cover slip with vaseline, to be observed at intervals up to 72 hours, in the case of about 8 percent of the individuals composing the series a high proportion of the erythrocytes will be observed to assume various bizarre oat, sickle, or holly leaf shapes. This ability of the erythrocytes to "sickle," as the phenomenon is commonly described, appears to be attended by no pathological consequences in the majority of these individuals, and they are spoken of as having sicklemia, or the sickle cell trait. However, a certain proportion of the individuals who sickle are the vic4ims of a severe, chronic, hemolytic type of anemia known as sickle cell anemia. This proportion has been variously estimated at between 1: 1.4 (8) and 1: 40 (4). The essential difference between sicklemia and sickle cell anemia appears at present to depend at least in part upon the relative ease with which sickling takes place. In sickle cell anemia the erythrocytes may frequently sickle under the conditions encountered in the circulating blood, whereas in sicklemia sickling does not usually occur under these conditions (12). This difference has been attributed to a greater tendency of the erythrocytes of sickle cell anemia to sickle when the 02-tension is reduced, although recently this viewpoint has been challenged (13). Perhaps because of this differencealthough there may be other factors involved, such as the anisoand poikilocytosis to be observed in some individuals with the disease, and a greater resistance to hemolysis of trait cells when sickled than sickle cell anemia cells when sickled-the erythrocytes of a patient with sickle cell anemia have a greatly shortened life span, both in the individuals with the disease and in normal persons who have been transfused with the cells of sickle cell anemia patients, whereas sicklemia erythrocytes have an normal life span (3, 14). The ability of the red cells to sickle was observed to have a genetic basis not long after sickle cell anemia 1 This investigation was supported in part by a grant from the U. S. Public Health Service. The study has been possible only through the generous cooperation of the Anemia Clinic of the Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Michigan, The University Hospital of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Wayne County General Hospital and Infirmary, Eloise, Michigan; all three institutions have made their case records of sickle cell anemia freely available. It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mrs. Marion Weyrauch for technical assistance, and to Mrs. Laura Williams for case work. was recognized as a clinical entity (5). On the basis of a study of one large family, Taliaferro and Huck (15) postulated that the ability to sickle was due to a single dominant gene. At that time the clinical distinction between sicklemia and sickle cell anemia had not been clearly drawn, and the inference was that this gene was more strongly expressed in some individuals (sickle cell anemia) than in others (sicklemia). This has remained the accepted hypothesis up to the present time. Several years ago the author, in a review on the clinical detection of the genetic carriers of inherited disease (9), was led to suggest an alternative hypothesis-namely, that there existed in Negro populations a gene which in heterozygous condition results in sicklemlia, and in homozygous condition in sickle cell anemia. This hypothesis has a counterpart in the relationship which has been demonstrated to exist between thalassemia major and minor (10, 16). Recently the opportunity has arisen to give this hypothesis a thorough test. There exist a number of arguments permitting a critical decision between the two hypotheses. The present preliminary note will consider only one of these arguments. If the homozygous-heterozygotus hypothesis is correct, then both the parents of any patient with sickle cell anemia should always sickle (barring the occasional role of mutation; see below). If, on the other hand, the disease is due to a dominant gene with variable expression, only one parent need sickle, although occasionally, due to the chance marriage of two sicklers, both parents may sickle. In calculating the exact proportion of sicklemia to be expected among the parents of individuals with sickle cell anemia according to the dominant hypothesis, certain assumptions must be made. To the best of the author's knowledge, the question of the phenotype of the homozygote has never been raised by those who have accepted the variable dominant hypothesis of sickle cell anemia. For purposes of calculation we shall assume that under the variable dominant hypothesis all homozygotes have sickle cell anemiaalternative assumptions, such as intra-uterine lethality, are possible. We shall further assume that one in fifty heterozygotes also develops sickle cell anemia. Finally, we shall assume on the basis of the clinical data that the fertility of those with sickle cell anemnia approximates 20 percent of normal, with the result that only a few individuals with this disease-so few SCIENCE July 15, 1949, Vol. 1 10 64


This volume examines the dynamics of socio-political order in post-colonial states across the Pacific Islands region and West Africa in order to elaborate on the processes and practices of peace formation. Drawing on field research and engaging with post-liberal conceptualisations of peacebuilding, this book investigates the interaction of a variety of actors and institutions involved in the provision of peace, security and justice in post-colonial states. The chapters analyse how different types of actors and institutions involved in peace formation engage in and are interpenetrated by a host of relations in the local arena, making 'the local' contested ground on which different discourses and praxes of peace, security and justice coexist and overlap. In the course of interactions, new and different forms of socio-political order emerge which are far from being captured through the familiar notions of a liberal peace and a Weberian ideal-type state. Rather, this volume investigates how (dis)order emerges as a result of interdependence among agents, thus laying open the fundamentally relational character of peace formation. This innovative relational, liminal and integrative understanding of peace formation has far-reaching consequences for internationally supported peacebuilding. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, peace studies, security studies, governance, development and IR.


Singing abilities are rarely examined despite the fact that their study represents one of the richest sources of information regarding how music is processed in the brain. In particular, the analysis of singing performance in brain-damaged patients provides key information regarding the autonomy of music processing relative to language processing. Here, we review the relevant literature, mostly on the perception and memory of text and tunes in songs, and we illustrate how lyrics can be distinguished from melody in singing, in the case of brain damage. We report a new case, G.D., who has a severe speech disorder,marked by phonemic errors and stuttering, without a concomitant musical production disorder. G.D. was found to produce as few intelligible words in speaking as in singing familiar songs. Singing ""la, la, la"" was intact and hence could not account for the speech deficit observed in singing. The results indicate that verbal production, be it sung or spoken, is mediated by the same (impaired) language output system and that this speech route is distinct from the (spared) melodic route. In sum, we provide here further evidence that the autonomy of music and language processing extends to production tasks.


This paper settles the sample complexity of single-parameter revenue maximization by showing matching upper and lower bounds, up to a poly-logarithmic factor, for all families of value distributions that have been considered in the literature. The upper bounds are unified under a novel framework, which builds on the strong revenue monotonicity by Devanur, Huang, and Psomas (STOC 2016), and an information theoretic argument. This is fundamentally different from the previous approaches that rely on either constructing an є-net of the mechanism space, explicitly or implicitly via statistical learning theory, or learning an approximately accurate version of the virtual values. To our knowledge, it is the first time information theoretical arguments are used to show sample complexity upper bounds, instead of lower bounds. Our lower bounds are also unified under a meta construction of hard instances.


Abstract This analysis aims to identify the potential of bio-diplomacy focused on forestry resources in Latvia. As the resources are scarce, small states must calibrate their foreign policy to gain a global vision by offering strategic products or services. In order to identify this potential, there are employed the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analytical methods. The results indicate that economy, climate and environmental and social factors are the most important elements to be considered. The most important driving forces for using forestry resources for bio-diplomacy are demand, volume and renewal.


I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely the results of my own work except where otherwise indicated. I have only used the resources given in the list of reference. ABSTRACT The detection of microorganism is vital in terms of the prevention and identification of problems related to health and safety. Pathogenic microorganisms cause illness outbreaks, hospitalizations and even deaths. Although analytical detection techniques have been developed for a very long time they often still suffer from problems such as low sensitivity, long response time, high cost and low accuracy. Nanotechnology has been suggested as one of the solutions to these problems and one of the fields of particular interest for detection development is the impedimetric detection techniques based on sensitivity of impedance changes. Impedance-based detection methods provide high sensitivity, real time, label-free and fast detection response. In this thesis, a novel impedimetric detection technique developed and tested. Electrical impedance spectroscopy is studied for the detection of Escherichia coli bacteria. For the sensor element, gold microelectrodes are fabricated on a glass substrate with photolithography, platinum nanowires are deposited from an aqueous solution between the microelectrodes using dielectrophoresis. Nanoscale platinum electrodes are typically obtained by applying high bias and nanoscopic gaps in between nanowires are achieved. Escherichia coli bacteria in de-ionized water are captured in the nanogaps by apllying inhomogeneous electric field. Once bacteria are captured, the impedance changes are acquired by measuring the changes in the frequency response of the system. Bacteria attachment in between nanowires leads to high magnitude and phase shifts. As a proof of principle for the usefulness of this particular detection method, two different studies are carried out successfully. The first study is frequency response of captured bacteria in dry ambient and impedance spectra is used to analyze detection. Impedance profile shows detection depends on the applied frequency. Escherichia coli bacteria show response at certain frequency domain. The second study is real time detection of bacteria in liquid media. In this case, specific detection frequencies are investigated and captured bacteria lead high amplitude and phase shift at low frequency range. iv To my Mother, who showed me how to be a gentleman.


Background Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are syndromes identified based on a group of symptoms defined according to the criteria of the Rome Foundation. The most commonly observed disorders among the pediatric population are functional abdominal pain disorders and functional constipation. This study aims to identify the patterns of FGIDs among children in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted at pediatric gastroenterology clinics from 2015 to 2019 in a tertiary centre in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The FGID outcomes were compared with the patient's gender, age, and other characteristics using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) software to analyze the data. Results One hundred and fifty-two participants met the inclusion criteria, with a mean age of 5.49 ± 3.27 and an average weight of 20.68 ± 12.15 kg. Male patients account for 59.2% of the total population. The prevalence of abdominal pain was 17.84%, while constipation was 50.93%. There was a statistically significant association between abdominal pain and independent variables such as family history (p=0.004) and age, particularly in older children (5-12 years; p=0.001). A statistically significant correlation was found between constipation with gender (p=0.032) and family history (p<0.001). Conclusion The prevalence of functional constipation and abdominal pain increased with age among children in Makkah City, with constipation being significantly more prevalent than functional abdominal pain. There is a significant relationship between age and family history with abdominal pain, whereas gender and family history are associated with a greater likelihood of constipation.


Sulfide ceramics are finding application in the manufacture of advanced batteries with molten salt electrolyte. Use of these ceramics as a peripheral seal component has permitted development of bipolar Li/FeS{sub 2} batteries. This bipolar battery has a molten lithium halide electrolyte and operates at 400 to 450C. Initial development and physical properties evaluations indicate the ability to form metal/ceramic bonded seal (13-cm ID) components for use in high-temperature corrosive environments. These sealants are generally CaAl{sub 2}S{sub 4}-based ceramics. Structural ceramics (composites with oxide or nitride fillers), highly wetting sealant formulations, and protective coatings are also being developed. Sulfide ceramics show great promise because of their relatively low melting point, high-temperature viscous flow, chemical stability, high-strength bonding, and tailored coefficients of thermal expansion. Our methodology of generating laminated metal/ceramic pellets (e.g., molybdenum/sulfide ceramic/molybdenum) with which to optimize materials formulation and seal processing is described.


Careful page mapping has been shown in the past to be effective for reducing cache conflicts on both uniprocessor and Uniform Memory Access (UMA) multiprocessors. This paper extends previous page-mapping schemes to the more recent Cache-Coherent Non-Uniform Memory Access (CC-NUMA) multiprocessors. These extensions maintain the program's data-task affinity, which is important to CC-NUMA, while reducing cache set conflicts by carefully selecting the page frames. Using an execution-driven simulator that simulates a CC-NUMA machine with a 4-MB secondary cache and a 16-KB primary cache on each of the 4-issue super-scalar processors, we find that, when non-coherence cache misses are relatively heavy, it is quite important for page mapping to preserve the compiler-generated memory module ID (MID) which determines data distribution among the processors. We also find that straight application of page-coloring performs worse than bin-hopping by 10-45%, while by hashing the page color with part of the MID, page-coloring can perform closely to bin-hopping.


Developing new forms of plastic and improving the efficiency of the catalysts that produce them requires detailed insight into the reaction steps in the polymerization process. This calls for thorough analysis and hefty computational resources. The authors discuss their strategies for accurate modeling, and Cobalt, a Beowulf supercomputer they built and optimized for quantum chemistry applications.


Mining maximal frequent traversal sequence is a crucial application in Web usage mining, since users' traversal pattern and motivation are latent in session sequence at some time segment. A Frequent Traversal Sequence Tree structure with Dwell time (FTSD-Tree) is designed. Utilizing FTSD-Tree to store, compress the session database that is constrained by the bidirectional dwell time, and simplify the configuration of dwell time thresholds during mining. A novel algorithm named maximal frequent traversal sequence mining (MFTSM) is presented, which quickly traverses FTSD-Tree and discovers maximal frequent traversal sequence from the session sequences. Experimental results show that MFTSM can significantly improve the execution time efficiency for mining maximal frequent traversal sequence as long as the decision-makers or users give the appropriate constraints. Our performance study at runtime shows that MFTSM is faster than the well-known algorithms GSP, SPAM, MSPS and SPADE in the time constraint environment


Breaking wave energy in the surf zone is modelled through the incorporation of the time dependent energy balance equation in a non linear dispersive wave propagation model. The energy equations solved simultaneously with the momentum and continuity equation. Turbulence effects and the non uniform horizontal velocity distribution due to breaking is introduced in both the energy and momentum equations. The dissipation term is a function of the velocity defect derived from a turbulent analysis. The resulting system predicts both wave characteristics (surface elevation and velocity) and the energy distribution inside surf zone. The model is validated against experimental data and analytical expressions.


Background Recent results from long-term follow-up of healthy older participants of the Shingles Prevention Study (SPS) demonstrated that the herpes zoster (HZ) vaccination lost most of its benefit after approximately 10 years. However, the duration of protection among patients with autoimmune or inflammatory (AI) diseases is unclear. Objectives Current study aimed to evaluate the duration of HZ vaccine effectiveness in preventing HZ among older patients with autoimmune diseases. Methods Using Medicare data from 2006–2013 for patients with AI diseases, this retrospective cohort study identified patients who had HZ vaccination. To control for confounding, patients without HZ vaccination were matched 2:1 to vaccinated patients on year of vaccination, age, gender, race, type of AI diseases, and use of biologics, DMARDs and glucocorticoids. Follow up began one month after vaccination and ended at: HZ, death, loss of coverage or 12/31/2012. We calculated HZ incidence rates for each year and used Poisson regression to calculate the adjusted risk ratio of HZ for each year. Results Of 59,627 vaccinated patients with AIs matched to 119,254 unvaccinated AI patients, we identified 1,242 and 3,183 HZ events during follow-up respectively. Incidence rates among vaccinated increased from 0.75 per 100 person years (PY) during the first year post vaccination to 1.36 during the 6th year post. After multivariable adjustment, vaccinated patients had a significantly lower risk of HZ compared to unvaccinated patients through 5 years but not beyond. Figgure 1 Conclusions Among patients with autoimmune diseases, the effectiveness of HZ vaccination waned over time, and a significant benefit to reduce HZ risk compared to non-vaccinated patients was found only through 5 years post vaccination. Disclosure of Interest H. Yun: None declared, F. Xie: None declared, J. Baddley: None declared, K. Winthrop: None declared, L. Chen: None declared, J. Curtis Grant/research support from: Roche/Genentech, UCB, Janssen, Corrona, Amgen, Pfizer, BMS, Crescendo, AbbVie, Consultant for: Roche/Genentech, UCB, Janssen, Corrona, Amgen, Pfizer, BMS, Crescendo, AbbVie


The authors have studied the contact charging of nylon samples coated with fluoropolymer layers of varying thickness. The observations indicate that for both simple and repeated contacts the charge is confined to a layer about 3 nm thick or perhaps even thinner.


In microelectronic packaging technologies organic thin film materials, e.g. photo resists acting as dielectric layers or solder masks, gain more and more importance due to trends towards miniaturization and high system integration. Therefore, a profound characterization of these materials is an important issue for reliable FEM simulations and improved process control. In this paper, viscoelastic material behavior of dielectric polymer thin films is characterized in time and frequency domain and implemented into ANSYS. The FEM results are compared to relaxation experiments for consistency check and it was found that material models from frequency data simulate a stiffer long term material behavior compared to data from time domain. The latter showed good agreement with accordant experiments. In addition to the standard macroscopic material characterization methods we initiated the steps towards a local microscopic material characterization method on device level using nanoindentation technique. The indentation creep compliance of organic thin films was measured and compared to standard methods. The advantage of analyzing in a small volume scale is to consider material characteristics of real processed thin films with thermal load histories as they appear in final products.


Diagnostic tapping of the anterior chamber to determine the CEA count in aqueous humor is discussed. Taking the serum aqueous humor barrier (filtration index) into account, it is possible to determine how much of this tumor antigen is produced locally. A case report illustrates the relevance of the method in a case of bilateral metastases of breast cancer in the choroid.


There are least two obvious purposes for studying health professionals (HPs) in behavior change interventions: 1) to assess treatment fidelity, i.e. to what extent was the intervention delivered as intended, and 2) to gain knowledge about how HP's learn and use new clinical skills. This presentation focuses on the second purpose. To support health behaviors such as physical activity, HPs' physiological and medical knowledge needs to be complemented with knowledge to support motivational and self-regulation in patients trying to change their habits. However, changing behavior in HP's may be challenging and several barriers within and outside the individual HP have been identified. In 2010 we launched an out-sourced program over two years to implement health-enhancing physical activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). During the first year, 12 physical therapists (PT's) guided 220 participants to increased physical activity using public gyms and support groups. The PT's were to guide in several behavior change techniques: a) goal-setting, b) action planning, c) self-monitoring, d) relapse prevention, e) give feedback on physical activity and f) promote social support within the groups to prepare the participants for being in charge of the group sessions during the second year of the program. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to assess how behavior change techniques were used by PT's and adopted by participants. The results indicate that PT's perceived initial challenges but gradually, assisted by education and feedback, adopted practices that facilitated their use of behavior change techniques. The participants reported the content of the program to be feasible, emphasizing the type of exercise and setting, as well as professional coaching. However, stringent use of goal-setting, action planning and follow-up of self-monitoring was not fully implemented and may need more tailoring to individual needs. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.6216


A theoretical development of prior analyses, together with our solenoid scan measurements on eight planar metal photocathodes (Ag, Be, Cr, Cu, Mo, Sn, Ta, and W) and previous data on Mg [X. J. Wang, M. Babzien, R. Malone, and Z. Wu, in Proceedings of LINAC2002, Gyeongju, Korea, 2002 (Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, Pohang, Korea, 2002), pp. 142-144.] indicate that the transverse momentum (and hence intrinsic emittance) of an electron beam is fundamentally dependent on the electron effective mass in the metal.


The feasibility of 147Pm and 3H beta-ray sources as static eliminator was experimentally investigated. A sheet of vinyl chloride of 0.1 mm in thickness was used as an example of electrified materials. Its surface charge densities before and after beta-ray neutralization were measured as the function of electrostatic charge changing the speed of the sheet and the distance between the beta-ray source and the sheet. With a 147Pm beta-ray source of 200mCi in effective activity, almost complete neutralization was found for the sheet with the charge density less than 6 X 10(-6) C/m2 running at the speed of 0.18 m/s. In the case of the running speed of 0.5 m/s frequently used in industry, the electrostatic charge below 3 X 10(6) C/m2, where corona discharger is not so effective, was also perfectly eliminated. It was found that the optimal distance between the beta-ray source and the sheet was 10 cm in the case of 147Pm. The use of 3H beta-ray source of 1 Ci was not satisfactory. These results demonstrate that 147 Pm beta-ray source operates most efficiently as static eliminator when the charge density of material and/or its moving speed is not high.


Extending previous work on hedge fund return predictability, this paper introduces the idea of modelling the conditional distribution of hedge fund returns using Student's t full-factor multivariate GARCH models. This class of models takes into account the stylized facts of hedge fund return series, that is, heteroskedasticity, fat tails and deviations from normality. For the proposed class of multivariate predictive regression models, we derive analytic expressions for the score and the Hessian matrix, which can be used within classical and Bayesian inferential procedures to estimate the model parameters, as well as to compare different predictive regression models. We propose a Bayesian approach to model comparison which provides posterior probabilities for various predictive models that can be used for model averaging. Our empirical application indicates that accounting for fat tails and time-varying covariances/correlations provides a more appropriate modelling approach of the underlying dynamics of financial series and improves our ability to predict hedge fund returns.


Hematological and cytogenetic characteristics of 75 cases of therapy‐related acute non lymphoid leukemia (t‐ANLL) occurring in Hodgkin's disease (HD) are analysed in this multi‐institution study. Combined radio and chemotherapy had been given in 88 per cent of patients, either as adjuvant (44 per cent) or as salvage modality (44 per cent). Radiotherapy alone and chemotherapy alone had been given in 3 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. Eighty per cent of patients were in remission of HD and 71 per cent off‐therapy while developing leukemia. The median latent time from remission of HD to leukemia was 34 months. The myeloblastic variety of leukemia accounted for 43 per cent of total cases; the myelomonocytic and monocytic for 17 per cent and 4 per cent, the promyelocytic and erythroblastic variants for 5 per cent and 7 per cent of t‐ANLL. Twenty four per cent of cases were unclassifiable; one of these was TdT‐positive. Dysplastic features of erythrocytic line were invariably present with circulating erythroblasts; defects of granulocytes, circulating megathrombocytes and micromegakaryocytes were also present. Bone marrow hypoplasia and marked fibrosis were documented in 47 per cent and 30 per cent of cases. Preleukemia heralded overt leukemia in 73 per cent of cases; 37 per cent had refractory anemia with no excess of blasts; 16 per cent of preleukemias were unclassifiable. Cytogenetics revealed chromosome abnormalities in 83 per cent of cases; 72 per cent presented chromosome 5 and/or 7 monosomy or partial deletion (5q‐ or 7q‐) of the long arm (94 per cent in the combined modality therapy group). In 3 cases, a pure monosomy 7 was observed; in none 5q‐alone. Response rate to conventional therapy was 14 per cent; low and high‐dose cytarabine were of little benefit. Long‐term CR (28+ and 16+ months) was achieved in 2 cases with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as first‐line therapy. A better knowledge of t‐ANLL in HD and new therapies, including BMT, may improve the prognosis of this late complication of intensive HD treatment.


It is my pleasure to introduce the current issue of Translational Andrology and Urology with a special focus on Renal Transplantation in Urology. The role of the Urologist in transplantation is variable. In some centers such as ours, Urologists perform the surgery, manage the immunosuppression and care for post-operative complications. In other centers, Urologists have only a peripheral role, consulting for the medical and surgical complications that can follow the procedure and immunosuppression. The articles in this issue address a variety of preoperative, perioperative and postoperative issues for Urologists at every level of involvement.


Background: Pupil dilatation, access to ophthalmologists, size and cost of fundus cameras, and network connectivity issues are barriers to diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening in primary care. This makes artificial intelligence a potential alternative in DR screening. This study aims to evaluate the performance of an offline AI algorithm - Medios in DR Screening using non mydriatic retinal images taken from the smartphone based Remidio Fundus on Phone (NM-FOP) retinal camera. Methods: Non mydriatic retinal images from 900 patients with diabetes were captured prospectively with the Remidio NM FOP camera at Diacon Hospital, Bangalore, India. The images were graded by 5 ophthalmologists as per the International Diabetic Retinopathy Classification System and the majority diagnosis was considered as the ground truth. Two images [posterior pole (macula centered), nasal field] were captured per eye for each patient, and were analyzed offline on-device using the Medios AI. The diagnosis of Medios AI was compared to that of the ophthalmologist. Results: DR was present in 252 patients. Performance of the AI for referable DR (Moderate NPDR or worse, or presence of DME) was - Sensitivity 93% (95% CI 91.3%-94.7%), Specificity: 92.5% (95% CI 90.8%-94.2%). Performance of the AI for all DR (Mild NPDR or worse, or presence of DME) was - Sensitivity: 83.3% (95% CI 80.9%-85.7%), Specificity: 95.5% (95% CI 94.1%-96.8%). Sensitivity for sight threatening DR (STDR) [severe NPDR, proliferative DR (PDR) or presence of DME] was 95.2% (95% CI 88.2%-98.6%). The 3 PDRs missed by the AI were post laser with no active changes visible. This is a common exclusion criteria in other studies, and when excluded, the sensitivity for STDR was found to be 98.7%. Conclusion: This is one of the largest studies evaluating the performance of AI using non mydriatic retinal images offline. The Medios AI algorithm's sensitivity and specificity exceeds the FDA mandated superiority end point and can be used for DR screening. Disclosure B. Sosale: None. A.R. Sosale: None. H. Murthy: None. S. Narayana: None. U. Sharma: None. S.G.V. Gowda: None. M. Naveenam: None.


Current state-of-the-art machine translation systems are based on encoder-decoder architectures, that first encode the input sequence, and then generate an output sequence based on the input encoding. Both are interfaced with an attention mechanism that recombines a fixed encoding of the source tokens based on the decoder state. We propose an alternative approach which instead relies on a single 2D convolutional neural network across both sequences. Each layer of our network re-codes source tokens on the basis of the output sequence produced so far. Attention-like properties are therefore pervasive throughout the network. Our model yields excellent results, outperforming state-of-the-art encoder-decoder systems, while being conceptually simpler and having fewer parameters.


The wireless key generation is a potential way to implement information-theoretically secure key refreshment for the Internet of Things devices. The state-of-the-art work on key generation mainly utilizes the wireless local area network technologies. However, they have not sufficiently considered the typical characteristics of low-power wide-area network (LPWAN), such as lengthy payloads, duty-cycled transmission and reception, or limitations for channel utilization. In this article, we carry out a comprehensive experimental investigation on key generation applied with LPWAN, taking LoRa/LoRaWAN as case studies. A key generation protocol optimized for typical LPWAN applications is proposed. According to the extensive evaluations with deep in-building and long distance (up to 7 km) outdoor LoRaWAN links, extraction of keys with high randomness becomes feasible. Moreover, we study the achievable AES128 key refreshment periods for different eavesdropper key disagreement rates (KDRs). As indicated by our measurement-based evaluations, the AES128 key can be renewed every 3 h with the proposed key generation protocol and with the maximum LoRaWAN spreading factor setting (longest range). A further interesting evaluation result demonstrates that a secure key refreshment is still possible even when the eavesdropper KDR is very close to the rate of the legitimate users.